I’ve always been a fan of Call of Duty. While several fans shun some of the changes their beloved shooter has gone through, I welcomed them and even enjoyed a lot of them. Still, I can admit the franchise has fallen short on occasion. After playing the beta for Infinite Warfare, I feel CoD is doing it again.
Infinite Warfare released a multiplayer beta, and I dove in with the same expectations I have for every Call of Duty experience. Tight gameplay, a variety of weapons and perks, and fun maps. Instead, what I got what a mash up of all the worst parts of the franchise. Following is a list of flaws I found. Do some digging and you’ll find plenty more.
- Quick scoping is back in full force. Get a sniper rifle and git gud.
- SMGs are meta again. Forget about using other weapon classes unless you can’t aim. Then go with an assault rifle.
- The weapon variations from Advanced Warfare are back but are locked behind a grind/pay wall.
- The maps are a horrid mess of corridors that feel like you’re going nowhere. That is, until you end up in the hotzone which is maybe 25% of the area everyone fights in.
- The RIGs (think Black Ops 3’s specialists) aren’t bad, but they aren’t great either.
- Health bars. This is in games like Titanfall 2 but it just seems like more annoying clutter in Infinite Warfare.
- Spawns are awful. Several people didn’t believe me when I said in most CoD games, you could take two steps from spawn and die. I timed it, and I counted, and it happened in about 50% of all spawns.
In short, imagine all the worst parts of Ghosts, Advanced Warfare, and Modern Warfare slapped together with a new coat of “futuristic” (see: gray and white) paint slapped on it. The fact that the Modern Warfare remaster, the one thing everyone wanted from Activision and Infinity Ward, is still only available with Infinite Warfare, adds insult to injury.
I recommend skipping this installment of Call of Duty altogether. It’s time Activision stopped treating it like a sacred cash cow, that consumers just can’t refuse to buy. We’ve clearly traded quality for quantity, and Infinite Warfare shows it.
