Chaos Ranks All 18 Call of Duty Campaigns From Worst to Best

I know a lot of people do not play the Call of Duty campaigns anymore, but I love them. This franchise has given us several of the greatest single player FPS campaigns in gaming history, so I am ranking the entirety of the modern era, from Call of Duty 4 all the way to now, worst to best based on the campaigns alone and nothing else.

No. 18: Black Ops 7 is the worst Call of Duty campaign ever made

I am honestly amazed Treyarch let this thing out into the world. Their quality standards have gone down over the last few years, largely because of how much work Activision has spread across the studio, but this still was not the best they could come up with. It is a total fever dream of a campaign, with a nonsense story and a bunch of hallucination based missions filled with ridiculous enemies and level design, including truly meme worthy boss fights where you just unload a million bullets at a giant enemy with glowing eyes.

On top of that there are the structural decisions around the campaign itself, like the fact that it is always online, that you cannot pause it, and that there are not any checkpoints. There have been underwhelming Black Ops campaigns before, but this took disappointment to a whole new level for me. This is easily the worst campaign in Call of Duty history.

No. 17: Modern Warfare 3 2023 turns every hero into an idiot

I genuinely do not know what happened here. This was a step down from the first two rebooted Modern Warfare games, and it is not just the worst of the three new Modern Warfare campaigns, it turns every single character into what I will politely call an idiot. The new version of Makarov is one of the dumbest people in the entire franchise, and yet all of his plans somehow work because everyone trying to stop him is also completely stupid.

It does not just trample all over the original trilogy, it tramples over the previous two rebooted Modern Warfare games too, turning the heroes into morons along the way. The gameplay is terrible, the level design is bad, and there are horrible open world sections. The whole campaign only takes about three to four hours to finish, making it one of the shortest in Call of Duty history on top of being one of the worst. People love this game's multiplayer, and I get that, but there is no defense for the campaign.

No. 16: Black Ops 3 shocked the community with how bad it was

The community was genuinely shocked at how bad this campaign was when the game dropped in 2015. Up to that point Treyarch had a perfect record on campaigns in the post COD 4 era with World at War, Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2, all of which land much higher on this list. It was needlessly complicated and super pretentious, with mind freak sections and gameplay that was not fun enough to make up for it. You run around shooting robots without understanding why, then zombies without understanding why, then human enemies without understanding why, and then it is over.

The community was genuinely upset with Treyarch because it felt like the Black Ops name was just slapped on to make people play it, with nothing tying it to the previous two games. Instead of an awesome conclusion to a trilogy that had started so strong, it became a bunch of bad memes passed around social media, like the running joke of the train going boom.

No. 15: Vanguard is bland but nowhere near the worst

Vanguard did not crap all over the franchise the way Black Ops 3 did. It featured a totally new cast of characters that I would bet nobody remembers by name, jumping between perspectives from various fronts of the war. It was a neat idea for a campaign, but the story itself was pretty basic and bland, and the gameplay was painfully simple. It is not a secret that Vanguard was rushed through development to a crazy degree, so on one hand I am thankful it was not worse.

Still, the campaign is pretty lame. It is not bad, it is coherent and functional, but it is just kind of there. There are no standout moments, no memorable characters, and it does not depict World War II with the intensity and weight it should have.

No. 14: Ghosts does not hold up the way I once said it did

This might be influenced by the terrible cliffhanger ending, but looking back at the Ghosts campaign, I do not think it is that good anymore. I know people can find clips of me saying it was good in the past, but opinions can change. The story does not really make sense when you think about it, the characters are not memorable, and the ending absolutely did not work.

The marketing for Ghosts made it seem like it was going to be a tactical stealth game, but when you actually played it, it was basically another Modern Warfare style game with new characters nobody cared about. The ending makes you question why you even bothered playing in the first place. I am pretty forgiving of Ghosts and all its flaws, but I have to rank it where it honestly sits despite my strong nostalgia for this era of Call of Duty.

No. 13: Modern Warfare 2 2022 could not follow up MW19's story

After Modern Warfare 2019, this sequel had a lot to prove. Infinity Ward needed to win the multiplayer community back after pushing away old school players, and they also needed to prove they could follow up a campaign that was really good, since I am going to rank MW19 pretty high later in this list. The sequel dropped the ball. The level design is basic and does not bring anything new, which would be fine if the story carried the experience, but it did not.

After how good MW19's story was, this one somehow felt even worse in comparison. The new version of Shepherd is not nearly as effective a villain as the original Shepherd, and the characters are not as interesting this time around. The marketing leaned heavily on Ghost even though he barely does anything in the story, which honestly sums up his career. As a full package, it is a decent campaign, but I did not think it was worth playing unless you were chasing an achievement.

No. 12: Call of Duty WWII plays it too safe with a brutal war

The World War II campaign is not bad, I would even call it above average. It looks great, sounds great, and the level design is straightforward and gets the job done. There is a genuinely cool wild card mission where you go undercover as a German officer and infiltrate a regime meeting.

Where it falls short is that Sledgehammer played it way too safe. They took one of the most bloody and destructive conflicts in human history and turned it into a predictable, tame experience that does not do anything unique. Having played World at War a huge number of times, I do not fully see what people love about this one even though I can tell it is a well made game with few major issues. When you set a game in World War II, you have to show it authentically and bring something unique, or it ends up feeling generic, and that is where I land with this one.

No. 11: Black Ops 6 is the most varied campaign in the franchise

This is where the list turns solidly good, with these entries all earning at least a B grade in my eyes. Black Ops 6 is a pretty solid campaign, definitely the most varied in Call of Duty history, featuring a lot of different gameplay styles strung together with an interesting story. It is not that connected to the overall Black Ops narrative, but it adds some interesting twists to the lore.

I am also pretty sure this is the longest campaign in Call of Duty history, taking around nine hours to finish on a first run. It is honestly kind of wild to think about the downgrade between Black Ops 6, which I would grade a solid B, and Black Ops 7, which would be lucky to get a D.

No. 10: Advanced Warfare has ridiculous writing but the most fun gameplay

Hear me out on this one. Advanced Warfare has probably one of the goofiest stories in Call of Duty history, but it also has some of the most purely fun gameplay, and that combination makes it memorable. This plot could have been an episode of a Saturday morning cartoon, with the owner of a private military corporation somehow getting the manpower to declare war on the world and not getting arrested even after announcing it in a room full of UN leaders.

The story is total cheese, but the gameplay is awesome. There is so much futuristic tech to play with, the pace is quick, and you are constantly moving between set pieces, battlefields and vehicle sections. I am putting it at number 10 because other campaigns manage awesome gameplay alongside an awesome story, but Advanced Warfare is a great time that does not take itself too seriously.

No. 9: Black Ops Cold War overcame a rushed development

Given how rushed this game was through development, it is a miracle it ended up as good as it did. Cold War is a fantastic follow up to the original two Black Ops games, bringing back fan favorite characters with a mind bending story full of conspiracies, espionage, crazy action scenes, and major choices that can change the outcome of the plot. Level design, storytelling and characters were all pretty good.

I think this should have replaced Black Ops 3. It is on the shorter side, but with all its branching choices and possible endings, this is the kind of game that begs to be replayed, and that is why I have it at number nine.

No. 8: Modern Warfare 3 2011 has the weakest story but huge spectacle

Compared to the first two Modern Warfare games, this one definitely has the weakest story, but it also has some of the most fun gameplay. It takes place after World War III has properly broken out, so there are giant action set pieces and crazy spectacle throughout as it concludes the stories of Price and Makarov.

Some people criticize it for being less serious and more Michael Bay than the previous two Modern Warfare games, and I think that is a fair criticism, but it does not make the game bad. It is the weakest story of the original three, but it is still an extremely good FPS campaign with a lot going on, a super emotional story that perfectly concludes everything set up by COD 4 and Modern Warfare 2. Credit to Infinity Ward too, since this came out back in 2011 and still looks good today.

No. 7: Modern Warfare 2019 carries a terrible overall package

I already know how people feel about this game's multiplayer and spec ops modes, but the campaign is excellent and worthy of the Modern Warfare sub series, unlike the trash that was the 2023 sequel already covered above. It took the framework of the classic trilogy and brought it into the modern era, following a new conflict as you try to hunt down a dangerous Russian militia leader with ties to the Russian military without holding back.

It is a gorgeous game that brought back the vibe of classic Modern Warfare mission design while introducing new gameplay styles, including the now legendary Clean House mission, where you raid a townhouse in enemy territory, going room to room and making snap decisions about who is hostile. Modern Warfare 2019 is a terrible game overall, but the campaign is what carries it.

No. 6: Call of Duty 4 changed multiplayer forever and still delivers a classic story

The original Modern Warfare did not just change multiplayer gaming forever, it also features one of the best Call of Duty campaigns to this day. You follow an American squad and a British squad trying to stop an ultranationalist group threatening to send the entire Eastern world into chaos, and just when you feel like you have a grip on things, you get hit with the infamous nuke scene, one of the most shocking moments in gaming history.

Call of Duty 4 has a fantastic, extremely well written story about the horrors and complications of modern warfare, backed by great writing and iconic characters. The level design is excellent, with missions that feel distinct from one another and a ton of variety in tough but fair combat encounters. It was one of the best games of 2007 and has aged extremely well, whether you boot up the original or the remastered version today.

No. 5: World at War is not afraid to show the horror of war

World at War was not Treyarch's first Call of Duty game, but it was the first one people paid close attention to. It took the framework of Call of Duty 4 and brought it back to the 1940s, telling a dark and emotional story about the horrors of war on multiple fronts. With the green light to get an M rating, Treyarch went all out, showing graphic violence and even using real world footage from the war to give everything the weight it deserved.

If you ever wonder why older fans like me are so critical of later Call of Duty games set in World War II, go play the World at War campaign and you will immediately understand. It was not afraid to show how horrific the war was, and it also has some of the best level design of any World War II shooter, finding the perfect balance of fun and challenge, at least unless you are playing on veteran difficulty, where it turns into grenade spam.

No. 4: Modern Warfare 2 2009 cranked up the action without losing its seriousness

Modern Warfare 2 took the foundation and story of Call of Duty 4 and perfectly followed up on everything it set up, while cranking up the action by a huge amount without losing sight of the seriousness that made the first game so good. It finds a perfect balance between absurd explosions and extremely sophisticated dialogue, delivering some of the most iconic levels in Call of Duty history alongside some of the most iconic character moments.

This game changed FPS games forever. The campaign, like the multiplayer, was over the top and busted fun, but also extremely well written, telling a story of a modern global conflict and just how far people are willing to go to make sure their side of history ends up being the right one.

No. 3: Infinite Warfare deserves respect despite the hate it gets

As much as people hate on this game, no one can deny how exceptional the campaign is. Infinite Warfare went all in on its science fiction setting, embracing futuristic tech, different planets, off world civilizations and space battles that fit the tone of the game perfectly. It is a very well written story and an extremely good science fiction military game.

I can see the criticism that it does not feel like Call of Duty, since it is a very different game from the other campaigns, but if you look at it through the lens of a futuristic military story, it is awesome. I still wholeheartedly believe it is a top three campaign in the franchise. I understand the issues people have with the multiplayer and with the zombies mode compared to Treyarch's versions, but I will not accept campaign slander. This one also has a personal connection for me, since I got to visit the studio and see motion capture work firsthand, and I saw the effort and passion the team put into it.

No. 2: Black Ops 1 took Call of Duty into the Vietnam War

After the ridiculous explosions of Modern Warfare 2, the community was in the mood for something darker, and that is exactly what Black Ops delivered. It brought the action to the Vietnam War, a period that did not have any major video games built around it as of 2010, and layered in trippy brainwashing, history rewriting, and a surprise connection to World at War that tied the various Call of Duty games together more closely.

Gameplay wise it is smaller in scale than Modern Warfare 2, but it still delivers crazy chases and big battle sequences alongside a lot of quieter, more intense moments as you carry out classified behind enemy lines operations to get to the bottom of conspiracies tying the Vietnam War and Cold War together. Black Ops is a phenomenal campaign, and I still think it is one of the best the series has to offer despite being 15 years old. It also laid the foundation for something even better that came a couple of years later.

No. 1: Black Ops 2 is the best Call of Duty campaign of all

Black Ops 2 took all the best parts of the first game's campaign and expanded on them, and in terms of Call of Duty sequels that properly build on the original, this has to be the best example. It kept the great action sequences and espionage plot from the first game, then added branching storylines, important decisions for the player, an amazing story with a genuinely terrifying villain, and the first real glimpse at the future that Call of Duty had ever attempted.

Black Ops 2 is not only one of the most fun campaigns from a gameplay standpoint, it is one of the best FPS stories I have ever played, letting you branch out and ask what happens if you do something differently and how deep the butterfly effect goes. My only real criticism is that a lot of weapon sound effects get reused across different guns instead of everything sounding unique, but I can let that go. Black Ops 2 is not only the best Call of Duty multiplayer, it is also the best Call of Duty game overall.

What do you think the best Call of Duty campaign is of all time?