Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare takes the series off Earth and into the Solar System, and the result is a game that knows exactly what it wants to be — a grand, planet-hopping war story with a fighter ship, a hub warship, and a robot sidekick. Infinity Ward developed it. Activision published it. It arrived on PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on November 4, 2016, as the thirteenth main installment in the franchise and the first built under the series’ new three-year development cycle.
It is a good game. It is not a great Call of Duty game, and the difference matters.
Trailer, via Call of Duty.
Nick Reyes and the Retribution
The campaign drops you into the boots of Lieutenant Nick Reyes, a Tier 1 Special Operations pilot of the Special Combat Air Recon, or SCAR. When the Settlement Defense Front launches a devastating attack, Reyes unexpectedly becomes captain of the UNSA warship Retribution. From there he leads a crew across planets, moons, and asteroids to hold back the enemy.
It is a classically styled story about grand scale warfare, set in a future where Earth’s natural resources are exhausted and humanity depends on colonies elsewhere in the system. The SDF, a totalitarian group of former UNSA colonies, seceded from Earth decades earlier after winning a war of independence. Now it wants the outposts.
The cast is deep. Brian Bloom plays Reyes. John Marshall Jones is Admiral Fredrick Raines, his mentor. Jamie Gray Hyder is Nora Salter, his wingman and best friend. Jeffrey Nordling voices E3N “Ethan,” the robot sidekick. David Harewood, Jason Barry, and Eric Ladin fill out the SATO Marines. Omid Abtahi and Claudia Christian round out the allies. The performances land, and the campaign gives them room to work.
Jackals, Zombies, and the Multiplayer Problem
Infinite Warfare ships three modes: Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies. The campaign is the strongest of the three. It returns to the gritty military roots of the franchise while pushing the setting forward, and the Jackal — a transforming fighter you can customize — gives the space combat a distinct feel. The Retribution serves as a central hub, which keeps the crew present between missions instead of scattering them across cutscenes.
Zombies is the surprise. It takes an original, distinctive approach with an uproarious narrative, and co-op players get a mode that stands on its own rather than echoing what came before.
Multiplayer is where the game stumbles. It combines the chained-based movement system with new mechanics, and the result is a deep online experience on paper. In practice it is the weakest leg of the tripod, and the criticism leveled at it at launch holds up. The innovations are there. The fun is not always.
A Trailer That Broke the Wrong Record
The announcement trailer drew a strong negative reaction. At the time, it was the second-most disliked video on YouTube. Commentators attributed the backlash to fans expressing frustration at the sci-fi direction the series had taken, specifically that Infinite Warfare and its predecessors had futuristic settings.
That reaction was about the setting, not the execution. It is worth separating the two. The sci-fi shift is the most interesting thing Infinite Warfare does, and the campaign proves the setting can carry a Call of Duty story. The dislike count was a referendum on fatigue, not on quality.
Special editions shipped with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, a remastered version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. That bundle did a lot of work to soften the blow, and it is the reason many players bought in at all.
Release Date, Platforms, and Score
- Release date: November 4, 2016
- Developer: Infinity Ward
- Publisher: Activision
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One
- Modes: Campaign, Multiplayer, Zombies, co-op, split screen
- Perspective: First person
- Genres: Shooter, Adventure
- Score: 7.7/10
What Holds Up and What Doesn’t
The campaign’s multi-planetary environments, new weaponry, and all-new player abilities give it a scale the series had not attempted before. The move from Earth to the Solar System is not a gimmick. It is a genuine reset, and the conflict between the United Nations Space Alliance and the Settlement Defense Front gives the story a clean, legible stake: the colonies, the resources, and the alliance that manages trade, travel, and settlement.
The multiplayer is the part that will decide how long you stay. It is competent, and the movement system works, but it does not reach the heights the campaign does. Zombies does more with less.
Reviews at launch were generally positive, with praise for the gameplay, characters, and Zombies mode, and criticism for multiplayer. That split is accurate, and it has aged well. The campaign is the reason to play Infinite Warfare in 2026. The multiplayer is the reason to move on.
The most important thing about Infinite Warfare is not the dislike count or the remaster bundle. It is that Infinity Ward proved the franchise could leave Earth and still feel like Call of Duty. The setting was never the problem. The execution of the online suite was.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is a strong campaign, a solid Zombies mode, and a multiplayer that never quite justifies the trip. It earns its place in the series, and it earns a 7.7 of 10.
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