Only mankind is divided: No aliens in 'Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare'

By Gabe Gurwin June 23, 2016

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It appears that warfare begins and ends with mankind. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is emphasizing a futuristic space setting and high-tech weaponry, but if you were looking forward to blasting some extraterrestrials, you’re in for some disappointment: The game won’t feature aliens.

Speaking with the PlayStation Blog, senior art director Brian Horton explained that while the team took some creative liberties with the scientific plausibility of certain mechanics to ensure that the Infinite Warfare remained fun, developer Infinity Ward stopped short of an otherwordly threat.

Related: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is Stalingrad meets Battlestar Galactica

“You have to stretch and squash and work with the facts to get what you really want from the experience. So, we do take some licenses with the science,” Horton says. “But we really want to make sure we’re not going to laser beans and aliens.”

One of those creative licenses is the inclusion of sound in the vacuum of space. But Horton adds that with a suit designed to simulate sounds “through photons,” soldiers can still be aware of their surroundings in a way that is “actually very plausible.”

New “seeker” grenades, which lock onto targets after they’re thrown, were also created specifically to combat the zero-gravity nature of space.

Given Black Ops III‘s emphasis on unmanned drones and robotic soldiers, it seems strange that Infinity Ward is that opposed to an alien enemy. Still, the studio’s previous games have been the most grounded in some form of reality. The “Extinction” alien-based mode aside, 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts was a remarkably “modern” shooter in an era of futuristic weaponry. We’re been very impressed with what we’ve seen of Infinite Warfare so far, likening some of its campaign moments to that of the original 2003 game.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare releases for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 4.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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