Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare: PS 4 Review

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare: PS 4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Activision

Call of Duty is back.

And by goodness, in its HD Glory, it looks impressive.

There's the usual mix of first person shooter guts and glory, but this time around, the edge is definitely given by the simple good vs evil campaign that plays out.

After a false start sequence that sucks you right into the intergalactic action of events, it's all on. You take on the role of  Captain Nick Reyes, a Tier 1 Special Operations pilot, who's called into the war between the good and the bad.

And the bad comes in the form of Jon Snow aka Kit Harrington's Admiral Salen Kotch, a guy who's clearly a cold-blooded killer capable of exacting revenge. With elements of Battlestar Galactica, and many other space sagas, Call of Duty Infinite Warfare is fairly intense and gritty.

Early action sees civilians running for cover as dust clouds from explosions cover them; there's a rawness to all of this that's beyond uncomfortable in parts and which really hits at the realities of war among the populace (aside from the fact you have to start again if you decided to shoot and pick off civilians)

But this basis in reality grounds the space saga in ways you'd not expect.

With a Chappie style robot buddy called Ethan and a female wingman for Reyes, this game's covering all the bases as it hits the sci-fi highs. And it does hit highs as well, heading to space pretty quickly and pitching you in the middle of whole-scale devastation. This is not a game that sits back on its laurels and its pace is brisk and yet at the same time, completely levelly executed. Plus, once you head into space, you get to really take control, choosing which missions to instigate and where to go to next.

With dog-fights and space fights, the Infinite Warfare with its story elements feels solid, strong and confident. This is a game that gets the little things right - from a scuttering spider bomb that attaches to its combatants and then explodes all around them to shooting which feels instinctive and intuitive, the game play is thrilling.

Elsewhere, the Zombies mode is garish, ghoulish and very Scooby Doo-ish with the let loose in a theme park 80s mentality really coming to the fore. But it's infinite fun as you try to survive the marauding hordes, either solo or in a co-op mode. The online game is also solid too, with nary a sign of a glitch as you try to survive as many hordes of shambling masses as you can. It's fun, frivolous and surprisingly frantic, trading as it does on the horror tropes and in-jokes.

In fact, the multiplayer of this iteration of Call of Duty is solid all around - Team Deathmatch has been the usual vice and you'll need wits about you to play through it. XP, Mods and perks all come to those who endure - and if you're struggling to endure, you may need to reassess your gameplay style because it's as unrelenting as ever.

With variety proving to be the spice of life for Call of Duty, this Infinite Warfare package is a no-brainer. It's welcoming to newbies and seasoned enough for veterans to sit back and shoot away - but it's a sign that despite an annual release, Call Of Duty shows no sign of resting on its laurels.

They may say the sky's the limit, but when it comes to Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, the sky's just the beginning.