Space combat is finally getting some love back.
Yeah, just look at those reviews
.
Seriously (and I do wonder, why exactly are we discussing this in this particular thread?
), without having played the game, I can't form an opinion on the quality of the game as such. But I think there are two points that can be argued here.
Firstly, the hate against Infinite Warfare is perfectly reasonable and justified. I mean, (answering
@Deathsnake's question), why shouldn't Call of Duty fans want modern warfare or WWII all the time? Did Wing Commander fans ever secretly crave for a 22nd century WC game, or a 30th century WC game? Such a title would probably be welcomed as a curious spinoff - but few fans would have ever appreciated a total transition away from the setting most characteristic of the series. Now, if you look at how CoD fans have behaved, they've actually been really tolerant. They didn't complain at all about Black Ops 2. Few complained about Black Ops 3, and Ghosts, and even Advanced Warfare or whatever it was called. But then you get Infinite Warfare, which comes not only with an excessively futuristic setting and space ships, but also the promise of being the first game in a series. The hate stems simply from the fact that at some point, CoD fans are entitled to say that hey, enough is enough, give us our franchise back. And those of us standing on the sidelines can laugh at this, or point out that CoD has never really been a proper franchise since there was never any continuity between the games in the first place, and all that. But whatever logic might dictate, on an emotional level I can understand the frustration of waiting for your favourite WWII series to finally return to WWII (or even just to modern times, since MW was well accepted by players), and rejecting anything else that comes along, even if it's actually good.
Secondly, though, Infinite Warfare simply comes at the wrong time. No, space combat is not getting any love back. It's the domain of a tiny, tiny group of fans - just look at the numbers behind Star Citizen. It's a drop in the ocean of players. And if you think about it, the particular setting of Infinite Warfare is a throwback to the 1990s - hey, it's the bright and shiny future, when mankind joyfully spreads through the universe, held back only by a small group of malcontents. Remember, the days when This was a setting that would have resonated greatly in the optimistic and buoyant 90s, but today? Particularly the second decade of the 21st century has been characterised by increasing pessimism about the future.
