With the Call of Duty franchise begin to taper off from its banner years in 2010 and 2011, Activision is doubling down on pre-order efforts for the forthcoming Call of Duty: Ghosts. That isn't to say Call of Duty is showing any signs of surrendering its top spot, just that the franchise isn't showing the legs it once did, which makes day 1 sales all the more important.

To help sweeten the pot for gamers, Activision has revealed a new pre-order bonus for GameStop that pays homage to the character that seemingly inspired the Call of Duty: Ghosts concept. We speak, of course, of Simon "Ghost" Riley.

Those gamers who pre-order their copy of Call of Duty: Ghosts from GameStop will net themselves an exclusive multiplayer skin based off the Modern Warfare 2 character. So while plenty of gamers that look like Ghost might be running around the multiplayer arenas, only those with this exclusive skin will actually be the character.

One could argue that Ghost is the most iconic character in the entire Call of Duty franchise, so much so that there were rumors Activision was basing an entire game around him. Instead that game turned out to be COD: Ghosts, and not COD: Ghost, but the spirit of the character still lives on. So much so, that Infinity Ward chose the name Riley for the dog in Ghosts, an obvious homage to the character.

November 5th — Call of Duty: Ghosts' release date — is right around the corner, so those who want to get in on the exclusive skin should act fast. And luckily, there's no chance that Activision will "pull a Watch_Dogs" and delay Ghosts.

In addition to the pre-order exclusive for GameStop, any pre-order holders of Call of Duty: Ghosts will net themselves an exclusive map called Freefall. Freefall is one of the multiplayer's new dynamic maps, wherein the landscape changes as the match progresses. Freefall, for example, is set on a gradually eroding skyscraper.

It might not be the radical reinvention that some fans hope it will be (read: new graphics engine isn't exactly "new"), but Call of Duty: Ghosts boasts a few intriguing new features, including a new Squads mode, the aforementioned dynamic maps, and a deeper Clans system. While many gamers hopped off the COD train several iterations ago, this might be the one to lure them back in.

Will you be pre-ordering Call of Duty: Ghosts from GameStop in order to nab the Ghost multiplayer skin? Will you be buying the game for current-gen or next-gen?

Call of Duty: Ghosts releases November 5, 2013 for the PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360; November 15th for the PS4; and November 22nd for the Xbox One.

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Source: OXM