Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Reviews
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare occasionally rubs elbows with the best moments of its predecessors, but too much tedium and half-baked multiplayer make this one hard to recommend.
It may not take Call of Duty to the heights of its galactic setting, but Infinite Warfare is out of this world.
A series showing its age by refusing to evolve
Call of Duty Infinite Warfare is another first person shooter in this overcrowded market but what it offers is one of the most unique experiences of this genre in 2016 which includes exceptional gameplay, a fantastic story and truly riveting multiplayer. It’s definitely my favourite Call of Duty to date and Infinity Ward hasn’t pulled any punches when it came to the creation of this game. At times, the single-player is quite emotional and even bittersweet to an extent but where it excels is through its powerful narrative, direction and excellent cast. So once you’ve finished the excellent single-player campaign, you’ve got hours upon hours of multiplayer fun left to take you well into 2017.
Call of Duty Infinite Warfare is the most disappointing multiplayer shooter I’ve played in recent memory because it has too many poorly balanced mechanics and systems to create an enjoyable arcade shooter experience
In the end, I thought Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was two things: a triumphant return to form for Infinity Ward, but also a return to safety and sameness in at least two of the three pillars. Multiplayer, while solid and highly replayable, is fraught with deja vu and I have concerns that some of the OP, built-in gun perks will devolve this into pay-to-win.
We'll be damned if Infinity Ward hasn't gone and pulled it out of the bag this year. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is yet another delectable dollop of shooty blockbuster entertainment that somehow manages to exceed expectations. Yes, it hasn't really come all that far and no, Infinity Ward hasn't reinvented the wheel. But as Call of Duty experiences go, Infinite Warfare hits the mark.
Overall, I found Infinite Warfare as a solid first step for the Call of Duty franchise as it heads into space, and is certainly worth checking out for the gameplay alone.
At the highest points, Call of Duty has evoked the flavors of films like Sicario. They show you the shape of things, and they present a messy world that soldiers make their way through. Sadly, the narrative of Infinite Warfare is closer to something like White House Down, a series of black and white tropes that merely tell us the same stuff that we knew already: we’re good, the enemies are bad, and we can murder the world into the shape we want it to be.
The multiplayer isn’t deeply flawed, it’s just boringly safe. We’ve had this movement system for three years, and there are better implementations of it in and outside of the franchise. The maps aren’t particularly well designed and the RIG system isn’t all that dissimilar to Specialists from Black Ops III, but needlessly makes loadouts more complicated without improving them. Matchmaking is atrocious and desperately needs to be fixed. Early in my online career, as a lowly level 5, I was constantly matched with players well above my rank. It’s impossible to compete against well-drilled teams with considerably better weapons, and that happened on a consistent basis. Even worse is imbalanced teams. I’ve been in too many objective matches that begin as four against six. By the time the teams have been balanced, which takes way too long, the result is known.
Very strong start to the Season Pass offering. Infinity Ward not only give fans another great zombie scenario inspired by 90s movies and music culture but also some great multiplayer maps.
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The single player campaign is the freshest and most exciting Call of Duty has been in years. It's at its best when it veers away from the series staples and genuinely tries new things. Conversely, its multiplayer isn't - essentially rehashing last year's effort. Zombies? Well, it's Call of Duty Zombies, only with an 80's makeover.
Outside of the innovative campaign, Infinite Warfare plays it safe by cloning and tweaking what’s worked in the past with multiplayer and Zombies, which makes neither really seem like products of Infinity Ward. Gameplay imbalance in multiplayer, with arguably more powerful weapon variants available in loot boxes, is a real concern, as is current map design and spawn logic promoting far too many instances of being shot in the back. Depending on where you place your weight, there’s a dichotomy of value from this package. The campaign and Zombies are definitely worth playing, but the multiplayer is as likely to leave people feeling frustrated as it is to see a fair and fun match, especially with so many other shooter options that have upped the ante out there.
I’m genuinely saddened that Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer doesn’t stack up to previous entries, as every year I look forward to jumping back into Call of Duty and spending a good few months shooting up stuff. The fact that another game comes in the box that is better than Infinite Warfare in almost every way is pretty damning. It's still one of the best shooters ever made, but a game that has come out a decade later should still be able to compete.
Though Call of Duty has made itself comfortable in the far future a few times already, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare puts everything in a new perspective.
In any other year, we’d probably be more in awe of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. But in 2016’s heavily contested battleground, its just one powerful combatant among many.
As a complete package, Infinite Warfare is a good game. Though I wasn’t sold on the futuristic setting for the campaign, it still showed promise for the future of the franchise when it comes to storytelling and character development.
A beautiful campaign is marred by an underwhelming story, but with solid multiplayer and Zombies to boot, there's plenty to like about Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is the definition of a decent game. It’s fun in short doses and will keep you amused for just long enough to make you feel like you got your [money]’s worth. That said, it’s definitely a step back from last year’s Black Ops III, which impressed in almost every regard, and despite being packed with features, modes, and more futuristic fanfare than any Call of Duty before it, a world of laser guns and space battles might not be where the franchise’s time is best spent.