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In war there is no prize for the runner-up
Call of Duty is a cultural touchpoint in gaming. It has held the title of most popular first-person shooter for years, in a genre filled with high-quality multiplayer games that have constantly gunned for the top spot. While major elements persist across titles, each game tends to introduce–or at least attempt to introduce–something new to the formula, as Activision bounces development duties between internal studios including Treyarch and Infinity Ward.
The series goes back to 2003 with the original Call of Duty fighting with Medal of Honor and Battlefield–two franchises that already had established reputations–for player attention. All three were set during World War II, and Call of Duty would continue down that path for both Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 3.
After several games set in the most devastating international conflict the world has ever seen, the series went in a different direction with the release of the widely-acclaimed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. A gripping narrative, memorable characters, and fast-paced multiplayer gave fans a rush of adrenaline and the series reached a height it had never achieved before. The positive reception ensured a steady stream of modern- or future-set sequels, including multiple Call of Duty: Black-Ops and two more Modern Warfare (Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3) games in the years to come.
Call of Duty moves in cycles, and it was in 2017 that Activision took the series back to World War II for Call of Duty: WWII. It was a return to form that seemed like the right move at the right time–a good way to shake up the flow of the previous 10 years. Following Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in 2018–which abandoned a single-player campaign but introduced a series-first battle royale mode–the franchise rebooted the Modern Warfare series in 2019.
Activision took potentially the biggest step forward for the franchise to date by launching a free-to-play battle royale standalone game called Warzone in 2020. That has gone on to become a massive success for the publisher, eclipsing the standard game by several metrics. The main series continued with annual releases, with Black Ops Cold War coming out alongside Warzone in 2020. We saw both parts of Activision’s Call of Duty ecosystem intertwine, with Black Ops guns coming into Warzone and a map redesign themed around Cold War’s 1980s setting.
Call of Duty’s reach is vast, and it has resonated with casual and hardcore players for a wide variety of reasons. We’ve collected GameSpot’s Call of Duty reviews from over the years and compiled them here to illustrate the series’ rise to prominence, and to provide a historical snapshot of each individual games’ place in the process. But if there’s a particular game that made you fall in (or out) of love with Call of Duty, shout it out in the comments below!
