Summary
Call of Dutyhas endured a long road, filled with guns and multiplayer mayhem. Few multiplayer franchises have been as successful asCall of Duty, and fans seem to eagerly await each year for the new title, with a revamped gameplay system featuring one of the core development teams behind theCall of Dutyrelease cycle, whether that’s the Zombies mode, thriller campaign, or engaging multiplayer.
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Despite the constant success ofCall of Duty, there are some games that players might have forgotten were part of the franchise. Whether it’s because these games are older, on consoles that most familiar and modernCall of Dutyplayers have not experienced, or simply because they just weren’t all that memorable.
8Call Of Duty: Finest Hour
One of the earliestCall of Dutytitles to hit the market wasCall of Duty: Finest Hour, a game released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and the GameCube. It’s nice to see aCall of Dutytitle that was released on a Nintendo system as early as the GameCube. Yet, due to how early this game hit the market in 2004, it’s not surprising that some fans would have heard of it over more modern titles in the franchise.
Finest Hourhad a pretty excellent campaign premise, as players could enjoy either perspective of the war from that of the Soviet Campaign, the American Campaign, or the British Campaign. It was also rather innovative with its online multiplayer and campaign levels.
7Call Of Duty: World At War: Final Fronts
Call of Duty: World at Waris known amongst many as one of the bestCall of Dutygames due to its story, online gameplay, andthe addition of Zombies, which would quickly become a household name in theCall of Dutymarket. However, there was a version ofWorld at Warthat existed outside of the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 era, and that wasWorld at War: Final Frontsexclusive to the PlayStation 2.
Despite the same name,World at War: Final Frontshad its campaign, and lacked the online multiplayer and Zombies mode that fans adored World at War for. Thus, it’s no surprise that Final Fronts became a forgotten game in the fandom.
6Call Of Duty: Roads To Victory
There were a fewCall of Dutytitles that experimented with the Sony handheld systems of the PSP era. One of them wasCall of Duty: Road to Victory. Being outside of the main series, this was developed by Amaze Entertainment and featured a story mode set during World War 2 where players could experience campaign levels from different allies.The three campaignsthe American Campaign, Canadian Campaign, and British Campaign helped extend the game’s 14 levels.
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This title was a lacking installment of theCall of Dutyfranchise, but part of that is because it was on the limited hardware of the PSP, meaning its multiplayer functions, although ambitious with varied game modes, were underwhelming and inactive faster than most consoles were.
5Call Of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified
On the topic of PSPs, Activision and Sony tried once again to breathe life into the PSVita withCall of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified, an exclusiveCall of Dutytitle set in the Treyarch timeline. This was the second portableCall of Dutygame to hit the market, and it once again felt lackluster in comparison, especially since 2012 saw a defining era in the console market forCall of Dutygameswith the likes ofBlack Ops 2.
Black Ops: Declassifiedtried to provide players with a portableCall of Dutyexperience with its multiplayer and survival-type game modes, but the stripping of identity and famed mechanics made it hard to access and get into, considering it attempted to stretch the PSVita’s lacking capabilities.
4Call Of Duty (2003)
To no fault of its own, the originalCall of Dutyreleased in 2003 is probably the most forgettable experience. That isn’t to discredit the game or the team that worked on it, as without 2003’sCall of Duty, the series would not exist in pop culture as it does today. The only reason the originalCall of Dutyis forgotten is due to the oversaturated market in the franchise with a new game released every year to compete with the best FPS games.
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Taking the originalCall of Dutyas it is, players will be able to see where the series came from, and what inspired it. It’s great to go back and see the classics, and to dive deep into the campaign and combat that madeCall of Dutyone of the most famous gaming franchises of all time.
3Call Of Duty: Ghosts
Infinity Ward left behind the Modern Warfare franchise for a fresh take withCall of Duty: Ghosts. However, this title already had failings from the start considering its namesake. Many believed that the game would be a spin-off for the fan-favoriteCall of Dutycharacter, Ghost, but instead, it was an entirely new take set after the apocalypse, with Operations Forces known as Ghosts taking center stage.
Many loved the campaign, and are desperate tosee the cliffhanger resolvedin a futureCall of Dutygame. However, there has been no word on aCall of Duty: Ghostssequel, even if the game tried something new for its campaign, gameplay, and Extinction Mode. Coming out in 2013,Call of Duty: Ghostssimply came out at the wrong time, as the bridge between the era of PS3/Xbox 360 and PS4/Xbox One was slowly collapsing.
2Call Of Duty Online
In a new first for the franchise,Call of Dutyentered a free-to-play microtransaction-filled era withCall of Duty Online. This was a game that although everyone could see, not everyone could play, as it was exclusive to China. Although the game launched in 2013 with a closed beta, it later closed in 2021 for good, meaning those who never experiencedCall of Duty Online, would never be able to. Yet, what isCall of Duty Online?
Call of Duty Onlinewas a personalCODexperience, in which players could customize their own characters, weapons, and equipment. The game was essentially a mashup of theCODfranchise, withplenty of returning mapsfor PvP and PvE content, including the anticipated Cyborg mode, which was essentially Zombies.
1Call Of Duty: Vanguard
Despite being released in 2021,Call of Duty: Vanguardquickly faded into obscurity within the franchise. The campaign tried something new, as it explored the stories of four different soldiers on different fronts during the major conflicts of World War 2. However, itwasn’t as impressionableas other campaigns before it. To make matters worse,Vanguardreleased a Zombies Mode that was dead on arrival and failed to be resurrected.
The failings ofCall of Duty: Vanguardwere a shame to see, but it’s a valuable lesson that perhaps a newCall of Dutygame every year isn’t what players need, as quality will always be above quantity. The multiplayer was nothing to rave about, and players quicklyjumped ship toCall of Duty: Modern Warfare2just under a year later.
