Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Campaigns in the Call of Duty series can often be distilled down to a series of setpieces, clichéd villains, telegraphed twists, and ridiculous monologues punctuated with excessive explosions. In Infinite Warfare, you still get some of all that, but if you’re not careful you might also find yourself shedding a solitary tear for the brave soldiers and their sacrifices in the brutal war against the Settlement Defense Front. While the characters are cut right from archetypal cloth, real empathetic weight seeps through the story from beginning to end. Nothing is lost in terms of gunplay or the big moments, either; you still have a diverse roster of weapons to choose from, and the shooting is on-point.

Surprisingly, Game of Throne’s Kit Harington as a critical commander of the enemy forces is the one notable misstep in the cast, as he fails to create tension or animosity as an antagonistic presence. Other characters, like the robot-soldier Ethan are surprising in a good way, as often the wisecracking sidekick trope is the stuff of annoying nightmares, but he’s handled masterfully and ends up stealing every scene he’s in.

Along with the solid boots-on-the-ground combat the franchise is known for, Infinite Warfare features flight missions in your jet-like Jackal that task you with shooting down other fighters, taking out enemy starships with cannons, and placing flares at the right moment to avoid enemy missiles. This isn’t some tacked-on gimmick just to add a wrinkle to the established conventions, and I enjoyed many intense moments dodging debris while attempting to get a lock on enemy ace pilots. You also venture into the void of space without your ship during several segments, providing a taste of zero-gravity combat to go with the rest of the in-space meal. While the zero-gravity combat is a good deal less compelling than the rush of adrenaline the Jackal fights provide, it doesn’t feel forced or out of place.

Weaponry feels rooted in realism, despite adding energy weapons and other elaborate future design tech to the mix. The weapon tech is somewhat dialed back from the flashy laser beams and other futuristic fare found in other recent Call of Duty titles. The mobility suite mirrors Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, offering boosted jumps, slides, and wall-running, and these elements are again more of an accent than essential. Mobility seems to almost hearken back to much older games in the franchise, with these elements mainly providing some alternate traversal options on maps. As I vastly prefer a slower experience to the frenetic pacing of Advanced Warfare, the pace of combat here suited me quite well.