Ranking Call of Duty

I have been playing a butt load (yes that is a mathematical unit of measurement) of classic Call of Duty lately. With my discoveries of IW4X, Plutonium, T7 Clean Ops, and the MW2/3 remaster mod I have been able to safely relive some of my all time favourites. So I thought why not try to rank them using Tier Maker like all the cool Youtubers do. So here is my ranking based on my personal tastes and experiences.

The Cream of the Crop

These 6 are definitely my top favourite Call of Duty titles and dare I say FPS games. These games basically some up what I was doing during my early 20s. Drinking beers and "CoD" with the boys. The original Treyarch "Trilogy" of World at War, Black Ops 1, and Black Ops 2 are near close to a masterpiece. The campaigns and multiplayer where works of art. The introduction of Zombies was game over. Its all we played. Just wave after wave of trying to survive and beat your previous highest level. It just fired every neuron in my brain all at once. This was also the time period where I had a ritual. I would not even look at multiplayer until I played through the campaign. Could you blame me? The campaigns where like movies you could star in. From fighting on the streets of Stalingrad in WaW to the jungles of Vietnam in BO it was like a Hollywood film in your hands.

What can be said about Modern Warfare 1 and 2 that has not already been said? MW1 basically redefined online FPS and really where the franchise just exploded into the stratosphere. Both had epic campaigns with missions like "All Gillied Up" and "No Russian" that folks still talk about today. In MW2 when Russia invades the USA and you are fighting your way through middle class America I lost my mind. Washington DC as a war torn battlefield was just so next level. These games really set the bar for every Call of Duty title since.

So I have Call of Duty Black Ops 3 in my tops. To be honest when it first came out I had it for PS4 and I kind of hated it. Not a fan of future warfare scenarios. The campaign seemed stupid and the launch zombies map just felt off. Since then I purchased it on Steam and oh boy, custom zombie maps via workshop is where it's at. So many creative and fun maps to play. There is a Dunder Mifflin map from the Office (US) for crying out loud!! I started using the Cleanops T7 client that allows you to safely connect to multiplayer. I may have been to harsh the first go around. While I am still not a fan of the future Call of Duty titles the gunplay is pretty good and its still a fun experience. I still think jet packs and wall running has no place in Call of Duty.

A Fun Time Had by All

The next grouping here are still solid fun games, but did not make the top Tier of the franchise. The original trilogy ended up in great because they are super fun titles that just get a little bumped because of some of the later games with more advanced features and graphics. One of my favourite campaigns of all time is Stalingrad from the original Call of Duty. Your basically playing the introduction to the film "Enemy at the Gate". Crossing the Volga while German plans strafe your boat. Entering the war torn city with just a stripper clip waiting for a comrade to fall so you can pick up his Mosin. So good. Call of Duty 3 is in the great section, because you get to play as a Canadian regiment. As a Canadian you rarely see our story in WWII in mainstream media. Having that representation keeps a special spot in my heart for Call of Duty 3. Now some of you might be thinking "Dude! Are you dumb? Why is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 not hire on your list?" Honestly, when MW3 came out I was actually kind of burned out on Call of Duty. I remember just feeling like this is a more updated version of MW2, but it did not really wow me. I might need to go back and revisit it with fresh eyes to give it a fairer shot, but until then its just in the great row.

Focusing on the more recent titles on the list I really loved MWI. It felt like a return to the roots of Call of Duty and I had a lot of fun playing with the fellas. Same with MWII even though I know a lot of people are not fans. Ground war was a awesome mode they added to these titles. It was like Battlefield conquest mode with Call of Duty mechanics and I loved it. WWII was entertaining with a great classic cinematic campaign. The multi-player was not my most favourite, but it had some interesting modes like one where you protect a tank as it moves through an area, or you storming the beaches of Normandy. I didn't play a lot of Cold War, but I remember really enjoying the gun play and maps. I loved the inclusion of the Chinese Type 63 rifle.

The "Meh"

This is where my fun goes away. Advanced Warfare I think I played for like an hour and then never played it again. I think it was all the futuristic stuff that bothered me and I wasn't really digging it. War Zone is in the Mid row because I am not a fan of Battle Royale games. I usually die really early (I know skill issue) and then that's it, I have to wait until either my team dies too or the entire round is over. The gulag feature did make that less unbearable, but I still was not a fan. I did play a lot of hours of it because it was free and all my friends where playing it, but in the end I would not recommend it to anyone with similar tastes as myself.

Now the bad. MWIII felt like a huge money grab slap in the face to me. It felt like a Map Pack to MWII with a $90 price tag. I read originally it was only going to be an expansion, but they decided to treat their fans like idiots and make it a "full" game. It was all remastered maps. On one hand we love nostalgia, on the other how much creativity and effort is it to give us a bunch of makes from a 10+ old game. Its like they sat in a board room and said how can we maximize the profit while doing as little as possible. Just like a mindless drone I dropped the cash for this bologna and gave it up after a month of playing. 2024, they dropped Black Ops 6 set in the earlier years after the end of the Cold War. Luckily, I am a Gamepass Subscriber because I declared I would not give Activision another penny for there lackluster attempts at Call of Duty. For me Black Ops 6 burned out quickly. Not a huge fan of the new movement mechanics as it just made the game go from sweaty to drenched. It is super difficult for casuals to grab a few matches after work and have fun. You just get lit up for 10-15 minutes. Also what the fuck is up with the skins. You enter what is a military based shooter and you are getting shot at by the Ninja Turtles and Beavis from Beavis and Butthead? Who enjoys this? It is just so stupid. If I wanted that kind of game I would just go play Fortnite.

Call of Who?

Pretty straight forward. Never played these titles and at this time have no plans to revisit. The Chinese Call of Duty client always interested me and I believe there where work arounds for Westerners to play it, but pretty sure it is now shutdown.

Well that was my attempt at ranking the Call of Duty franchise. Let me know what you think. Agree? Disagree? Don't give a shit? Let me hear about it. As always thank you for stopping by and reading the blog and stay safe out there gamers.

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