In comparison,theopeningsequence
ofCallofDuty:InfiniteWarfarefeels
distinctlyinelegant.Comingtothegame
thisyear,motivatedin partbyresearch
formyownsciencefictiongame,In Other
Waters,I wasonlyplayingthegameto
wanderarounditscentralspaceshiphub,
TheRetribution.I wasn’timpressedbythe
opening,startingonthesoftcurveofthe
Earthwithitsaccompanyingnarrationon
thevillainousSettlementDefenceFront,
orbybeingdumpedbehindthevisorof
oneoftheseries’near-inseparablesoldiers
(Wolf,thisoneis called)readytodrop
ontotheiceofEuropa.Therewerebloody
meleekills,synchronisedheadshotsand
everythingelseI wasexpectingfroma Call
ofDutygame,butthenminuteslaterWolf
wasdead,andsomethingnewbegan.
Twobreathlesshourslater,nowsecurely
setupin theBridgeoftheRetribution,
I understood that there was more to
thisgamethanI hadexpected,and,with
myminddriftingtothoughtsofAlien’s
openingsequence,I realisedthatagainstall
theodds,InfiniteWarfaremanagestonot
justbea serviceablescience fiction game,
buta greatoneafter all.THE‘BADONE’
Thatwasdoublysurprisingconsidering
InfiniteWarfare’sshakypedigree.Afterall,
thisis thebadCallofDuty,theonewhose
YouTubedebutwasdislikedtooblivion,the
onewherethatperniciousmilitaryphrase
“bootsontheground”cameintouseand
theonethatsold 50 percentlessthanits
seriescounterparts.AfterreleaseActivision
evendistanceditselffromitsowngame,
withCEOEricHirshbergclaiming“itjust
didn’tfeelenoughlikeCallofDuty”.It’s
alsohardnottoseeInfiniteWarfare’s
‘failure’ascontributingtothedeathofthe
Call of Duty campaign, with Black Ops 4releasingwithoutonealtogether.
Butperhaps“notfeelinglikeCallof
Duty”is whatallowsInfiniteWarfareto
aspiretosomethingelse.Aftertherote
prologue,thegameabandonstheseries’
typicalcharacterswitching,forexample,
insteadkeepingyoufirmlyin thebootsof
oneCommanderNickReyes.Thisallows
it tostringtogethera continuoussetof
missionsthatseamlesslytakeyoufrom
a grandcelebration,throughaninvasion,
intoorbit,intoa chaoticspacebattleand
thendriftingintolandontheRetribution.
Unliketheprologue,thisexhilarating
chargedoesn’tdumploreonyou,instead
it elegantlyletsyouwalkthroughit. Walk-
and-talkis thetrickhere,switchingout
cutscenesformobilemeetingsthatkeep
forwardmomentumandstayeconomical
onthedetails.Momentumis everything
in thesefirstmissions,andthereare
fewgamesthatcanmatchthesenseof
headlongpacethegamedelivers.Andin
thesetwohoursInfiniteWarfarecomesto
lifein thetransitionsit makesbetweenthe
shooting,nottheshootingitself.
Thetruestaroftheshowis thetech
thatenablesthispace.CallofDutyhas
alwayshada slightlyunsettlingobsession
withdeadlymilitarytech,butwithInfinite
Warfarethisobsessionmutatesfromweird
gun-fetishtosomethingthatmeshes
beautifullywithitssciencefictionworld.
Justasit wasRidleyScott’sfamously
detail-obsessedeyethatledhimtostart
Alienwitha lovingwanderthroughallof
hispristinelyfashionedsets,soit is Infinite
Warfare’sloveofchunky,believabletech
thatleadsit tolavishtheplayersattention
on the literal nuts and bolts of the game.AND BEYOND
INFINITEWARFARE
MANAGESTONOTJUST
BEA SERVICEABLE
SCIENCEFICTIONGAME,
BUTA GREATONE
AFTER ALL.