The Call of Duty franchise is one of gaming’s big beasts. Ever since it made its debut in 2003, Activision Blizzard has been entertaining us with stories of derring-do, brutal battles and stories that span the Second World War to the present day.
Over the course of its two-decade lifetime, the franchise has made an estimated $1.5bn in revenue, changed first person shooters forever and released a whopping 22 games in the process.
And it’s not done yet. With Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 due to launch later this year, what better time to rank our list of the top 10 Call of Duty games ever?
From good to the very best, here it is.
Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021)
A classic case of wasted potential, Vanguard gives us a great campaign… just not enough of it. Still, it’s heartily enjoyable fare, giving us cinematic moments in spades. We join an elite Nazi-bashing squad (aka the first ever Special Ops team) on their final mission, and while dodging bullets in the epic set pieces, we also find out more about how they got to that point via flashback.
The characters are great fun to spend time with, and the Stalingrad stealth mission is one of the series’ very best. It’s just a shame that the campaign is so short, and that the multiplayer is such a steaming mess – there’s just no new content at all. Boo.
Call of Duty: World at War (2008)
This Second World War flavoured game holds up surprisingly well considering its age and slightly dodgy graphics. Following on from the massively successful Modern Warfare, it heads back to the 1940s and bounces players around the theatre of war.
Though the campaign can feel frustrating at times (some bits are gruellingly difficult to beat), the thrill of storming the Normandy beaches or slugging it out in the destroyed streets of Stalingrad alongside Gary Oldman as Sgt. Reznov, is difficult to beat. Plus, this saw the first introduction of multiplayer, letting you play the campaign alongside three other friends.
But let’s not forget this game’s biggest contribution to the CoD franchise: introducing the now-beloved Zombies mode, aka letting players face off against hordes of undead Nazi soldiers. Because really, what feels better than battling undead hordes armed with nothing but a rifle and some grenades.
Call of Duty 2 (2005)
Yes, it’s old. But we’d argue that it’s still iconic. Coming out at the same time as the Xbox 360, Call of Duty 2 showcased the processing power of the brand-new console, making the Second World War battle scenes feel more dynamic and immersive than ever before.
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Coming back to it now, the game’s flaws are more apparent. Aside from a fun adventure as the Desert Rats in Africa, most of the settings don’t tread much new ground – yes, that means the D-Day Landings once more. And though the multiplayer is predictably basic, it’s actually surprisingly hard, requiring proper tactical planning and knowledge of the game’s systems and weaponry.
Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War (2020)
Though the campaign is depressingly short, there’s more than enough here to make it shine. Raven’s first game for the CoD franchise packs in stealth missions, memorable set pieces and even a bit of puzzle solving.
Plus, it really embraces the out-of-combat worldbuilding: take the moments when you find yourself wandering around KGB headquarters or chatting to the covert ops crew. It’s subtle, polished and well-executed stuff, which made for a nice change from previous titles.
There are downsides, of course. That would mainly be the multiplayer, coming after the triumph that was Modern Warfare the year before. This version is depressingly bland – with more limited options and smaller maps.
Call of Duty: WWII (2017)
What shooter game is complete without a trip back in time to shoot some Nazis? Call of Duty has revisited this time period umpteen times, but this is one of the standout entries, despite any pressing Second World War fatigue that longtime franchise fans might be feeling.
Rather than concerning itself with bombastic set pieces, you instead play as a lowly private, whose squad must press forward across France and into Germany following the chaos of D-Day.
The resulting scenes are some of Call of Duty’s most emotional, and the intelligent gameplay – replacing that knee slide with a button to fall prone instead, for instance – make it much more engaging.
Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
The first Black Ops game was a gamble for CoD creators Treyarch, but one that paid off. Black Ops relocated the action from the 1940s to 1960s-era Vietnam, putting us in the shoes of CIA agent Alex Mason. With guest stars including Sam Worthington, Ed Harris, and Gary Oldman, some cracking campaign missions and dollops of 1960s cool, such as shooting guns from a Chinook while bullets whizz past your head. Plus, that twist.
Is the multiplayer any good? While it doesn’t break any new ground, maps like Firing Range and Nuketown are still included in today’s games, and Zombie mode (in which you can play as Fidel Castro or JFK, for some reason) is a blast. A true all-rounder.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
There’s plenty to like about this game, but perhaps what it does best is balance moments of high action with quieter, stealth-based missions that become nail-bitingly tense (anybody for the ultra-stressful, weapons-lite Alone?).
Fan faves Soap, Ghost, Gaz and Captain Price are back, and MW2 takes the time to do a bit of character development, which feels especially welcome.
The biggest drawback here is the multiplayer. While the guns feel better than ever – and a few new game modes like Prisoner Rescue offer some variety – the maps here are small and badly designed.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (2012)
If ever a video game deserved to be a Hollywood action movie, it’s this one. Featuring branching narratives (a first for the franchise) and several different endings, depending on choices the player makes throughout the game (or how the Strike Force missions go), it’s a high water mark for Call of Duty – which started to go downhill soon after.
The game itself takes a look at the powers that pull the strings in America, with some fun set pieces: there’s a club shootout, a story that jumps between the 1980s and 2025, and even a mission set in a skate park.
Oh, and there’s the multiplayer of course, which debuted Scorestreaks and the ability to upgrade weaponry – aka making it insanely replayable. And who could forget the equally bonkers Mob of the Dead Zombie mode, which sees time travelling mobsters picking a fight with the undead?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
Yes, this is a reboot of the original Modern Warfare series. But the game itself, coming eight years after the original trilogy wrapped up, added a welcome shot of adrenaline to the flagging franchise. No more world wars here – instead, action scenes mean prowling through a house in Camden, looking for terrorists.
Plus, the gameplay here is excellent. For one, the guns look great: you can almost see the fingerprints on each rifle stock, and their weight and heft feels pleasingly realistic, adding an extra frisson to all those battles.
This was also the first game to debut the battle royal-style Warzone, and the multiplayer is excellent, letting you customise guns and fight enemies in Piccadilly Circus or even underground. Yay London.
And the winner is... Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)
The OG. This is the titel that shaped after CoD title that came after it, and it’s easy to see why.
The game, even by the standards of other shooters, was groundbreaking. Moving the action to the present day for the first time, it introduced us to a world of spies, SAS soldiers and riveting combat.
There are so many great moments here. There’s All Ghillied Up, which is quite possibly the best CoD mission of all time. There’s Aftermath, one of the bleakest, which lets you experience what it would be like to die from nuclear fallout: no hope of being saved, just stumbling around Iraq as Sgt. Paul Jackson, in the moments before his death. From a mainstream FPS, this had never been done before.
Plus, there are all the little innovations that make this so great. Add XP, killstreaks and the prestige system made the game infinitely replayable (and has been copied ever since by other shooters). A true classic, and it’s even been remastered.
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