Infinite Apathy: A Brief Sigh on the Latest Call of Duty

Another year, another ‘Call of Duty’ sequel. This year’s installment ‘Infinite Warfare’ has only been out for less than a month and already it’s getting mixed reviews. This hardly comes as a surprise when its release trailer clocked up an impressive 3.3 million dislikes on YouTube. So where did it all go wrong?

In many ways, the release of ‘Infinite Warfare’ has been somewhat mistimed, following on from the incredibly well-received ‘Battlefield 1’ and just a week after ‘Titanfall 2’, it has some big boots to fill. This leaves ‘Infinite Warfare’ in a rather precarious position, as it appears to be struggling to stand out from the crowd.

Looking further back in time, the shift by the franchise to focus on ‘future warfare’ has also left many of its earliest fans alienated. With a greater emphasis on ‘Exo-Suits’ and power-assisted wall runs, the games are a far cry from the ‘boots on the ground’ style of earlier titles. Conversely, its relatively new fans appear to argue that the series is suffering from fatigue. With releases every year by publishers Activision, the last four games have felt very similar, sticking to the sci-fi genre and failing to deliver new and innovative gameplay.

Its yearly output of content has also had a detrimental effect on the quality of graphics. Using the same engine and animations have produced a game which seems tired and unpolished especially in comparison to DICE’s Frostbite 4 engine.

This feeling is only perpetuated by its remastering of the highly successful ‘Call of Duty 4’, which is sold alongside those that purchase special editions of the game. For many this smells like a desperate attempt to bolster a lack of new content and to draw those desperate for nostalgia back to the franchise.

There is a general sense that Activision is not listening to its fans, whilst blindly trying to secure a chunk of the sci-fi shooter market already locked down by Halo and Destiny. The latest editions are simply not the COD they fell in love with.

Part of the issue may well be that the ‘Call of Duty’ name has been stretched too thin, as developers move increasingly away from what fans wanted or expected from the series. It may have been better for the publishers to have created a new sci-fi shooter title, rather than push it through under the ‘Call of Duty’ brand.

Perhaps this heralds a wake-up call for Activision and their current sales strategy. In my mind, the one game a year approach is not working. Even Ubisoft realised this with the Assassin’s Creed series and as a result, we will (hopefully) see an improvement in the quality of those games.

Each new release heralds an increasing groan of boredom by its players. Whilst there is no doubt that Infinite Warfare will sell numbers, the popularity of the series is in sharp decline. Activision, I think its time to stop filling our screens with mediocre content and start listening to your fans. Give it a rest, eh?