You can always rely on Call of Duty to provide sturdy multiplayer shooting with a dumb but fun campaign thrown in. This year is no different, although many critics do agree that it may be time for a complete franchise reinvention – something that probably isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
This year’s campaign has been praised for its story, and most found that the campagin’s 5-6 hour runtime prevents it from overstaying its welcome. The Zombies mode, too, has been praised – some even found it to be Infinity Warfare’s highlight. As for traditional MP, it sounds like it’s business as usual. As EGM pointed out though, the addition of microtransactions in MP is a tad worrying.
Eurogamer’s review is still a few days away. They’ve provided their campaign impressions in the meantime, which aren’t too positive. “Given how much stress Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s script lays on the idea of sacrifice, it’s deflating, though hardly out of character for this series, that the campaign is so risk-averse†they said.
They then continued: “Perhaps the multiplayer will save it, but so far this year’s Call of Duty feels a little dead inside.â€
On the whole though, reception is mostly decent. Take a look for yourself:
5/5 – Impulse Gamer: “Call of Duty Infinite Warfare is another first person shooter in this overcrowded market but what it offers is one of the most unique experiences of this genre in 2016 which includes exceptional gameplay, a fantastic story and truly riveting multiplayer”
9.0 – God is a Geek: “A great cast and brilliant acting is no good without a solid plot though, and it’s easy to be cynical when you think of Infinite Warfare as COD IN SPACE, but Infinity Ward have pulled out all the stops with the storyline this year”
9.0 – GameInformer: “The campaign is slightly more challenging than recent Call of Duty titles, but optional unlocks from side missions provide assistance. Multiplayer is easy to jump right into, and the Zombies mode is much more accessible than the hardcore version in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3”
8.5 – Polygon: “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare offers one of the best campaigns the series has provided, with stellar writing and varied environments. While that level of ingenuity didn’t transfer over to multiplayer and Zombies, taken as an entire package, Infinite Warfare is a standout effort whose biggest sin is not trying to reinvent the wheel at every turn”
8/10 – GameSpot: “While no Call of Duty game has matched the comprehensive excellence of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the exploits of Reyes and Ethan are at least as memorable and moving as any deeds from “Soap†MacTavish and John Price during from the series’ heyday”
8.0 – Post Arcade: “This stunning visual depiction of space – among the very best I’ve seen in games – went a long way toward me accepting and eventually enjoying the kind of campy campaign”
80 – Xbox Achievements: “We’ll be damned if Infinity Ward hasn’t gone and pulled it out of the bag this year. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is yet another delectable dollop of shooty blockbuster entertainment that somehow manages to exceed expectations. Yes, it hasn’t really come all that far and no, Infinity Ward hasn’t reinvented the wheel. But as Call of Duty experiences go, Infinite Warfare hits the mark”
4/5 – Attack of the Fanboy: “The multiplayer remains true to its roots, even with the big shift in setting. And Zombies is the highlight of the experience in a lot of ways, offering a great co-op experience. All together, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is a winner. It just might not be the biggest winner the series has had”
4/5 – GamesRadar: “It’s not quite a complete reinvention for the series but Infinite Warfare makes some refreshing changes to deliver a confident and exciting shooter”
7/10 – Destructoid: “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare does just enough to stay above the curve and somewhat make up for the appropriately soulless Ghosts. The zombies team did an incredible job with Spaceland, and the multiplayer still ticks all of the right boxes with an ample locomotion system that has since been surpassed by Titanfall. But if you were expecting anything totally new, including the non-inventive space campaign, look elsewhere. Or, look directly to the inside of your slipcase and enter the code for Modern Warfare Remastered”
7.0 – EGM: “Infinite Warfare is one step forward; two steps back for Call of Duty. The multiplayer is still fun, but suspect microtransactions have left me wary. The campaign also gets more wrong than right with shoddy storytelling overshadowing the usually tight FPS gameplay. At the very least, we got a Zombies experience comparable to what we’ve seen in the past—and Modern Warfare Remastered was a fun stroll down memory lane”
7/10 – TheSixthAxis: “The campaign is a good and refreshing twist of putting you in command and having you dogfighting in space, and Zombies is the most accessible rendition of the mode yet, but turn to the multiplayer, the beating heart of any COD game and we’ve been here before”
2.5/5 – Time: “An assemblage of hits and misses, that’s the measure of this year’s Call of Duty”