Call Of Duty Game List In Chronological Order: How many are there?

Today, we will check all of the Call Of Duty Game List In Chronological Order and take a little stroll back in time to see how far this popular series has come since its first game hit the shelves more than two decades ago.

Call of Duty games have been a part of most gaming enthusiasts’ lives since the early 2000s, and even today, the first-person action-adventure and strategy game is going strong and showing no signs of slowing down.

There is no doubt that Activision’s creation has developed into one of the world’s finest first-person shooter gaming franchises to date, both in terms of its popularity and the subsequent revenue it generated for them over the years.

Games like Medal of Honor and the Battlefield series as well have indeed given Call of Duty games a run for their money in the last decade or so, but what those games could not provide their fanbase was a consistent flow of engaging games which promised people countless hours of fun and exciting gameplay, which is precisely where Call of Duty as a series flourished.

Although the recent games released in the series have not been able to adequately capture the essence of the older Call of Duty games very well, as said by some of their old-school players, seasoned players can still hope to dive into these games to relive the ‘good old days’ of gaming.

New players, however, who are just getting into this series, may still find these games, both the new and old ones, to be excellent options to try out and play among all the other options available to them today, as Call of Duty games will continue to a perfect choice for someone looking for a solid shooter game.

So, without much ado, let’s jump right in and explore the list now.

How many Call of Duty games are there?

Till 2023, there have been 22 Call of Duty games in the main series. This includes both the Warzone games and COD mobile. Please note that this post contains only the main entry titles released in this series. No Spin-offs, additional online modes, or DLCs are mentioned here.

1) Call of Duty (2003)

Starting with the first Call of Duty game, this first-person shooter game follows the stories of 3 opposing countries intertwined with the events of World War 2 and allows us to see and experience the action in the heat of the battle through the eyes of three soldiers taking part in it.

Players will play as three soldiers across different campaign missions, with one being an American soldier called Private Martin of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the second one being a Soviet Union Corporal called Alexei Ivanovic Voronin, and the last one being a British Sargent called Jack Evans, and take part in critical missions carried out in places all across the world to give their respective countries the upper-hand in this brutal war.

Players will get the opportunity to use authentic World War 2 weaponry to fight their battles. Moreover, players can save their game whenever they desire, which contrasts with current games, which utilize auto-save checkpoints located at specific points in the game.

2) Call Of Duty 2

Coming to the second game in the series, this game, like its predecessor, is a first-person shooter game that deals with the story of 3 countries’ efforts during World War 2, experienced through the eyes of 4 brave soldiers across 27 cumulative main campaign missions.

Players will experience the horrors of war through the perspective of four soldiers during World War 2, one being an American Corporal called Bill Taylor, the second and third being British soldiers by the name Sargeant John Davis, and Tank commander David Welsh. Lastly, a Soviet Union Private called Vasilli Koslov.

In terms of its gameplay, new features like regenerating health and a unique indicator displaying the player’s proximity to a soon-to-explode grenade were introduced into the game to add more depth.

The game was lauded for its graphics, audio, and the newly added regenerative health system. It is widely recognized as ‘one of the best video games of all time’ by various reputed publications and players.

If you are a fan of COD, then you will like our article on games similar to COD.

3) Call Of Duty 3

Coming to the third entry in this famous game franchise, the main story of this first-person shooter game revolves around the specific tactical missions carried out by four allied countries during the Battle Of Normandy in 1944.

Players will play the campaign of the game through 4 soldiers from different allied forces, with the first one being an American Private by the name Nichols, a British Sargeant called James Doyle, a Canadian Private who goes by the name Joseph Cole, and lastly, a Polish Corporal called “Bohater” Wojciech.

In terms of gameplay, this became the first game in the series to have both single-player and multiplayer campaigns. In addition to the highly engaging story campaign, players could participate in a wide range of multiplayer modes.

In the Allied versus Axis game mode, for example, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 users could accommodate 24 players in each team, whereas only 16 players were allowed on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game. Multiplayer was sadly unavailable on Wii devices.

Moreover, gameplay-wise, quite a few new features were introduced in this edition of the game to add more engagement options for the players to utilize the game.

Now let’s check out Call of Duty: modern warfare games in order.

4) Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare (CODM )

Moving on to the fourth game in the series, this first-person shooter game mixes up the formula used so far and introduces a more modern setting into the game’s story instead of its traditional WW2 setting.

In this game, players will have the opportunity to experience the story of the game by controlling six different characters at different points. Still, for the majority of the game, players will control a new recruit of the British Special Air Service in Sargeant John ‘Soap’ MacTavish.

The story of the game centers around two major issues, with the first one being an ongoing civil war that breaks out in Russia between the Russian government and the Ultranationalists looking to return Russia to its early Soviet Union days. On the other hand, the second issue focuses mainly on a separatist group leader, Khaled Al-Asad, who has seized control of an unnamed city in the Middle East through a coup d’etat.

In terms of gameplay, not many new features were added to the game that wasn’t already in the previous edition, like regenerative health and throwing live grenades back at the attackers. Apart from these existing features, including modern weaponry in the series for the first time was also a great addition.

For COD mobile lovers, we have an article on COD Mobile Best Sniper Loadouts you must use.

5) Call Of Duty: World At War

Coming to the fifth installment of the series, this first-person shooter returns to its roots by returning to the WW2 formula and allowing players to play through 2 main campaign storylines.

In the American campaign, players take control of Private Miller, who is rescued from the clutches of Japanese forces who had tortured and killed his squad of marines.

In the Soviet campaign, players take on the role of Private Dimitri Petrenko, first in the Battle of Stalingrad on the eastern front in 1942 and once again in 1945, in the Battle of Seelow Heights near Berlin, to eventually guide his nation towards a Soviet Victory and also end the war in Europe in the process as well.

Apart from the recurring features mentioned in the previous games, like stances, intuitive AI allies who will assist in battle, health regeneration, grenade counter-attacking by throwing it back, etc., this game had some new features to the franchise.

Firstly, the game was developed to be open-ended, which meant players were allowed to approach and complete the required missions/objectives in any way they wanted to.

Secondly, apart from finding standard weapons in the game, players would also now occasionally find weapons with various attachments on them, like grenade launcher attachments, bayonets, and telescopic sights to aid them in gunfights.

If you are playing COD Warzone 2.0, then check out these 5 Best Landing Spots in COD Warzone 2.0 at Al Mazrah City and Best Tips For Beginners.

6) Call Of Duy: Modern Warfare 2

Moving on to the next game in the series, this first-person shooter game picks up from where Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare ended.

The year is 2016 and although the combined efforts of the US special forces stopped a nuclear war, it wasn’t enough to stop the other threats though, as the ultranationalists ultimately took control of Russia. On the other hand, Vladimir Makarov, the ultranationalist extremist, has gone on a five-year campaign of vengeance against the West with horrific terrorism, and it is down to the forces to put a stop to them and their activities.

In this game, players will primarily control and play as Sargeant Gary ‘Roach’ Sanderson, a British international special forces team member called Task Force 141, as they play 18 inter-connected story levels. Apart from ‘Roach,’ the other characters players will get to play during the game include but are not limited to Private First Class Joseph Allen, Private James Ramirez, and Captain John ‘Soap’ MacTavish.

In terms of gameplay, popular features implemented in the previous game make a return, like regenerating health, improvised HUD showing ammo count, and mini-map.

Players will now be given new mission-specific equipment like night vision goggles and laser designators to complete specific objectives. Moreover, players can now swap their initially provided guns with any other better gun they find in-game.

Most COD veterans still consider this game as one of the very best Calls of Duty games in the series.

7) Call Of Duty: Black Ops

Coming to the next installment in the series, this first-person shooter game takes place some 16 to 23 years after the events unfolding in World At War, between 1961 and 1968. During this period, the CIA conducted many secret black operations behind enemy lines in locations like the Urals in Asia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Hong Kong, Laos, South Vietnam, the Arctic Circle, and Siberia.

The game’s main story revolves around an experimental nerve agent, a chemical weapon known as ‘Nova 6‘, and how it can potentially be activated by sleeper agents already present within the country once they receive their go-ahead orders from an unknown numbers station.

Alongside the main protagonist of the game, CIA SAD operative and former U.S Marine Force Recon Captain Alex Mason, which players will primarily play as, they will also be able to occasionally play as CIA paramilitary operations officer Jason Hudson and a few other characters.

Players will also meet historical figures like John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, and Fidel Castro.

During scripted sections in the game, players can pilot a Hind Helicopter and guide troops from an SR-71 Blackbird strategic reconnaissance aircraft.

Gameplay-wise, most of the mechanics used in previous games are back like the ability to throw grenades and other explosives, kill enemies who are close enough with a single knife swing, and take three different stances like stand, couch, and prone, to enhance aim and mobility, etc.

New weapons like Crossbows are added into the game with their very own bolts, a new range of ballistic knives, and various explosive ammunition.

8) Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

The next installment in this series is a direct follow-up to Modern Warfare 2, in which characters like Captain John ‘Soap’ MacTavish, former SAS Captain John Price, and Russian informant Nikolai, return to action after killing the main villain US Army Lieutenant General Shepard in the previous game, but are faced with a familiar foe in Vladimir Makarov once again, who is back as the main antagonist of the game.

The game’s story once again revolves around a few of the various sub-plots carried forward from the previous game, which will eventually come together to form the primary basis of the game. At one end, the US Delta Force destroys radio jammers and subsequently forces the invading Russian forces to withdraw.

On the other hand, the president of Russia, Boris Vorshevsky, who was making his way to Hamburg to conduct peace talks with the United States, had his plane ambushed and shot down by Russian extremists, prompting Makarov to torture and pressure the president into giving the launch code of a nuclear bomb which he intends to utilize to launch an invasion into the European continent.

In terms of gameplay, tried and tested features like regenerating health, among others have made their way back into the series to help give the players an even better gameplay experience.

Apart from the regular features, players can utilize mission-specific features like remote-controlled weapons and planting explosive devices on enemy installations.

9) Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2

Coming to the next game in the Call of Duty games series, the storyline of this first-person shooter follows two different arcs. It is the first game in this popular series that introduced the concept of branching storylines and multiple endings.

The first arc explores the events of the first Cold War the world experienced from 1986 to 1989. Former US Marine Force Recon Captain Alex Mason returns as a playable character in this storyline. We also see the emergence of the main antagonist of the game, an established Nicaraguan arms dealer named Raul Menendez.

In the second arc, the year is 2025 and players will now play as Alex Mason’s son David, codename ‘Section’. In this storyline, Raul Menendez has become the leader of a militant populist movement, Cordis Die. He is plotting against the Chinese and the Americans, hoping to entangle them in a second Cold War.

In terms of gameplay, all the familiar gameplay mechanics make their way back into this series apart from one new addition to this game called the ‘strike force missions.’ These missions are nothing but specialized missions in which the decisions and choices taken by the player will have permanent consequences and deaths, whether good or bad, and might even alter the story of the game.

During these strike force missions, players can control various modern vehicles and weapons used during war-like situations like uncrewed aerial vehicles, jet fighters, robots, etc.

10) Call Of Duty: Ghosts

Moving on to the next title in the series, this first-person shooter is set in the near future, where the Middle East has been destroyed using nuclear force and in response to the rapidly growing economic crisis which followed it, the oil-rich countries of Latin America come together and form a Federation of Americas to invade and control the entire region of the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America.

Players will primarily play as Logan Walkerrt of the US Spforce Special Operations force called ‘Ghosts,’ who are skillfully trained operatives specializing in covert missions.

Most of the story is narrated through the eyes of Logan Walker. Still, players will also have the opportunity to play specific sections of the game by using other characters like an astronaut named Baker, Sargeant Thompson, and Logan’s father Elias Walker. For the first time in a COD game, players can play as a non-human character, a German shepherd named Riley.

However, the game’s main antagonist is Gabriel T. Rorke, a former ghost gone rogue and now working for the Federation of Americas.

Gameplay-wise, the developers didn’t add too many new elements into the game, instead brought back most of the existing features from the previous games, and although in hindsight it wasn’t a big issue, fans and publications alike criticized the game for re-hashing of existing content and the general lack of innovation and originality. As a result, it is among the least-liked Call of Duty games ever.

11) Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Coming to the next installment in this series, in this first-person shooter game, players will follow the story of Jack Mitchell, a United States Private First Class, who along with his comrade Private Will Irons, initially helps in repelling an attack by North Korea on Seoul, but sadly Iron is gravely wounded and dies. In contrast, Mitchel loses an arm in the process as well.

Upon getting medically discharged from the forces due to a missing limb, Jonathan Irons, father of the now late Will Irons and owner of a private military firm called Atlas, give Mitchel a new lease of life when he gives him a new prosthetic arm so that he can return to being a soldier for Atlas and fight against the rising threat of the KVA, a terrorist group which mainly comprises of Chechen separatists, lead by Joseph ‘Hades’ Chkheidze.

Gameplay-wise, after a long while, there were a few substantial changes in the game like there was no HUD display. Instead, players had to learn to rely on the holographic projections emitted from their equipped weapons.

Moreover, a new mechanic was introduced in the game, such as an Exo-Suit or Exoskeleton. While wearing this suit, players could enhance their movement capabilities, boost, dash, and sky jump.

Players could also use specific special abilities while wearing the suit like the Exo cloak, which renders the wearer completely invisible during stealth situations for a short time.

Unlike other games in this series, players cannot take control of any other character in-game.

12) Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3

The next installment in this popular first-person shooter game series takes place almost 40 years after the events of Black Ops 2, in the year 2065, when the world as we know it doesn’t exist anymore. Instead, it is replaced by a world disrupted by various conflicts, unfavorable climate change, and the introduction of the latest technological advancements.

In this game, players will play as an unnamed black ops soldier of the Winslow Accord who takes part in a covert hostage rescue operation in Ethiopia. During the mission, however, the player gets critically wounded and undergoes cybernetic surgery to save his life. As a result, he has a direct neural interface (DNI) installed in him to help him adapt better to this increasingly hostile world.

Regarding gameplay features, the standard campaign has been designed for 4-player co-op sessions to give the players more freedom by providing a more expansive area to explore and engage in and less corridor shooting.

Additionally, to make the in-game player truly their own, players can freely change their characters’ overall appearance and clothing. Moreover, thanks to the campaign’s progression system, players will be able to unlock tokens to get their hands on the different weapons and gears available in the game.

Players can also play the game in two modes, ‘Realistic’ and ‘Nightmare,’ which, as their names suggest, come with their perks and challenges.

13) Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Coming to the next game in the Call of Duty games franchise, this first-person shooter game is set in the distant future, in the year 2187, when Earth suffers from overpopulation and rapidly depleting natural minerals and resources.

To counter this issue, nations from around the globe have come together to form the United Nations Space Alliance (UNSA). This political organization handles everything related to space colonization, as the residents of Earth now rely solely on the resources gathered on other planets for survival.

The countries install outposts on asteroids and planets to mine resources for Earth, but their path will not be as hassle-free as they had hoped, as a new group of militant radicals called SDF, under the leadership of Admiral Koch, want to control and harvest the minerals for themselves, to not only reap its benefits but to also have greater control over the countries after it.

In this game, players will play as a Tier 1 Specialist pilot, Captain Nick Reyes, as they explore a new Outer space setting and utilize new gameplay mechanics like zero-gravity movement to get the upper hand on their foes.

Players will also be equipped with a grappling hook and boost packs to help them quickly navigate the zero-gravity environments. Furthermore, players will also engage with the enemies in a space dogfight using their trust fighter plane called Jackal.

14) Call Of Duty: WW2

Coming to the next installment in the series, this first-person shooter follows the story of a United States Army Private First Class soldier Ronald ‘Red’ Daniels during World War 2, as he takes part in many incursions like the Normandy landings, derailing an armored train carrying V-2 rockets, capturing the last bridge over the Rhine, actively fighting in large scale battles like the battle of the bulge and the battle of Hurtgen Forest.

In terms of gameplay, this game has quite a few new features that aim to bring the series back to its ‘boots-on-the-ground’ gameplay rather than implement futuristic equipment like the jet-packs and exo-suits utilized in previous games in this series.

Features like regenerating health are gone from the game along with a few others that threaten to take the ‘realism’ of World War 2 from the game. Players will now have to either search for medical packs throughout the game’s map or request one of their medics in the squad to heal them whenever they need urgent medical assistance.

Speaking of teammates, players will now also be able to request their squad members whenever they require ammunition and grenades, request mortar strikes, or even spot enemy units that are a little hard to find by highlighting them with the help of silhouettes.

15) Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4

Coming to the next game in the series, this first-person shooter is the first game in the Call of Duty series not to have a dedicated single-player campaign. Instead, players will play out the backstories of characters, also known as ‘specialists,’ used in the game’s multiplayer section, from both the current game and a few from past games.

The multiplayer story mode of the game takes place sometime in the 2040s, somewhere in between the events that occurred in Black Ops 1 and 2, and is centered around a group of global elite soldiers called specialists, hired by researcher Savnnah Mason-Meyer, who also happens to be the granddaughter of the main protagonist of the previous Black Ops games, Alex Mason.

On the other hand, Raul Menendez, the leader of a terror group called ‘Cordis Die’ and the main antagonist of a previous Black Ops game in the series plays a vital role in Savannah’s research in this game.

Gameplay-wise, this game makes some tweaks to the tried-and-tested multiplayer formula of the previous games by removing the previously implemented automatic health regeneration system and adding new features like predictive recoil and new ballistics systems.

16) Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare

Moving on to the sixteenth game in the franchise, this game follows the story of an ever-increasing conflict between Russia and a fictional country called Urkiztan.

In this game, players will play as three characters: one British SAS Sargeant Kyle ‘Gaz’ Garrick, former Delta Force operator turned CIA SAC officer Alex, and lastly, an Urzik rebel leader called Farah Karim.

Through these soldiers, players will not only repel invading Russian Forces led by a General named Roman Barkov, who have made their way into Urzikstan soil, but they will also try and stop an Urzik terrorist organization called Al-Qatala in the process as well from carrying out their terrorist activities.

The game’s story also follows the search for a lost shipment of Chlorine Gas, which the Russians will supposedly use to end the Republic of Urzikstan once and for all.

In terms of gameplay, this game tried to completely overhaul the single-player aspects of the series by introducing more realism. Instead of eliminating enemies straightforwardly, players were graded according to how well they recognized the threats in and around them and how effectively they reacted to them.

Another aspect that made its way into the game was that the dialogue options available to players changed according to their mission grades and the choices they made throughout the game.

Also Read: Do you enjoy playing Warzone 2.0? Check out the best landing spots in Al Mazrah to give you a tactical advantage.

17) Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Coming to the next game in the series, this game follows the story of Officer Russell Adler, a former green barret and now a CIA SAD officer, in his mission to disrupt the efforts of an alleged spy named Perseus, whose primary goal is to undermine the authority of the United States and hand the power initiative back to the Soviet Union.

In this game, players will take on the role of a mysterious operative known as ‘Bell,’ who is recruited explicitly by Officer Adler into the CIA to assist him in his attempts to catch ‘Perseus’ and thwart his plans of espionage against the US. Moreover, during the campaign, players will visit various locations like East Berlin, Turkey, Vietnam, and also the Soviet KGB Headquarters situated in Moscow.

Additionally, popular characters commonly seen in the Black Ops series like Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson make a return, but only Alex Mason and another character, KGB Head of Security and undercover agent Dimitri Belikov are playable in a couple of sections in the game.

Gameplay-wise, for the first time in any COD game, players choose a custom character. They can customize them from the ground up by deciding which intelligence agency their character belongs to, their skin tone, personality traits that unlock various in-game perks and bonuses, skin tone, nationality and gender.

Moreover, this is also the first COD game in which the campaign features multiple ending options, so players must remember this aspect when choosing their following dialogue options in-game.

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18) Call Of Duty: Vanguard

Coming to the eighteenth title in this series, this game follows the story of various members of Task Force Vanguard, a team of special forces formed by the Special Operations Executive to uncover a secret Nazi project called Phoenix.

The game occurred in 1945, towards the end of the World War’s European Theatre. The game’s story is told through flashbacks from 1941 to 1944 but in no fixed order. The flashbacks depict the various wars the vanguards had fought in, like the Battle of Stalingrad and Midway, to name a few.

Vanguard carries forward similar gameplay features already present in 2019’s Modern Warfare, like executing takedowns and interacting with doors.

Additionally, new features like blind firing from behind covers, breaking through fragile environmental elements present in the world like weak walls or roofs or windows and creating new paths to complete missions by exploring various avenues, like climbing walls, sneaking through vents, etc.

The game received positive reviews regarding its campaign, multiplayer, and graphics, but the overall writing of the game ultimately let them down, earning the game a ‘mixed’ review from the critics in the process.

19) Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Moving on to the next game in the series, this game follows the story of the 2019 reboot of this series where Task Force 141, along with the Mexican Special Forces unit Los Vaqueros, try and track down a Quds Force major and terrorist by the name of Hassan Zyani, who has American-made Ballistic missiles in his possession and is looking to cause damage of catastrophic levels with them.

Several regular characters of Task Force 141 from the previous title return to this game like Lieutenant Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley, Sargeant Kyle ‘Gaz’ Garrick, and Sargeant John ‘Soap’ MacTavish as they look to stop the main antagonist of the game, who is not only supported by the Las Palmas Cartel and their leader Sicaria Valeria Garza but Hassan Zyani is also allied with Urzik terrorist organization Al-Qatala.

In their hunt for Zyani, the main protagonists will travel to many real-world and fictitious places like a fictional recreation of Mexico City called Las Palmas, Amsterdam, the Mexico-U.S Border, the Gulf of Mexico, Chicago, Urzikstan, and lastly, the city of Al Mazrah, the capital of the new state, United Republic of Adal (URA)

Gameplay-wise, the game added or improved many new features, like new advanced AI systems, enhanced water physics, and more realistic swimming mechanics.

A few movement features were added to the game, like the dive-to-prone option, hang-on ledges, etc.

Regarding vehicles, new mechanics have been added, like the ability to lean out of the window to fire weapons and hijack other vehicles.

Interested to know more about this game? Check out Call of Duty’s Official Website.

Conclusion

So far, These games are currently released in the Call of Duty game series. From WW2 battles to present-day issues and future conflicts, this game series has covered various stories in their games over the years.

Seeing how much the fans love these games and how much revenue they generate, we are sure this series is not ending anytime soon, as they have many more stories to tell us and many more battles to be part of. Exciting times are ahead indeed.

So please keep coming back to this list from time to time, as we’ll surely update it regularly as and when we get any information regarding the next title in this popular gaming franchise.