Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare - Sabotage (PlayStation 4) Review

After tossing four Hollywood wannabes into a real life undead situation just to film the results, then, how exactly would a slightly unhinged and unorthodox horror director follow up on his comeback movie? Well, Willard Wyler, the lowbrow auteur behind 'Zombies in Spaceland' has fast forwarded to the 90s for his latest straight-to-VHS title 'Rave in the Redwoods,' and it's here where we rejoin the hapless quartet, stuck in a log cabin without any weapons. Set in a huge, long abandoned summer camp that's currently hosting a misjudged illegal rave, it's an inspired setting that absolutely stinks of Crystal Lake/Jason Vorhees in the best possible way, although in this instance it's a towering masked fellow known only as 'The Slasher' that's doing the stalking.

There are still hordes of zombies to despatch, of course, but this time around they're joined by a very large family of Sasquatches who really don't seem to be as shy or elusive as their press makes out. As if that wasn't enough, film director Kevin Smith makes an appearance playing an angrier version of himself, another poor unfortunate seemingly caught up in Wyler's nightmare desperate to find a way back to normality. Not so much Silent Bob, but Violent Bob, amiright? Expect crazy convoluted Easter eggs, glow sticks, singing fairies, a few classic tunes from back in the day, the occasional mushroom induced hallucination, and death. Expect plenty of death!

It's not all about raving with the undead, though, as Sabotage also brings the pain with four new maps to catch bullets on. Surprisingly, they're not quite as blatantly 'sci-fi' as the majority of the arenas that shipped with the game.

First up, Neon is set within a futuristic urban warfare simulator that has a bit of a virtual reality/Tron vibe about it. Sporting a lot of clean, well defined lines, it does remind a little of Mirror's Edge from an aesthetic standpoint, and it's definitely the coolest looking map of the bunch. While it's hard to visualise at street level, the map is actually laid out in a large 'Z' shape, which certainly makes a welcome change from the over-subscribed three lane classic. It's a pretty fast paced arena consisting of a variety of virtual structures that provide both cover and vantage points, making it not only the perfect map for running and gunning, but also one that snipers can enjoy racking up a few long-distance kills on.

There are some nice visual flourishes that strengthen the illusion of being in The Matrix, such as random area glitches, destroyed vehicles re-pixelating after being destroyed in the cross fire, and downed soldiers exploding into a bunch of small wire-framed pyramids. Those looking for a shortcut from one end of the arena to the other can wall run across a lengthy digital chasm that drops down into a gaping void of nothingness. It's risky as it only takes a couple of stray bullets to get knocked down into oblivion, but success brings with it a tactical opportunity to get behind enemy lines, launch a surprise attack from the rear and send them to silicon Hell (or a respawn… whichever is easiest).

Renaissance is another one of those vaguely historic looking maps, rich in detail and depicting the type of locale where automatic weaponry really has no right being used at all, but, hey, we're here now and we've got guns… Let's shoot each other in the face. Set in a rather picturesque Venice on a warm summer's day, it's a tight, compact map mainly consisting of a number of small courtyards and narrow winding interconnecting pathways set in a loose figure of eight configuration. Lots of nice little fountains, archways and statues to use as cover, while a number of buildings provide alternate routes and shortcuts to the action. Given its diminutive size, though, it's all about close contact gunplay with the larger central courtyard area being the most active due to all paths leading there. There's a prime spot overlooking all the action located in the old church window, but it's a hard area to keep locked down due to multiple entrances at the opposite end.

Dominion is the token remix of the bunch and is a re-imagining of the seminal 'Afghan' from Modern Warfare 2, a map that actually holds a lot of fond memories for this particular reviewer, and, thankfully, Infinity Ward hasn't tampered with it or unnecessarily relocated it to Pluto and given it a purple-centric colour palette. It's still the same sandy, arid battleground that remains a sniper's dream—although, of course, it has been subjected to a fairly obvious visual upgrade.

While scattered rock outcrops break up the lines of sight down one side of the map, it's the central area housing the wreckage of a crashed plane that plays host to the majority of the action, courtesy of being overlooked by a cliff to one side and a number of buildings of varying elevation covering the rest. To say that wandering around the crash site is dangerous is an understatement, as despite the sporadic cover provided by the scattered debris, it's never going to stop your fat head getting in somebody else's crosshair. FACT. To this end, the wiser warriors stick to moving around the outskirts, which nets the occasional bonus of catching a napping sniper or two.

Finally, Noir takes place on the wet, rainy streets of Brooklyn during such a time that a curfew is enforced to keep the idiots off the street. Guess what? They broke the curfew. Stylistically, Noir very much lives up to its name, as it employs a filmic, inky black sheen punctured by luminescent neon signs, twinkling skyscrapers in the background, and a very clean but moody design style. As a setting, it looks pretty great, but—and this might sound a bit weird—the lack of any leaves or litter on the ground makes it feel really sterile. It's odd; nowhere is that devoid of detritus, especially not Brooklyn (not that I've been, but I've seen it on TV… It looked dirty).

Pointless nit-picky observation aside, it's a traditional COD three-lane kill fest, spacious enough to enjoy all the benefits of the momentum movement system, but still plenty of enclosed spaces catering for fans of the more confrontational firefight. There's a nightclub, a small square, plenty of doorless buildings—in fact, it'd be a nice place to visit if there weren't so many darn bullets flying about. Of the four new arenas that make up the Sabotage pack, it's probably my least favourite (as there always has to be one), and that's not to detract from it in any way, but it does feel a bit generic when compared to its companions.