Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare developer Infinity Ward has discussed the game’s space combat and single-player campaign in an interview with Forbes.
“We are telling the most realistic, plausible near-future story of war,” narrative director Taylor Kurosaki said, explaining the decision to move further into the future than Call of Duty has gone before. “Space is the next frontier,” he continued, “and its militarization is inevitable.”
The game’s setting and story don’t feature aliens or Force powers, with the title’s enemies being very much human. “To be clear, we aren’t developing a science fiction or sci-fi game,” he said. “Infinite Warfare is first and foremost a Call of Duty game, which means visceral infantry combat as well as piloting vehicles.”
Moving the action “into the vastness of space” means Infinity Ward have more options.
“In Infinite Warfare, you’re fighting the Settlement Defense Front,” Jacob Minkoff, Infinity Ward’s Design Director on Infinite Warfare explained.
The SDF is a terrorist cell that’s broken away from the United Nations Space Alliance and become a fascist group after becoming hardened by their off-world experiences.
“They want to control off-planet outposts and their wealth, putting a stranglehold on the countries of Earth,” Minkoff added. “We start our story in the middle of a sneak attack from The Front against the people of Earth.”
You won’t have a generic protagonist like in Black Ops III. Instead, players take on the role of Captain Nick Reyes and watch events unfolding through his eyes.
“We wanted to explore the weight of leadership as he gets field promoted to the leader of thousands of soldiers,” Kurosaki noted. “It’s a really exciting story for us,” he adds. While you can’t play as a female version of Reyes, there are a number of strong female characters in the game, Minkoff notes, in both peer and mentor roles.
“Ultimately,” he continued, “we are taking the player through the journey of Captain Reyes as he ascends to leadership and ultimately needs to make the tough decisions to save the people of Earth.”
“We want players to feel the weight of command as Captain Reyes,” Minkoff added, meaning there’ll be no campaign co-op.
Infinite Warfare also doesn’t connect to the events of Modern Warfare or Ghosts in any way.
Other modes, including Zombies, will be detailed in the months to come.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare launches on November 4th for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game’s reveal has been received largely unfavorably by fans.
