Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is a 2016 first-person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the thirteenth installment in the Call of Duty series and was released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on November 4, 2016.
Development of Infinite Warfare began during 2014. It is the first title by Infinity Ward under the new three-year development cycle for the Call of Duty series. The game's campaign is centered around a war for the Solar System, which the Settlement Defense Front, a hostile force who are the main antagonists, are attempting to take over. The player takes control of Lieutenant Nick Reyes of the Special Combat Air Recon. They have their own transforming fighter, named "Jackal", that they can customize as well as a central hub ship named Retribution.
Infinite Warfares announcement trailer was noted for its strong negative reaction; at the time, it was the second-most disliked video on YouTube. Commentators attributed this to Call of Duty fans expressing frustration at the sci-fi direction the series had taken, specifically that the game and its predecessors had futuristic settings. Special editions of Infinite Warfare were released with a remastered version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.
The game received generally positive reviews upon release, receiving praise for its gameplay, characters, and Zombies mode, but criticism for its multiplayer mode, while its single-player campaign received mixed opinions. Nevertheless, retrospective reviewers have praised the campaign as one of Call of Duty finest, while criticizing the multiplayer mode. It has generally been placed below the top 10 on lists ranking the series' games. It was named as Best Shooter at E3 by Game Informer and was nominated for several awards. While Infinite Warfare underperformed in sales compared to previous Call of Duty titles, it was both the top-selling game in the US and UK in November 2016.
Gameplay
Campaign
Similar to the previous games in the series, Infinite Warfare is a first-person shooter. As the game introduces a new setting, outer space, new gameplay mechanics, such as zero-gravity environments, are included. Players are equipped with a boost pack, and a grappling hook, which allow players to move in these zero-gravity environments easily. As the game is set in space, players can visit different planets, satellites and asteroids in the Solar System.Assuming control of Captain Nick Reyes, a Tier 1 Special Operations pilot, players engage in aerial combat with enemies using his transforming fighter, the Jackal. Aerial combat is not on-rail, as players can freely control the Jackal with few limitations. According to Infinity Ward, both space combat, and the franchise's signature "boots-on-the-ground" gameplay are the game's key focuses. Transition between space combat and boots-on-the-ground combat is seamless with no loading screen.
Players gain access to Retribution, a central hub world. In Retribution, players can view their progression, and start main campaign missions, and secondary quests called "Ship Assaults" which gives them cosmetic and customization items, upgrades to the Jackal, as well as new story details. Reyes also has a wrist computer, which allows him to hack into enemies' gadgets and machines such as robots. It can also be used to call in reinforcements at some campaign scenarios. The game also features two new difficulty modes, Specialist and #YOLO, unlockable after initial completion of the campaign. In the former mode, health regeneration does not occur without Nano Shots, and weapons can be shot out from players' hands. Reyes' movement will be hindered if his legs are shot by enemies. In the latter mode, which also implements the same features from Specialist, when players die, they need to restart the game rather than restarting from checkpoints.
Multiplayer
Infinite Warfare introduces a major overhaul to the class system called the "Combat Rigs". Similar to the Specialist system in Black Ops III, there are six rigs in total, being Warfighter, Merc, FTL, Stryker, Phantom and Synaptic. All of which have different payloads, weapons, abilities and playstyles. For example, the Synaptic rig is designed for players who prefer to run and gun, while the Phantom rig is suited for players who want to play stealthily. Players can also gain access to several persistent perks, known as "Traits", which give players advantages in certain combat situations. Additionally, the game retains the chain-based momentum movement system of Black Ops III, allowing players to perform thrust jumps, sliding, and wallrunning.The game features hundreds of both primary and secondary weapons. Players can gain access to several types of weapons, including traditional ballistic weapons and melee weapons, futuristic energy weapons, and different kinds of grenades, such as the Seeker Grenade and the Black Hole Grenade. Players can add attachments on them to enhance their efficiency. The game also introduces a new weapon crafting system. In a multiplayer match, players earn "Salvage" points, which can be consumed to purchase Prototype Weapons, variants of existing in-game weapons. For each gun, there are four types of prototypes, classified into four groups, namely Common, Rare, Legendary and Epic, all of which grant players gameplay advantages known as the "Gun Perks". Scorestreaks return in Infinite Warfare for players who have earned sufficient points in a match. Scoresteaks offer players perks such as the ability to deploy UAV and counter-UAV, and the ability to summon a R-C8 robot, an armored robot designed to defend the player and kill other opponents.
Zombies
The game also features a cooperative multiplayer Zombies mode, which has its own gameplay mechanics and story, separate from the campaign. The mode is designed to be more accessible to new players, with new features such as sharing points and teambuy doors, as well as keeping the core gameplay of the mode intact, such as perks and power-ups. A new feature, Fate and Fortune Cards, is introduced similarly to the Gobblegums in Call of Duty: Black Ops III; the cards offer temporary boosts in-game to the players, but unlike Gobblegums they are activated through point earning, and players can select any of the five cards they have equipped at any time, not one at a time like the Gobblegum machine. After initial use of five cards, players can refill their card deck for a price up to two times in a match. Unlike the campaign and multiplayer modes, Zombies is not themed in space combat, and retains the normal movement system.Synopsis
Characters and settings
Infinite Warfare takes place in the distant future after Earth's natural resources are exhausted due to population growth and industry. Nations unite to form the United Nations Space Alliance, overseeing trade, travel, and space colonization. Earth's residents depend on colonies elsewhere in the Solar System for resources, attracting radicals who aim to control these outposts, thereby risking conflict. The Solar Associated Treaty Organization defends Earth and UNSA. Before the game, a hostile faction called the Settlement Defense Front emerges on Mars, a totalitarian group of former UNSA colonies. After years of conflict, relations worsen, risking war across the Solar System.As the newly appointed captain of the UNSA Warship Retribution, Commander Nick Reyes, a Tier 1 Special Operations pilot of the Special Combat Air Recon, is tasked to lead a crew to defeat the Settlement Defense Front on Earth, as well as journey to outer space and across other planets in the system using space-based fighter craft, referred to as Jackals, to stop the Front from taking over the entire Solar System. Assisting Reyes in the fight against the SDF are his mentor Admiral Fredrick Raines, Reyes' wingman and best friend Lieutenant Nora Salter, his robot sidekick E3N "Ethan", and the SATO Marines including Staff Sergeant Usef Omar, Corporal Sean Brooks and Private Todd Kashima. Other notable allies include Retribution Navigator Victor "Gator" Diallo, Tigris warship captain Maureen Ferran, and Retribution Chief Engineer Audrey "Mac" MaCallum. Facing Reyes and his allies in battle is the commander of the starship Olympus Mons, and leader of the SDF, Rear Admiral Salen Kotch, and his senior commander Akeel Min Riah. UFC fighter Conor McGregor makes a cameo appearance as SDF Captain Bradley Fillion, while Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton appears as Retribution Electro-technical Officer Carl Hamilton.
Campaign
Sometime in the distant future, a UNSA space forces team is sent to a secret UNSA weapons research facility on Europa where a prototype weapon is being developed, resulting in the SDF seizing the installation. The UNSA team recovers the prototype and initiates the facility's self-destruct, but are captured by the SDF and subsequently executed by Admiral Kotch.On Earth, Reyes tells Admiral Raines that the SDF attack is a declaration of war, and UNSA should respond, but Raines refuses because the leaders want to avoid escalation, especially during Fleet Week in Geneva, where all the UNSA ships are gathered. Reyes joins Salter and tests the experimental E3N for evaluation. Suddenly, SDF hijacks UNSA AATIS cannons and fires on the fleet, while an SDF force invades Geneva. Reyes fights to the AATIS control tower, disables the cannons, and captures Riah, the SDF spy. He then joins the surviving ships against the SDF fleet until the SDF flagship, Olympus Mons, arrives and destroys the ships before retreating with only two ships surviving: the carrier Retribution, where Reyes is stationed, and the destroyer Tigris.
Upon landing on the Retribution, Reyes learns that both the ship's captain and the executive officer were killed in battle, making him the highest-ranking officer and its de facto captain. Admiral Raines promotes Reyes to commander and orders him to retake the cargo port on the Moon from the SDF. After liberating the Moon, Reyes is tasked with delaying the SDF until the UNSA can rebuild its fleet. He can then undertake optional missions to attack key SDF targets and a refueling tower on Titan, crippling the SDF's fuel supply. Reyes and Ethan nearly perish during the latter mission, but are rescued by the Tigris. Later, he investigates a disturbance at an asteroid mining station near Mercury, only to find it was a diversion while the SDF destroys the Tigris, leaving the Retribution as the only remaining UNSA ship.
Learning that Riah is carrying a beacon meant to signal the main SDF fleet to invade Earth, Reyes devises a plan to use the beacon to lure the SDF fleet right into the still-operational AATIS guns. The plan backfires when Riah escapes, destroys the AATIS guns, and kills himself to trigger the beacon. The SDF arrives, and the Olympus Mons destroys the UNSA headquarters, killing Admiral Raines.
With no other options, Reyes boards and seizes the Olympus Mons. Enraged, Kotch sets his ship to self-destruct, aiming to destroy Geneva and weaken SATO. Reyes fights to the bridge, kills Kotch, and stops the self-destruct. He then takes the Olympus Mons and Retribution to Mars, planning to destroy the SDF's orbital shipyard and fleet. The Olympus Mons is heavily damaged, with weapons unusable. Reyes orders it to ram the shipyard, causing the Retribution to also sustain damage and drift into the Olympus Mons flight path. Both ships crash onto Mars, leaving the shipyard intact.
Reyes, realizing they cannot return to Earth, rallies the Retribution crew for a final desperate attack on the shipyard. Most are killed, but Reyes, Salter, Ethan, and a few others reach the shipyard, commandeer a destroyer whose weapons are disabled and mooring clamps locked. Ethan sacrifices himself to destroy the moorings, while Reyes unlocks the weapons and orders Salter to destroy the shipyard. Salter reluctantly opens fire, ejecting Reyes into space. Reyes watches the shipyard explode before shrapnel punctures his suit, causing him to suffocate.
Later, the UNSA honors Reyes and the Retribution crew for destroying the SDF shipyard, calling it a decisive victory that wiped out the SDF. Salter, one of only four survivors who managed to make it back to Earth, salutes a Geneva war memorial listing all UNSA soldiers killed, including Reyes.