‘Call Of Duty’ Jumps On The VR Bandwagon With Jackal Assault [First Impressions]
Call of Duty finally gives in to pressure and releases an exclusive virtual reality mission for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare called “Jackal Assault.” Is it good? Is it bad? Or is it just a hype?
With the rising popularity of virtual reality gaming, more and more developers and titles are coming up with their own VR creations. While we have yet to get our hands on full-blown VR titles as huge and significant as the titles that we can normally play on with our joysticks or keyboards, a lot of titles are coming out with VR demos and gameplays to give us a glimpse of what their respective developers are capable. Doom has given us a pretty awesome VR demo and Fallout is set to come out with an exciting full VR title.
This time around, Treyarch and Activision are jumping the VR bandwagon as they announced at the PAX 2016 the free VR mode for Call of Duty,“Jackal Assault.”
Excited yet? Hold your horses. Business Insider reports that “Jackal Assault” is merely a virtual reality mode for Call of Duty’s latest title, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. The “Jackal Assault” mission acts like some sort of DLC that is playable through the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare game in PlayStation 4.
Announcing the Jackal Assault, a Call of Duty @PlayStation VR experience, coming free for all PS4 Infinite Warfare players.
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) September 2, 2016
While “Jackal Assault” sounds extremely exciting, there are a few things you must know about the upcoming Call of Duty VR mission, notes Polygon. One, it’s completely free when you purchase Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare for your PlayStation 4. Two, it’s only set to be playable when the PlayStation VR headset comes out on October 13. Three, Call of Duty’s “Jackal Assault” is only playable on the VR headset for PlayStation 4, and not on its Xbox One and PC counterparts. Another reason to get your hands on a PlayStation 4 if you’ve yet to do so.
Upload VR was able to get their hands dirty with Call of Duty’s “Jackal Assault” mode at the Call of Duty XP event in Los Angeles.
That moment when you see #InfiniteWarfare & #MWRemastered MP for the first time. #CODXP2016 pic.twitter.com/65Jt9a1O5M
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) September 3, 2016
Call of Duty’s “Jackal Assault” mode starts out with you, as the pilot, seated in a cozy vehicle as your loading captain (voiced by Michelle Rodriguez) gives you pre-flight instructions. A few moments after this opening scene, you are propelled into space, with other spacecraft looming into view.
“It felt similar to playing the game on a standard PlayStation 4, with the left analog stick handling acceleration and brake of the vehicle and the right analog stick changing the direction of the ship’s flight. Weapons were also available to obliterate enemies, with the right trigger utilizing machine gun fire and the left trigger enabling the usage of missiles, in conjunction with the PlayStation VR visor’s head-tracking for lock-on capabilities.”
Call of Duty is all about first-person shooting and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s “Jackal Assault” is all about this as well. As you get the hang of the controls, enemy ship after enemy ship is propelled on your way for that fast-paced shooting experience.
However, if you’re looking for that legitimate Call of Duty experience, “Jackal Assault” is not perfect. But regardless, those who have tried “Jackal Assault” are pretty satisfied with Activision’s efforts of capturing the thrill of space flight while bringing combat and precision into play. Workman adds the following.
“Things did get a little chaotic during the demo with the chatter, as your captain and other pilots called out their targets and tried to maintain the integrity of larger vehicles that were under attack. However, that really tied in with the rest of the experience rather well, making us feel frantic attempting to keep things together in the heat of combat.”
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 4, 2016.
Can’t wait for Call of duty: Infinite Warfare? Watch a few gameplay moments below.
[Image via Activision]
