"Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare" isn't even out yet and Activision is already under fire for its latest entry in the COD series. Last week's reveal dominated the attention of gamers around the world that day, but that didn't stop from them skewering the trailer, and as of this writing it has more than 14 million views, about 265,000 likes and more than 1 million dislikes.
What could have prompted such rage toward this beloved series? Some say people are getting tired of the direction "Call of Duty" is going in and are letting Activision know how they feel.
If that's the case, then those people will be pleased to know that at least Activision will keep up with one thing that CoD is known for: "laziness." The series often caught flak for the graphics not being upgraded in years, but it looks like this new occurrence trumps that in a big way.
It has recently been discovered that developer Infinity Ward used the same death animation in "Infinite Warfare" that was used in "Call of Duty 4" nine years ago. If a simple death animation could be reused, it would stand to reason that other animations, textures, etc., would be reused as well and will be brought to light once the game launches later this year.
Of course this revelation begs the question why Infinity Ward would go this route. The last CoD the developer worked on was 2013's "Ghosts," meaning that it had three years to work on "Infinite Warfare." If that's the case, then the reason Infinity Ward went down that route is simple: it did so because it can.
Reusing old assets isn't exactly a new concept in the gaming industry. For example, Capcom reused sprites for multiple fighting game series, and even Disney reused animation cycles for decades. This year's release will mark the 13th year "Call of Duty" will be around, and that means the series has plenty of pre-made assets on file. If that's the case, why not capitalize on existing work to save both time and money?
Infinity isn't an indie developer with some grand artistic vision, nor is "Call of Duty" some random game made to make a statement; it's an entertainment product aimed at the most common denominator.
However, it's one thing to have smart business sense, and it's another thing to simply be smart. The argument could be made that Infinity Ward couldn't have known that it would receive flak for not going back to its roots (much like EA DICE is doing with "Battlefield 1") and have its setting in WWI or WWII. But there's no way it didn't know using 9-year-old animations would be received poorly. It previously came under fire in 2013 when "Ghosts" featured a cut scene cut straight out of "Modern Warfare 2."
More than anything else, as a company that often comes under fire for being lazy, one would think that it would make more of an effort to avoid situations like this.
With all that said, it seems the last time "Call of Duty" went off without a hitch was "Modern Warfare." Coincidentally, that title is the source of another controversy Activision finds itself in. Fans were excited to learn that "Modern Warfare" would be getting a remastered release, however they were less enthused to learn that they could only get it by purchasing an upgraded tier of "Infinite Warfare."
Will "Call of Duty" bomb this year? Probably not. Will "Battlefield 1" finally surpass it in sales this year? If fan reactions are any indicator, then yes. However, what this development speaks to is just how complacent Infinity Ward has become. Instead of trying to push the envelope and reinvigorate the series, it seems it's content to simply rely on the franchise name to sell the product.
Reusing old animations, even if it's smart business sense, is indicative of a larger issue that has been plaguing the series for years.
