Call of Duty is arguably the most impactful first-person shooter series ever made. What started as a World War II experiment turned out to be one of the best-selling franchises ever concocted, and today, the yearly Call of Duty release still nets tens of millions of sales. In this breakdown, we’re looking at all Call of Duty games, ranked by their impact and how good they were.
I’m aware that’s one of the most inflammatory things I’ll ever say and that this is mostly subjective, but take a look through and see how you feel about this Call of Duty ranking.
All Call of Duty Games Ranked
21. Call of Duty: Vanguard
Vanguard looked great on the surface but it was a paltry game that disappointed fans everywhere when it was released in 2021. It boasted one of the weakest competitive ecosystems in years and everything from the short-lived campaign to the multiplayer platform lacked something.
Sledgehammer Games tried to save Vanguard by weaving in maps from older games, but it wasn’t enough. It also heralded the arrival of Caldera, a Warzone map that pulled players away from Verdansk, and that’s often seen as the biggest mistake Activision has ever made.
20. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
Ah, Modern Warfare III. The ‘DLC’ Call of Duty game.
When Modern Warfare III was released in 2023, fans were dismayed at the 3-hour campaign and the fact that it felt more like an expansion to 2022’s Modern Warfare II. In many ways, it was, and despite Activision’s attempts to placate fans by saying it was a premium release, everyone who invested in it felt conned.
Not good.
Related: All Modern Warfare Games, Ranked
19. Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 took the unusual route of being the only mainline entry in the series to completely bypass the campaign, opting for the traditional multiplayer modes and the series’ first foray into the world of Battle Royale with its Blackout mode.
This served as a precursor to the popular Warzone mode that would be released in 2020. Overall, it was a fun iteration of Call of Duty, but not having a campaign hindered any long-term replayability once Warzone and the next entry in the series were released.
Black Ops 4 came out in 2018, and to this day, it was Activision’s last attempt at a futuristic Call of Duty game. Make of that what you will.
18. Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 3 is likely the game you haven’t played and you aren’t really missing much. This entry is the only one never to be released on PC, and with consoles being multiple generations ahead now, being able to go back and replay it is difficult, so it’s best to skip this and just start your Call of Duty journey with the next entry.
17. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Infinite Warfare was Activision’s final attempt at taking Call of Duty into the future before going back to its roots with WWII. It would flip back into the near future with Black Ops 4 in 2018, but you’ve seen where that ended up on this list of all Call of Duty games ranked.
This is a game that often divides fans as it receives both praise and criticism depending on who you ask, but this marks the end of a dark period in the franchise and I think we can all agree that Call of Duty has seen much better entries in the years since.
16. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
Modern Warfare II was a short, forgettable experience that players didn’t gel with. It marked an all-time low for the series, and the game’s competitive ecosystem didn’t fare too well either. It didn’t have the energy that previous games had, and while the campaign wasn’t bad, it was just far too short to keep players engaged for long – and it was buggy as all hell.
It’s not the worst Call of Duty game ever, but it’s far, far from being the best.
15. Call of Duty: WWII
Following three years of the Call of Duty series going into the future, Activision went back to its roots with a World War II-era game. Although it was a good change of pace, Activision failed to deliver and it quickly became a forgotten title in the series as there have been better World War II-era entries before and since.
It is worth playing the campaign if you can get the game cheaply enough, but you won’t miss much if you bypass this entry. Many will tell you that WWII had solid multiplayer, but they’re remembering it wrong…
14. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
After Sledgehammer Games took the series into the future with Advanced Warfare, Treyarch followed suit with Black Ops 3. As with other futuristic Call of Duty games, Black Ops 3 cemented the fact that the series doesn’t work as a sci-fi shooter.
Black Ops 3 does have its moments though, including a great Zombies mode. But when compared to the previous two entries in the series, Black Ops 3 doesn’t hold up.
13. Call of Duty: Ghosts
Like Infinite Warfare, Call of Duty: Ghosts is a game that divides opinions. Some players have fond memories of it while some think it is one of the worst entries in the series.
This game did serve as a precursor for what would become more standard with multiplayer games in the future in that it featured various collaborations with pop-culture icons, including Snoop Dogg as an announcer and both Michael Myers from Halloween and Predator being playable characters on DLC maps.
We all know how that panned out, though.
12. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Advanced Warfare was a fairly forgettable title that expanded on the jetpack era of Call of Duty, sitting in the middle of the series that spanned Black Ops II to 2018’s Black Ops 4. The campaign featured a solid cast fronted by the likes of Kevin Spacey and Troy Baker, but looking back, I can’t recall a single detail of the story.
Sledgehammer Games tried to get creative with the UI and various other mechanics in Advanced Warfare, which earns the game some extra points when we’re looking at all Call of Duty games ranked, but it wasn’t enough to push it into the top ten COD games ever.
11. Call of Duty 2
It was immediately clear after the first game that Activision had a winner on its hands, but few could have predicted the rise that it would go on to have.
Call of Duty 2 is more of the same when compared to the first entry, with one of the most interesting facts being that it wasn’t released on PlayStation. This means that it is understandable if many players haven’t had the opportunity to play it, but it is worth hunting down if you haven’t played this great entry in the series.
For many of today’s OGs, Call of Duty 2’s multiplayer platform is where it all began.
Related: Best Games Like Call of Duty
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Activision’s studios introduced Black Ops Cold War, a game built on the back of a work-from-home initiative and excessive crunch. It featured one of the shortest development cycles ever, but despite that, it wasn’t bad. It featured a stellar multiplayer ecosystem that engaged many millions of players, and the campaign wasn’t awful.
It had a somewhat bizarre Zombies mode that didn’t resonate too well with fans, but it was ambitious and it gave them something else in terms of meat on the bones away from strictly multiplayer or the COD campaign.
It’s a love-hate game for many, but I for one adored Cold War.
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
One of the more interesting things to note about Modern Warfare 3 is it seemed to be released on everything – even the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. Talk about accessibility.
Given that it was the final chapter of the original Modern Warfare series, the marketing for Modern Warfare 3 was very extensive. What was ultimately delivered ticked many boxes for fans, and it introduced some of the best core elements that we’ve come to know and expect from a Call of Duty game today.
For instance, Kill Confirmed debuted in Modern Warfare 3, and that’s now considered one of the best Call of Duty game modes ever.
The campaign was a perfect ending to several years of Modern Warfare, the Spec Ops / Survival Mode was brilliant, and the multiplayer platform was polished.
8. Call of Duty: World At War
Call of Duty: World At War is the second game by Treyarch in what would become the yearly trend of going back and forth with Infinity Ward.
World At War felt like Treyarch was finding its feet and getting ready to become a dominant force in the franchise with the Black Ops series. This game also marked the first time the popular Zombies mode would be featured in the series and became a huge selling point for the game and is still worth going back to today if you’re a fan of the mode, it still holds up very well.
Some of World at War’s maps are still being reused in modern games, which goes to show how beloved the game’s multiplayer was.
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
Modern Warfare (2019) was seen as a soft reboot of the franchise that had pulled in so many millions of gamers over the years. It was dubbed a resurgence of the series, and the anticipation in the market before it dropped was nothing short of palpable.
When it was delivered, players worldwide fell in love with the game’s campaign, and the new movement mechanics woven into the multiplayer platform would set a standard for years to come. It also served as the basis for Call of Duty: Warzone, one of the top battle royale games ever made and one of the best COD games of all time.
Modern Warfare dwindled with II and III, but the opening title is memorable, and that’s why it sits so high on this list of all Call of Duty games ranked.
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Here’s a surprising entry.
In 2024, Treyarch and Raven Software combined forces to release Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the most highly anticipated game in the series in years. It took years to develop, and when it was finally pushed live, it became the biggest Call of Duty launch in history.
It’s not perfect, but it took all the failings of the previous games and turned them upside down.
For instance, it had a meaty campaign that took around 7 – 9 hours to finish, provided you wanted to collect all the hidden goodies and achievements. It returned to a round-based Zombies operating model across two phenomenal maps, and the multiplayer platform featured decent maps, all-new movement mechanics, and a stellar array of weapons.
All of a sudden, the internet was ablaze with Black Ops 6. From the camo grinds to the intense marketing campaign, everyone knew about Black Ops 6, even people who didn’t play games. It was everywhere, it was everything, and it was arguably the best Call of Duty game released in several years.
Related: Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Review
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is often rightfully hailed as one of the best entries in the series.
It features a branching, non-linear campaign with multiple endings, a first for the series, and has one of the most solid multiplayer modes the series has ever seen.
Black Ops 2 grossed over $500 million in its first 24 hours of release, a gaming record that stood until GTA V was released in 2013. It also was the first game in the series to be released on the Wii U, although it is understandable if you never played that version of the game.
4. Call of Duty
Following the departure of many Medal of Honor developers from 2015, Inc., a new studio called Infinity Ward was created and set out to make a new World War shooter, which would quickly go on to become more successful than the Medal of Honor series.
The original Call of Duty game was originally released as a PC exclusive, but it was eventually ported to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as Call of Duty Classic in 2009 following the release of Modern Warfare 2.
It’s where it all began and it’s still one of the highest-rated Call of Duty games ever made, so you can’t say fairer than that.
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty pivoted away from the World War era and into the modern age with Call of Duty 4, a move that took the series to new heights.
Modern Warfare was released in 2007, the same year as Halo 3, and it helped to push online console gaming into the mainstream as millions of players jumped into the game to battle it out with other players across the world.
Modern Warfare received universal critical acclaim, with its Metacritic scores ranging from 92-94 on most major platforms. It’s often considered the starting point for many veteran Call of Duty fans, and its simplicity is desperately sought out by players even today. Things have become too complicated in the Call of Duty space – this is when things were simple enough to just be enjoyable.
In 2016, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered was released, with Activision’s teams diving back into the full game and recreating what made the series so great. To this day, it’s the only Call of Duty game to be remastered in full, multiplayer included.
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops
By the end of the decade, Infinity Ward had firmly established the Modern Warfare series and Treyarch needed a sub-series for its bi-yearly releases.
Black Ops is set during the Cold War in the 1960s and the opinion of which series is better is often fairly split, with some preferring Treyarch’s offerings and some preferring Infinity Ward’s. The game featured licensed music by the likes of Eminem and The Rolling Stones but notably included an original song by Avenged Sevenfold, a trend that would continue until Black Ops 4.
This game is often considered the peak of Call of Duty, and it’s no wonder why Treyarch has revisited the game’s concepts time and again. By 2024, we’re sitting on six Black Ops games, even if they’ve not all reached the expectations players have had for them.
Black Ops was innovative, it had a flawless campaign, a remarkable Zombies mode, and the multiplayer was second to none. It helped ease many into the idea of Call of Duty esports, a concept that would be bolstered immeasurably with Black Ops II.
This is easily a contender for the title of the best Call of Duty game ever released, but it doesn’t quite snag it.
1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
Modern Warfare 2 is legendary, and that’s all there is to it.
From the expansion of the campaign established in 2007’s COD 4, to a multiplayer platform that users are still logging on to enjoy all these years later, Modern Warfare 2 helped grow the Call of Duty series beyond epic proportions.
In 2023, Modern Warfare III was released with a full remastered mapset pulled from MW2, and it was a win with fans worldwide – particularly the more veteran players who got started on 2009’s MW2.
Even the side content, like the game’s Spec Ops mode, was lauded by fans worldwide.
This game gave rise to some of the most monumental maps ever made, including Terminal and Rust, and every inch of the campaign can be remembered all these years later.
There is nothing bad to say about MW2, and it’s the best Call of Duty game ever made.
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