For over a decade, Infinity Ward has exclusively developed Call of Duty games and content. As such, it came as a bit of a surprise when job listings revealed that Infinity Ward’s Poland branch is hiring a narrative director for an open world RPG. While many would likely be interested in what a non-Call of Duty game from Infinity Ward could look like, there is a case to be made for this game being an extension of an underrated co-op built by the studio.
While Call of Duty: Ghosts is often seen as one of the worst entries in the hugely successful franchise, Extinction was a solid co-op offering with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the mode never reached the heights of Call of Duty Zombies, likely because fans wanted it to be more similar to Treyarch’s co-op offering. However, its story was strong, and its ending could set up an interesting spin-off game that is hugely different from what Call of Duty is usually like.
What Was Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Extinction Mode
Instead of being round-based like Zombies usually is, Extinction offered challenging missions built around replayability. Players chose between one of four classes, filling a specific role in each match, with extra weapons acquired as the game goes on. The enemies came in the form of Cryptids, an invading alien race that was made up of several different enemy types like the massive Rhino and flying Gargoyles.
Like the name suggests, the story focuses on the world’s attempt to fight off the unstoppable Cryptids, with these battles eventually proving to be futile. In the final map, players fight to send a shuttle to space, succeeding in doing so. While the Cryptids returned during the Infinite Warfare Zombies map Beast from Beyond, Extinction’s mission-focused gameplay has not been revisited. However, the Cryptids and the ruined earth from Extinction's final map could provide the perfect enemies and setting for Infinity Ward’s open world RPG.
An Open World RPG Set in The Extinction Universe Could Work Well
When it comes to the protagonist in a hypothetical Extinction game, Infinity Ward has a few options. It could retcon the death of the superpowered Samantha Cross, who died off-screen on an icy planet before the events of Infinite Warfare’s Beast from Beyond. If Cross was brought back, players could unlock new powers for her, upgrading them through skill trees like what is usually seen in RPGs. Another option would see players controlling a random survivor stuck on the post-apocalyptic, Cryptid-filled earth.
Infinity Ward’s RPG could be somewhat similar to the Metro series, with players needing to scavenge for ammo and weapons in a world overcome by terrifying monsters. All the Cryptid variants seen in Extinction’s maps could be brought back, as well as new variants of the monsters for players to fight. For instance, it is easy to imagine boss battles against the mode's Mammoths, making players strategize and spend a lot of their hard-earned resources.
Roaming around a world completely overtaken by hostile aliens could be interesting, and it would still allow Infinity Ward to do something new. The connection to Call of Duty: Ghosts and the franchise as a whole would be very limited, with players able to jump right in and experience the game with no prior knowledge of Extinction. Seeing ruined landmarks like the White House, Eiffel Tower, and so on would be exciting, and the Cryptids could be more fleshed out than ever before. While Extinction will likely stay forgotten, and this open world RPG from Infinity Ward may be something entirely unrelated to Call of Duty, it could also be a fun way to bring back Call of Duty: Ghosts’ most underappreciated content.