The Call of Duty franchise is one of the longest-running, highest-earning and best selling first-person shooter franchises of today. Hell, make that video game franchises. Love it or hate it, the proof is in the pudding: 16 years, 30 games (including remakes, spin-offs, mobile games, and console exclusives), 250+ million copies sold and a whopping US$15 billion earned in sales worldwide and for good reason!
I still fondly remember experiencing the battle for Stalingrad in Call of Duty 2, the Chernobyl mission in Call of Duty 4, the Verkuta mission in Black Ops… ugh, I could go on forever! There’s no denying the impact it’s had on the FPS genre, but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Activision’s baby.
Over the years the games have endured hardships and faced quite a lot of controversies and backlash – sometimes well deserved, other times not so much. One prominent example is the notorious record for banning players for a variety of reasons – if you’d like to understand more about this issue or if you’re looking for the appeal procedure visit this site: Ban Appeal Activision. Nevertheless, like mortar shells, they keep coming and making big craters in the gaming industry, sending a shockwave throughout the world of gaming every time
Now that we got the cliché video game article intro out of the way, let’s get down to business. Coming up next is the complete list of all Call of Duty games in order, top to bottom. I’ll provide you with a quick review of each and every game and we’ll see whether they pass the test of time or are you better off looking for that nostalgia trip somewhere else.
Call of Duty Games: Main Series
First let’s take a look at the main titles in the Call of Duty series, of which there are 16, and after that, we’ll move on to spinoffs, mobile games, console exclusive titles and all that jazz. But before we start, keep in mind that you will need an outstanding fps mouse, just so you can bring the best out of your gameplay.
#1 Call of Duty
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox 360
Call of Duty release date: October 29, 2003
The one that started it all. Call of Duty is the first game ever developed by Infinity Ward, whose development team consisted of 22 members who had worked earlier on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, a now-legendary WWII first person shooter released in early 2002. With such valuable experience under their belt, there was no way this was going to be a fluke.
Call of Duty’s campaign consists of 3 different storylines. The first one puts you in the boots of Private Martin, a newly enlisted member of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment who is dropped into battle deep behind enemy lines of Nazi-occupied France.
The second story follows sergeant Jack Evans, a member of the British 6th Airborne Division joining Operation Tonga as part of D-Day landings, taking place on 6 June 1944, while the rest of the story focuses on Evans and his involvement in destroying German dams, fighting enemy forces, sabotaging a battleship… the usual shtick.
The third and final campaign takes you to the freezing and brutal Russian front as seen through the eyes of Corporal Alexei Ivanovich Voronin and his fellow volunteers. Voronin’s story starts off on 18 September 1942 during the battle of Stalingrad, taking you through Moscow, Warsaw, all the way to 1945 Berlin.
The story is very basic but functional, and each campaign gives you a unique perspective on the Allied efforts all throughout the war, from the early stages up until its final days it(spoiler alert: the Germans lose).
All three campaigns are very exciting and fun to play through, although the Russian campaign definitely stands out in my eyes and faithfully represents the brutality of the Eastern front complete with the usual Mother Russia tropes we’ve grown used to in Hollywood, but which I found quite charming.
The gameplay is very simple and straight-forward compared to modern shooters, but back then it was quite revolutionary and it still holds up pretty well. The developers focused on the squad-based aspect of the game, making you cooperate with your squadmates instead of solo.
Thankfully, their AI is very advanced for 2003 and makes them able to flank your opponent, as well as bank grenades and change cover points during clashes, giving you a more realistic experience on the battlefield. The enemy is no slouch either and will respond accordingly by using different maneuvers such as suppressive fire, clearing obstacles, and much more.
Combine that with some impressive graphics for the time and brilliant sound design, and I’d say this game holds up quite well and is definitely worth your time, even 16 years later. If that’s not enough action for you, an expansion pack called Call of Duty: United Offensive was released on September 14, 2004. Both are most recommended!
#2 Call of Duty 2
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox 360
Call of Duty 2 release date: October 25, 2005
After a roaring success of the first game, Infinity Ward decided to stick with the winning formula by keeping everything that was good and making improvements where needed. Like its predecessor, Call of Duty 2 cannot boast with an impactful and engaging story. Instead, it relies on the impact of the sheer spectacle and fast-paced action to immerse the player and make him feel like a puny cog in a massive war machine.
The story is split into three individual campaigns: the British campaign, the Soviet campaign, and the American campaign. Aside from the British campaign being set in North Africa, everything else seems pretty much the same compared to the first game, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing.
This time around the developers tried to show the true scale of the war and filled the game with quite a few goosebump-inducing moments of huge scale that will surely stick with you long after the credits roll. While the campaign is rather short-ish, upping the difficulty will force you to take a more tactical approach, which the game designers intended in the first place.
The difficulty is somewhat lowered by introducing the regenerating health system which has become the staple of the series for years to come. Instead of looking for medkits, you simply stay behind cover and wait 15-20 seconds to fully restore your health, and you’re back in action!
Be wary though, as there is no health bar to assist you, so when the screen starts turning red, run behind cover. The presentation is also top-notch, with improved graphics and effects, great sound design, and famous quotes about war showing after each death, which is a rather nice touch.
The multiplayer also makes a return and remains relatively unchanged. The classic deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture-the-flag modes are joined by a new mode called ‘’headquarters’’. This mode puts two capture points in two different areas of the map and the main objective is to capture and set up a headquarters on one of the two areas.
Once that’s done, the points begin increasing for the controlling team, and they must defend their HQ from the attacking team. The catch is that the defending team members cannot respawn if killed until their headquarters is overrun or the HQ expires. Once that’s done, the capture points locations change and the teams start again. It’s a very intense, fast-paced mode and it would be a crime not to give it a go yourself.
Overall, Call of Duty 2 is an improvement over the first game in every way and while not adding too much to the formula, it simply improves upon it and offers more WW2 shooter action we’ve grown to love in the predecessor. Great stuff!
#3 Call of Duty 3
Supported platforms: Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360
Call of Duty 3 release date: November 7, 2006
This one I find the most overlooked game in the franchise, and I reckon it’s mostly because of it being the first console exclusive (Boo!) mainline Call of Duty game. There’s also the fact that by late 2006 we’ve already achieved the peak of WW2 shooter saturation and the people were yearning for a change of setting.
Instead of Infinity Ward, this game was developed by Treyarch, who have proven themselves with their work on Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, a console-exclusive side-story/expansion released for Gamecube, Xbox and Playstation 2, which we’ll talk about later.
Call of Duty 3 is the first game in the franchise released for the Playstation 3, and the first one to fully embrace the hardware of the 7th console generation. Though the graphics are quite impressive for the time, framerate issues plague the experience, especially on the PS3 and Wii, which is to be expected of launch titles.
The story follows puts you in the year 1944 after the Battle of Normandy and the 88 days leading up to the liberation of Paris. The campaign is experienced through the eyes of 4 soldiers: Private Nichols of the US Army 29th infantry division, Sergeant James Doyle of the British SAS Infantry Division, Private Cole of the 4th Canadian Armored Division, and Corporal ‘’Bohater’’ Wojciech, a Polish Sherman tank driver.
The Polish and the Canadian campaign, though not groundbreaking in any way, are nice additions to the game and provide a refreshing perspective on the western theater of war. Not much has changed gameplay-wise: Call of Duty 3 rides a fine line between a run-and-gun shooter and a slow-paced tactical shooter, with an emphasis being put on taking cover, taking out as many Nazi soldiers as you can, and moving to the next area.
There’s not much else to say about this game, and even though Treyarch showed that they’re pretty capable of making a good Call of Duty game, and even though the reception was overwhelmingly positive, it seemed as if the fans were getting bored with the WWII setting (keep in mind that this was 2006, and back then WWII games such as Medal of Honor, Company of Heroes, Battlefield 1942 and Brothers in Arms were dominating the market).
Little did they know what Activision had in store for the following year…
#4 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Mac OS X
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare release date: November 5, 2007
I still remember seeing the E3 2007 trailer for this game and thinking that this was another Battlefield 2 expansion or something in that vein, only to be caught completely off guard by the Call of Duty logo appearing at the end. The B2 bombers and D-day landings were replaced by AC-130 gunships and special forces raids, and they couldn’t have come at a better time!
With the franchise back in Infinity Ward’s hands, this breakaway from the World War II setting proved to be just what the franchise needed, and the sales numbers and awards attest to that.
The year is 2011, and the world is on the brink of World War 3. Khaled Al-Asad, a Middle Eastern Military commander, begins a coup in Saudi Arabia by killing its president. Meanwhile, a civil war is raging in Russia between the Western-backed loyalists on one side and the ultranationalists joined by Al-Asad on the other.
The campaign follows ‘’Soap’’ MacTavish of the SAS and Sgt. Paul Jackson of the US Marine Corps as they are sent into the heart of the conflict. The campaign is noticeably shorter this time and clocks in at about 6 hours on normal difficulty, but the story is a lot more engaging compared to its predecessors, which is a compromise that I’m willing to make.
Location-wise, Call of Duty 4 provides a wide variety of different settings, all of which are memorable in their own way. I have especially fond memories of the midnight ship raid, the Caucasus mountains hostage rescue, the Chernobyl sniper mission… chills, man!
The AI is also vastly improved and your teammates will assist you by providing covering fire, throwing frag and smoke grenades, performing pre-planned drills and checking corners while clearing buildings.
The enemy is no slouch either, as they prove to be quite a challenge by taking cover, snuffing you out with grenades and easily pinning you down if you’re not careful enough. They are especially irksome on higher difficulties, and you’ll have to tread very carefully. In other words: git gud, son!
And how can I forget – the multiplayer! Oh lord, the multiplayer! Days were spent in endless fragging, going up in classes, unlocking new weapons and perks, and chasing kill streaks just so I could call in an airstrike and feel like a proper god of war.
For me, it really set the standard for online shooters that few games were able to surpass to this day. Overall, a must-play for sure. Thankfully, the remastered version is up for grabs for all 8th generation platforms and PC, so no excuses!
#5 Call of Duty: World at War
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Call of Duty: World at War release date: November 11, 2008
After dominating the videogame industry with Modern Warfare, Activision decided to hand the reins back to Treyarch to develop the fifth game in the series set in…. World War 2? Again? What? Yup, you read that right. I was as baffled as you probably are now.
While writing about Modern Warfare 2, I realized halfway through the review that I completely forgot to talk about World at War, which pretty much sums up my feelings towards this game.
That’s not to say that it was bad in any way – quite the contrary – but up to this point was an experience similar to eating lasagna every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner all year long, breaking the cycle by eating stew for lunch one day and then promptly returning to an all-lasagna regime. Sure, I love lasagna as much as the next guy, but know your limits, man!
Aside from adding some more mature themes (basically just blood and flamethrowers), it’s pretty much more of the same WWII action we’ve grown to love in 2003 and then grown a little tired of in 2006.
The story is a bit more engaging than the one seen in the first three games, but nowhere near Call of Duty 4. You take control of two characters throughout the campaign: Private C. Miller of the US Marine Corps fighting in the Pacific and Private Dimitri Petrenko fighting on the Eastern Front.
Miller gets rescued during the Makin island raid on August 17, 1942 and rejoins the army in their efforts of storming Peleliu beach, thereby clearing the way for pushing further inland. On the other side of the globe, Dimitri Petrenko wakes up in a body-filled fountain during the battle of Stalingrad and meets Sergeant Viktor Reznov (voiced by Gary Oldman).
With Reznov serving as your guide, you make an effort to find and rejoin the remainder of Dimitri’s unit who are about to execute an assault on General Heinrich Amsel’s communication post.
Although quite cliche and uninteresting at times, the campaign has a couple of memorable moments, mostly thanks to the excellent performance from Gary Oldman. If not for him, the whole Soviet campaign would be as forgettable as the American one.
The multiplayer is definitely a strong point of this game, introducing the now already well established Nazi Zombies mode. In this mode, your goal is to survive for as long as possible while the building/area you’re in becomes slowly overwhelmed by ravaging zombies whose political stance is national-socialist for some reason.
In between waves, you have a short amount of time to reinforce the door and window barricades and give yourself false hope that help will arrive if you just hold them off just long enough… brave, but also quite foolish. This is the mode that I played the most out of all the game modes, and shooting up zombies never gets old.
I’m struggling to find anything else to say about this game. Looking back at it now, I can certainly appreciate it a lot more nowadays when WWII shooters are almost nowhere to be found, but back then people were just worn out and needed a long break from that time period as a whole. Thankfully, Treyarch passed the torch back to Infinity Ward to do their thing for the next game in the franchise.
#6 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 release date: November 11, 2009
Ahhh, now that’s more like it! This one picks up right where Call of Duty 4 left off and simply amps up the ride in every way while keeping the formula intact in the process – nothing wrong with that in my book. The story is set five years after the events of the first Modern Warfare and the world is again on the brink of a global conflict.
The diplomatic relations between the US and Russia are strained more than ever (nothing like in the real world, nope, not at all), and the Ultranationalists intend on using that to their advantage, so it’s up to you and your brothers in arms to save the world once again.
The story delivers on all fronts and is filled to the brim with intense gunfights and very fun action set-pieces thrown all throughout the campaign. The multiplayer was also improved and is a lot more frantic compared to the raw run-and-gun experience of the previous game.
Aside from new game modes, the killstreak rewards were also revised and updated, including the Predator missile, a sentry gun, and a now-notorious (and PTSD-inducing) tactical nuke. A ‘’deathstreak’’ bonus was implemented in an attempt to balance things out during the match.
Unfortunately, the game was riddled with controversy upon release. The biggest one was definitely caused by the infamous ‘’No Russian’’ mission, in which you play through an airport massacre through the eyes of a CIA agent disguised as a Russian terrorist.
Even though the mission is optional (as in you can skip it without consequences when prompted by a game message), it still managed to fill headline news all around the world, and cause the game to be banned in certain countries. And it certainly wasn’t helpful that Anders Breivik (yeah, THAT Anders Breivik) claimed in his manifesto that Modern Warfare 2 provided inspiration for the 2011 Norway attacks in which 77 people were killed.
It’s a wonder the game managed to stay on the store shelves at all.
All things considered and controversies aside, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a great sequel that left the fans yearning for more. Even though I still prefer the first Modern Warfare due to clocking in a lot more hours into it, I cannot deny that Modern Warfare 2 is objectively a better game in all aspects. Now all that was left was for Infinity Ward to hit the trifecta with the sequel and wrap up the Modern Warfare storyline in style.
#7 Call of Duty: Black Ops
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Call of Duty: Black Ops release date: November 9, 2010
Bamboozled again! Instead of following up Modern Warfare 2 with a straight-up sequel, Activision decided to continue bouncing the franchise back and forth between Treyarch and Infinity Ward, this time opting to cultivate a parallel storyline which could (and eventually did) potentially stretch out and last until long after the Modern Warfare story has wrapped.
This move proved to be very fruitful for the franchise, both critically and especially financially. Black Ops serves as a sequel to World at War and is set between 1961 and 1968, a.k.a. The Cold War, focusing on black operations conducted by the CIA way behind enemy lines.
You’re Alex Mason, a Special Activities Division (SAD) operative who wakes up on February 25, 1968 in an interrogation room strapped to a chair and with a bunch of threatening voices throwing what seems like nonsensical questions right in your groggy confused face.
Mason recalls certain events in search of answers that the unseen interrogators are looking for, and hence the campaign begins. Nazi Arctic bases, chemical weapons, pre-emptive nuclear strikes, and political assassinations – strap yourself in since you’re in for a bumpy ride, which I won’t spoil any further, as I employ you to give this game a go.
Even though it’s been criticized as too linear and feeling like it’s on rails at times, the gameplay is very solid and it’s all that you’ve come to expect from a Call of Duty game, all wrapped up in a fresh 60s coat. The locations are quite diverse and you will often find yourself jumping from the hot jungles of Vietnam to the Arctic Circle, Siberia, Hong Kong, Cuba, and many others.
The zombies return, this time with their own alternate history storyline stretching from 1945 all the way through the 1960s. Although not long, it’s quite a fun and refreshing addition to the series. Combine that with an updated multiplayer, and you have lots of hours to squeeze out of this installment.
All things considered, Black Ops was a solid entry which, although not bringing anything revolutionary to the shooting genre, stuck to the standard formula and brought a fun shooting experience to occupy everyone’s minds before the eagerly awaited finale of the Modern Warfare story.
#8 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 release date: November 8, 2011
Thinking back on the hype following the release of this game, there was no way any game could live up to the ridiculously high expectations set by both its predecessors and the fans combined.
The craze was World Cup-esque, with reports of two Parisians stealing 400.000 Euros worth of Modern Warfare 3 copies from a delivery truck, and a guy from Aurora, Colorado sending threats of blowing up a game store if they didn’t have a copy for him. So, did it live up? Of course not. Was it still good nevertheless? Yeah. Pretty good, I might add.
This time, the story kicks off right where Modern Warfare left off and focuses around the Task Force 141, containing, Captain Price, Soap Mactavish, and Yuri, on the hunt for Makarov, the leader of the Ultranationalist and the main baddie from the second installment. The main campaign will take you across Europe, Russia, the USA, and the Arabian peninsula, where the final showdown occurs.
It’s quite a cinematic experience and most of the time you’ll be followed by a feeling of being in a high-octane Hollywood thriller, so the story definitely delivers the eagerly awaited conclusion that the fans had hoped for. Brian Tyler was in charge of composing a soundtrack to go with the exciting non-stop action and he did his part great.
Combined with a stellar voice cast composed of the likes of Idris Elba, Timothy Olyphant and Bruce Greenwood, the atmosphere brings the game that much closer to the likes of Mission Impossible or James Bond. All that adrenaline-pumping action can get a bit too strenuous and overwhelming at times, and the game could use a few toned down sections here and there, just to give the player a chance to catch his/her breath.
That goes especially for playing on higher difficulties, as often times you’ll find yourself in the middle of bullet hell, with no chance of surviving, so get used to those death screens with famous quotes about war, you’ll be seeing them a lot.
The multiplayer is back and better than ever before, although the action is a bit to exaggerated for my taste. As is the case with the campaign, too much of anything is never good, and you’ll often get thrown in the middle of a shooting spree with a low-level weapon, with nigh impossible chance of surviving. Good luck!
If you’ve come this far, there’s no reason why you would skip the grand finale of this story. With all of its faults and positives, you cannot knock the effort behind it all. It definitely stuck with me and, although it wasn’t as mind-blowing as everyone was expecting, it still delivered an exciting ending to a great story. Kudos to Infinity Ward.
#9 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 release date: November 12, 2012
This one is kind of a mixed bag, and I’m still on the fence about it. It has all the ingredients to make for a great experience: good graphics for its time, decent gameplay mechanics and all that jazz. It feels like Treyarch was unsure of whether to stick with the Cold War era or try to go the futuristic route, so they chose both and didn’t really hit the nail on either one of them.
This is where I felt like I was losing interest in the series, and maybe taking a break and letting the meal cook for a little longer would have benefited the product overall. The story is all over the place, with cyberattacks, LA drone massacres, and Jimmy Kimmel (Yes, you read that correctly) contributing to a rather confusing and uninteresting plot.
The multiplayer is too frantic for my taste and is bordering on frustrating. The Zombies storyline felt a lot more enjoyable than the main story as the sheer stupidity of the plot fit with the premise and provided a nice B-movie experience. The soundtrack was surprisingly good, and Trent Reznor did a great job on his department, and the visuals look quite appealing.
Other than that, this was quite a forgettable installment. Maybe I’m just getting old, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.
#10 Call of Duty: Ghosts
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Playstation4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U
Call of Duty: Ghosts release date: November 5, 2013
At this point, my feeling towards Treyarch and Infinity Ward were quite comparable to a child of divorced parents, with Treyarch and Infinity Ward sharing custody and me switching places every other week. While I would look forward to hanging out with fun and exciting Infinity Ward, I would dread going back to Treyarch who tries hard, but just doesn’t get me nor my needs. Stupid analogy, I know, sue me.
Call of Duty: Ghosts is the first current-gen Call of Duty game released in late 2013 for both the 7th and the 8th generation of consoles. The story is set in the near future and follows Logan Walker, a member of a secret U.S. Special Operations unit called Ghosts.
Ghosts are operatives trained to conduct secret undercover missions behind enemy lines such as sabotage, gathering intellig… hey, are you sleeping? Wake up! I know, I know, you’ve seen it all before, but you can play as a dog this time! Still not doing it for you, huh?
Call of Duty did the whole futuristic terrorist threat nuclear catastrophe shtick with the Modern Warfare storyline, and it did it quite successfully, so they had to pull something innovative, something bold and different in order to keep the fans. Did they? Nah, this wasn’t it, chief!
Not even Stephen Lang could save such a boring and cliche campaign, and that’s saying something. Easily my least favorite installment. Again, it’s not bad gameplay-wise (in fact, none of these games can be considered ‘’bad’’). What angers me so is the lack of desire to come up with fresh ideas and the lack of courage to separate from Modern Warfare and do its own thing. It felt soulless like it was built by an AI, not real humans. Next!
But if you’re into that kind of stuff, maybe you’d like to check out our guide on some of the most amazing survival games.
#11 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Playstation4, Xbox 360, Xbox One,
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare release date: November 4, 2014
It seems like the big heads from Activision were listening to my pleas after the disaster that was Ghosts, and they decided to give another developer a shot, and Sledgehammer Games was given the honors.
Not only that, but Kevin Spacey, Jon Bernthal, Bill Paxton, Troy Baker and many more starts were cast in the game, so my interest sparked yet again. AND it was going full-on futuristic, with the plot being set between 2054 and 2061. Okay, you have my full attention!
Jake Mitchell is a member of the United States Marine Corps who gets involved with Atlas. Atlas is a private military organization that chooses no sides in the war and goes for the one who offers the most, so they’re definitely up to no good. The story that follows next is surprisingly interesting, with great acting and some pretty wild plot points that will keep your attention at all times.
The gameplay went through some drastic changes with the addition of the Exo suit, allowing the player to change weaponry, boost, dash, sky jump, and cloak, which is highly reminiscent of the Crysis series. Naturally, the multiplayer also suffered some pretty drastic changes.
Instead of individual weapons, the player has a choice of 350 different weapon variants. New variants and abilities are obtained through random supply drops and make for exciting matches. Combined with an Exo Zombies mode, and an all-new co-op mode, this game was quite a refreshment that was desperately needed to try and put the series on the right track.
It wasn’t with its problems, though. The ‘’Press F to Pay Respects’’ moment was pretty laughable, and the futuristic setting felt very sterile and unexciting to most players, which I have to agree with. Still, it was a step forward in the franchise though nothing special. Will it continue walking forward? Stay tuned!
#12 Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Playstation4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, macOS
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 release date: November 6, 2015
Hi Treyarch, long time no see! So the future was definitely the direction of choice for the franchise and Black Ops 3 embraced it as much as possible. The thing about futuristic shooters is: they’re everywhere! At this point, they were practically the norm when it comes to mainstream FPS games, so to stand out among them you have to excel in pretty much all aspects, and this game does not.
Black Ops 3 offers a pretty standard multiplayer that people have gotten used to and are getting a bit too tired of. The maps are uninspired and quite dull, with too many open areas that offer no room for strategy besides running and shooting like a madman. Match making is pretty horrible as well and you’ll often get matched with high-level players who will blow you to pieces in no time.
As far as singleplayer goes, it’s really not even worth mentioning. A bunch of cliche characters spouting out cliche lines and really not doing anything different from the previous titles. Compared to this one, World at War is the most fun and interesting game in the whole world, and it’s ridiculous how much the franchise has dropped in quality ever since the Modern Warfare storyline wrapped up. Still, the sales numbers were quite high, so what do I know.
#13 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation4, Xbox One
Call of Duty:Infinite Warfare release date: November 4, 2016
By this point Call of Duty had become sort of an internet meme and was subject to mocking and quite harsh criticism, and that became all too clear when the reveal trailer for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare dropped on May 2, 2016.
As it stands, it’s the sixth highest disliked video on Youtube with a whopping 3.8 million dislikes. So Activision decided to pull a sneaky on us by bundling it with a remastered version of Call of Duty 4 and not making the remaster available by any other means.
To be honest, I didn’t spend as much time with this game, mainly due to me finding it incredibly uninspired, dull and void of any humanity. The series that we’ve known and loved for almost a decade and a half was gone, and in its place, there was this synthetic shell held together by greed and what remained of its tarnished good name.
The campaign is merely 5.5 hours long and it puts you in the shoes of a random soldier #46 who fights against Kit Harrington in a series of fights against bullet spongy generic enemies that is anything but memorable and fun. It’s obvious that Activision was completely devoted to making this game a competitive multiplayer powerhouse, and it failed miserably. The zombie mode remains the best part of the game, which says a lot. Disappointing, to say the least.
#14 Call of Duty: WWII
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation4, Xbox One
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare release date: November 3, 2017
It seems like the dislikes sent a pretty strong message to Activision, along with missed sales expectations for Infinite Warfare. Fearing for the franchise, they decided to act on it and opted for another change. Grab your Thompsons and MG42s, ladies and gents, we’re going back to World War 2!
Developed by Sledgehammer Games, Call of Duty:WWII was a pretty drastic change compared to previous games. The regenerating health system was thrown out of the window and players must now look for health packs in order to replenish their health. In some parts of the game, you could even capture enemy soldiers or drag your wounded comrades back to cover, which was a very nice touch.
The campaign was very reminiscent of the older titles in the series, and it starts off with the good ol’ D-Day invasion on the beaches of Normandy, which was done remarkably well. The rest of the game follows the Allied efforts to breach into the heart of Europe and ends with the Battle of Remagen, which significantly shortened World War II in Europe.
The presentation is very impressive, boasting some nice muzzle flash effects and realistic facial animations. The weapons models could use a little more work, but they are not too distracting and they do their job. The sound design deserves praise, as it faithfully recreates the feeling of being present on the battlefields of Europe.
It’s basically a 6th gen Call of Duty game repackaged into a modern game engine and serves as a nice return to its roots, with some new mechanics added here and there. The multiplayer has always been the main focus of the game, and here it’s no exception. Expect classic Alles vs Axis clashes, minus the swastikas in an effort to avoid ‘’glorifying’’ Nazis.
Even though it didn’t receive critical acclaim, the sales numbers increased significantly, and this return to roots can be considered a success in Activision’s book. I was rather pleasantly surprised by this move, but hopeful for the franchise’s future.
#15 Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, Xbox One
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare release date: October 12, 2018
In a rather unusual turn of events, Call of Duty went straight back to their Black Ops franchise, but with a big twist: no single player! Instead, it features the Solo Missions mode which take place between Black Ops 2 and 3, focusing on the backstories of the characters playable in multiplayer.
The health regeneration doesn’t make a return from the previous Black Ops game, and we’re yet to see whether it’s gone for good. Along with the standard mods from the previous games, Black Ops 4 features a battle royale mode called Blackout, featuring up to 100 players in a single match. Another big change is the switch to Blizzard’s Battle.net service in the Windows version, replacing Steam.
However, the game suffers from badly designed microtransactions implemented through later updates, which didn’t affect the rating scores too much. Despite having the lowest number of physical copies sold in the last decade of the series, the digital launch was deemed a huge success, surpassing the 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII.
I am not very fond of this game, and at this point, I’m not nearly as invested in the series as I used to be back in 2011/12. The battle royale mode is basically omnipresent in today’s multiplayer world, so having it in Call of Duty as well doesn’t spark my appeal. But if that’s your cup of tea, go for it.
Call of Duty Games: Console And Handheld Titles
The following games are considered pretty much spin-offs as they mostly follow side stories that are often connected, but at times completely separate from the main games. Activision often used these spin-offs to experiment with hiring different developers. These experiments didn’t always turn out jim-dandy, but it’s better than messing up the main series. I find them quite charming and mostly worthy of checking out.
#1 Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Supported platforms: Gamecube, Playstation 2, Xbox
Call of Duty: Finest Hour release date: November 16, 2004
This console exclusive servers as a side-story/expansion to the main game, featuring six different and intertwining stories based on real events from the perspective of Allied soldiers fighting on the Eastern and Western fronts, as well as North Africa.
It was developed by now-defunct Spark Unlimited, and it’s a pretty standard run-of-the-mill WWII shooter that doesn’t step off the beaten path of the main game but provides decent action that would keep you occupied for a couple of hours. Brian Johnson of AC/DC provides the voice of one of the British sergeants, which is a fun touch. Grab a copy if you have a PS2 or an emulator ready to go.
#2 Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Supported platforms: Gamecube, Playstation 2, Xbox
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One release date: November 1, 2005
This game was Treyarch’s first outing in the Call of Duty series, and they did a pretty good job overall, making this game a step-up compared to Finest Hour.
The campaign is focused solely on the American 1st Infantry Division and their part in the North Africa campaign, as well as the invasion of Sicily, the Omaha Beach landing and eventually the large-scale Allied offensive on the Siegfried Line. Featuring several actors from the HBO WWII miniseries ‘’Band of Brothers’’, this delivers on all fronts and is up there in the big leagues in my books.
It doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but it plays its cards right and the campaign will keep you engaged through its 13 missions. I remember playing it at my friends’ house who claimed that this was the original Call of Duty 2, so for a long time, I considered this one a main series installment. Heh, good times. Anyway, check this one out, it’s worth a playthrough.
#3 Call of Duty: Roads to Victory
Supported platforms: Playstation Portable
Call of Duty: Roads to Victory release date: March 13, 2007
Roads to Victory is the only Call of Duty game to be released for the original PSP, and it blew me away back in the day. I simply couldn’t fathom how this teeny tiny device could handle such impressive graphics for the time. Sadly, visuals aside, there wasn’t that much fun to be had with this pretty mediocre shooter.
Developed by now-dissolved Amaze Entertainment, it featured a laughable AI, clumsy controls and stupid glitches that really bring the game down. It’s a shame really, as it looks like a blast, but plays more like a firecracker. Skip this one, it’s not worth the hassle of finding a copy.
#4 Call of Duty: World at War – Final Fronts
Supported platforms: Playstation 2
Call of Duty: World at War – Final Fronts release date: November 10, 2008
Serving as a final send-off to the Playstation 2, Final Fronts serves as a counterpart to Call of Duty: World at War and comes with a set of unique missions following the fighting in the Pacific theater, as well as the British advancing on the German river Rhine and the Battle of the Bulge.
Rebellion Developments did a decent job considering the hardware limitations of the console, so I really can’t knock them for not revolutionizing the FPS genre, as there’s only so much that you can do on a then 8 year old console. Shoot, run, kill, take cover, complete objectives – the formula remains unchanged.
Personally, I played the heck out of this game and enjoyed it a lot, despite a pretty poor AI and lackluster visuals. A decent goodbye to a legendary console, and worth a shot.
#5 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized
Supported platforms: Nintendo DS
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized release date: November 10, 2009
Released exactly one year after Final Fronts, this DS exclusive is a pretty obscure but intriguing installment. It takes place in the same setting as Modern Warfare 2 and the story serves as a ‘’companion narrative’’ to the main versions. The story is very lack-luster, which isn’t surprising for 3D DS shooters.
Instead of following the plot you’re better off simply focusing on the action at hand, which features a few mini-games scattered throughout the campaign (e.g. taking control of the military drones, shooting from an AC-130 gunship, hacking, etc.), making it a unique experience. The graphics look ripped straight from the PS1, which I found very charming as I’m fond of that console generation.
The game makes use of the touchpad to aim, and the shoulder buttons to shoot. It was followed up by the DS port of Black Ops, and they are both worth trying If you have an old DS laying around. Peculiar things these DS ports…
#6 Call of Duty: Zombies
Supported platforms: iOS
Call of Duty: Zombies release date: November 16, 2009
This was basically an iPhone and iPod Touch port of the Nazi Zombies mode from Call of Duty: World at War, but it’s quite impressive what they managed to pull off on 2009 Apple devices. Using berks, barricading doors and windows and shooting at everything that moves, you try and hold off a horde of Nazi zombies from breaching the bunker and eating your US Marine guts.
A sequel includes Shi No Numa that was originally released for the main World at War game. There’s not much else to be said about this game, and it has been removed from the App Store in early 2018. Thankfully, the mobile games of today are powerhouses compared to anything from the late 2000s, so there’s plenty of better looking and better-playing fish in the sea for you to enjoy.
#7 Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified
Supported platforms: Playstation Vita
Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified release date: November 13, 2012
Hey guys, remember the Vita? No? Well, neither does Sony, who seemed to be too in love with the PS4 that they forgot to give some love to this underrated and seriously underutilized handheld. That negligence resulted in a bunch of horrible, unoptimized pieces of software garbage, and Black Ops: Declassified is no exception. As of now, it stands as one of the worst-reviewed Call of Duty games to date, and for good reason.
The campaign was over in less than an hour (seriously, what the heck, Activision?!), and it’s definitely not a short but sweet experience. Instead of clashing with enemy soldiers, you’ll spend most of that hour fighting clunky controls, getting stuck on level geometry and containing yourself from throwing the Vita out of the window. To all 3 Vita owners out there: stay away from this heap of trash as far as possible!
#8 Call of Duty: Strike Team
Supported platforms: iOS, Android
Call of Duty: Strike Team release date: September 5 (iOS), October 24 (Android), 2013
This tactical shooter was a pretty decent outing, but it does nothing to stand out from the rest. You have a choice of switching between a first-person view and an overhead drone’s perspective. It mixes some real-time strategy elements as you control strike teams sent on particular missions to complete various objectives.
There are three modes to choose from: Survival Mode, Time Attack Mode and Domination Mode, which are pretty much self-explanatory. It’s a decent game, but the charm of mobile games has kind of worn off, and the reception supports my claim. Check it out if you’re stuck in a waiting room or if you have nothing better to do. It’s okay.
#9 Call of Duty: Heroes
Supported platforms: iOS, Android
Call of Duty: Heroes release date: November 26, 2014
Call of Duty: Heroes was a blatant attempt at cashing in on the Clash of Clans craze that was sweeping the handheld market back in 2014. It’s a free-to-play real-time strategy game in which the players take control of soldiers called ‘’Units’’ and ‘’Heroes’’ in an attempt to destroy the enemy base.
The Heroes consist of characters from the Modern Warfare and Black Ops storylines, as well as the two characters from Call of Duty: WWII which were added in via update. The Heroes can be moved, but the Units cannot move places once they’re set by the player. Heroes gain bonuses through killstreaks such as Chopper Gunners, EMPs or Predator Missiles.
You pay for things using Gold and Oil which are earned by building mines, oil depots, and all that jazz. You pour your resources into fortifying your defences or building an army, after which you fight PvP battles, gain loot, pour it into defences and the army, rinse and repeat.
There’s practically no end goal, which is my main gripe with this type of games, and it’s all built around making you wait hours (even days) for buildings to be constructed and Units to be produced, all with the intent of nudging you towards spending real cash to speed up the process.
I find that praxis to be greedy and extremely off-putting, and I guess i wasn’t the only one who felt that way, since the game was pulled from Google Play and the App Store in late December of 2018. Good riddance.
Call of Duty games: Remasters
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered
Supported platforms: Xbox One, PC, Playstation 4
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered release date: November 4, 2016 (Bundle), June 27, 2017 (standalone)
It’s Call of Duty 4 with better graphics, what more could you want? Featuring the same plot as the original game from 2007 and the same old multiplayer that we know and love, it’s no wonder that Activision used this game in a hostage-like manner to make players buy the Infinite Warfare bundle, eventually releasing it as a standalone version on June 27 the following year.
You know the drill: everything that I talked about in the Call of Duty 4 still stands, and the game remains my favorite Call of Duty experience to this day. There are some problems such as lacking AI and the inclusion of microtransactions, but it’s far from hindering the experience as a whole in any way. If you haven’t been able to experience the original back in 2007, now’s your chance to join in on the fun.
Conclusion
Even though the series has been subject to harsh, but well deserved criticism over the last couple of years, you have to keep in mind that this is a 16-year-old franchise we’re talking about. It’s only natural for such a long-running series to hit a few bumps (or occasionally even slam into trees) along the road.
What makes the franchise great is its ability to recover from such accidents by having the developers listen to what the fans want and doing their best to deliver a new and improved experience each time. It’s been a tough 5 years for the series, but they’re showing signs of recovery and I’m certain that we haven’t seen the last of their best outings. This story is yet to unwind. While we wait, feel free to read something about top upcoming video games.