Call of Duty is a franchise that needs no introduction, but that doesn't mean it's universally loved. Actually, one might go so far as to say that it is somewhat notorious: over time, Call of Duty has grown to represent everything that is wrong with big budget AAA video game productions in the modern era. The franchise has been heavily criticized for its annual release schedule, monetization, and inconsistent tone, among other things, though it has still retained its overwhelming relevance, even in the wake of Black Ops 7 underperforms.
Whether any specific criticism against Call of Duty are correct is of course a matter of opinion, but most long-time players can generally agree that the IP's identity has changed quite a bit. From its boots-on-the-ground, historical fiction roots in 2003 to its foray into science fiction and back again, Call of Duty has gone through enough changes to make your head spin. A big part of this is the series' notorious annual release schedule: with a few notable exceptions, each year has seen a new Call of Duty entry. One would expect that, given so many releases, the standard of quality would fluctuate greatly, but I'd argue that the series has actually trended downward over the past two decades, losing much of what made it special in the first place.
20 Years of Success – The Greatest Call Of Duty Games Ever
Call of Duty is celebrating over 20 years of success, so which of their games deserve to take the top spots as the greatest of the franchise?
Why has Call of Duty changed so much, and why it's for the worse
When Infinity Ward released the first one Call of Duty In 2003, it was widely praised for being a more complex and ambitious interpretation of 20th century warfare in gaming, a subgenre previously dominated by Medal of Honor. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who would call this the best ever Call of Dutybut it was truly a landmark at the time, and went a long way towards cementing the IP as a gaming giant.
Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.
Start
Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.
Light (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
The franchise seemed to grow exponentially after that. While CoD 2 and CoD 3 keeping the WW2 premise of the first game, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare would be the release that would come to define the brand to this day. Its pivot to a modern setting was a stunning success and a brave one Call of Duty to continue experimenting in the same vein. This is what led to later future environments Black Ops game, Endless warfare, Advanced Warfareand so on.
For many fans, this slide into more outlandish and speculative storytelling is what marked the decline of Call of Dutybut this was more a symptom than a cause. As multiplayer became the focus of the franchise and immersive storytelling took a back seat, and as Activision continued to push for annual releases, mechanics needed to be borrowed from the likes of Titanfall and PUBGgradually erodes Call of Duty identity through derivation and repetition. That's why the series has struggled to recapture its original magic even when revisiting the WW2 setting with games like Vanguard. Put another way, the series is spread too thin creatively, its core concepts so thoroughly mined as to be almost unrecognizable.
Can Call of Duty return to its glory days?
Even when Call of Duty was on a hot streak in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it followed an annual release schedule; I don't necessarily think this is the root of the show's problems, though it does exacerbate them. Rather, I think the main issue with the mother Call of Duty is a marked lack of passion and originality – a soul, if you will – that needs to be found again.
It's obviously a very difficult problem to quantify, but going back to basics can be a good start. In the early 2000s Call of Duty tried to stand out by being inventive and exciting; these days it just seems to give audiences what they expect. Even when the games return to specific staples, like base-based gameplay and dedicated single-player campaigns, it feels like a response to criticism rather than a result of creative inspiration. Call of Duty may be a true live service now, but that shouldn't mean it just goes into maintenance mode.
