Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Reviews
Infinite Warfare is very much the same slick, expensive looking/sounding, finely honed product that crops up every year, regular as clockwork. No surprises there, really. Maybe it's the COD fatigue talking, but the multiplayer just feels a bit regressive, all told, and the 'pay to win' aspect does a great job of killing any residual enthusiasm to persist with it. In direct contrast, the campaign is the real surprise here, as Infinity Ward has exceeded all expectations and delivered an action-packed sci-fi epic that elevates itself from the usual 'military contractor gone rogue' narrative that the series is known for. Zombie lover? The Hoff is in it... 'Nuff said.
Infinite Warfare features a solid campaign but its lack of innovation in multiplayer hold it back from achieving greatness.
All in all, Infinite Warfare is just about average with a few sparks here and there. The game feels a lot like the few of the other CoD titles I have tucked away on my shelf but with a few shiny upgrades. Same great mechanics, same beautiful visuals, familiar platform, and the baddest Call of Duty game since the original in Modern Warfare Remastered makes this an average title that won’t disappoint the die-hard Call of Duty fan.
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.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer will likely only appeal to the die-hard Call of Duty fans who would buy it no matter what this review says. For everyone else, it might be worth picking up on sale just to play its single-player campaign.
Infinite Warfare is one step forward; two steps back for Call of Duty. The multiplayer is still fun, but suspect microtransactions have left me wary. The campaign also gets more wrong than right with shoddy storytelling overshadowing the usually tight FPS gameplay. At the very least, we got a Zombies experience comparable to what we’ve seen in the past—and Modern Warfare Remastered was a fun stroll down memory lane.
The best single player campaign Call of Duty has produced in years provides a decent story with some really impactful moments. The set pieces are as good as ever and the cinematics look phenomenal. Zombies in Space is a nice idea and well-implemented, but will be a disappointment to hardcore fans of the mode due to its relative simplicity. Unfortunately the multiplayer is a bit of a let down. Too few changes make this feel like a rehash of Black Ops 3 and the new ideas fail to hit the mark. That beings said this is still one of the best multiplayer shooters available, and by no means is it a bad game.
You can't accuse Infinite Warfare of being light on content, but most of what's here has been seen many times before, and none of the modes represent franchise high points. Also, the multiplayer microtransactions are off-putting.
The game’s best moments use the story’s futuristic and space-bound setting to find new dramatic opportunities.
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.
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.
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.
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.
After a particularly good year for the first person shooter, Call Of Duty is not a particular stand-out, a far cry from the series must-buy status at its height.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is a mess. There is fun to be had but there it really feels like Infinity Ward really had no idea what direction they wanted to take the series in. Space battles are fun, the campaign missions are fun and the new Zombies mode is a blast, but everything else is just so mediocre that it really brings down the experience.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare delivers a strong campaign mode, and even though multiplayer and Zombies aren't as compelling, it's still one of 2016's best FPS games.
Sadly, despite setting off to explore new settings and backdrops for its blockbusting action, Infinite Warfare finds itself treading in the footsteps of others. The campaign is a good and refreshing twist of putting you in command and having you dogfighting in space, and Zombies is the most accessible rendition of the mode yet, but turn to the multiplayer, the beating heart of any COD game and we’ve been here before.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare does just enough to stay above the curve and somewhat make up for the appropriately soulless Ghosts. The zombies team did an incredible job with Spaceland, and the multiplayer still ticks all of the right boxes with an ample locomotion system that has since been surpassed by Titanfall. But if you were expecting anything totally new, including the non-inventive space campaign, look elsewhere. Or, look directly to the inside of your slipcase and enter the code for Modern Warfare Remastered.
An awkward mishmash of the innovative and the overly familiar, that in the end represents no clear step forward for the franchise.
In Summary, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has a slow start to its cinematic campaign and has an average multiplayer experience.