Modern Warfare or Black Ops? If we are to ask a Call of Duty buff, we may have to wait for eternity to get the answer. However, the last couple of entries in the former might have made it a bit easier to answer that question.
To this date, Activision’s popular military shooter series has released five games with the title Black Ops developed by Treyarch. But when it comes to choosing the best game in the franchise, it would be a hard sell for anyone trying to convince the fans. So here’s an attempt to make it easy as we tried our hands to solve the puzzle ourselves.
5. Black Ops 4
The only reason this entry ended up at this spot is the missing campaign from the game. It is the only game in the franchise to adopt a different approach. Instead of focusing on a linear campaign, it focuses on character backstories. If someone is willing to learn about character development, chances are they’ll have fun learning while playing the game.
With that said, the game introduced the Call of Duty community with a battle royale experience called Blackout. They want that Call of Duty experience to return in the next Activision game. Many still believe it to be the best battle royale experience to date. While it grossed over $500 million in revenue, it still failed to hit the mark Activision had set.
4. Black Ops 3
With the release of the game, Call of Duty finally said ‘So Long’ to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It gained a cult following after the years of its release and players are still active in the game. The game allows up to four players to join the campaign as a co-op to give them a more open experience while also giving them the freedom to customize their character.
The game is set after 40 years of the events of its predecessor with climate change and advanced technologies central to the plot. The Zombies mode in the game replaces intelligent enemies with brain-dead fresh flesh enthusiasts.
3. Black Ops: Cold War
One of the best feelings this game delivers would be nostalgia. Mason is alive, Woods is still walking, and Hudson still remains that badass that we saw during the first game before succumbing to Raul Menedez in the sequel. And then there was Russell Adler, we thought Hudson was the cool kid with brains on the block.
It’s story is set during the Cold War, hence the name, and sometimes around the first and second games in the franchise. Better to say between the timelines of both games. Players assume the role of a new character codenamed Bell, who is also customizable, before the campaign begins. In addition to that, players can choose multiple endings based on their in-game choices.
2. Black Ops 1
Of course, this is where it all began. Even today, the words “Wake up, Wake up!” still ‘haunts’ the players at night. Then again, they see the face of Gregory Weaver, and everything turns back to normal as they set sail on a nostalgic voyage. To this date, it remains the highest-selling Black Ops game in the franchise, with over 30 million units sold.
The game’s story will leave anyone pulling their hair after ‘Revelations’ hit. It’s not just the developers’ work on the narrative that’s praiseworthy; it remains the best game in the franchise to have implemented enemy AI to date. Even today, it feels refreshing to play the game no matter how old its case has become.
1. Black Ops 2
We are putting Black Ops 2 with the sole reason of the game blending both, the classic and modern approach to war. And the horses in ‘Old Wounds’ winning against tanks in a desert can blow anyone away. Emotions and action in the game are just in the right harmony.
The branching storylines as we see in Cold War were birthed here. It’s an unparalleled feeling for those who played the first game, transitioning suddenly from a game that is basically set up during the 80s to pick up the weapons in the year 2025.
What is your favorite game in the franchise? We would like to know about it in the comments section below. We are eager to know.
