Call of Duty Infinite Warfare is a 2016 first-person shootervideo 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 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, 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 battle for the Solar System, which the Settlement Defense Front (SDF), 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 (SCAR). They have their own transforming fighter, named “Jackal”, that they can customize as well as a central hub ship named Retribution.
Infinite Warfare‘s announcement trailer was noted for its strong negative reaction; it was the second-most disliked video on YouTube at the time. Commentators attributed this to a botting campaign by both fans of rival game Battlefield 1 as well as Call of Duty fans expressing frustration at the direction the series had taken, specifically that the game and its predecessors had futuristic settings.[2] Nevertheless, the game received generally positive reviews upon release; critics praised the single-player campaign, which was seen as a considerable improvement over that of Black Ops III, the greater player freedom approach in missions, Zombies mode, visuals, and design, while the multiplayer mode was criticized for its lack of innovation. It was named as Best shooter at E3 by Game informer and was nominated by several awards, winning one of them. Infinite Warfare underperformed in sales compared to previous Call of Duty titles, though Infinite Warfare was the top-selling game in the US in November 2016.
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.[3][4][5] 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.[6]
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.[7] 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,[8] Transition between space combat and boots-on-the-ground combat is seamless with no loading screen.[9]
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.[10][11] 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.[6] 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 would 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.[12]
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.[13]
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”.[14] 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.[15]
Zombies
The game also features a cooperative multiplayer Zombies mode, which has its own gameplay mechanics and story, separate from the campaign.[8] 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.
Plot
Campaign
Characters and settings
Kit Harington plays the story’s main antagonist, Rear Admiral Salen Kotch.
Infinite Warfare is set in the distant future, after Earth has been stripped of its natural resources as a result of population growth and industrial expansion, prompting the nations of the world to unite and form the United Nations Space Alliance (UNSA), a political organization that handles matters related to trade, travel, land claims and all efforts relating to human space colonization. The residents of Earth rely on colonies established elsewhere in the Solar System in order to mine planets and asteroids for resources. The value of these outposts, however, attracts militant radicals who seek to control them; an action which could place the countries of Earth in a very unfavorable position. In response, the UNSA is defended by the Solar Associated Treaty Organization (SATO), a coordinated military structure that defends Earth and the UNSA’s holdings.[11] Prior to the events of the game, a new hostile faction emerges on Mars, calling themselves the Settlement Defense Front (SDF), a totalitarian government consisting of former UNSA colonies that broke away during a previous war of secession. Following years of a troubled stalemate with the Front, relations have deteriorated to a point where the entire Solar System is poised on the brink of war. Believing the UNSA to be “undeserving” of controlling the rest of the solar system, the SDF declares war on the UNSA and launches a surprise attack on Geneva, crippling SATO’s forces on Earth.
As the newly appointed captain of the UNSA Warship Retribution, Commander Nick Reyes (Brian Bloom), a Tier 1 Special Operations pilot of the Special Combat Air Recon (SCAR), 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.[11] Assisting Reyes in the fight against the SDF are his mentor Admiral Fredrick Raines (John Marshall Jones), Reyes’ wingman and best friend Lieutenant Nora Salter (Jamie Gray Hyder), his robot sidekick E3N “Ethan” (Jeffrey Nordling), and the SATO Marines including Staff Sergeant Usef Omar (David Harewood), Corporal Sean Brooks (Jason Barry) and Private Todd Kashima (Eric Ladin). Other notable allies include Retribution Navigator Victor “Gator” Diallo (Omid Abtahi), Tigris warship captain Maureen Ferran (Claudia Christian), and Retribution Chief Engineer Audrey “Mac” MaCallum (Claudia Black). Facing Reyes and his allies in battle is the commander of the starship Olympus Mons, and leader of the SDF, Rear Admiral Salen Kotch (Kit Harington), and his senior commander Akeel Min Riah (Jim Pirri).[16]UFC fighter Conor McGregor makes a cameo appearance as SDF Captain Bradley Fillion, while Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton appears as Retribution Electro-technical Officer Carl Hamilton.
Plot
In the far future, a UNSA special forces team is sent to a secret UNSA weapons research facility on Europa to investigate a SDF attack and recover a UNSA weapon prototype before initiating the facility’s self-destruct. The team is able to destroy the facility, but fail to recover the weapon and are captured by the SDF, where they are subsequently executed by one of the SDF’s main commanders, Admiral Kotch.
On Earth, Reyes warns Admiral Raines that the SDF attack is tantamount to a declaration of war and that the UNSA should be preparing a counterattack. However, Admiral Raines explains that the UNSA’s leaders do not want to escalate the situation, especially during the Fleet Week celebrations where the entire UNSA fleet gathers at Geneva. During the celebrations, he links up with his wingman Salter as well as his new robotic subordinate E3N “Ethan”. Suddenly, the UNSA’s defense cannons begin to open fire on the UNSA fleet, decimating many ships as an SDF assault force invades Geneva. Reyes manages to fight his way to the AATIS control tower, where he manages to shut down the AATIS cannons and apprehend Riah, the SDF spy responsible for sabotaging them. Reyes then accompanies the surviving UNSA ships into orbit where they destroy the attacking SDF fleet. The SDF’s flagship, the Olympus Mons, suddenly arrives and destroys more UNSA ships before it is forced to retreat, leaving only two operational UNSA ships: the carrier Retribution 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, leaving him as the highest-ranking officer of the ship and its de facto captain. Admiral Raines promotes Reyes to commander and then tasks him retaking the cargo port on the Moon from the SDF. After successfully liberating the Moon, Reyes is given the mission to delay the SDF for as long as possible until the UNSA can rebuild its fleet. At this point, Reyes can embark on a number of optional missions to attack key SDF targets. Eventually, Reyes manages to destroy a strategic refueling tower on Titan, crippling the SDF’s fuel supply. Later, he is sent to investigate 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 sole 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. Unfortunately, the plan goes awry when Riah escapes, destroys the AATIS guns, and kills himself to trigger the beacon. The main SDF arrives and the Olympus Mons destroys UNSA headquarters, killing Admiral Raines.
With no other options, Reyes uses the opportunity to board and commandeer the Olympus Mons. He manages to battle his way to the bridge and kill Admiral Kotch. He then has the Olympus Mons travel back to Mars, where he intends to use the ship to destroy the SDF’s orbital shipyard and cripple their fleet in return. While the Olympus Mons and Retribution manage to destroy many SDF ships, the Olympus Mons is damaged to the point its weapons are inoperable, and with few other options, Reyes orders it to ram the shipyard. Unfortunately, the Retribution also suffers damage and drifts into the Olympus Mons‘s flight path, forcing Reyes to order the ship to divert. Both warships crash onto the surface of Mars with the shipyard still intact.
Realizing that there is no way for them to get back to Earth alive, Reyes rallies the survivors of the Retribution crew and leads them on one final, desperate assault on the shipyard. Most of the surviving crew are killed in the fighting, but Salter manages to commandeer an SDF destroyer. However, its weapons are disabled and the mooring clamps are locked. Ethan sacrifices himself to destroy the moorings while Reyes activates the destroyer’s weapons and orders Salter to destroy the station, despite him being on it. Salter reluctantly opens fire, ejecting Reyes into space. His last sight is seeing the SDF shipyard explode before shrapnel from the explosion punctures his suit, causing him to suffocate.
Some time later, the UNSA honors Reyes and the Retribution crew’s heroic sacrifice, stating that their destruction of the SDF shipyard was a decisive victory and that the SDF has been all but destroyed as a result. Salter, who is one of only four survivors from the Retribution, salutes a war memorial in Geneva listing the names of all of the UNSA soldiers who died in the conflict, including Reyes.
During the credits, the posthumous recorded messages of some of the deceased Retribution crew may be heard.
