Where Call of Duty Infinite Warfare Ranks with the Rest of the Franchise

Written By Adam Hayes 

If you know know anything about first person shooter video games, you have heard of the Call of Duty franchise put out by Activision. From its very first game released in 2003, it has sold massive quantities of a new installment every single year. However, this year was somewhat different. After Activision released their trailer for Infinite Warfare on Youtube, it quickly became the second most disliked video on the site. When it was released in November, its sales were abysmal when compared to previous iterations of the franchise. In spite of all the hate, it still managed to get good scores from various game reviews.

Though some various game reviewing companies gave it decent scores, the gaming community did not seem to get behind it. So what went wrong? The campaign seemed to be something straight out of movie. With celebrities such as Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington and UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor, there is no way it could have been bad. In spite of the big names attached to it, the campaign fell short of previous endeavors-even short of Call of Duty Black Ops III's wacky/sci-fi entwined campaign, which is the highest selling Xbox One game of all-time. Many people disliked the predictability that we have come to know all too well from the Call of Duty campaigns.

The lackluster campaign goes to show that not even big-name actors can save something that was stale from the very beginning. Of course, not all people are fans of the campaign. Call of Duty is known for its massive online community that spend countless hours in multiplayer lobbies. Usually, something new is introduced. In Advanced Warfare, we had the rise of combat rigs-suits that soldiers wore to jump around and boost forwards around the maps. Black Ops III introduced specialists-premade soldiers that the player can outfit with various-and sometimes outlandish-outfits. Each of these specialists offered some type of unique ability or weapon that was sure to give you an advantage out on the battlefield.

With Infinite Warfare, nothing new really stood out. This gave the multiplayer a feeling of a reskinned previous game. This ultimately led to its downfall in sales. Perhaps the biggest draw to the recent Call of Duty games have been the various zombie modes. First introduced as sort of an easter egg at the end of World at War, it has quickly become the favorite game mode for many players. If there was a redeeming quality of Infinite Warfare, this mode would be it. With a zany space-themed park as the backdrop, surviving waves of the undead was somewhat fresh and inviting.

Ultimately, Infinite Warfare in itself was not a bad game. However, whenever you put it up against previous record breaking games that have been released under the Call of Duty banner, it fails miserably. If Activision wants to continue having their success, they need to listen to what the people want and deliver a fresh and exciting game for the next installment. Otherwise, they won't survive.