Support NeoGAF

[NullPointer]

Best: COD 2, MW1 and MW2. Solid action and variety and all steeped in ground-pounder military action.

Worst: All the Black Ops games, but especially Blops 3. Blops is less military and more popcorn action flick, with convoluted plots and gameplay that should have just been rolled out as a different IP.

In terms of campaigns classic Infinity Ward nailed it, and Treyarch might be better at managin multiplayer, but their campaigns have never brought it home. I've always preferred my COD campaigns to be more on the Band of Brothers / Tom Clancy spectrums than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

 

[Dabi]

Best 3: Black Ops, MW1, WAW

Worst 3: Black Ops 3, Ghosts, Black Ops 2

 

[slumpenstein]

Best: BLOPS 2, MW, WAW
Worst: AW, BLOPS3, COD

Slumpenstein

 

[Bolivar687]

Best - CoD4, MW2, BO1

Worst - BO2, BO3, and IW

I realize BO2 is probably an unpopular answer but Steam kept mismanaging my progress and its flaws really stood out to me. None of the shootouts were inspiring and it didn't have the full mission pacing that I thought some of the better games had. I got the bad ending and that along with the Avenged Sevenfold outro really soured me on it and made it one of the worst games I've played in years.

 

[Not Drake]

I didn't play all the games, but going by the ones I finished I would go with MW, CoD1 and Black Ops for the best. Modern Warfare was a benchmark for the future shooter (for better and worse) and a really well crafted campaign with little to no filler. CoD1 was mindblowing at the time. It's definitely the most memorable for me. Most levels in it are stuck in my head to this day. Black Ops gets the spot for the story.

If I could I would put Ghosts on all podium spots for 3 worst CoD campaings. It was a trainwreck of a game with no redeeming qualities. To be fair I don't have any more CoD campaigns that I consider truly bad. Advanced Warfare was disappointing, but okay imo. Same goes for Black Ops 3. The rest were really solid games.

 

[scoobs]

Best: Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty, Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Worst: Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Call of Duty Black Ops 3

 

[UnluckyKate]

Modern Warfare and Advanced Warfare are definitely in the top. Black Ops 3 is the worst one I've played. Haven't even finished it.

Advanced Warfare was so... average. It felt like a parody.

Top CoD 2 Modern Warfare, Infinite Warfare. Special Mention Black Ops & MW2 they had shit parts but equally amazing parts.

Worse CoD3, BO3, GHOST

 

[SlimySnake]

Worst: Black Ops 3, Advanced Warfare, Modern Warfare 2
Best:

 

[Dr. Carroll]

I'm exceptionally fond of Call of Duty: Ghosts. The opening in space is exceptional. It was emotionally resonant in a way Infinite Warfare tried to be, but failed. I really liked Gabriel "Big Guy" Rorke as an antagonist. Ghosts was a "Modern Warfare, Greatest Hits" game that offered beautiful variety, but never wearing out its welcome. You fight in space, you fight underwater, you fight as a dog, you fight aboard a runaway train. Clockwork was a fantastic mission. The kind of thing All Ghillied Up wished it could be. (I'm a sucker for undercover inflitration missions.) Not to mention awesome missions like Federation Day where you rappel down the side of the skyscraper. Also when the dam breaks, and the water rises as you fight your way through the buildings.

Ghosts was very big on using dialogue instead of HUD icons to tell the player where to go, which was a nice change from some of the other games. And I loved the ink and wax aesthetic of the cutscenes between missions.

It's such a shame we never got Ghosts 2. Instead we got Ghosts in Space with Naughty Dog-style story pacing.

Really, I feel the only truly "bad" mainline Call of Duty has been Black Ops 3. The execution of that game was a complete mess. Pacing and encounter design thrown out the window in favor of co-op compromises. Call of Duty-style storytelling doesn't gel with co-op. A shame because Black Ops 3 makes Prey look like a game written for toddlers in terms of not beating audiences over the head with the final twist.

I think Black Ops II is a real gem. The branching narrative, and a real sense of style.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Best

1. Black Ops
2. Modern Warfare
3. World at War

Worst

1.Black Ops 3
2. Big Red One
3. Ghosts

COD1 i think hasn't held up well at all, but i give it a pass since its the first one.

the PS2/XBox CDDs were generally very weak as well including big red one obviously

 

[ShadowFox08]

Haven't played anything before cod4 or after ghosts so:

My best: Cod4, waw, black ops

Worst: Mw3, ghosts

I couldn't finish mw3. Way too boring and maybe Wii versions graphics in campaign turned me off. But it also felt generic. Ghosts campaigning was OK, and I would actually like a sequel, but you could tell it was low budget with not many factions.

Bo2 is somewhere in the middle. Not bad. My fourth fav after black ops. Top 3 favs though are all really good. Was and no might actually tie each other

 

[CollectedDust]

Best
COD 4: Modern Warfare
COD Black Ops
COD Advanced Warfare

Worst
COD Ghosts
COD 3
COD World at War (unpopular opinion, I know).

Note: I also think BLOPS 3 is bad as others have stated, but I think I disliked World at War more.

 

[TheSpecialOne]

The best 3 are debatable but the worst 3 are Cod 3 Black ops 2, black ops 3. Treyarch makes bad games.

 

[Skunkers]

Top 3:
Infinite Warfare
Advanced Warfare
Black Ops 2

Different opinion, as I actually love the "futuristic" COD's single player, and these three really do have great campaigns.

Worst 3:
Black Ops 3
Ghosts
COD3

 

[TheGameshark]

Haven't played Ghost or Infinite warfare
Best: COD 4, WAW, COD 2
Worst: COD 3, Black Ops 2, MW3

 

[ATOMICJORGE]

Best 3

Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare

Call of Duty Black Ops

Call of Duty 2

Worst 3

Call of Duty Black Ops 3

Call of Duty Ghosts

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

 

[brickarts295]

Best: Black Ops, MW2 and Infinite Warfare
Worst: Ghost, Black Ops 3 and MW3

 

[TACPhilly]

as awesome as WWII will look, are the actually sugar coating the swastikas or is that just in the MP? I'm sure this topic has already been beaten to death and I'm super late to it...

 

[Zombine]

I want to know who asked for whatever mess Black Ops III was. Treyarch went from the COD developer I believed the most in, to "wait and see" for their next game.

Best
Black ops 1
COD 4
Black Ops II/Infinite Warfare

Worst
Black Ops 3
Modern Warfare 3
Ghosts

 

[daninthemix]

Only 3 levels from the end and I've really enjoyed Ghosts. So far, my answers would be:

Best:

1. World at War
2. Modern Warfare
3. Ghosts

Worst:

1. BO3
2. COD3 (this is from memory, haven't played it in years)
3. BO2

I've always loved WaW. The variety, setpieces, Kiefer / Gary Oldman, weapons all made for IMO the best WW2 shooter ever. Zombies was icing on the cake.

 

[BigTnaples]

Best.

Modern Warfare 1

Modern Warfare 2

Infinite Warfare


Worst

Modern Warfare 3

Didn't play any other bad ones. Guess Ghosts maybe?

 

[DJwest]

I'm a bit surprised by all the mentions of Modern Warfare 3. Granted, I played it only once and don't remember much apart from the last level but I remember enjoying the campaign quite a bit.

 

[antitrop]

as awesome as WWII will look, are the actually sugar coating the swastikas or is that just in the MP? I'm sure this topic has already been beaten to death and I'm super late to it...

Just in MP.

 

[daninthemix]

Ok, that stupid flying mission has dropped Advanced Warfare into my bottom three. Not to mention the stupid bullet-sponge enemies who sit there having convulsions while you pump round after automatic round into them.

New list:

Best:

1 - World at War
2 - Modern Warfare
3 - Ghosts

Worst:

1 - BO3
2 - BO2
3 - Advanced Warfare

 

[daninthemix]

Almost at the end of Infinite Warfare and while it's really good, there have been several severe glitches, some of which have required me to restart missions (like my character wouldn't pull up his drone HUD on the final mission), and some that are just annoying (like all cutscenes seem to play twice). Were it not for these, it would definitely make it into my top 3.