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When it comes to the order of the Call of Duty games, you have the choice of playing them in chronological order by release date or by storyline
Call of Duty: Order – sorted by storyline
When it comes to the Call of Duty order, the games can be sorted according to their storyline. The Call of Duty franchise began as a first-person shooter with a World War II setting. It wasn’t until a few years later that the storyline was expanded to include conflicts from modern times. The games are based partly on real events and partly on fictional scenarios.
- Starting with the first game, which is simply called “Call of Duty” and was released in 2003, you play the game from the perspectives of three soldiers from different countries and on different fronts of the war. The action of the three campaigns takes place between the years 1942 and 1945. Locations include the invasion of Normandy and the Battle of Stalingrad.
- The sequel Call of Duty 2 from 2005 takes place largely at the same time as the events from the first game, but shows different perspectives and times of the campaigns from part 1. While the locations again include Normandy and Stalingrad, battles are also fought in Moscow and North African cities such as El Alamein. The story is again set between 1942 and 1945
- Call of Duty World at War (2008), like the previous games, is set between 1942 and 1945 and, unlike the others, also throws you into battles against Japanese forces as part of the US campaign for the first time. As part of the Russian story, you complete missions in Stalingrad and even fight your way through Berlin in the assault on the Reichstag later in the campaign.
- Call of Duty 3 (2006) is set exclusively in 1944 in the battle for Normandy and shows various battles from the perspective of four different countries. The US forces are joined by the Canadian, British and Polish forces, giving you a total of four different campaigns. Call of Duty 3 was never released on PC and is only playable on consoles.
- In Call of Duty: WWII from 2017, you play the soldier Ronald Daniels, also known as “Red”, and experience several conflicts on European soil between 1944 and 1945. While it takes you through Normandy again, you also have to complete missions in Paris and Aachen to put a stop to the Nazis. Call of Duty: WWII can even be played in split-screen mode
- With Call of Duty Vanguard from 2021, developer Sledgehammer Games is returning to multiple characters to tell the story of the campaign. Most of the action takes place towards the end of the war in 1945. Compared to the other games, which largely used real events and battles from the Second World War, the fictional Project Phoenix of the Nazis becomes the focus of the story in Vanguard.
- Call of Duty Black Ops (2010) leaves the Second World War behind and focuses on the years 1961 to 1968. The game’s story covers both the Cold War and, in part, the Vietnam War. The main character, Alex Mason, is tasked with tracking down and eliminating Russian secret agents on behalf of the CIA.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020) continues the story from Black Ops (2010). In 1981, you, along with Alex Mason and other characters from the first Black Ops, must track down the Soviet terrorist Perseus and thwart his attack on the United States. The game will also link the story from Black Ops and Black Ops 2
- In Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 from 2012, the story takes place partly in the past, in 1986, and in the future in 2025. While in the past you start a search operation for the missing Frank Woods, in 2025, as the son of the protagonist Alex Mason, you have to track down the terrorist Raul Menendez, who is responsible for the second Cold War
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) is set in the year 2011, in which you travel to trouble spots in the Middle East and Russia with Sergeant John MacTavish, nicknamed “Soap”, and his team and try to end the conflicts there. The game caused a stir when it was released due to the intro mission in which players had to carry out a terrorist attack on an airport. As a result, the game was censored in this country
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) continues the story from the previous installment. In 2016, the unscrupulous Vladimir Makarov follows in the footsteps of the Russian terrorist Imran Zakhaev from the first part to complete his plans.
- In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, released in 2011, it’s up to you to take down the still-operating Vladimir Makarov after he manages to kidnap the Russian president and use him as leverage to get the passwords to launch nuclear missiles.
- The trilogy was relaunched with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019). Although characters from the original games appear again, this is an alternative universe. The new edition also returns to Russia. Instead, it is about the Urzikstan peninsula, which has been invaded by the Russian military, and a terrorist organization that operates from there. The conflict takes place in 2019
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) expands the ongoing conflict with Al-Qatala, the terrorist organization from Urzikstan, to include battles with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard “Quds Unit” and its leader Hassan Zyani. Modern Warfare II is set in the year 2022, three years after the events of the previous installment.
- In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023), the protagonists from the previous games are once again confronted in 2023 by Vladimir Makarov, familiar from the original trilogy, who this time commands the Konni Group, a private Russian military company. The game is set in Urzikstan as well as the cities of Verdansk and Kastovia.
- Call of Duty: Ghostsfrom 2013 is completely detached from all other games in the franchise and is set in the year 2027. As part of the Ghosts unit, you not only have to put a stop to a South American regime, but also the previous leader of the Ghosts unit.
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014) is set in the year 2054 and takes place in the year 2061. The game features futuristic technology that significantly influences the combat and supports the protagonist Jack Mitchell in his missions. Locations include the cities of Detroit and Bangkok.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (2015) takes you even further into the future, to the year 2065 to be precise. The game is set 40 years after the second part of the Black Ops series. As part of Black Ops, you are once again tasked with infiltrating various conflicts in a world that is in the third Cold War and suffering the consequences of climate change.
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare from 2016 takes you to the distant future, to the year 2187, in which the Earth’s resources are completely exhausted and other planets are traveled to and their mineral resources mined to preserve humanity. A militant faction that has formed on Mars threatens to upset the balance and must be fought by you.
Call of Duty: Order – sorted by year of release
The Call of Duty order by year of release can be confusing if you want to follow the story, as the games in the franchise are developed by different development studios.
- Call of Duty (2003)
- Call of Duty 2 (2005)
- Call of Duty 3 (2006)
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)
- Call of Duty: World at War (2008)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (2012)
- Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (2015)
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016)
- Call of Duty: WWII (2017)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020)
- Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
