Infinite Warfare is Using Same Old Tech But That Could Be A Good Thing
The Call of Duty franchise has been criticized repeatedly for using same old engine. These criticisms date back before Call of Duty Ghosts was released. Yet, it is this same old engine that receives tweaks and upgrades year after year. It is also the same engine that leads to record breaking sales for what is widely regarded as the king of console shooters. Why fix if it ain’t broke, right?
Every year many rant and rave demanding new tech. Yet, year after year we hear it will be the same COD engine but with a few new bells and whistles. Well, the same goes for this year as Infinite Warfare will once again be using that 10-year old engine but with some enhancements and improvements.
In an interview with AusGamers, Jacob Minkoff (Infinite Warfare Design Director) said the following:
“In the last three years, we have made continual improvements to our tech. We have overhauled our animation engine, physics, AI system, NPC behaviors and more. We are doing a lot that has never been done in the series before, like seamless, streaming level transition, for instance, that allow us to go from ground combat to space and then inside our hub as a continual experience, so we needed to re-engineer our systems to deliver on that vision.”
“We’re also using physically-based rendering, which means more detailed lighting and improved shading across the board. Surfaces in our game, from the hallway of a warship to the wrinkles on a character’s forehead will be seen more realistically and naturally than ever before. We’ve built a new performance capture stage too. Our tech really lets us bring the actors’ performances to life in a really cool way. We can’t wait for fans to play the game for themselves.”
Surely this will upset all those hoping for a new engine but does the franchise truly need a brand new engine? Could a new engine potentially run the risk of alienating a firmly cemented COD community? Could a new engine result in a buggy mess of a game? Suffering the same fate we have seen with so many other shooters in recent years. Regardless, it doesn’t sound all bad as the there is no question we can anticipate a sharp looking and smooth running game as we always have with Call of Duty.
By this time next week, we here at COG will have already had a chance to check out the Infinite Warfare single player demo and hopefully get our hands on the game. We can tell you first hand how this tired old engine still runs.
Tell us what you think in the comments below.