SDCC 2016 – ‘Call of Duty: Infinite War’ Panel Recap!

Call of Duty is one of the longest running FPS franchises around. With other FPS, namely Battlefield, going backwards, Call of Duty is steady on going to the future. Infinite War takes gamers to space as they combat a lethal army hellbent on destroying Earth and everything associated with it. No, there’s not going to be any aliens here, but that won’t stop Infinity Ward from introducing sci-fi looking weapons.

Not much was revealed during the panel, however, Infinity Ward did drop a few tidbits on the game’s story. For instance, the focus of this particular Call of Duty is to drive the game’s story to a place that exceeds past iterations of the franchise. Early on, the team decided to approach this next chapter with an increased cinematic experience. To do this, the main cast was brought in to work and act out each cutscene and in-game cinematic using motion capture suits. It took TWO years to do this, with absolutely no recording booths involved. To prep the actors, military personnel were brought in to teach the actors how to handle themselves during firefight situations, how to carry rifles, how to shoot weapons, and follow protocol during certain situations.

During a demo shown to us during the panel, most of the player models looked nearly complete. One thing I did notice was that all of the female characters were unusually smooth, but I’ll hold any and all reservations until the game is actually released. With a cast like Kit Harrington, who plays the main villain, Brian Bloom, David Harewood, and Jamie Gray Hyder, we’re bound to play through one of the most narrative driven Call of Duty‘s to date.

The last announcement that came during the panel was the inclusion of a Zombies mode in Infinite Warfare. This is a first for an Infinity Ward Call of Duty title. This was a huge announcement as the Zombie Call of Duty community continues to grow. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare released November 12, 2016.