Summary
Call of Dutyis a constant presence within the first-person shooter genre, with a new game releasing every year. While the franchise started in fierce competition with titles likeMedal of HonorandSoldier of Fortune,Call of Dutyhas quickly become a mainstream giant in the shooter space, featuring various beloved titles. Though the major selling point ofCall of Dutyis its Multiplayer modes andoften stellar Zombies co-op experiences, it also offers a variety of different Campaigns.
Call of Duty’sCampaigns are the core of its storytelling, each providing a unique range of experiences for players to enjoy. While noCall of Dutygame is made equal, each offers its own levels of enjoyment. From the somewhat poorly received entries to the best of the best, here isevery mainCall of DutyCampaign, ranked from worst to best!
A few exceptions aside, spin-offs likeCall of Duty: Roads to Victorywill not be included. The focus is on the franchise’s main entries that were released on consoles and PC. That said, we will includeDeclassifiedandMobilizedsince they have enough content to warrant mentions.
Updated on June 03, 2025, by Mark Sammut:Call of Duty is eternal by this point, with each new year producing a fresh game that, more often than not, features a pretty good campaign. Yes, multiplayer will always be the IP’s main selling point, but thebest COD campaignsrank among the FPS genre’s greatest-ever efforts. The next entry has already been revealed, so a section has been added specifically for it.
The first entry on this list isBlack Ops 4, a somewhat controversial game thanks to the fact that it did not feature a Campaign at all. Instead, it offered players theSpecialist HQ, a single-player experience that introduces each player to Multiplayer’s various Specialists, all while mixing in story beats between missions with cleverly crafted cinematics. While the story told through the cinematics is quite interesting and provides some epic visuals alongside gameplay, the Specialist HQ is less of an actual standalone mode and more of aglorified tutorial forBlack Ops 4’sMultiplayer.
Most players who dived intoBlack Ops 4were likely unaware of the Specialist HQ, and for good reason. The mode itself is overshadowed by the game’s other three main experiences: Multiplayer, Zombies, and Blackout. Admittedly, the Specialist HQ missions aren’t the worst in terms of gameplay andcan be enjoyable for fans of the Spec Ops co-op modefrom previous entries in the franchise. However, the somewhat cobbled-together nature of the Specialist HQ began a negative trend of cutting back on world-building and focusing more on other projects like Blackout, which would lay the groundwork forCall Of Duty: Warzone. Though the solo content makes up a sizable chunk ofBlack Ops 4’sexperience, it felt completely devoid of meaning, making it one of the more forgettable experiences in the franchise.
25Call Of Duty: Black Ops Declassified
A Forgettable Title In The Overall Franchise
Next up isCall Of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, aBlack Opsgame that joinedthe long list of titles on the PlayStation Vita. WhileBlack Ops Declassifiedbegan as a downgraded port ofCall Of Duty: Black Ops, the game eventually turned into something else entirely — a filler game that, for manyCoDfans, never saw the light of day. Instead of simply adapting its predecessor,Black Ops Declassifiedserves as a loose prequel toBlack Ops 2, allowing players to take on the roles of Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and a CIA operative during various operations conducted from 1975 to 1982.
At first glance,Black Ops Declassifieddoes not seem half bad. The game adopts a similar structure to Spec Ops from theModern Warfareseries, offering players straightforward objectives and a somewhat coherent story that concludes with the death of Jose Luiz Menendez, setting up Raul Menendez’s rise to power inBlack Ops 2. Despite the franchise’s strong reputation at the time,Black Ops Declassifiedwas considered dead on arrival when it launched on the PS Vita due to itsclunky controls, poorly stitched-together missions, and an extremely short 2-hour playtime.
24Call Of Duty: World At War - Final Fronts
A Call Of Duty: World At War Port That Fails To Adapt Its Greatness
WhileCall Of Duty: World At Waris often regarded as a gritty masterpiece,Call Of Duty: World At War - Final Frontsis quite the opposite. This entry to the franchise is seen as nothing more than a downgraded PlayStation 2 port of the highly acclaimedWorld At War, featuring ashort 4-and-a-half-hour Campaign, whilst refusing to adapt any of the other modesWorld At Waris ultimately loved for. Although the game shares the same name as its sibling, it only really carries over the theme and setting, diverging significantly from the original with a completely different story.
While there is some overlap between the stories of the two games, mainly through characters like Miller, Roebuck, and Polonsky, there are also contradictions, such as major supporting characters surviving the final battle. The story is rather forgettable,lacking character development, a clear antagonist, meaningful stakes, or any substantial payoff for the events that occur during the game’s short runtime.The gameplay is equally unremarkable, with outdatedcontrolsand an overly linear level design that simply moves players from point A to point B without any interesting events, flank routes, or set pieces.Call Of Duty: World At War - Final Frontsultimately feels like a cash grab targeting gamers who hadn’t yet upgraded to the PS3 or Xbox 360, rather than a standalone experience worth players' time.
Declassifiedis, technically, the best handheldCall of Dutygame, at least when it comes to replicating the look and feel of the main entries. However, its campaign is quite short and not that satisfying, especially when compared toMobilized. Despite being on a much weaker system, this 2009 entry does an admirable job of bringing the traditionalCODexperience to the Nintendo DS, even going as far as to implement touch controls well.
The campaign builds on N-Space’s previousCODoutings, delivering a mission-based structure that kind of plays through the franchise’s greatest hits. The story is, honestly, not bad, although it is slightly let down by an uneven presentation and levels that feel a bit disconnected from each other.
Mobilizedserves as a stand-in for N-Space’s entire run with the franchise, which consisted of 5 Nintendo DS games that were released on a yearly schedule. This subseries is hardly a must-play for die-hardCODfans, but they are respectable handheld shooters that expand nicely on the main games' stories and settings.
Call Of Duty: Finest Hourwas the first consoleCall Of Dutyrelease, and while it shares similarities with the originalCall Of Duty, it follows a separate side story. In this game, playerstake the role of multiple characters from the Soviet, British, and American armies, battling across various historical WW2 locations. The narrative provides a nostalgic and gripping experience, one that is more akin to the likes of the first game.
However, in terms of gameplay,Finest Houris one ofthe weaker entries in the series. The gamesuffers from clunky controls, even by the standards of its time, andpoorly placed checkpoints. When put together, players are often subjected tofrustrating mission resets, which truly harms the game’s overall experience. Though these issues are often attributed to the fact thatFinest Houris simply an old game ported over to consoles, titles likeCall Of Duty 2: Big Red Onehave aged much better, suggesting the issues withFinest Hourstem more from poor game design.
While many of the earlier spin-offs garnered criticism from fans, theModern Warfare 3 (2023)Campaign is widely considered to beone of the weakest inCall of Dutyhistory. From what originally appeared to be a follow-up to its imperfect but enjoyable predecessor before the game’s initial launch, the Campaign quickly fell short due to alackluster, rushed storyline that lacked direction and creativity, combinedwith serious pacing issues. However, storyline aside, the biggest downfall ofModern Warfare 3’sCampaign has to be the gameplay itself.
When it came toModern Warfare 3’sCampaign, Sledgehammer aimed to innovate byintroducing semi-open world missions,known as Open Combat Missions, allowing players to complete a series of objectives however they saw fit. However, thesemissions felt rather generic and uninspired, lacking the depth of previous installments in the franchise and feeling more like aWarzone-inspired experience. Even the more traditional linear missions seemed rather disjointed and overly influenced byWarzoneelements, which added to their blandness. A prime example is the latter half of the mission Flashpoint, which is reduced to a simple escort task with little engagement, feeling more like a Rescue Hostage Contract from DMZ than an actual story mission. Overall, theModern Warfare 3Campaign fails to stand out, lacking the memorable narratives and compelling gameplay that fans grew to love about the series, all while failing to emulate what made the originalModern Warfare 3so groundbreaking.
Call of Duty: Vanguardis a unique entry in the franchise, featuring a new cast, a fresh plot, and a large portion of the playtime spent in a prequel format. In the Campaign, players take on the role of an elite, top-secret international Special Forces team operating during World War II. Captured and interrogated,most missions involve flashbacksto the operations they conducted leading up to their capture. While this approach to character introductions is fresh, it comes at the cost of suspense, since players already know which characters survive.
The game wasintended to launch a newVanguardseries, but the game received strong backlash towards its characters, mainly due to the lack of realism, despite the game being marketed as a gritty, realistic WWII shooter. WhileVanguardhas its highlights, such asstunning graphics, solid gunplay, and intricate missions, there are also a few problems with its execution. Each character has their own unique ability, which, though interesting, feels out of place in a game aiming for realism. Additionally, certain missions, like The Battle of Midway,suffer from clunky vehicular controls, making gameplay frustrating at times. The Campaign’s short runtime only further fuels the community’s dissatisfaction, a similar problem with Sledgehammer’s next title.Modern Warfare 3.
Continuing the trend of World War II shooters, we haveCall of Duty 3, Treyarch’s first attempt at making aCall of Dutygame. Following the previous two entries,Call of Duty 3takes players across various historical battles during World War II, featuring multiple playable soldiers across different Campaigns, this timeadding Polish and Canadian Campaignsinto the mix. The story beats are fairly similar to the previous titles and don’t necessarily add anything new, but it still brims with the charm that many first-person shooter fans were seeking at the time.
In terms of gameplay,Call of Duty 3is rather repetitive,primarily focusing on boots-on-the-ground infantry combat.The game does feature some vehicular combat missions though, particularly in the Polish Campaign. Some segments can also be pretty frustrating at times due to the game’s overall difficulty, which might turn casual players away. However, the Campaign was and still is a solid experience for those looking for a more retroCall of Dutyexperience, even with its dated graphics and clunky controls.
Call of Dutyis the title that started it all, initially introduced as another World War II game competing with the likes ofMedal of Honor. However, this titleoffered a gripping, action-packed experiencethat laid the foundation for the series. Like later entries in theCall of Dutyfranchise, the firstCall of Dutyhasplayers taking on the roles of various soldiersin historical conflicts during World War II, including reenactments of real-world iconic events. The game did a great job of showcasing the brutality of war for its time and remains a solid experience for fans seeking a quality World War II title.
In terms of gameplay,Call of Dutyfeels rather janky by today’s standards, making it difficult to judge from a modern perspective because it hasn’t aged particularly well. However, the game introduced many staple mechanics now used in nearly every first-person shooter, such as aiming down sights, changing stances to go prone, and large-scale battles featuring hundreds of characters.Call of Dutyis the revolutionary game that started it all, and it has a charm often missing from modern AAA shooters. Despite its age, the Campaign is worth a playthrough, as the story and intensity still hold up well, even with its rugged gameplay.
Call Of Duty 2: Big Red Onemay seem similar toCall Of Duty 2on the surface, but it’s actually a side story within the series.Big Red Onefollows a single group of American World War II soldiers, withplayers controlling one protagonistwhose rank progresses throughout the story. This is a big departure fromCall Of Duty 2, where players assume the roles of multiple characters. The game features notable voice talents like Mark Hamill and several actors fromBand of Brothers, with each character having their own unique personality, allowing players to form attachments as the story progresses.
This focus on a different narrative works in the game’s favor, allowing it to stand out without being directly overshadowed byCall Of Duty 2.In terms of gameplay,Big Red Oneis a significant improvement over older titles likeThe Finest Hour,offering more responsive controlsand better overall experiences. The missions are also quite diverse,blending infantry combat with vehicular warfare, keeping gameplay fresh across major historical battles. Though dated by today’s standards,Big Red Oneis still a fun, nostalgicCall Of Dutyexperience for fans.
