A short history
It's been ten years since the first bullet was fired.
Call of Duty. It's difficult to remember when those three words referred exclusively to a single game, not an entire cultural phenomenon. But back in 2003, it was just that - a fairly unassuming first-person shooter, set during the Second World War, aimed primarily at the PC market.
It was a year that also saw the first stable iteration of Steam; Enix and Square became joined at the hip; Nokia released the ill-fated N-Gage
and was greeted by a bemused public, not quite ready for the idea of playing games on their phones. And Medal of Honor was still a best-seller. How things change.
The release of the first Call of Duty came at a turning point. As always, these moments are easier to pinpoint looking backwards. Nintendo had ceased production of the NES and SNES worldwide, since new consoles were on the horizon - the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 - and it was a world that Call of Duty would go on to dominate.
CALL OF DUTY
Developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision, it's sobering to learn that Call of Duty wasn't widely distributed upon its initial release. It was far from the first WWII shooter to market, and lacked some of the spectacle and the substantial multiplayer that we now regard as the beating heart of the series. It was, by comparison, a modest affair, built upon the ageing Quake III: Team Arena engine.
While the setting itself might not have been groundbreaking - the torn fields and crumbling towns of Europe - the way it approached the telling of that story set it apart.
Unlike its' contemporaries, Call of Duty's single-player narrative wasn't fixed a superhero soldier, hellbent on a quest to liberate Europe single-handedly, it was stitched together from multiple perspectives. The campaign flitted between an American GI, a British paratrooper, and Soviet conscript, taking in a two and half year period. (There's even an appearance of a Captain Price.)
The cover art that really tells you everything you need know. It depicts a superior officer issuing orders - he's talking to you, his hand
outstretched with a expectant finger pointing in your direction. In the background, Europe burns. It's time to do something.
Call of Duty is today rightly celebrated for its multiplayer, and it's arguably the main reason for the game's tremendous success, but these early entries in the series have a more enduring influence on the single-player experience, laying down principles which still remain largely intact to this day.
Call of Duty
- Release Date
- October 29, 2003
- Platforms
- PC, XBLA, PSN
WATCH FOOTAGE
- Executive producer - Laird Malamed
- Writer - Michael Schiffer
- Company - Infinity Ward
- Composer - Michael Giacchino
- Captain Foley - Steve Blum
- Sergeant Waters - Jason Statham
- Private Elder - Giovanni Ribisi
- Sergeant Moody - Gregg Berger
- Captain Price - Michael Gough
- Sergeant Pavlov - Michael Bell
9.3
AMAZING
-
In Numbers
- 4.5
GLOBAL UNITS SOLD (millions)
- 16
NUMBER OF MULTIPLAYER MAPS
- 18
NUMBER OF
WEAPONS
2003
CALL OF DUTY II
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Call of Duty 2 remained set during the Second World War.
It was more cinematic than its predecessor, kicking off a trend of escalation that's present to this day. But almost certainly its biggest contribution to the series was the introduction of a regenerating health system. At the time a controversial addition - many felt that it undermined the inherent challenge - it has since become a mainstay not just of the Call of Duty franchise but of the first-person shooter genre in general. Call of Duty wasn't the first to use the
system but it greatly helped popularise the mechanic, to the extent it now feels more unnatural to scour the environment in search of health packs.
Its introduction also helped shape Call of Duty's particular approach to action. Without the fear of imminent death, it was much easier to run into a hail of bullets. For all of its pyrotechnics and slick presentation, Call of Duty is, at its core, an old-fashioned tale of derring-do, and it's so much easier to be heroic if you can hide for 10 seconds to regain full health. It made Call of Duty
relentlessly exhilarating.
Call of Duty 2 went on to become the biggest selling Xbox 360 launch title, a fact which merely hinted at the success the series would enjoy on this new generation of home consoles.
Call of Duty 2
- Release Date
- October 25, 2005
- Platforms
- Xbox 360, PC
WATCH THE REVIEW
- Executive Producer - Vince Zampella
- Writer - Michael Schiffer
- Company - Infinity Ward
- Composer - Graeme revell
8.5
GREAT
-
In Numbers
- 5.9
GLOBAL UNITS SOLD (millions)
- 27
NUMBER OF MULTIPLAYER MAPS
- 23
NUMBER OF
WEAPONS
2005
CALL OF DUTY III
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Call of Duty 3 came out the very next year, initiating the annual release schedule the series maintains to this day. It was born partly out of necessity and a desire to dominate the market. Activision knew it was crucial not only to capitalise upon the tremendous success of Call of Duty 2 but to oppose the returning Medal of Honor franchise. The only problem was that Infinity Ward wished to maintain a two-year production schedule to keep standards high. So Activision turned to Treyarch. Call of Duty 3 would mark the Californian-based developers first entry in the series proper (it had previously worked on spin-off Call of Duty: Big Red One). Over the
next seven years, creative duties on the Call of Duty games would alternate between Treyarch and Infinity Ward. The controlled competition between the studios has ensured that a Call of Duty title has been released every year, and it's also made those entries distinct in tone, setting, and general appraoch - all without sacrificing quality.
But Call of Duty 3 is notable for other reasons outside of its production. There was no PC version for the first time. The series would eventually return to the home computer, but it was symptomatic of the growing power of this new generation of consoles,
as more and more units were sold. Some even thought that a console-only release was a ploy to fuel early sales of the youthful platforms, such was the already bankable popularity of the franchise.
In terms of story, Call of Duty 3 followed very closely in the muddy footsteps of its predecessors, focussing on the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944 at the very end of the Second World War. More memorable than its setting or story was how breathtaking the game looked. The new hardware was beginning to be harnessed, and Call of Duty 3 took full advantage of those breakthroughs. Smoke, dust,
explosions - the horrible events of war were being depicted with unflinching realism for the time. The other breakthrough was the renewed focus on multiplayer. For the first time matches supported up to 24 players, tripling the number of past combatants. There were just five modes, a handful of maps, and classes were introduced to the series. The groundwork was now in place for what would become the franchise's most powerful weapon.
Call of Duty 3
- Release Date
- November 7, 2006
- Platforms
- PS2, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, Xbox
WATCH THE REVIEW
- Executive Producer - Dave Anthony
- Writer - Marc Guggenheim
- Company - Treyarch
- Composer - Joel Goldsmith
8.8
GREAT
-
In Numbers
- 7.2
GLOBAL UNITS SOLD (millions)
- 20
NUMBER OF MULTIPLAYER MAPS
- 20
NUMBER OF
WEAPONS
2006
MODERN WARFARE
Videos (2)
The one that changed everything. Arguably there might be better entries in the series yet everything was different after Modern Warfare. Months after release there was still in excess of a million people playing the game online every day, and that was just on Xbox LIVE. It had overtaken Halo. The series had reached tipping point. It was now a phenomenon.
And in truth the game had never been so compelling. Unshackled from the grim historical reenactments of previous games, Modern Warfare was free to trot around the globe, taking in stunningly varied locales, embracing technology that
was previously off-limits. Infinity Ward was already feted for its pounding cinematic intensity, but Modern Warfare showed it had finally learned something about pacing. You can't always turn it up to 11.
All Ghillied Up, set in the Ukrainian ghost town of Pripyat, remains a highpoint for the game's single-player campaign. Tense, claustrophobic, yet still laced with thrills, it has everything you'd want from a Call of Duty mission. Lying on your front in the tall grass while enemy patrols walk right by is one of the most memorable moments the series has ever produced.
Modern Warfare also continued Call of Duty 3's drive to improve and expand the multiplayer. It was every bit the equal of the campaign. There was now a huge array of modes available. But more important than just variety was the introduction of a powerful new concept to the genre: XP. Characters were now persistent entities that levelled up over time. Experience was earned by killing enemies and completing tasks. After levelling, you could acquire new weapons and learn new abilities. At the time, this framework was more closely associated with the burgeoning MMO space. But it was a crucial addition to Call of Duty's
multiplayer; it incentivised playing one more match before stopping, and maybe just one more before bed. Combined with other innovations like Perks - key abilities to tailor your character - and Killstreaks - the unlocking of powerful weapons by stringing together kills - and Call of Duty's multiplayer had become a game in its own right. It was quite literally a game changer.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Release Date
- November 5, 2007
- Platforms
- Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PC, Mac
WATCH THE REVIEW
- Project lead - Jason West
- Writer - Jesse Stern
- Company - Infinity Ward
- Composer - Harry Gregson-Williams, Stephen Barton
- Lt. Vasquez - David Sobolov
- Captain MacMillan - Zach Hanks
9.4
AMAZING
-
In Numbers
- 15.7
GLOBAL UNITS SOLD (millions)
- 21
NUMBER OF MULTIPLAYER MAPS
- 31
NUMBER OF
WEAPONS
2007
WORLD AT WAR
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What was World At War's biggest innovation, its lasting mark on the series? It has to be Zombies. Yes, slavering hordes of jack-booted undead fascists walked the earth in this bizarre co-op survival mode that somehow found its way into what was otherwise a very safe entry in the series.
Unlocked after surviving another earnest yet bombastic tour of WWII, which was this time focussed on the Pacific theatre, Zombies became a runaway success, appearing in ever more elaborate forms in future Treyarch offerings. But in World At War, it was a
relatively straightforward affair. Trapped in an abandoned bunker, you must fend off wave after wave of the undead SS. You're given the opportunity to buy new weapons, unlock new areas, and board up the windows along the way, but it's still about placing a bullet squarely between the eyes.
In the years since, it's increasingly become an outlet for the developer's more surreal impulses, with a map set on the moon, replete with astronaut zombies, and fanciful scenarios like 'Call of the Dead', a mini-campaign featuring a playable celebrity cast, including Sarah
Michelle Gellar, Danny Trejo, and Robert Englund. No, I'm not making this up. This did happen.
Riffing heavily on exploitation movies and good old-fashioned shlock, Zombies is delightful success within the bigger Call of Duty narrative. It serves as a weird, irreverent counterpoint to the bluster of the single-player campaign and the ever-escalating stakes of the multiplayer. And yet such is the popularity of the series, Zombies has almost become a game in itself.
Call of Duty: World at War
- Release Date
- November 11, 2008
- Platforms
- PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
WATCH THE REVIEW
- Director - Margaret Tang
- Writer - Craig Houston
- Company - Treyarch
- Composer - Hans Zimmer
- German Soldier, US Marine, Drill Instructor - David Sobolov
- Sgt. Roebuck - Kiefer Sutherland
- Sgt. Reznov - Gary Oldman
- Dr. Edward Richtofen - Nolan North
8.5
GREAT
-
In Numbers
- 15.7
GLOBAL UNITS SOLD (millions)
- 27
NUMBER OF MULTIPLAYER MAPS
- 29
NUMBER OF
WEAPONS
2008
MODERN WARFARE 2
The second entry in the Modern Warfare arc brought lots to the table. Missions increasingly began to ignore the rude demands of realism, with situations becoming more preposterous; whether it was taking a leap of faith across a frozen ravine or frantically evacuating a gulag that was collapsing in on itself, Modern Warfare was bigger, bolder, and more swaggering.
It even innovated outside of the campaign and multiplayer with the introduction of Spec Ops, a generous range of standalone missions that could be tackled either solo or with a friend. Akin to arcade challenges - you were ranked out of three stars for each one - they became an addictive, hugely enjoyable part of the game.
Multiplayer was less of a leap forward after the dramatic changes Modern Warfare had brought about. This time around it was about making it more accessible for the n00b. If you were spawn-killed three times in a row, you were deviously given the ability to steal your killer's load out via the Copycat Deathstreak. It was also the most customisable Call of Duty yet, with the multiplayer brimming with emblems, titles, and clan tags. It was about making it yours.
But for all these changes and additions, Modern Warfare 2 is still remembered for one single-player mission: No Russian. That's the legacy.
The game is even worried about it.
It asks you twice if you really want to play it. It knows its straying into dangerous territory, and it's easier to put that decision on you, the player. The mission casts you a double agent, embedded deep within a Russian terrorist cell, and they are about to unleash a terrible massacre in a busy airport. That mission is suddenly your mission. Although you're not forced to shoot, you are compelled to watch, and in doing so, made complicit with their heinous actions.
The rest of the single-player narrative doesn't do enough to justify the use of such graphic, lingering violence. It's a jarring transition after the high-octane, Hollywood-inspired action sequences that frame it. But
irrespective of whether it was a genuine attempt to address difficult material or the PR equivalent of the Shock and Awe tactics so frequently depicted in the game, No Russian is an unforgettable, watershed moment in the history of video games. Those two words, which refer to a command issued by the terrorist leader in the moments before they enter the terminal, have attained a life of their own, becoming synonymous with controversy in the medium.
Call of Duty sensationally entered the lexicon.
Modern Warfare 2
- Release Date
- November 27, 2010
- Platforms
- Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PC, Mac
WATCH THE REVIEW
- Director - Jason West
- Writer - Jesse Stern
- Company - Infinity Ward
- Composer - Hans Zimmer
- Captain Price - Kevin McKidd
- Captain 'Soap' MacTavish - Kevin McKidd
- General Shepherd - Lance Henriksen
- PFC. Joseph Allen, Royce, Scarecrow, Additional voices - Troy Baker
9.2
AMAZING
-
In Numbers
- 22.7
UNITS SOLD (millions)
- 26
NUMBER OF MULTIPLAYER MAPS
- 48
NUMBER OF
WEAPONS
2010
BLACK OPS
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Call of Duty always felt like it belonged to Infinity Ward. After all, the developer created the franchise and was responsible for its earliest and most successful incarnations. But Black Ops saw Treyarch elevate its status considerably, becoming every bit the equal of Infinity Ward in the eyes of players.
Given the outrageous success of Modern Warfare, it's perhaps surprising that Treyarch returned to the history books for inspiration. But it was now the Sixties, the birth of the US Special Forces and the Cold War that received the Call of Duty treatment. It's a game that
really revels in playing with its source material, weaving a storyline through real-life events, including the Bay of Pigs debacle, the Russian space race, and Vietnam. Once again the inspiration is unmistakably Hollywood, especially the war films and paranoid thrillers of the seventies.
The wealth of perks, killstreaks, and player modifications became absolutely mind-boggling. But the big addition Black Ops brought to the ever-expanding multiplayer table was the added gamification of multiplayer in the form of Wager Matches. After the introduction of
XP, it added a further layer by which the game's multiplayer would snare its players. Also imaginative modes - like Sticks and Stones, where every player is equipped only with a crossbow, a tomahawk and a knife and one in the chamber, where each player is given a gun with one bullet, a knife, and three lives - were introduced to add variety and additional challenges.
Treyarch was growing in confidence...
Call of Duty: Black Ops
- Release Date
- November 9, 2010
- Platforms
- Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U
WATCH THE REVIEW
- Director - Dave Anthony
- Writer - Craig Houston
- Company - Treyahrc
- Composer - Sean Murray
- Joseph Bowman - Ice Cube
- Sgt. Reznov - Gary Oldman
- Sam Worthington - Alex Mason
- Numbers - Emmanuelle Chriqui
9
AMAZING
-
In Numbers
- 26.2
GLOBAL UNITS SOLD (millions)
- 41
NUMBER OF MULTIPLAYER MAPS
- 66
NUMBER OF
WEAPONS
2010
MODERN WARFARE 3
Videos (2)
Modern Warfare 3 closed the most successful chapter the series had ever known.
It's not unfair to say that characterisation has never been a big focus for the series. Call of Duty has always concentrated on gameplay, multiplayer, and crafting sequences that wring excitement from the player. But it was now down to two familiar characters - Soap and Price - to save the world before it destroyed itself. It was the ultimate against-the-odds suicide mission. After two games, and countless near-death experiences, these two gruff avatars provided a strangely
personal connection amid such an impersonal conflict.
Modern Warfare 3's campaign continued to surpass the ambition of Hollywood. Whether it was protecting the Russian president aboard his private jet as violent turbulence created moments of weightlessness or chasing hostiles on the London Underground, Modern Warfare 3 was drenched in adrenaline and a smidge of absurdity. Proudly so.
XP and levelling once again pervaded the game's multiplayer offering, with every weapon, ability,
and accessory customisable or feeling the benefit of continual investment. Overpowered perks were removed, and Killstreak were rebranded as Pointstreaks, since kills were not the only way to increase the player's streak. Rewards were now divided between Assault, Support, and Specialist, with death no longer resetting the score. It was about balancing and refinement, not reinvention. The bigger innovation came at a higher, more meta level with the introduction of Elite, Call of Duty's persistent online service to complement its multiplayer experience. The service has continued to grow with each entry
in the series since, and now offers a wealth of leaderboards, statistics, challenges, and bespoke Call of Duty-inspired entertainment.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Release Date
- November 8, 2011
- Platforms
- Xbox 360, PS3, PC
WATCH THE REVIEW
- Writer - Paul Haggis, Will Staples
- Company - Infinity Ward
- Composer - Brian Tyler
- Truck - Idris Elba
- Sandman - William Fichtner
- Timothy Olyphant - Grinch
- Kevin McKidd - Soap MacTavish
9.5
AMAZING
-
In Numbers
- 26.5
UNITS SOLD (millions)
- 36
NUMBER OF MULTIPLAYER MAPS
- 56
NUMBER OF
WEAPONS
2011
BLACK OPS 2
Videos (2)
Ironically it was Black Ops II - a tale of espionage and shady off-the-books missions - that saw Treyarch defiantly step out from the shadow of Infinity Ward. It brought a surprising amount of changes to the ninth instalment in the main series.
Some of the multiplayer innovation and design began to roll back into the single-player. The ability to choose perks and rejig load-outs, for instance, was now available in the campaign. The level design was less restrictive, encouraging some exploration and the ability to shake up tactics.
The corridors weren't demolished - this was still Call of Duty - but they were wider, more branching. The story was also studded with missions where failure was an option. And the game's near-futuristic setting - it jumped between Black Ops protagonist Alex Mason in the '80s and his son David in 2025 - gleefully embraced futuristic gadgetry, including cloaking armour, smart drones, and wingsuits. While its nearest contemporary and rival, Battlefield, displayed an exacting eye for realism and authenticity, Black Ops embraced the high-adventure of its new setting.
Multiplayer benefitted from its laid-back Pick 10 innovation, which scrapped the idea of a traditional loadout in favour of letting players pick-and-mix their guns, attachments, and perks, filling up to 10 slots. Meanwhile Zombies grew from an irreverent mini-game to a fully-fledged third pillar of the game, Treyarch's equivalent to Infinity Ward's Spec Ops.
Black Ops II grossed over $1 billion in its first 15 days on sale, beating Modern Warfare 3's record.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
- Release Date
- November 13, 2012
- Platforms
- Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U
WATCH THE REVIEW
- Director - Dave Anthony
- Writer - Craig Houston
- Company - Treyarch
- Composer - Brian Tyler
- Strike Force Soldier - Michelle Rodriguez
- Jason Hudson - Michael Keaton
- Alex Mason - Sam Worthington
- Mike Harper - Michael Rooker
9.3
AMAZING
-
In Numbers
- 24.2
UNITS SOLD (millions)
- 37
NUMBER OF MULTIPLAYER MAPS
- 75
NUMBER OF
WEAPONS
2012
GHOSTS
Videos (2)
A decade later, Call of Duty has sold millions of copies. The explosions got bigger. The multiplayer grew into a sport, with billions of shells littering the floor of multiplayer lobbies worldwide. It's now become an annual event in the gaming calendar, toppling records like clockwork, each entry becoming the biggest entertainment release in the world. Ever. But what next? What about the next 10 years?
November is here, and Ghosts is the tenth entry in the main series. It's almost too perfect that it should centre on a small band of soldiers fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Okay, Call of Duty can't be considered small by any measure, yet it's facing an unknown landscape with the release of the PlayStation 4 and
Xbox One. And the competition's fiercer than ever before.
Call of Duty's been here before, though. Right back at its very beginning. Some things have changed in those years - playing games on a mobile phone no longer seems such a risible proposition - but there are also plenty of parallels. Nintendo has just cancelled production of the Wii, and new consoles stand ready to alter the gaming landscape once again.
How will Call of Duty adapt? Can it possibly dominate the next wave of consoles like it did this one?
Those are unanswerable questions, but Call of Duty is now a veteran. Over nine games it's learned that innovation can be a powerful
sidearm, reinvigorating the series at crucial points. But like any back-up weapon, it's most effective when used sparingly. The introduction of XP to multiplayer is probably the best example - it was a paradigm shift, and will probably be the franchise's true legacy. Call of Duty's primary weapon, though, has always been its consistency. Early on in its life it hit upon a winning formula that it has refined almost every year since. It's what made Call of Duty the biggest game franchise around, and served it so well ever since.
A new battle is about to begin, though, and Call of Duty appears more than up for the fight.
Call of Duty: Ghosts
- Release Date
- November 5, 2013
- Platforms
- PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One,
Wii U
WATCH THE REVIEW
- Director - Sylvain Doreau
- Writer - Stephen Gaghan
- Company - Infinity Ward, Raven, Neversoft
- Stephen Lang
- Brandon Routh
- Kevin Gage
8.8
GREAT
2013
