My review and personal experience of Call of Duty Star Wars.
Summary
- Name of the game: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
- Launch date: November 4, 2016
- Developer: Infinity Ward
- Publisher: Activision
- Platforms available: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
- Genre: First person shooter
- Context: Futuristic installment of the Call of Duty saga, set in an interplanetary war where humanity fights for the resources of the solar system.
Campaign
See, I played the campaign 9 years after its release. In short, Infinite Warfare's campaign was like watching the movie Star Wars: Rogue One; it was simply impossible for me not to compare them because practically the same thing happens. The campaign almost starts with the famous Star Wars intro, that's all that was missing. The context of the game again brings us to a distant future that we do not even know if humanity will arrive, where we have managed to colonize the solar system. Who knows how many years are missing for that, but I don't think I'll be alive to see it. How many years do you think are missing to be able to at least visit all the planets in the solar system?
A separatist group known as the Settlement Defense Front (SDF) seeks to control space resources. So, this is no longer conquering Earth, this went from being a world war to a war in space. Our protagonist in this installment will be Captain Nick Reyes, who was a fighter pilot specialist who must lead our team to prevent the dominance of the SDF. Where we will face Jon Snow from Game of Thrones his actor, clearly, but in the space context his name is Admiral Salen Kotch. It's been impossible for me to watch it and not think of his GOT character.
Something positive was that they added some secondary missions called operations to the campaign. They are short missions that, although they are not the best, can be fun to play. They lengthen the campaign a bit more and allow you to go through more of the space world.
The story is simple: a group that wants to control everything and we must avoid it, but now in space. Nothing we haven't seen before. The characters try to give more emotion to the game, although they don't succeed. It's ironic, but the one I empathized with the most was a robot named Ethan. The rest of the human characters are very forgettable; I even forgot the names of some by the end of the game. What I felt with each character is that they are just soldiers, which is fine, but none of them express an authentic personality, i.e. they all feel the same. I think what stands out the most is their message of sacrifice and heroism, always doing the right thing for others, even if it costs you your life. What did you think of the characters? Did you find them memorable?
I am going to tell you my experience in each mission in order:
- Rising Threat: It's a typical introductory infiltration mission gone wrong. The only thing I didn't like was the escape part, where they put you on a timer against dozens of enemies and then a big robot appears that can only be destroyed with missiles. In veteran this part took me about 7 tries and was tedious. A bit of a lazy mission.
- Black Sky: Visually it's a nice mission to see: the beginning, the landscapes, the celebration and then the chaos, where we are attacked by surprise. I think it was one of the missions that made me care about the civilians in the game, which in the other games you honestly just leave them lying there. I liked this mission, but I think it is remembered more for its beginning than for its development.
- Operation Port Armor: My opinion of this mission is that I played it recently and I don't even remember what happened. Nothing memorable or remarkable.
- Operation Burn Water: Here we have to do some sabotage. I thought it was average; it's nothing we haven't seen, but still entertaining enough.
- Operation Dark Quarry: The best mission in the game and the one I enjoyed the most. It feels like a wave of killer robots, and the theme of being by Mercury, where if we go out we get roasted by the sun, is a very good detail. I leave you a short video of my gameplay in veteran in this mission.
6. Operation Black Flag: This mission was the most complicated in veteran for me. You are alone for a large part of the operation, so everyone is attacking you. I did like it, despite dying a few times.
7. Operation Blood Storm: Final mission. I didn't think it was the best, it's a bit weak and I wanted it to be over. The confrontation against Admiral Salen Kotch is garbage. This mission should be called Operation Rogue One, because this was the same thing that happens at the end of the movie. A very predictable and unemotional mission.
Compared to their previous games, Advanced Warfare and Black Ops 3, Activision and Infinity Ward bet everything on science fiction. If you thought that Advanced Warfare and Black Ops 3 were too much with the futuristic theme, get ready because this game takes it to other planets.
The side missions, maybe the assault ones, are worth it; but the ones using the Jackal are too repetitive and are a filler that boils down to: go, destroy some enemy ships and return to Retribution (the main ship).
Something I hated about the campaign: starting each operation is too tedious. That idea of having to assemble, choose mission, take the elevator to then get on your ship with dialogues... without lying to you, for each mission you can go about 10 minutes just to get ready, and at the end I was only using the recommended weaponry.
I really liked the credits, where we can hear the recordings of our fallen comrades in battle, which gives more charisma to the game. At least I had never seen this in a game before. I do consider that they put passion into the campaign, and it shows. However, the futuristic theme at the time was tiring and feels completely like another game, which made few people dare to even start the campaign. Overall, the campaign is very boring, perhaps because of the theme, but it really is very predictable and too Star Wars inspired... only without aliens. It entertains for a while and tries to be a Call of Duty game, but it definitely doesn't end up being one for me.
Multiplayer
I tried several games and it reminded me a lot of their previous games. I didn't see anything innovative compared to AW and BO3. More of the same. The gameplay retains the boost jump, which personally is a mechanic that I hate in multiplayer, because due to camera or movement limitations there are times where it is impossible to kill an enemy. I prefer more the classic movement where aiming and reacting fast is what determines if you die or not, not a jump between walls of 10 meters. I think the learning curve and adaptation to the mode takes time; if you played the other two, it won't be a challenge.
Now the game has incorporated the Combat Rigs, which would be the replacement of the BO3 specialists, with customizable combat suits with special abilities. There are six of them: Warfighter, Merc, FTL, Stryker, Phantom and Synaptic. Introduced a weapon crafting system that obviously promoted microtransactions. Added team missions.
There are old weapons for the time, which doesn't make sense, and almost every weapon has different versions, which also doesn't make sense. The maps seemed fine to me, with Genesis Holiday being my favorite at launch. Overall, I found it to be another BO3, but less engaging.
Zombies
This mode focuses on a single map called Spaceland, an 80's amusement park that, at least, doesn't give me that horror vibe that the zombie modes have. I found the map to be huge and very confusing, but hey, there are a lot of zombie maps that are like that on purpose. It has fun elements, like the machines with mini-games that entertain for a while. Every 5 rounds we no longer have zombie dogs, but zombie clowns, which don't do me any good. At least, if you're scared of clowns, I understand.
We must survive hordes of zombies and confront an eccentric film director who traps the protagonists in his movie. We have 4 characters:
- AJ (the athlete)
- Poindexter (the nerd)
- Andre (the rapper)
- Sally (the rebel girl)
Here is a video of my game in Spaceland.
Graphics and visual design
For its year of release, it is quite good, where COD always stands out in this section. Realistic models, good lighting, effects. The art style we clearly know is futuristic; however, the design of the robots looked to me like that of the movie called Chappie. When I saw Ethan I said, “I'm going to call this one Ethan Chappie”. Although I'm not a fan of the design of these robots, I think they are the most realistic thing we will ever see if they were to exist.
The design of the solar system and the views are very good, really well set in a very distant world. The ships, like the Jackal, could have been better; in appearance they didn't seem very futuristic, or at least they don't transmit that to me. The other ships do, although they are the same as a Star Wars ship; they only needed to put the Death Star and that's it.
The game tries to combine a classic military tone with that sci-fi touch. I think it worked out well for them, it just might be a bit out of sync with the era. Sometimes they look like normal military guys with space helmets, but then you can see that they have technology to fight relatively close to Jupiter.
The design of the zombies isn't very attractive and doesn't generate fear. The maps are easy to memorize and well balanced, but well, because of the futuristic mechanics I just can't stand to see guys running up walls like cockroaches or doing exaggerated jumps.
Overall, I think the style and design is fine, but it's not very original or even outstanding. Although, at least in futuristic design it didn't seem as exaggerated as Black Ops 3, which really BO3 is the same, more futuristic, but without leaving Earth.
Sound and music
The soundtrack was composed by Sarah Schachner. The music is very good, although I only recognize the one from the initial menu of the game. The rest can go unnoticed or be easy to forget. The sound effects are fine; I liked the effects in space combat with the Jackal, with plasma fire, explosions and so on in combat. In ground combat, it is very similar to other COD.
In voice acting I only highlight Kit Harington (Jon Snow in GOT) as the antagonist Salen Kotch, although his role is somewhat wasted. The rest are just there, but not at all memorable.
Difficulty and accessibility
It is a standard difficulty in multiplayer and zombies. In the campaign we have the classic difficulties, from recruit to veteran, ranging from easy to very difficult. In my opinion, in veteran the game is quite simple compared to others in the series. The battles with the Jackal in veteran were very simple, so I think it is not a complicated game. Each mode suits both new and experienced players.
As for accessibility options, as far as I saw, they are fine with standard options including subtitles, brightness adjustments and customizable controls. For its year of release I think it's fine.
Additional content
The campaign can last about 6 to 8 hours. I have taken 10 playing for the first time in veteran, and you know that sometimes you have to repeat fights because you are dying. It has high replayability, mostly thanks to its multiplayer and its zombie mode, which are the modes that attract more players. I played this game for the first time in 2025 and I still found online games, although not as fast.
It has several DLCs with the typical multiplayer map packs, some aesthetic details and zombie mode expansions. The same downloadable content as always. I'm not one to buy this kind of content.
Technical Aspects
Its performance was stable; it runs well. I played it on PS5, the PS4 version, and whenever I started the game I got a warning message that this game might have problems playing it on PS5, which I find strange and shouldn't happen if PS5 should really run PS4 games smoothly. I understand that it wasn't made for a more advanced console; however, it shouldn't be a problem.
Despite the warning messages, I did see bugs, but nothing that ruined the experience. Some of them are funny, with enemies that move strangely or stay in interesting positions when you die. I thought the optimization was fine for its time. On a technical level it fulfills its function well.
Value for money
Was this game worth buying? Yes, more than I borrowed it.
Was its initial price well justified? No.
The campaign is short and not very memorable, very Star Wars inspired. I do feel that there was an attempt to innovate by the developers, but I didn't end up connecting with the game. Even being a short campaign, I found it boring, and I won't deny that the futuristic theme is not my thing in these games. Repetitive side missions, same objectives, different scenery.
The multiplayer looks fine to me, very similar to Advanced Warfare, but the new mechanics and futuristic equipment are not to my taste. Even the menu looks very similar.
The zombies in Spaceland I didn't see much difference to other titles. I don't think this game was worth the full price; I'm glad I never bought it, because I didn't find it to be the best COD and it feels more like a Star Wars game without Jedi and Siths, rather than a COD. The most I would have paid is about $30. In this case, in 2016 I opted more for Battlefield 1 and I don't regret having done so.
Trophies / Achievements
- Platinum obtained: No
- Percentage of trophies: 64%
- Estimated platinum time: 25-30 hours
- Platinum difficulty: 6 out of 10. Mostly because of the zombies mode and its trophies that you practically have to do everything in a single game to get them all. Otherwise I would say it is a very accessible platinum.
Conclusion
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was a very controversial game, being remembered as one of the videos with more dislikes in the history of YouTube, where clearly the player was fed up with the futuristic, and here they took it to another level, being an unrecognizable game within the saga. I include myself among those. BO3 had left me so tired of this theme, and Infinite Warfare makes it even worse. Perhaps, if it had a different name, it wouldn't have done so badly.
Although neither, even years later the game seemed good to me. It has a boring, short campaign, a not innovative multiplayer and a children's zombie, in my opinion.
Today the community sees it with nostalgia and as a good game, but the reality is that the game has been bad to me, and they see it as good because the most recent ones have been garbage too. You have to remember how it was when it came out, at that time the opinion was one, and now it's another. But it is what it is even in 2016 or now it's still a bad Call of Duty.
My final rating for Call of Duty Infinite Warfare is:
2.8 / 5.0
