Call Of Duty

We sit down and review Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare. It's the next big addition to the franchise that takes us into space. Here's our review of Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare

It's been another year and just as we've had every year for a while now we have a new addition into the Call Of Duty franchise with Infinite Warfare. We see Infinity Ward again at the helm of the franchise with this title and they are looking to push forward with not only the game engine and visuals but also the game's world as we are now taking flight into space. Not only with the story but also many other aspects of Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare. We had the chance to give the game a play and again we focused on the single player campaign with a multiplayer focus coming soon. Here's our review of how the solo play all played out for us.

Story

The Earth has progressed though time and so have the humans that live on the planet. So far that Earth has become a horrible place to live and the humans have moved on to other planets like Mars to inhabit and terraform. Sadly though, it seems like they are being treated like a horrible stepchild in the mix here and they have had enough. They are fighting back and lashing out at the planet that sent them to the red planet without supper and we are here to make sure that the base population are not all murdered for the choice of the few. Can we do it? Should we do it? Let's find out.

Hated

I have been a huge fan of the Call Of Duty franchise for some time now. I've even loved the games in the mix that most found to be the worst. That's why it pains me to see Infinite Warfare has deviated from the path so far that this doesn't feel at all like a game that fits in the franchise. It quickly became a space flight simulator with combat and lost the parts of the franchise that I loved; actually first person shooting. I get that Activision would want the title to try and take the franchise down a fresh path but seeing as the space combat gained more of the focus than anything else I don't see this as being the way to do it. If I wanted a flight combat game I'd go with the other established ones while keeping with Call Of Duty for amazing first person shooting.

Kind of building from this too would be the "upgrade" system that was mentioned in the game but I could never find it to save my life. Outside of the few terminals hidden throughout the game's world, which was what was spoken of I assume, I was constantly told I had upgrades available but could never actually get to do anything with them. Just the annoying popup window saying it and then no indication of what or how to progress on. I am pretty sure that the hidden terminals were the only way to go but given that I was constantly reminded of it I always had a feeling there was some other way I was missing out on. It was like a huge tease that I never got to see and it was most likely a case of poor information dissemination more than anything.

My last huge gripe with Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare might stem from the above issue but it also felt like all of the weapons were pretty much the same and there was a true lack of variety in firepower. Sure they all killed the same enemies and helped press everything right along, but there was nothing I could get excited to swap to or to want to keep using in the game. In fact, the add-on gadgets had a bit more variety to it all and were more impressive in the long run. I remember when there was purpose behind each and now they all just felt like a different skin on the same gun throughout the whole game. Maybe I missed something but even so, that doesn't bode well for the overall game.

Loved

I do have to say that Infinity Ward is pressing the visuals and capture of video games in the right direction with Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare. At least in terms of all the little things that lend to a story and game's world look and feeling real. Again the visuals, motion capture, and voice work were all top notch here and in this aspect I see them taking the true flight up. Even when it came to the other world items in the game they were able to excel. Now if only the other IPs that Activision runs could take the same page from their book we could see a lot of amazing looking titles flowing on out and hopefully with some amazing stories and gameplay mixed right in. With this, keep up the good work.

Another interesting thing here was the deviation from the normal linear path that Call Of Duty takes us down during the game. At first I was a bit iffy on the approach but once I began digging into all of the side missions and main missions as I felt was the correct path I soon saw how perfectly design and fitting it was for the overall game. I was able to choose which planets and outposts were met with freedom and not forced down one path. This brings in the whole real world strategy into the Call Of Duty in my eyes. I will say it would have been nice to see some real repercussions from the chosen paths I took but baby steps need to be taken some times and at least we have something different than the usual paths we are always forced down.

Lastly, and it will kind of tie into the above gripe of the FPS, it was nice to see that Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare was also willing to take a chance with a new form of gameplay while a lot of the other items felt like additions from other games. Was it perfect? Not to me. Was it something new to try and give us all a better experience? Yes and that is what I am glad to see. I am speaking directly on the space flight portion of the game here again. While it didn't fit in well with the rest of the game there is no denying that it was at least an attempt at something new for the franchise. Had it been introduced a little smoother and maybe not hammered in I think it all would have been on my loved list. The controls and combat were fun to play with and I don't want to downplay that. It just needed to be brought in smoother and then it would have hit home.

Overview

As I mentioned above, I am a huge fan of the Call Of Duty franchise and still am. I won't deny having fun with Infinite Warfare here but I won't lie and say it is a cup of tea that is for everyone out there who loves the franchise. New things were tried and new things failed. In terms of the single player game it doesn't feel like a FPS here and this will be more off-putting to a lot of gamers out there. It also felt like a few things were just recycled here too. Don't let that dissuade you though as it did have a few shining moments mixed in. Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare is going to be one of those titles here that you are going to have to judge on your own from what we have here as I know I would tell certain of you to leave it be and others to go out and give it a try. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground so take my words as you will.

I give Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare 15 Scanned Guns on the Scanned Gun scale.

Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 4^th, 2016. A digital PS4 copy of the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes.