5 Games That Define the Call of Duty Franchise (Out of the 24 That Have Released)

Call of Duty has taken on a lot of different shapes and forms over the last 20 years, but there are five games that have really helped define its identity. The shooter franchise has dominated the gaming industry for years now, paving the way for key industry trends. For a time, it briefly influenced Halo, it pushed Medal of Honor towards the modern era, and much more. However, no one really does it as well as Call of Duty does. Despite attempts to ride its coattails, Call of Duty has always managed to beat out any efforts to beat it at its own game.

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With that said, we figured now was a perfect time to compile the games that made Call of Duty what it is. These games established core tenets and the identity of the shooter franchise, with many of them still being held up as the gold standard. Of course, the original Call of Duty started it all, and that goes without saying, so it’s not on the list. The rest of the games couldn’t exist without it, so it would be redundant to even mention it. These games have also been ranked in order of release, as their innovations are all pretty comparable.

5) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is when Call of Duty’s rapid ascension to becoming a household name started. Although Call of Duty was very successful prior to this, Call of Duty 4 was a whole different beast. It was one of the best-selling games of 2007 and the Xbox 360/PS3 generation, received a variety of Game of the Year awards from different outlets and shows, and made a massive impact on players.

It was the first M-rated Call of Duty game and pushed the series into the modern era after previously being relegated to World War II. The game introduced series staples like killstreaks, perks, create-a-class, and of course, iconic characters like Captain Price. This wasn’t an incremental upgrade from Call of Duty 3; it was a seismic leap forward for the franchise and shooters as a whole.

4) Call of Duty: World at War

Call of Duty: World at War retained the darker, more mature tone established by Call of Duty 4 and pushed it even further with gore and graphic violence. While the game borrowed a lot from its predecessor, it had one massively defining feature that would change Call of Duty forever: Zombies.

After players finished the campaign, they were greeted with a secret co-op mode known as Nazi Zombies. Players could survive endless hordes of the undead, repairing a building to keep them out and buying weapons from a mysterious wooden box to try and stay alive. The mode expanded over the following year with DLC maps, which fleshed out the lore of the Zombies universe and added more weapons and ideas of what the mode could be.

Zombies was never intended to be part of World at War, but was made quietly for fun by a small group of developers. Eventually, it caught the attention of Activision executives who suggested putting it in the mode, but with the agreement, they didn’t market the game around it, given the serious tone of the story. Alas, history was made, and it’s pretty hard for Call of Duty to release a new game without Zombies now.

3) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Two years after Call of Duty 4, Infinity Ward returned with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It was the first time Call of Duty became the best selling game in the year it was released and radically expanded upon the ideas of Call of Duty 4. The story was bigger and louder, the multiplayer added tons of new killstreaks, weapons, and perks, and a lot of what we know and love about Call of Duty was really born here.

The trash-talking lobbies, the aggressive and absurd style of gameplay with things like 360 no-scopes/trickshots, and much more grew from Modern Warfare 2, partially thanks to the explosion of gaming videos on YouTube. It cemented the culture of Call of Duty forever and now, a lot of games in the series live in its shadow.

2) Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

I debated heavily about whether to pick Black Ops 1 or Black Ops 2 for this list, but Black Ops 2 pushed things forward much more. For starters, it introduced scorestreaks, a new spin on killstreaks. Instead of being exclusively rewarded for killing other players, everything you did would count toward your streak. That meant you were incentivized to play the objective, get assists, and help your team as much as possible instead of camping in a corner.

Players could also now individually rank up weapons, allowing you to single out weapons to level up for camos and attachments. This is now a staple of the Call of Duty grind every single year and it all started in 2012. Additionally, the game added the Pick-10 system to Call of Duty, which forced players to be more thoughtful and choose-y with their loadout. Although it isn’t in every game, it is a feature that is beloved.

Black Ops 2 also added a more competitive playlist with League Play, which would lay the foundation for Ranked Play in future games.

**1) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)**

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare more or less resuscitated the franchise after a wonky few years. This reboot of the Modern Warfare subfranchise grounded the series once again, aiming for a more tactical, slower-paced style of gameplay. Although this is a bit divisive among some fans, it was a dramatic shake-up that was refreshing at launch. As part of its more tactical style, Modern Warfare added doors, allowing players to use them as cover or a way to slow enemies down.

Players were also empowered to have more ownership over their weapons with the Gunsmith system, which gave players an expansive suite of options to customize their weapons from cosmetics to attachments. It has since become a key part of the Call of Duty experience, with Black Ops 7 even allowing players to share their custom builds via codes.

However, perhaps more significantly, Modern Warfare was the game that helped introduce arguably the biggest thing to ever happen to the franchise: Call of Duty: Warzone. The battle royale was built on the foundation of Modern Warfare, and one could argue that Warzone utilized the mechanics and ideas from that game better than the core multiplayer. Warzone has changed Call of Duty forever and is an integral part of the franchise now, thanks to this game.

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