Call of Duty
Year: 2003-Present
Created by: Infinity Ward
Games: 20
Created by: Infinity Ward
Games: 20
"History is written by the victor." - Captain John Price
Fresh off the back of working on Medal of Honor and led by Vince Zampella, Infinity Ward was established in 2002 and immediately began work on creating a Medal of Honor killer, which would place a greater focus on needing work alongside AI squad-mates to achieve success, as opposed to MoH's Hollywood blockbuster template. Call of Duty was released to a very warm critical reception exclusively on PC in 2003, but this was dwarfed by the acclaim and unprecedented sales of its sequel, Call of Duty 2, which released exclusively for the Xbox 360 in 2005. From this point on Call of Duty would go on to dominate the first person shooter landscape, particularly from 2007 onwards where its fourth entry, Modern Warfare, would popularise the modern military shooter and redefine online multiplayer for consoles.
The franchise has had multiple developers over the years, with several sub-series created along the way. Collected here are my reviews for every mainline Call of Duty game, divided into groups based on their primary developer.
The franchise has had multiple developers over the years, with several sub-series created along the way. Collected here are my reviews for every mainline Call of Duty game, divided into groups based on their primary developer.
Infinity Ward (2003-Present):
The developer that started it all. Infinity Ward were constantly redefining the FPS genre with each new entry in the franchise. That is until 2011 when the studio underwent massive restructuring during the development of Modern Warfare 3. Following this the studio took some time to find its footing once more, but many argue they're not only back, but better than ever with their recent reboot of the Modern Warfare sub-series.
Treyarch (2006-Present):
Brought in by publisher Activision to ensure new Call of Duty games could release annually, Treyarch initially seemed as though they were playing catch up with Infinity Ward. Finding their footing with the Black Ops sub-series, Treyarch have stuck to what they know best ever since with mixed results.
Sledgehammer Games (2014-Present):
When development times for the Call of Duty games outgrew their original two year cycle, former members of Visceral Games were brought in by Activision and Sledgehammer Games was established, allowing for a three year development cycle on mainline Call of Duty entries. Helming some of the franchise's more experimental titles, Sledgehammer's gambles may not always pay off, but they frequently try to inject some variety into the twenty year old franchise.