If you are a teenager that grew up in this era, you’ve probably played or at least heard of the popular video game franchise Call of Duty. If you have no idea what this game is, then you may live under a rock. The first Call of Duty game came out in 2003, and it revolutionized first person shooter games today. It is a multiplayer experience that simulates real life warfare, but since the first game, it has been through many changes. A hot topic between nerds, I mean fans, of the franchise is which one is the best. I would like to consider myself an expert on this topic because I have almost 200 days of in game experience on Call of Duty. Without further ado here is my list of the top 5 best Call of Duty games.

Number 5:  Modern Warfare 3 

Modern Warfare 3 came out in 2011, and is the wildly popular sequel to Modern Warfare 2. It’s multiplayer experience is fantastic and has so many amazing maps, weapons, and killstreaks. The maps in Call of Duty make or break the core gameplay, and this game has amazing maps. many chokepoints, some long open areas, and many hot areas for  gameplay. It has iconic weapons like the ever popular ACR and MP7. Those are just the most popular, but it features many other viable and well rounded options. It has many killstreaks that came back from the previous game, such as the AC130, Pave Low, and predator missile. It also features some new ones that came into later Call of Duty’s such as the juggernaut, AH6 Overwatch, strafe run and more. It also had the controversial support streaks which didn’t require any skill to get. The final thing and most loved is the specialist streaks, which allow you to obtain all perks and weapon proficiencies to turn you into a monster.  

Number 4: Modern Warfare 2 

Modern Warfare 2 came out in 2009 and it is seen by many as the Call of Duty that revolutionized the franchise. The first Call of Duty to add selectable killstreaks which were incredibly amazing to see. It brought such an incentive to do well so you really get rewarded. Every single one of the streaks were added into another Call of Duty, but even though they were the first, they were arguably the best. The maps were also great but I don’t think they were as good as Modern Warfare 3’s. It had fan favorites such as Afghan, Highrise, Wasteland, Terminal, Rust and more. The weapons were without a doubt the best we’ve ever seen in Call of Duty. The Acr, Scar-H, RPD, Spas-12, UMP45, and many more. This game has some of the best and most satisfying weapons to use, and they don’t feel outdated even 12 years later. It had awesome calling cards and emblems which you could show off when you obtain them. 

Number 3: Black Ops 1 

The first game to kick off the Black Ops series. This game did all the things Modern Warfare 2 did, but improved upon it. It had better maps that made the game more fast paced and exciting, some amazing weapons, new great killstreaks, and 5 more prestiges to grind for. It added gold camo for weapons which was absolutely beautiful but very hard and took a while to get, but added something new and fun to unlock. The variety of weapons was a problem because the assault rifles were just better than every weapon category and they were hard to beat. Although you were kind of limited to one class you could still use other weapons, and the assault rifles were some of the greatest of all time, and so memorable. This game probably had my favorite weapons such as the Commando, AK-47, G11, Aug, and the legendary Galil and Famas. It brought great killstreaks like the gunship, chopper gunner, napalm strike, and black bird.  

Number 2: Black Ops 3 

The second jetpack Call of duty and the second best Call of duty. I’ve spent more time on this game than any other game, with over 120 days played. This game brought wall running, which was a great way to get around, improve your position, and get height. It had such great weapon balancing, pretty much every weapon in the game could be used. It had amazing maps that looked fantastic and played very well. This game also brought specialists which were very fun, but somewhat annoying because they took no skill to get. It brought the dark matter camo, which you unlocked by getting every single weapon gold in the game. It added some amazing DLC weapons, which were very hard to get and took a lot of luck because they were only in supply drops. It had amazing weapons like the Man O War, the RPK, the M8A7, and my favorite weapon of all time, the XMC. The black market system was so great, it added so much customization, and a new form of currency. You could acquire so many camos, specialist skins, taunts, gestures, calling cards and many more. It added level 1,000 which was the ultimate grind. It added amazing master calling cards and a final one if you unlocked every single calling card. Overall this game was so innovative, fun, and there was just so much to do. 

Number 1: Black Ops 2 

I don’t think you can argue, unless you haven’t played this game, that it is the best Call of Duty of all time. It had in my opinion at least the best maps ever. Fan favorites such as Raid, Standoff, Slums, Plaza and more. It had the best weapon balancing, every single gun in the game was viable. It had fan favorites like the M8A1, MSMC, FAL, AN94, Skorpion EVO, and more. It was the first Call of Duty to step into the future, the game came out in 2012, and was set in 2025. It was the perfect amount of futuristic,  just enough to feel modern. It was the first Call of Duty to add scorestreaks which cost a certain amount of score in a row to get, now every single Call of duty has brought that back. It had amazing streaks like the warthog, lodestar, VTOL Warship, K-9 Unit, and Swarm. There isn’t much more to say about this game other than I think it’s the best.