This past Monday (5/2), Infinity Ward released the reveal trailer for the next game in the Call of Duty franchise. The next title, Infinite Warfare, has everything from an enormous robot grappling with a tank to combat in space. I highly suggest watching the trailer before reading this article, though. I personally felt excited and disappointed by the ‘gameplay’ that was displayed in the trailer. Having been a critic of basically every single Call of Duty game since Black Ops I can safely say that I know exactly how to break down and tear to shred dozens of aspects of the series since that title. Yet, Infinite Warfare already looks to be the best title in the franchise since 2010’s Black Ops. Here is why: the description for the YouTube trailer reads as followed – “Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare returns to the roots of the franchise where large-scale war and cinematic, immersive military storytelling take center stage. Prepare for a gripping war story in which players fight against the Settlement Defense Front to defend our very way of life.”
The combat shown, regardless if it is cinematic or actual gameplay, looks very different from every single kind of set piece shown in a Call of Duty game since Modern Warfare 3. The scale of the engagement displayed during the surprise attack that encompasses the majority of the beginning of the trailer is reminiscent of the Khe Sanh level in Black Ops or the battle for Washington D.C. in Modern Warfare 2. Every other game after Modern Warfare 3 began to solely depend on the cinematic feel of small scale raid like missions in which the player is always apart of some sort of elite pre-madonna squad. Black Ops, on the other hand, threw the player into large scale engagements such as the Khe Sanh level, a historic battle that was tremendous in scale. Modern Warfare 2 had the player put on the boots of an Army Ranger, a role that is specialized but nowhere near as flashy as a DEVGRU operator, and thrust them into WW3 against the Russians. Sure Call of Duty: Ghosts had the player fight some form of a South American Coalition but it still was bogged down by flashy raids and hit and run missions. The Call of Duty franchises roots are in LARGE SCALE SET-PIECES, like the D-Day level in Call of Duty 2 or the Battle for Berlin in World at War; not specialized teams of cybernetically augmented super soldiers (leave that for Halo & Doom).
The sheer scale of Infinite Warfare is directly conveyed through the player characters entering into a aircraft that flies above the battlefield and into SPACE. Although I am not a fan of the level of dependency the series is now focusing on science fiction elements, I am glad that it no longer appears that this title will be a running and jumping simulator like the past two titles. For all intensive purposes, Advanced Warfare & Black Ops 3 felt like steps in the wrong direction for the franchise. Faster combat isn’t always better. It is already evident due to the character models found in the Infinite Warfare trailer that the ridiculous mec-suit/augmentation cliche has been ditched for more genuine combat. I welcome this with open arms, the series almost felt like a self-aware satire of itself in most recent entries.
The opportunity for completely different set pieces, set in space to this scale will be something to look forward to. Sure Call of Duty:Ghosts had this but it was to a much, much smaller scale. The lack of super soldier armor ad abilities actually makes me feel somewhat optimistic for the title. This game will literally take the franchise to places it has never been before. Seriously, from what can be analyzed by screenshots of the trailer the game journeys to another celestial body or planet (maybe a moon). Of course, more facts will be revealed in dear time but at the moment, I am somewhat excited for the campaign in this title. I will hold my breath before I say anything about the multiplayer that has yet to be shown off. This trailer that was filled to the brim with action and diverse set pieces along with a cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” had one last aspect to show off- Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare Remastered.
After fans have been yelling at the top of their lungs, arguably the best or second best game in the entire franchise is finally receiving the remastering it deserves. This will cost you, though. The remastered full game, multiplayer included with separate leveling and multiplayer from Infinite Warfare will cost you at the least $80. Obviously, there are more expensive versions of the game that will be for sale but if you just want to suit up in that Ghillie suit again you will have to buy Infinite Warfare along with the game you actually will play. I am not saying that Infinite Warfare will be a bad game, quite the opposite, in fact, it just so happens that you will have to pay more to feed your nostalgia. The short tidbit at the end of the trailer that actually showed gameplay from the remastered version of Call of Duty 4 had me the most excited through and through. Gamers can expect both Infinite Warfare & Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered on November 4, this fall.
