Call of Duty is one of the longest-running first-person shooter franchises in the world. It’s a legendary series that has spawned dozens of games since debuting in 2003, and it has become a household name that’s synonymous with ‘army games’. In the last two decades, Call of Duty has blossomed, and mobile games, battle royale titles, and even an extraction shooter game have fleshed out the franchise. In this breakdown, we’re looking at all Call of Duty games and listing them in various orders.
Have you ever wondered which is the highest-rated Call of Duty game? How about a breakdown of which Call of Duty games have Zombies, one of the most popular side modes ever invented by Activision’s studios? There’s plenty of information waiting for you ahead – read on to learn everything about all the Call of Duty games.
All Call of Duty Games Ranked
It simply must start with the single most important question we can answer. Which Call of Duty game is the greatest of all time? It is one of the hottest debates in the Call of Duty environment, with die-hard fans, veterans, and newcomers all throwing their hats into the ring. With Call of Duty being split into several sub-franchises, the general community is somewhat fragmented, and fans of each franchise defend their claim valiantly.
However, there is a way to categorise them, and it comes in the form of a mix of personal preference, and cold hard statistics. We’ve taken the most up-to-date numbers from Metacritic, an aggregate ranking site, determining the rightful place of all Call of Duty games. We’ve also made a note of all the Call of Duty games’ release dates, so you can see which era of Call of Duty was best.
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (94/100) – 2007
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (94/100) – 2009
- Call of Duty 1 (91/100) – 2003
- Call of Duty 2 (89/100) – 2005
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (88/100) – 2010
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (88/100) – 2011
- Call of Duty: United Offensive (87/100) – 2004
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered (86/100) – 2016
- Call of Duty: World at War (85/100) – 2008
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (85/100) – 2018
- Call of Duty 3 (83/100) – 2006
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (83/100) – 2012
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (83/100) – 2014
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019 (81/100) – 2019
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (81/100) – 2015
- Call of Duty Mobile (81/100) – 2019
- Call of Duty: WWII (80/100) – 2017
- Call of Duty: Warzone (80/100) – 2020
- Call of Duty: Ghosts (78/100) – 2013
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (78/100) – 2016
- Call of Duty: Finest Hour (76/100) – 2004
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (76/100) – 2020
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (75/100) – 2022
- Call of Duty: Vanguard (73/100) – 2021
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (56/100) – 2023
That’s a mighty list – all Call of Duty titles (main) boasting their highest Metacritic rankings. Where does your all-time favourite Call of Duty title land in the leaderboard?
All Call of Duty Games – Best to Worst
From the figures above, you can see that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare tops the pile. This was the first Call of Duty title to launch in the Xbox 360/PS3 era, and it was hugely popular at the time – in fact, some people still play it today. When it was released, it changed the face of multiplayer FPS gaming, and it kickstarted Call of Duty esports. Many of the best Call of Duty players in history found their feet with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
At the other end of the spectrum sits Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the lowest-rated game in franchise history. This picked up such a low score for several reasons. Firstly, Modern Warfare 3 was sold at ‘full price’ despite many claiming it was a ‘DLC’ to Modern Warfare 2 (2022). It boasted a campaign that lasted just three hours, and some curious decisions made the multiplayer platform slow to take off. It recovered, but the launch issues left a sour taste in the mouths of gamers worldwide.
Regardless of where they place on the list, though, almost every Call of Duty game is relatively highly rated, compared to many other titles. Quite frankly, Call of Duty drives forward a vast portion of the gaming industry, contributing massively to esports through Call of Duty betting, the competitive platform, and the attraction of countless users.
All Call of Duty Games with Zombies
Many people play Call of Duty specifically for the Zombies game mode. It has been around since 2008, and it’s a widely (and wildly) appreciated side mode, set apart from the main story and multiplayer playlists. With the launch of Call of Duty: World at War in 2008, fans were able to appreciate Zombies for the first time, playing the iconic and oh-so-memorable Nazi Zombies mode.
Today, Zombies has evolved numerous times into a platform all of its own. It’s adored by millions, heavily supported by Treyarch (the lead developer for Zombies), and boasts just as much content as the multiplayer modes themselves. Since Treyarch found massive success with Zombies, other developers like Sledgehammer and Infinity Ward also had a crack at the mode. Here’s the definitive, chronological list of all Call of Duty games (in order) that feature Zombies in one way or another:
- Call of Duty: World at War (2008)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015)
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016)
- Call of Duty: WWII (2017)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2018)
- Call of Duty Mobile (2019)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020)
- Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
Do All Call of Duty Games Exist in the Same Universe?
Let’s take this as a very important question because, for some, it can seem a little complex. When you take into consideration the huge list of Call of Duty titles, you might think that it’s all contained in the same universe. However, you couldn’t be further from the truth, as for many years, the Call of Duty universes have stood far apart, but sometimes, they’ve crossed over. It looks something like this:
- All five Black Ops titles are in the same universe, with World at War also being connected.
- Modern Warfare 1, 2, and 3 are in the same universe, and Modern Warfare 2019 is a reboot of that universe. That rebooted series went on to include Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3.
- Infinite Warfare, Advanced Warfare, and Ghosts were contained in unique universes.
- Call of Duty Warzone connects both the Modern Warfare reboot series, modern Black Ops games, and the Vanguard universes.
Does that clear things up? It might be confusing, but it’s because the Call of Duty franchise has been developed by numerous development studios, such as:
- Infinity Ward
- Treyarch
- Sledgehammer Games
- Raven Software
And in the past, around 19 smaller studios have contributed to Call of Duty. It’s a huge and diverse landscape, and quite frankly, it may never, ever end.
