At this stage, there's considerably more that we don't know about Call of Duty: Ghosts, as opposed to what we do know. As such, we're forced to delve into that wonderful grey area where facts meet fiction - speculation and theory.
Among some of the game's earliest rumors was the plot element that despite the game being set in the future, a cataclysmic event has led to soldiers being forced to use modern day weapons. That rumor lives on since Ghost's confirmation, alongside another that says the multiplayer maps will feature interactive areas and traps.
Combine the two rumors, and we're not looking at voice activated plasma burst mines, you're talking about some of the trickier shenanigans currently employed by militaries of the modern day. Add in an interactive environment, and you get guerilla warfare, which has a history of use from today's special forces, all the way back to when Sun Tzu penned a little book called "The Art of War."
Call of Duty protagonists have always been the best of the best of the armed forces. When you take characters as rigorously trained as those of COD's Delta Force, Spetsnaz, SAS, etc., when soldiers of these forces invest a small amount of time and materials, the effects of booby traps can be astounding. Remember that part of "First Blood" where Rambo made some makeshift traps to keep fat Brian Dennehy and the rest of the cops off his trail? Or Schwarzengger's set up when he finally decides to go toe-to-toe against "Predator?" It probably won't be that guerilla, and I doubt very much Infinity Ward will have players spending their time digging out tunnels a la Cu Chi (or Minecraft if you prefer).
We've already seen a few traps in use in previous COD games, mostly in the games' various zombie modes: punji stakes and fire pits in the first Black Ops, electro-shock defenses in World at War, and so on. But traps belching fire or bolts of electricity aren't exactly based in reality, so to the game's more animated zombie mode they went. Ghost likely won't be as silly, so the best place to examine the possibilities for traps to be included is to look at what's been used in more recent times.
* C4, satchel charges, and mines of all varieties have been in the COD franchise now for some time, and given their propensity for trickery and booby traps, I wouldn't expect them to mysteriously vanish in Ghost.
* IEDs - For a long time, you couldn't go a day without reading or hearing about an IED exploding when the US was occupying Iraq. To those ignorant of current events and/or military alphabet soup, an IED is an Improvised Explosive Device, more or less a blanket term for any matter of explosive made, often shoddily, used outside of "conventional warfare." The term itself goes back to the 70's, but they've been in use since WWII at least, and as recently as the explosion at the Boston Marathon. Given the events surrounding their use in recent years, it's difficult to separate the devices from the villany, but if there's stores of ammunition that can't be used for that game's modern weaponry, then it's a viable option, and remains a distinct and likely potential trap possibility for Ghost.
* Tripwire - A low budget addition, tripwire has been used as a triggering mechanism for various explosives for years. Or Infinity Ward could use it quite literally, allowing unaware players to stumble over them, leaving their open for the always embarrasing humiliation kill, followed by the requisite teabagging. Tripwire is still in use by the US Army today, made of high tensile fiber, and available in a rainbow of colors to help it blend seamlessy into the background.
* Booby Traps - This one rings a little closer to IO's Hitman, but its effectiveness warrants a mention. Vehicles, supply crates, even flashlights and corpses were, and still are, open game when it came to booby trapping. There were even reports of German soldiers booby trapping pictures hung in houses. The reasoning was that an askew portrait would be enough of a nuisance to an officer who would be compelled to go and set it straight, only to find out that at best, they'd lose a body part, or at worst, it would be the last thing they did.
* Distractions - Again, borrowing from other games here which rely on the technique, but distractions are nevertheless an effective lure. Whether Snake is dropping risqué literature, or gamers are trolling with distracting sprays in Team Fortress 2, it could find a new home in Call of Duty: Ghost.
There's almost no end to the numerous possibilities for traps, as they're as extensive as a soldier's own imagination and supplies, but we've outlined some of the likeliest. Whether Infinity Ward chooses them, or others, we'll have to wait until Ghost's official reveal later this month. The game is due out in November for PS3, Xbox 360, Windows PC, and next-gen systems.
