Zombies in Spaceland
This year's Zombies mode is at once the best implementation of Zombies yet and the odd mode out. Rather than sticking to a sci-fi setting, Infinite Warfare's Zombies takes place in a candy-colored 1980s theme park. Play by yourself and you'll be treated to a cartoon intro depicting four actors arriving at an old movie theater for auditions. But the director, voiced by Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman), somehow sucks them into the movie world itself. They'll have to win the fright of their lives to make it back to the real world.
Infinite Warfare ships with a single Zombies map, Zombies in Spaceland, but we expect more will be released as part of the $50 Season Pass. Spaceland is a massive theme park, filled with branching paths that players can unlock with money earned from zombie kills. Each location offers weapons to buy, side paths to unlock, switches to flip, and numerous secrets to discover. Players can also build the robot N31L and complete challenges to earn rewards.
The best aspects of Zombies in Spaceland are its colorful setting, sense of humor, and wealth of secrets and mysteries. The energetic eighties soundtrack (accompanied by David Hasselhoff himself as the deejay) and humorous player characters add a welcome vibe of whimsy to an otherwise challenging mode. Dying while your team lives on sends you to the Afterlife Arcade, where you can play carnival games and a handful of Activision Atari 2600 titles to earn the right to come back to life – it's a treat.
Besides its incongruity with the rest of the Infinite Warfare package, this Zombies mode is held back somewhat by punishing difficulty and the need for map memorization (or the use of external guides). In its defense, Zombies in Spaceland starts out a bit easier and has a smoother difficulty curve than past Zombies modes. But the challenge still ramps up quickly, to the point where casual co-op enthusiasts (such as significant others) might feel unwelcome. Zombies would benefit greatly from selectable difficulties à la Gears of War 4's excellent Horde mode.
Achievements
Infinite Warfare has 50 Achievementsworth a total of 1,000 Gamerscore on Xbox One. Surprisingly, competitive Multiplayer has only a single Achievement for winning five matches. Zombies in Spaceland gets 10 Achievements (which will be very challenging), with the remaining 39 tied to the single-player campaign.
The toughest of the campaign goals include beating every mission and side mission on Veteran difficulty (surprisingly doable) and finding all eight hidden equipment upgrade terminals. Missions can be replayed from the main menu, so nothing is missable.
Overall Impression
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is the perfect way to keep the Call of Duty franchise fresh. This series can't just stick with modern warfare and past wars every single year. Moving to the far future allows for the introduction of new mechanics, equipment, and especially environments that couldn't be done in other time periods. Not only do series followers get something new here, but science fiction fans who've never touched a Call of Duty will find much to like as well.
Infinity Ward set out to make Infinite Warfare the most "changed" Call of Duty since Modern Warfare, and they succeeded. The story might lack some of the characterization and wonder of Titanfall 2's campaign, but everything else is so top-notch it hardly matters. For big budget thrills and fast-paced, tight gameplay, look no further than Infinite Warfare.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is available in standard, Legacy, and Deluxe Editions. The $80 Legacy and $100 Deluxe Editions include Modern Warfare Remastered, an excellent remake of Call of Duty 4. Modern Warfare Remastered can't be bought separately at this time, so be sure to grab the Legacy Edition if you enjoy Moderndifficulty
Warfare.
PROS:
- The most ambitious Call of Duty in years
- Lots of variety with combat on foot, in spacesuits, and in ships
- Clever tools like Seeker grenades and hacking enemy robots add futuristic fun
CONS:
- Campaign story needs more characterization and depth
- Tracking targets can be difficult when piloting Jackals due to the sparse UI.
- Zombies mode doesn't fully mesh with the rest of the game and needs selectable difficulty
Whats your view on Infinite Warfare.
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