Call of Duty Infinite Warfare Review

Not so long ago if you said to me 'come and play some Call of Duty' The chances are I would have laughed. As far as I was concerned I was in retirement - permanently. Black Ops 2 was the last Call of Duty game to slide into my PlayStation up until the release of Infinite Warfare (IF) and Modern Warfare Remastered (MWR) in November 2016.

I was hyped for the release of Modern Warfare Remastered and not for a while had the though of playing Call of Duty been festering in my mind. As was the case with many other players, I bought Infinite Warfare because I had no other choice if I wanted the remastered version. I had no intention of playing Infinite Warfare. Boosting! Power sliding, Wall running, is that even real war?! I considered myself more of a purist having played more war realistic Call of Duty games going back to World at War in almost an addicted fashion.

The Modern Warfare series along with every Call of Duty predating those back to World at War were in my opinion the best FPS games ever released. They were consistently good and that's what matters in a good business model. Satisfying your customers. How best to satisfy them than releasing a game that is just slightly better each time. But is essentially the same game.

Call of Duty know that customers have shelf lives. At some point many people for one reason or another will quit a game or a console all together. They had to start appealing to a new audience and not just the old faithful renowned for queuing at midnight outside their local Game on November release day. The only way to do that was to evolve the game play with new Kill streaks, new weapons and most importantly, new movements.

I didn't really touch Infinite Warfare properly until December 2016 and before writing any real review I wanted to give the game at least one prestige. I had seen some very negative reviews and didn't want this to influence my overall experience. The thought of being murdered repeatedly by a 9 year old child double jumping like a deflating balloon was just too much to even begin comprehending. Modern Warfare on the other hand was exactly what it was 10 years ago. Aesthetically it was brighter, but it was the same old game I had accumulated around 40 days worth of game time on.

I eventually picked up Infinite Warfare properly when I joined the Dark Apocalypse Gaming Community (DaG) and started playing in a clan again. It was a steep learning curve, I was rusty anyway having not played any FPS games for a while. I hated the boosting, the wall running, the over complex array of perks. There were times I just wanted to grab the PlayStation and smash it into pieces. The frustration of being killed by someone floating 20ft in the air was just annoying.

If you want to be good at Infinite Warfare, you have to embrace the boosting and wall running. It's part of the mechanics of the game now and here to stay unless another Modern Warfare is made or remastered. Ignoring this aspect in your playing strategy will no doubt set most people up for receiving a low KDR (kill death ratio) That alone is enough to make the proudest of players quit a COD release. Now I have gone through the teething period I can say that I honestly and genuinely like the game. It is not the same Call of Duty from years back. It is quicker because of the more advanced movements and it seems that there are not as many sniping areas, this really makes the game feel more fluid. 

Being able to bypass danger by not having to take specific routes really changes the environment you have to utilise when attacking. I would certainly recommend changing your control pad set up. Unless you have a Scuff controller, the Bumper jumper setting is our new best friend. It takes a while to get used to the small changes, but being able to boost and slide without entirely removing your hand from the controller will gain you valuable micro seconds in a one on one showdown. Call of Duty is about reaction time in certain situations, the more milliseconds you can save, the more duels you will win. Using SMG's will definitely give you the edge on smaller maps with the right class set up.

I initially thought I suffered from the dreaded lag that every COD player will swear by at some point. In reality I was just not reacting quick enough. The more I practised the more the 'Lag' went away. The game is not perfect in that sense, but any bad game play cannot always be blamed on lag.

I am enjoying the game for now on my first prestige heading towards the second. If you are a purist and only believe MW3 was the last great Call of Duty. Then this game probably isn't for you. If you are willing to learn new techniques and strategies to your game style, you will inevitably become a much better player all round. 

Please leave any questions or comments and I'll be sure to answer them.