At Call of Duty XP, we checked out the competitive multiplayer mode of the upcoming Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. We also had a chance to play Zombies in Spaceland, Infinite Warfare's all-new cooperative mode. Zombies are always a good time, but Spaceland really takes things to another level.
Welcome to Spaceland
Infinite Warfare contains three separate modes: campaign, competitive multiplayer, and the cooperative Zombies in Spaceland. The campaign and multiplayer take place in a science fiction future setting. Spaceland, on the other hand, sets its sights back in time to a stylized version of the 1980s. It also packs a much lighter tone than the other game modes, because nobody likes depressing zombies.
Zombies in Spaceland stars four aspiring actors. After being invited to a mysterious theater for an audition, they find themselves magically transported into another world, a movie that exists in the mind of director Willard Wyler (portrayed in voice and likeness by the awesome Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee Herman). Wyler transforms the players into their characters and forces them to fight for their lives on-screen.
The four characters are all eighties archetypes: the nerd, voiced by Seth Green (Robot Chicken, Austin Powers); the jock, voiced by Ike Barinholtz (Neighbors and Suicide Squad); the rapper, voiced by Jay Pharoah (Saturday Night Live and Ride Along) and the valley girl, voiced by Sasheer Zamata (Saturday Night Live and Inside Amy Schumer).
During their adventure, our heroes will encounter a DJ voiced by and modeled after none other than David Hasselhoff. The beleaguered actors will have to work together with the 'Hoff if they want to escape the nightmare movie world. Yes, this is dramatically unlike any other Call of Duty you've ever played.
Theme park throwdown
Zombies in Spaceland takes place within the titular Spaceland, a haunted theme park. As the game begins, players have a brief preparation period during which to purchase weapons and board up points of entry. The two weapons we could initially buy were a rifle and a semi-automatic pistol that fires three-shot bursts. Later on, you'll be able to purchase more amusing armaments such as a boombox that tricks zombies into dancing and then explodes, taking them out.
Once the actual round begins, zombies will start to enter through booth windows and other entrances. Initially, they simply resemble zombified patrons who met an untimely end. As the rounds continue, powerful elite zombies with yellow glowing eyes enter the fray. They run rather than shamble and can take down the living rather quickly.
The enemies I most enjoyed were the killer clowns. These pudgy comedians appear en masse and explode when you kill them. Hopefully Spaceland has more theme park-themed baddies to battle during higher waves.
As the game continues, the heroes can spend the money they earn from zombie killin' to unlock new wings of the park. These areas contain numerous attractions such as the Polar Peak Roller Coaster. The human team can ride the coaster and shoot at zombies at the same time. And should a player go down without being revived, he or she will materialize in the Afterlife Arcade. There you can earn the chance to come back to life by playing carnival games such as throwing basketballs through a hoop.
Colorful and crazy
Spaceland is a neon-infused retro eighties-themed world, not unlike Far Cry: Blood Dragon. Complementing the period setting are classic eighties songs from artists like the B52s. When a new tune starts playing, the song title and artist appear in the corner of the screen. The whole mode is energetic, colorful, and very silly.
As a co-op guy, Zombies in Spaceland was easily my favorite Call of Duty gameplay experience at Call of Duty XP. Spaceland will be included with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare when it launches on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 4. It supports four-player online co-op and 2-player split-screen play, so everybody will have a chance to team up and fight eighties-style zombies.
The only question left is whether we'll spend more time in the classic Call of Duty campaign and multiplayer modes or in Zombies in Spaceland...
