Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare – What we know so far

The debut trailer of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (COD:IW) did not receive positive feedback for a number of reasons. Some felt that expanding the war beyond earth felt unnecessary. Others argued the game should stick to more realistic wars. The rest were simply unimpressed with what they’ve seen from the short video.

After the gameplay trailer of COD:IW was released, however, many changed their tune. The trailer showcased the different creative and seamless ways one can use to initiate combat in space and on the ground. Many were interested in seeing more.

We were able to watch an extended gameplay presentation showing how things would really play out in COD IW.

We also spoke with Eric Monacelli, Director of Communications at Infinity Ward to learn more about the latest Call of Duty game. Here’s what we’ve gathered so far.

Moving beyond earth

As well all know by now COD:IW will have missions taken in outer space and they will span the solar system. Many have wondered why this is the case and why Infinity Ward chose to go in this direction.

According to Monacelli, the team felt that space would be a great arena to explore both story wise and combat wise. They believed that there were a lot of opportunities to look at when it comes to fighting in zero gravity and in terms of what can be done to make gameplay more exciting and action packed.

The team even sought advice from various military and space agencies to help craft their ideas for futuristic combat in space.

But that’s not to say that a majority of the combat zones will now take place in zero gravity. Monacelli stressed that the game is still boots-on-the-ground.

Aside from fighting in Earth and outer space there will even be opportunities to take the fight on the terrain of different planets, moons, and even asteroids.

Still a war between humans

While COD:IW takes the fight to outer space, the conflict remains to be just between two factions of humans. Similar to past wars, the cause of this conflict is a fight for fuel and other important resources.

In the future, most of the planet Earth’s natural resources have run out, forcing the people of Earth to rely on colonies throughout the solar system to mine planets and asteroids for additional resources.

Gamers will play as Captain Reyes, who takes the helm of one of the Earth’s last remaining warships, Retribution. His enemies, The Settlement Defense Front (The Front) are relentless and fanatical. They are a group of insurgents who were affected and toughened by the brutal conditions in outer space, thus they feel entitled to take control of the resource outposts

Despite the large scale of this war, there will still be human elements and emotional themes that will echo throughout the game. Monacelli divulged that we will get to witness Reyes’ growth from his younger years until he becomes a captain.

We will see him transform from a soldier who believes in the saying that “No man is left behind,” to a leader who slowly realizes that sometimes “the mission comes first.”

Navigate through large arenas

We’ve seen two missions so far, one showing how combat works on the ground and one where you fight in outer space. So far, we can tell that COD:IW has pulled elements from classic Call of Duty games where the war zones you fight in are large and the pacing of the game is a little more fast paced. Monacelli confirmed that despite the futuristic tone of COD:IW, the game has gone back to its roots.

To help you get past large groups of enemies, your comrades and other forms of support will be available to assist you in the war zones. And with the vast solar system already being a space where the fighting takes place, you can expect that these arenas can go even larger.

In terms of firepower, your weapons will reflect the current setting you’re in. Some of the weapons we saw at the demo was a sniper rifle which can be converted to an assault rifle by switching the scope, and a shotgun that displays the bullet spread when aimed at a target. You also have new tools and devices such as a homing spider which can deal explosive damage when a target is reached. There is also a rope grapple which could be used both to keep you grounded while in outer space as well as a weapon to pierce enemies while floating.

The aerial combat is also off the rails, allowing players to have freedom to have pretty intense dog fights in space.

Seamless combat and campaign

Monacelli has emphasized that Infinity Ward has focused on creating seamless combat and campaigns.

They’ve put effort in creating a smooth flow in the objectives and scenarios in the game to keep players immersed. We’ve also noticed that as the player moves from one objective to another there were no loading screens or pauses in-game where it felt like a stage had to be set first before they are pushed into the next mission or task.

All in all, we believe that players shouldn’t dismiss COD:IW so easily after its first trailer. From what we’ve seen so far, Infinity Ward has a lot of surprises in terms of gameplay that gamers can appreciate, and that their way of using space as a huge battleground may keep things exciting. – Rappler.com