Top 5 Call of Duty Games (Story Campaign Only) (Topic)

No matter how you feel about the story campaigns in the Call of Duty series, we have to admit that the series of shooters from Activision is always a high-quality popcorn blockbuster. Sometimes not very beautiful, sometimes stupid, but always fast and effective, like a roller coaster ride. But with the release of Call of Duty Black Ops 4, in which the usual single-coil company was replaced by a battle royale-style mode, most likely, you will have to forget about the habit of waiting for the obligatory six-hour blockbuster from the series. But all of that later, and now we're highlighting the top five Call of Duty games with an impressive single player campaign.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare

2007 in the gaming industry was supposed to be the heyday of the so-called "smart" shooters. On the one hand, we had a philosophical Bioshock with gameplay that skillfully combined FPS with RPG elements. On the other hand, Crysis, whose technological bells and whistles could only compete with the fancy gameplay in the first half of the game, where we were sent to an interactive sandbox and were given 1000 and 1 way to deal with Koreans. But the biggest hit among shooters was Call of Duty Modern Warfare, which burst into the sales charts and propelled the series into the league of the most popular gaming franchises in history.

Of course, not least thanks to the multiplayer, but the singles company shouldn't be written off either. The developers from Infinity Ward decided to play on modern military trends and moved part of the game's plot to the vastness of the Arab countries, introducing their own analogue of Al-Qaeda into the script and according to the tradition of evil USAs. The plot of Call of Duty Modern Warfare itself is nothing more than a handful of cartoon characters and a set of genre cliches that serve only to connect a set of spectacular scenes. But what kind!

It is worth remembering at least the execution scene, where we watch our own death from the eyes of the American president, surrounded by television cameras. Or the episode with the explosion of a nuclear bomb, when surrounded by a children's swing crumpled from the explosion, we make our way through a shroud of nuclear ash. And what can we say about the legendary mission in Chernobyl, in which the western studio managed to convey the atmosphere of Ukrainian devastation almost better than the creators of "Stalker". Virtually every scene in Call of Duty Modern Warfare offered a level of cinematic quality never before seen in the genre, transforming the game into a true interactive movie.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

Another aimed shot at the hearts of fans of the series and at the wallets of gamers happened in 2009, just with the release of Modern Warfare 2. The game continued the concept of the first part, where a ridiculous plot was used in order to give at least some scenario justification for a cascade of spectacular episodes around the globe. The plot is generally one of the weakest elements of the Call Of Duty series, but it also had its own charm. You know, from the category of "so bad that even good", and pretentious phrases like "The winners write history" gave the game a special charm.

But, again, the single-player campaign in the Call of Duty series is above all a spectacular blockbuster, and it was in this regard that Modern Warfare 2 gave a light to any other shooter on the planet. Starting from a small desert camp in Afghanistan, an hour later, we were driving a snow scooter through the snow-capped mountains of Kazakhstan and were controlled in the art of rock climbing. Each new mission is like another round on a roller coaster, always new locations and fresh episodes. There were even surprises in outer space and the sight of Washington blazing in the ruins.

And Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 also tested the strength of USA lawmakers (the idea of banning violent games in USA was seriously considered) and presented one of the most scandalous missions in the history of gamedev in general - "Not a word in USA".

Call of Duty Black Ops

Developers from Treyarch with the release of the first Black Ops left the apprenticeship of the more famous Infinity Ward and declared themselves as the main innovators in the Call of Duty story companies (in Black Ops 4, they apparently went too far with experiments, completely deleting single from the game). Treyarch decided to break the stereotype that there is always a primitive plot in the games of the COD series and invited David Goyer, who was previously noted as co-writer for the Batman trilogy by Christopher Nolan, to write the script.

Goyer's Call of Duty is no longer a cliched action movie about brave Americans, but rather a psychological detective thriller set in the Cold War of the 20th century. For the first time in the series, it was really interesting to follow the twists and turns of the crazy plot and the protagonist suffering from a split personality. In addition, the plot was replenished with colorful characters, the same Reznov, played by Oscar-winning Gary Oldman. The main victory of the developers is the setting, which allowed them to take part in numerous important episodes of the history of the 20th century. Tasks for every taste: Vorkuta uprising, swimming along Vietnamese rivers to the immortal hit Fortunate Song, an accident at Baikonur and much, much more.

Call of Duty Black Ops 2

The sequel "Black Ops" became the pinnacle of Treyarch's skill and the best game in the Call of Duty series, in our opinion. In this game, the developers decided on two major innovations: a futuristic setting and a (suddenly) non-linear storyline company. No matter how funny it is, but in terms of non-linearity Black Ops 2 can compete with many modern so-called "role-playing games". There are as many as six endings available, and which one will fall out for you depends on a series of decisions made throughout the game. And one more important point - the nonlinearity of the plot manifests itself not only directly in the episodes when you are required to make a choice, but also in completely random, contextual situations.

For example, in one episode of Call of Duty Black Ops 2, the player will be required to drive a jeep at the moment when the main character's partner stands behind a heavy machine gun. If you drive inaccurately, you can disfigure the face of a comrade in arms with a burn. Then he will definitely comment on the unpleasant incident, and the disfiguring scar will remain on the character's face until the very final scene. And there are a lot of such moments in the game, which additionally enlivens the game and forces you to discover new facets of the plot every time you play Call of Duty Black Ops 2.

A separate line should be said about the best antagonist in the Call of Duty series of games - Raul Menendez and naturalistic scenes of cruelty. They seem to emphasize that despite the development of technology, war will forever remain a black chapter in the history of mankind, which invariably disfigures the fates and bodies of people.

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare

The last successful chapter in the single-player campaigns of the Call of Duty series so far is Advanced Warfare. The game fully confirms its title and offers an updated style of warfare. We are talking about the same exosuit that refreshed the familiar gameplay and turns the player into the ultimate weapon of death. Knocking out doors, jumping long distances or using special gadgets to muffle ambient sounds - such an arsenal can be envied even by the Prophet from the Crysis series. The only drawback is that all gadgets are allowed to be used only with a wave of the game director's magic wand.

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare also featured a plot where the famous Kevin Spacey played, but the main omission is that the famous actor is given the very minimum of playing time. And in general, his participation in the game is felt only as a marketing ploy, and not the desire of the developers to reveal the main antagonist Jonathan Irons in the game as best as possible. The rest of the plot shines with the patterns familiar to the series, but thanks to the updated gameplay, Advanced Warfare feels like one of the best games in the Call of Duty series.

For even more shooters with a thrilling single player campaign, check out our selection of the best shooters of all time, most of which will run even on low-end PCs.

The Topic of Article: Top 5 Call of Duty Games (Story Campaign Only).
Author: Jake Pinkman