Activision launches free, five-day trial for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare so new players can experience this futuristic sci-fi shooter for themselves.

Activision has announced that this coming weekend (from Thursday, December 15 through Tuesday, December 20) it will be offering a free trial of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare on the Xbox One and PS4. The trial is for the full game and includes the campaign, online multiplayer, and also the zombie mode.

The trial comes hot on the heels of news that Infinite Warfare's sales are flagging when compared last year's installment of the flagship series, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. This decline in sales is due to several factors, not the least the intense hate campaign waged against the futuristic shooter. The people most fervently against the new game seem to be loyal fans of the series that are lashing out against what they see as a misplaced change of setting and a departure from what makes Call of Duty what it is.

Another thing that isn't working in Activision's favor is the strong competition this year: shooters are dominating with positive buzz, from Battlefield 1 to Titanfall 2. Although reviews were positive for Infinite Warfare, there is only so much money gamers can spend on buying full-price games, plus all the DLC that comes with them, and many members of the target audience likely spent their money on Ubisoft's or EA's releases when they came out.

Either way, Activision's decision to launch a trial for Infinite Warfare works out well for gamers who haven't yet spent the money to buy it. The game is a great deal of fun as it offers gameplay not seen before in the series, with guns that can manipulate gravity or smart spiders that wander the map in search of enemies to kill. For the first time in the series, players can now also hack enemy drones and robots, adding a whole new dimension to some of the game's tenser firefights.

The campaign is not just a well-told story, but also offers plenty of choice thanks to optional side missions that give players more room to fill out the role of protagonist Nick Reyes. Multiplayer and zombie mode, both of which are part of this weekend's trial, are also good, but offer less in the way of change compared to last year's offering than the campaign. The new guns and kits change it up a little, but gameplay doesn't feel markedly different from Black Ops 3. It's still some of the best shooting to be had, though, so it will at least make for a fun weekend.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is now available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.