The spooky October season is in full swing, and that means many parts of the video game industry are filled with the Halloween spirit. While many franchises pride themselves on delivering consistent frights, there are others that take the month of October as an opportunity to inject some scares into their usual formula. Call of Duty: Warzone is throwing its hat into the Halloween ring, with the return of The Haunting event and two new skins based on Frank from Donnie Darko and Ghostface from Scream.
This isn't the first time Call of Duty: Warzone has put iconic film characters in the game, and these two are sure to be unique additions to the battle royale. Ghostface in particular has built up a reputation as one of the most recognizable faces in horror from the past 25 years. The Scream franchise has spanned four films, and with a fifth on the way, and a significant amount of lore has been built up around Ghostface and the killer's victims. Before fans drop into Warzone to reach that number one spot in the iconic mask, it's worth taking a look at Ghostface and the history behind its horrors.
The Face(s) Behind Ghostface
When looking at the lore behind Ghostface, it's important to understand how the Scream franchise tries to simultaneously satirize and subvert traditional horror tropes. Much of this comes in the form of outright references to other horror movies, like mentioning Friday the 13th by name or having the first film's protagonists watch Halloween. The identity of Ghostface is where the first film really shines, as it's revealed in the final act that Ghostface is not one, but two killers.
The audience learns along with series protagonist Sidney Prescott that her boyfriend Billy Loomis and their friend Stu Macher were both the killer, creating the twist that cemented Scream in horror movie history. While Stu's motivations were more ambiguous, Billy wanted to kill Sidney because of an affair her mother had with his father. The rest of the Scream franchise follows this pattern of Ghostface wanting to kill Sidney because of a building chain of events, a chain that looks like it's only going to get longer with the impending release of the next Scream film.
Ghostface's Abilities
Ghostface stands out from most horror movie killers in that the character doesn't possess any outright supernatural abilities. While it tends to be particularly durable, strong, and have incredible stealth abilities, it is always just a normal person behind the mask. With that being said, Ghostface's trademark tools are its large knife and voice modulator used to intimidate impending victims over the phone. Warzone alludes to these features by including the iconic blade in a new Finishing Move and a cordless phone Weapon Charm, and there's more room for Scream Easter eggs in Warzone from there.
Call of Duty: Warzone has been no stranger to crossovers of every kind since it took the industry by storm a couple of years ago, and the return of The Haunting shows this attitude won't go away anytime soon. For horror fans around the world, the addition of Ghostface should make for a great new way to run around the battlefield. Considering how each Warzone match is a constant battle for survival, it's more than appropriate that Ghostface comes in to give players one more thing to be afraid of.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
