Underrated and Underappreciated | Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

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Critically, Infinite Warfare isn’t doing that badly, and if I were to assign the game a numerical value, it would be a solid 9. But every time a clip turns up on my Xbox Activity Feed or I watch a YouTube video the comments seem to be filled with people declaring Call of Duty dead, or informing everyone else that the game is terrible.

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by Liam
​Andrews

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​@pass_controller

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Call of Duty has always attracted more than its fair share of contempt – a steady stream of releases and mainstream popularity will do that – but the hate directed towards Infinite Warfare seems a bit unfair in my eyes, as it’s actually a really enjoyable shooter.
 
But firstly, I think I owe Chris an apology for my ill-advised ‘old man’ jibe, as Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer is a completely different animal to those of Call of Duty games released pre-2010, and I just couldn’t keep up with the other players like I used to.

There was one mode, however, in which I wasn’t constantly cannon fodder for everyone else, called Frontline. This mode keeps spawn points locked to each side of the map, so you always have a good idea from where the opposing team is coming from, and it really helped negate the constant threat of being killed from every direction. Plus, anyone trying to sneak into your ‘base’ is helpfully highlighted in orange.
 
While it’s not the all-consuming multiplayer experience of the Modern Warfare series, or even World at War, it’s a decent way to kill a few hours, and once you get used to the pace and find the right game mode for you, it’s not as overwhelming as it first appears.

Don’t let the negative comments surrounding the game put you off; give Infinite Warfare the chance it deserves, you won’t be disappointed.

The biggest chunk of my twenty or so hours spent on the game, however, have been in the single player campaign. The last Call of Duty game I played to completion was Modern Warfare 3, which was a bit of a let-down after the terrific entries that came before it, but I thoroughly enjoyed Infinite Warfare’s solo effort.
 
While most people lambasted Infinity Ward for choosing to go with a futuristic setting - a theatre which has been well trodden by shooters in recent years, especially by Call of Duty - I thought the far-flung setting was a good opportunity to mix things up and introduce some innovative features to the series, which is why I picked the game ahead the other big FPS titles out there.
 
And as it turns out my faith was well rewarded, as the campaign is a gripping, action filled affair, boasting the kind of ‘lived in’ future I prefer, as opposed to sleek designs and figure hugging spacesuits. Yes, the SetDef are a little on the nose (we get it, they hate freedom) but the story is, for the most part, well-written and performed, with some decent set-pieces and impressive locations.
 
The pacing of the missions is spot on; one moment you could be fighting your way through the confines of an enemy carrier, the next you're jumping into a Jackal fighter for a dogfight in space. It’s excellent stuff, and there’s even a surprisingly tense stealth mission and some very cool zero-g combat thrown into the mix for good measure.

The extra difficulty of Specialist Mode means there’s plenty of replay value too, and having to consider gameplay impacting flesh wounds and inventory management (albeit on a small scale) makes the game more tactical, and a little reminiscent of the Operation Flashpoint series.
 
Optional side missions further flesh out the experience, earning new equipment and perks which help turn battles in your favour. In total, there’s a very generous tally of 31 solo missions to pick from. There’s even a Mass Effect style map from which you select your next mission, and like the Normandy’s galaxy map, it offers up a little extra backstory on some of the locations, which is a nice touch.

​Infinity Ward have also done a decent job of filling the Retribution with a likeable cast of supporting characters, some of which are up there with the likes of Soap and Price, and I couldn’t help but get a little choked up when a few of them inevitably met their end (this is a Call of Duty game after all).
 
As for zombies, it seems fun enough, but for me that game mode reached its peak in the World at War map, Der Riese, which struck a decent balance between experimentation and picking your spot and defending it until the bloody end.
 
There’s probably a lot of people out there who, like myself, gave up on Call of Duty a long time ago, and have been wondering if it’s ever worth going back. If that is the case, then don’t let the negative comments surrounding the game put you off, give Infinite Warfare the chance it deserves, you won’t be disappointed.

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