Infinity Ward and Sony went full force at the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare press con at ESGS 2016 to amp up the buzz ahead its release on November 4. Here are a couple of things we know so far about the game and its features.
Single Player
Set in a “plausible future” that goes beyond Earth and into space, players assume the role of Captain Reyes that takes command of the Retribution, one of the planet’s last surviving warships after a devastating attack from The Settlement Defense Front (or simply, The Front).
“We wanted to make sure that the characters in it were well-defined so we have a lot of documentation,” Infinity Ward Director of Communications Eric Monacelli said in an interview.
According to Infinity Ward, the game seeks to reflect the themes of earlier Call of Duty titles and that of classic war films with a clearly defined good and evil set in the expanse of the Solar System where all nations of the world are fighting against a common threat.
“The biggest thing we knew was that the game was a very global game. We strove to make sure that the actors we hired to play these roles were representative of different countries,” Monacelli added.
With that in mind, The Front was written as a fanatical enemy comprised of radical individuals toughened by off-world environments where the Earth has colonized to gather resources to sustain itself.
In keeping with the franchise’s tradition of bringing in celebrities to act for its titles, the main antagonist and one of the most prominent figures of The Front, Admiral Salen Kotch, is played by Game of Thrones star Kit Harington.
UFC fighter Conor McGregor also makes an appearance on the trailer.
Infinity Ward promises a “seamless” gaming experience from on-the-ground close quarters combat to space combat either on agile Jackal fighter ships or floating in the vast expanse of space.
The Retribution will be a large element of the game, with players being able to train, customize load outs, or choose from main or side missions through different sections of the ship.
Multiplayer
Infinity Ward has done a lot to mix things up in terms of multiplayer gameplay.
Infinite Warfare pushes players to engage head-to-head in frontline skirmishes and rewards players for utilizing their surroundings in combat.
The largest change to gameplay is the addition of character classes in multiplayer that fits different play styles from stealth kills to long-range, pick-strays-off strategies. The classes can be interchangeable within each round so players can switch between play styles before they respawn.
The developers have also added new perks and boosts to complement the player’s play style and to balance out the game so that not one class dominates over the other.
“Our team makes sure that the different play styles will work within our maps, within our modes, and we’re always tweaking. We focus test the game everyday. Sometimes we’ll sit down and have these sessions; the multiplayer team will get together and play the game and talk about what’s working, what’s not twice, three times, four times a day,” added Monacelli.
Zombies in Spaceland
As a bonus game mode, Infinite Warfare carries Zombies in Spaceland which, like the other Zombies modes that came with previous titles, pits players against waves upon waves of the undead in a co-op survival game.
Unlike previous Call of Duty: Zombies, however, the aesthetic is independent of the main game with Zombies in Spaceland being set in the 80s at a space-themed amusement park where players can choose between four kooky characters borrowing from movie stereotypes of the decade: the Jock, the Rapper, the Valley Girl, and the Nerd.
The game features the voice acting of David Hasselhoff and Paul Reubens, better known as his Pee-wee Herman persona.
Modern Warfare Remastered
It’s the remaster everyone’s been waiting for. The classic title gets a facelift and is bundled with the Legacy, Digital Deluxe, and Legacy Pro Editions of the game.
The game features fan favorite missions such as All Ghillied Up and Charlie Don’t Surf in stunning graphics.
Both Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered run in smooth 60 fps in full 1080p or 4K resolutions depending on console or PC capability.