See heads get crushed and live-ammo fingerguns in Call of Duty: 'Gesture Warfare'

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Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare hasn't proved the most popular installment in the long-running shooter series of shooters, but over this past weekend it introduced what may be the best CoD featured mode of all time. It's called "Gesture Warfare," and no, it doesn't mean you get to flip people off when they kill you. It's even better.

Basically, instead of killing people with your guns, you kill them with your fingers. You can crush their heads, Kids in the Hall-style, you can pop them, you can flick them, you can wave them away, and of course you can just plug them with the ol' finger gun, too. There were nine different gestures to choose from, each with its own unique (and uniquely ridiculous) name and infliction of death.

Head Crush
Bang Bang
Boom
You’re Dead
Crush
Jackal Toy
R-C8 Toy
Light It Up
Flick

Gestures cycle automatically when a kill is scored, and conventional weapons remain available for use as well. "We want you to play how you want, but with the option of using gestures and the normal combat you’re used to," Infinity Ward explained on Reddit. "Also, different gestures have different times to kill, so you’ll still be able to be effective when you get caught in surprise combat situations."

It's obviously not something that most people would want to play all the time, but absurd modes like this can be a blast in small doses (I had a riotous week with Catch the Chicken back in the day) and they really help keep online games fresh, too: The more there is to do, the more people are likely to keep paying attention. The Gesture Warfare featured mode was only available over the weekend, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it return someday.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.