Call of Duty

Call of Duty is the first entry in what is today a huge series, and at the time of its release it represented a clear attempt to push war shooters a step further than the then-dominant competition led by the Medal of Honor series. The campaign is split into three storylines following an American, a British, and a Soviet soldier, letting the game show World War II from several national perspectives at once, from the landings in Normandy through the North African battlefield to the crushing Battle of Stalingrad and the crossing of the Rhine into Germany itself. Emphasis is placed on a sense of unit camaraderie, as armed squadmates accompany the player for most of the game, reacting to their surroundings, taking cover, and giving each other orders.

The game was built on a modified Quake III Arena engine, which allowed it to offer dense, chaotic action with large numbers of enemies and allies on screen at once, a fairly novel and gripping experience at the time compared to the then-established, calmer styles of war shooters. The level design emphasized scripted moments and cinematic storytelling, with missions like the defense of Stalingrad with noticeably limited ammunition still ranking among the most memorable passages of the genre's early era. The audio was excellent, with dense gunfire, soldiers shouting amid the chaos of battle, grenade explosions, and epic orchestral music underscoring the pathos and horror of the war scenes.

Call of Duty was received extremely positively after release and quickly established itself as a full-fledged competitor to the then-dominant Medal of Honor series, which was all the more remarkable given that it was the debut of a newly founded studio. From today's perspective, the first installment is key mainly because it laid the foundation for one of the most successful game franchises of all time and defined many elements still used in the war shooter genre today, including an emphasis on cinematic quality and pacing. Despite its age, the game still offers a surprisingly intense, well-told, and often surprisingly challenging campaign.

Why play it: For players interested in the roots of the genre, who will appreciate the surprisingly intense and well-told campaign of the debut title that laid the foundation for one of the most successful game franchises of all time.