The Call of Duty series is extremely popular. And with the most recent release – Call of Duty: WW II, we thought we would rank this popular shooter series from the least popular to the most popular. Where WW II lands might also surprise you. If you’ve played it, let us know if you agree with our assessment or not. We are just looking at the 14 main entries to the Call of Duty series. WCall of Duty has seen some pretty high points and some low points, but overall it’s a pretty good game. And with that, let’s begin.
14. Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013)
What do you remember from this game? If you’re saying “nothing”, we wouldn’t be surprised. This was Infinity Ward’s first post-Modern Warfare entry and it was about as generic as it could be within the franchise. The settings were also kind of generic and it lacked big, memorable moments and missions. It was still a really good game as it had fun and sharp production values, but it felt like Call of Duty was treading water with this iteration, and its why many of you can’t remember the game.
13. Call of Duty 3 (2006)
While I’m not trying to rag on Call of Duty here, but this was a notable misstep. Thankfully it came early on, but it seemed to be the result of the sudden demand for annual entries. Activision needed to fill the gap while Infinity Ward was off creating Modern Warfare. And that’s how Call of Duty 3 came to be. That particular studio would go on to do special things in the franchise, but Call of Duty 3 wasn’t one of them. It had a lot of bugs to start with. It lacked a solid campaign to finesse or even make the game stand out. It was an ok game at the time, but we’ve come a long way since then.
12. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014)
Advanced Warfare was a step up from Ghosts. It pushed the series farther ahead in the future with some pretty crazy exoskeleton suits that enabled special powers. It also had Kevin Spacey as a power-hungry private military corporation leader. Which, up until a few weeks ago, I would have said was pretty cool. But now I’m not so sure. On a list like this, it’s still overshadowed by more compelling games. Some helped set the template that Advanced Warfare mostly follows. The jetpack assisted multiplayer was the first step in a gradual departure that’s taken Call of Duty away from boots on the ground action. Advanced Warfare is very good overall, but definitely not essential.
11. Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015)
This Black Ops entry ranks below its predecessors, as this trilogy delivers another solid, but somewhat uninspiring extension of the far future formula. The campaign plays some neat tricks with its sci-fi powers and weird mind jacking abilities, but it doesn’t really feel fresh overall. Multiplayer fares better here with some terrific maps and a move to a class-based system, but ultimately it feels a bit like a Titanfall knockoff. This doesn’t seem to capture the essence of Call of Duty, but it is a long-lasting game so it’s still pretty amazing.
10. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016)
It now feels like we’re just going through the most recent games in the series, but that’s not entirely the case. Infinite Warfare sends you into the land of science fiction where you find yourself in space and off to other planets. Which is kind of weird. And yet, Infinite Warfare soars in spots. Specifically – the universe feels really built out, the presentation is very impressive and it makes the most of its new setting. Which allows a single player game to feel fresher. Many fans of the series voiced their concerns with this divergence, but there’s actually a lot to like with this one.