If information technology were a real person, Call of Duty would probably be a rebellious teenager correct now, just one year away from stepping into the joys, freedoms and challenges of adulthood. Instead, in that time, the armed forces-themed first-person shooter has made everlasting memories for millions of players around the world, including an entire generation of gamers who spent their adolescent years with the franchise and continue to stick with it to this day.

It'due south not surprising, therefore, to see the serial plow into a cultural phenomenon that continues to generate blockbuster levels of hype with each new installment surpassing the last in making truckloads of money for publisher Activision. With its latest installment just out of the door this month, it seems similar a good time to scratch the surface of this franchise that'south now become a sales juggernaut employing half a dozen evolution studios.

Sit down back, grab some Doritos and Mount Dew as we aim downwardly the sights and have a look back at the 17-year history of Telephone call of Duty, from the very offset game released in 2003 to this twelvemonth'due south Black Ops Common cold War.

Call of Duty (2003)

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The early 2000s were exciting times for armed forces-themed shooters, specially the WWII multifariousness. Electronic Arts was firing on all cylinders with Battlefield and the Medal of Honor series, and in 2002 set the bar for this genre beyond single player and multiplayer modes with Battleground 1942 and MoH: Centrolineal Assault.

The latter, as it turned out, was also the genesis of Call of Duty. Developed by Infinity Ward, a newly-formed studio led by Vince Zampella, Grant Collier, and Jason W, all of whom had previously worked on MoH:AA, piece of work began on what arguably was Allied Assault'southward spiritual successor.

The gameplay is a bit barebones past today's standards but Call of Duty'due south intense, gripping combat and oftentimes witty dialogue greatly complemented the WWII setting. These attributes would somewhen become intrinsic to the franchise. Call of Duty'southward campaign wasted no fourth dimension in taking the player shooting, crouching, and sniping through diverse events across the American, British and Soviet theatre, with their trusty burglarize, SMG or a panzerfaust for when things got hairy.

Call of Duty also introduced -- rather subtly -- the infamous, time-travelling protagonist Capt. John Toll during a sneaky warship mission where he also meets his fate after existence overwhelmed past the Centrality forces. Capt. Price was, of course, resurrected in several future installments of the game and was last seen 'going night' in 2019's Modernistic Warfare. The game's multiplayer manner, though in its infancy, had over a dozen maps with players facing off in Team Deathmatch, Headquarters, and several other modes.

Undeniably a hit in 2003, Phone call of Duty's development studio, Infinity Ward, was caused by Activision the aforementioned yr, as the publisher looked forward to establishing a solid competitor to military machine-themed shooters like Counter Strike, Battleground and Medal of Laurels, as well as others like Halo and Far Cry.

Call of Duty two (2005)

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Besides the graphical and audio improvements, Telephone call of Duty two's launch aslope the Xbox 360 was a sign of things to come equally the franchise somewhen became more pop and focused towards consoles than PC. It also introduced regenerating health, which meant players no longer had to search for medical kits to refill their health and could simply hunker or prone backside a sandbag for some fourth dimension earlier having another become at that deadly MG42 gunner.

This fourth dimension, the entrada began on the Soviet front where bitter cold and potatoes back-trail the player through basic weapons preparation. From close-quarter combat in the state of war stricken streets of Stalingrad to fighting in the sandy trenches and tanks in Egypt's El-Alamein in North Africa, Call of Duty two also featured the historic D-Day invasion of Normandy and some other reincarnation of Capt. Price.

The game's multiplayer offering was solid, too. Sniping from the rooftops in Tunisia's town of Toujane with a Mosin-Nagant or Lee-Enfield feels but equally satisfying today equally information technology did back in 2005. Also, without whatsoever killstreaks to assist players in boxing, the focus was purely on putting your enemy in the crosshairs at the correct fourth dimension. What happened next entirely depended on who pulled the trigger first.

Call of Duty iii (2006)

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Much like the previous 2 games, the third-installment also focused around WW2 events, but this fourth dimension the campaign told stories of the Canadian and Polish armies in addition to American, British and French forces. The game only arrived for consoles and brought with it a new grade loadout system for multiplayer, a characteristic that PC players would only get to experience the following year with the game's quaternary, and possibly the most significant installment.

With three consecutive titles and several expansions based on Earth War ii events, it was loftier time for the franchise to try something assuming and new, especially every bit its main rival from EA had ventured far into the future with Battlefield 2142.

Equally it turned out, Call of Duty found its perfect footing in the nowadays.

Call of Duty: Modernistic Warfare (2007)

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It was a remarkable yr for story-driven and multiplayer starting time-person shooters. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare'south fresh take on global conflict with a potent story, slick presentation and engaging gameplay held its own confronting other heavyweights released that year, including Medal of Honor: Airborne, CrossFire, Halo 3, BioShock, Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Crysis.

Running on the id Tech-based IW 3.0 engine, Modern Warfare featured a number of visual and gameplay improvements. In addition to the major redesign of the menus and HUD, players could now slice watermelons as well, and some surfaces similar wood and canvas metal were penetrable past bullets.

The star of the show was the single-player campaign, which portrayed disturbance on a global scale, particularly Russia, the Middle East and in Capt. Price's mood upon discovering that his next SAS recruit was called Lather. Nonetheless, our shooting skills soon proved that we were skilful to continue a risky freighter mission in very bad weather condition.

Aside from Soap MacTavish and John Toll, Modern Warfare's campaign delivered memorable characters like Gaz, Nikolai and Griggs, who back-trail the player across the game'south atmospheric, linear set pieces where tanks demand blowing up with Javelins and an AC-130 gunship gets chosen for air support. For many, that intensity peaked with Capt. McMillan in the infamous "All Ghillied Up" flashback mission, even if the campaign itself ended on quite the cliffhanger.

The game'southward multiplayer treaded its own path, improving upon the class-loadout feature introduced previously, while adding in a new Perks organisation. The ruby on top, however, were the maps that allowed players to fully take advantage of their arsenal and unique playstyle. Backlot, Crash, Crossfire and Overgrown provided a skilful mix of open/semi-open up environments to mastering snipers, assault rifles and ahem, camping, while Killhouse and Shipment favored mid/short-range weapons.

With a solid foundation set in place, Modern Warfare was poised to evangelize another blockbuster sequel, only not earlier Treyarch had another become at a WW2 setting with World at State of war in 2008, carving out its own 'Black Ops' series in the process.

Call of Duty: World at War (2008)

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Narrative wasn't only Infinity Ward'south forte every bit Treyarch proved with its boldest accept nevertheless on a WW2 setting, this fourth dimension focusing on the Pacific and Eastern front.

The campaign began in ambush-infested jungles of the Pacific islands where US Marines face off against the Imperial Japanese Army. While a flamethrower eventually arrives to lighten things up, players initially need to take out camouflaged snipers sitting atop alpine trees and Bayonet-wielding enemies charging in at full speed. Meanwhile on the eastern forepart, Cherry Army's Viktor Reznov proved to be yet another memorable graphic symbol for the franchise who would go on to appear in (almost) every future Blackness Ops installment.

For Earth at War'southward multiplayer, Treyarch introduced a different progression system to 2007'due south Modern Warfare, while conveying over almost of the traditional game modes. Its most notable contribution, however, was the addition of four-role player Nazi Zombies mode that became an instant hitting and earned itself a devoted fan base.

In an added twist, Treyarch likewise introduced a co-op mode for the first time in any Call of Duty, including the single-player campaign that now let players experience those action-packed missions alongside a friend. For many players, World at War stands out as the best game in the unabridged series, while others remain forever convinced by what arrived the post-obit year.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

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High expectations were in place for Modern Warfare ii, the first CoD game to direct carry on story elements from a previous title. Every bit the plot thickened with the introduction of Gen. Shepherd, Makarov, and several other characters, players were treated to a variety of missions beyond new locations, including the controversial 'No Russian.'

As Gary Roach Sanderson, players become to fight alongside Soap MacTavish in snowy mountains of Republic of kazakhstan and Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, among other places. A parallel Usa-Russian disharmonize, meanwhile, sees a war struck Washington and the destruction of the International Space Station.

Post-obit Capt. Cost'south rescue from the Gulag, the story then evolved to balance the return of a fan-favorite with the loss of two love characters, Roach and Ghost. Like its prequel, Modern Warfare two had a tense catastrophe with Gen. Shepherd meeting his fate, merely the story was far from over.

The game'southward multiplayer mode was only every bit well-received as the entrada, if not more than. The ranking organisation and perks were revised, killstreaks were expanded, and players could at present equip a heartbeat sensor for added immersion in fun new maps like Rush, Favela, Highrise and Terminal. A new Spec Ops manner was also added, where players could endeavor fast-paced missions on their own or with a friend.

A trilogy was pretty much guaranteed at this point, just unfortunately relations between Activision and Infinity Ward's Vince Zampella and Jason West had started to strain. The co-founding duo of Call of Duty was dismissed just a few months after MW2's release, and went on to course Respawn Amusement (Titanfall, Noon Legends) under Electronic Arts. Fans ultimately got a third sequel that ended MW'southward plot decently, however, we'd never know how things would've turned out had Zampella and West been in charge of the studio's creative reigns.

Call of Duty: Blackness Ops (2010)

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Given its annual release schedule, Telephone call of Duty was now onto its seventh installment in 2010. As it turned out, Black Ops too had an issue with numbers in the campaign. While Infinity Ward had pretty much perfected the mod-day shooter, Treyarch based its story on events from the Cold War.

Most of the game'due south single-player missions were flashbacks of former Us Marine Alex Mason, member of a covert assassination team. With CIA's Jason Hudson as Mason's handler, players fight alongside Frank Forest and Joseph Bowman in Mason's by where they as well get to see Viktor Reznov making a render.

After discovering that the numbers were a broadcast to sleeper cells for unleashing a biochemical weapon all over the United states, Hudson and Mason hunt down and destroy the broadcast'southward source located in a ship in Cuba.

With Black Ops, Telephone call of Duty'due south multiplayer introduced CODPoints every bit a currency to unlock weapons and perks as players levelled upwards and progressed through the usual game modes and improved Zombies style. Meanwhile, a special Combat Training section was added to help newcomers become acquainted with nuts. Fan favorites maps like Nuketown, WMD and Firing Range, among others, could now be freely spectated besides.

Although Blackness Ops didn't exactly get out any loose ends in terms of its story, a sequel did arrive that pushed the franchise into futuristic warfare for the first time.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)

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Like the strong bond that developed between Soap and Price over the years, Telephone call of Duty had also formed a similar relationship with its fans eagerly pending Mod Warfare 3. The highly-anticipated final installment didn't attempt anything extraordinary, but its scripted, activity-packed sequences got even bigger in scale, and there were enough twists in the plot -- notably Soap'southward demise -- to bring the MW trilogy to a anticipated, only satisfying end.

The campaign immediately tasks players to removing jammers from the New York Stock Substitution, skipping over the need for another weapons training mission. The global conflict continues in the streets of Europe, Africa and the Middle East alongside a brief flashback to the "All Ghillied Upward" mission in Pripyat, Ukraine.

It was also the time when Phone call of Duty's reliance on Hollywood-mode activity pieces had started to get a fleck long in the tooth. Though information technology broke sales records for Activision and sold in the millions, the serial needed a new management outside of a modern setting.

MW3'southward multiplayer improved upon features found in the prequels and borrowed a few from Treyarch's Black Ops. Alongside Kill Confirmed and Squad Defender as 2 new game modes, CoD's MP community was kept busy with a dozen new maps including hits like Hardhat, Dome and Mission.

Activision employed one-half a dozen studios to develop Modern Warfare 3 after the shakeup at Infinity Ward. It was also the twelvemonth when it doubled down on the Phone call of Duty franchise and set 3 studios (Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games) in rotation for annual releases of the game. Ka-ching!