Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare multiplayer feels both familiar and fresh

Much has been said about Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare‘s space-faring single-player campaign, but we haven’t gotten a good look at its multiplayer mode — arguably the bread and butter of any FPS worth its salt — until now.

Infinity Ward is taking a bold step further into the future than any Call of Duty developer before them this November. But despite its high-tech trappings, Infinite Warfare will feel instantly familiar to longtime veterans and more recent COD fans. Sid and I played a few rounds of Infinite Warfare multiplayer and came away impressed by its ability to balance old and new. Here are a few details that stuck with us:

• Overall, the map design seemed to bring a unique look and play style compared to Black Ops 3. Frontier was set in the sprawling, narrow corridors of a space station, leading to lots of close-quarters encounters and surprise attacks. While gravity wasn’t effected during play, defeated enemies would drift lazily toward the ceiling.
• We played standard TDM and Domination, but also an addictive mode called Defender, in which teams compete to maintain control of a ball that periodically resets to its original spawn position. While carrying the ball, players are unable to use their weapons, but they can always pass to a nearby teammate — or dole out a hearty *thwack* over enemies’ heads if things get desperate.
• Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer retains the movement system made famous by Black Ops 3, including slides, wallrunning, and mid-air boosting. I noticed that grenades seemed to have a slightly longer windup time, and felt a bit heavier compared to Black Ops 3.

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• We played with six Combat Rigs, selectable characters similar to Black Ops 3’s Specialists. Each comes with a complement of Perks and a special weapon that charges as the match goes on. Stryker can equip a Gravity Vortex Gun that fires black holes; combat droid Synaptic can summon integrated dual machineguns; Merc can deploy the Steel Dragon, a multi-target beam weapon.
• My favourite? The Eraser, a limited-use, unreasonably powerful pistol that instantly vaporized anyone unfortunate enough to be in my way.
• Create a Class presented us with a large number of classes, from the standard Rifleman to the heavy Rapid Response and shotgun-focused Point Blank. Sid favored a speedy class called the Duelist, equipped only with dual pistols.
• The expansive Scorestreak selection included everything from traditional UAVs, to bombardments from nearby weapons satellites, to summoning an R-C8 mech which looked like a cross between a terminator endoskeleton and a walking tank.

 

• Speaking of weapons, IW Multiplayer is bristling with high-tech firepower, everything from retrofitted ballistic carbines and dual-magazine SMGs to energy rifles, slug throwers, “sonic shotguns,” sci-fi grenade launchers, and beam weapons. And that’s a conservative description of the arsenal — it’s huge and varied.
• The Type 2 caught my attention due to an interesting quirk. It’s an SMG that you can split into two separate weapons for close-range encounters by holding Triangle.
• The weapon descriptions include cool little details that make the universe feel more lived-in. For example, the Hailstorm revolver fires devastating triple-shot blasts thanks to the stacked rounds in its cylinder.
• We didn’t get a lot of time to play with all the various gear and equipment, but we saw Cryo mines that can slow down enemies, a Dome Shield for resisting attacks, and a wide array of other grenade types.

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• One sight attachment granted me thermal vision while aiming, but limited my awareness of the environment around me. A boon for long-range encounters, but likely not as useful in close quarters.
• The maps showed off creative themes, such as Frost, a gorgeous map set on wintry moon Europa and featuring a stellar view of Jupiter looming overhead. Throwback seemed to be a recreation of a vintage American town.
• We also got the news that the Infinite Warfare beta will debut on PS4 in October.

That’s it for now — if you have questions, leave them in the comments below!

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