I have fond memories of the first Call of Duty game. I had just gotten out of the high of watching HBO’s Band of Brothers for the first time, and I wanted to scratch a certain WW2 game itch. I still remember being glued to my bulky Dell laptop, running at a solid 20 frames per second (with terrible stutters, too), headphones on, trying not to alert my parents that I was shooting digital Nazis after bedtime.
I have since played tons of CoD WW2 games from different genres, giving me a breadth of experiences—the good, the bad, the ugly, and (worst of all), the meh. Here’s how they stack up, from the one I’m least likely to replay to the one I recommend without hesitation.
Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021)
Vanguard looks terrific and shoots even better, but the campaign feels like a highlight reel of WW2 with no regard for authenticity. Instead of following soldiers through a single front, the story jumps between four “special forces” members who meet for one mission, then relive their pasts in flashbacks.
The constant time-hopping and quips leave every character underdeveloped, so big emotional beats never land. Vanguard also borrows the snappy, joke-heavy tone of modern superhero films, which clashes with the source material. Stalingrad and Midway each get one dazzling level, but a gorgeous coat of paint can’t hide shallow mission design. By the time the credits rolled, I felt I’d watched a trailer for a better game that never actually arrived.
Call of Duty 3 (2006)
Treyarch’s first solo entry had the tough job of following the excellent Call of Duty 2 and getting a new game out the door in twelve months. The result is perfectly functional but rarely more. The entire story takes place in the Falaise Pocket, focusing on American, British, Canadian, and Polish units converging on the same objective. I really appreciated the focus on the diverse roster of Allied forces featured in Call of Duty 3, but even that isn’t enough to save its missteps.
Keeping things to one operation should have created a tighter narrative, yet most characters are cookie-cutter archetypes, so it’s hard to care. Vehicle sections play awkwardly, and that hurts me so much as a lover of the Sherman Firefly. I gave it a try on Xbox through backwards compatibility, and the quick-time events are really dated. There’s nothing outright terrible here, but also little reason to return now that better options exist.
Call of Duty: WWII (2017)
After a decade of modern and sci-fi settings, Sledgehammer promised a “back to roots” experience. On a technical level, they delivered: Omaha Beach feels brutal, the Ardennes battles are atmospheric, and the old-school health-pack system tried to do something new, to mixed results—it’s a hitscan game, after all.
Unfortunately, the story narrows its focus to one squad and one soldier, Ronald “Red” Daniels, whose arc leans on familiar Hollywood beats about brotherhood and redemption. Tacked-on morality mechanics have no real impact, making its virtue signaling feel hollow.
The campaign’s best moments, like sneaking through occupied Paris as a French resistance spy, show flashes of inspiration (I see the best of Black Ops: Cold War here), but most missions settle into a rinse-and-repeat cycle of clearing trenches and blowing up artillery. Polished yet predictable.
Call of Duty (2003) and United Offensive (2004)
The original game took Medal of Honor’s lone-wolf formula and flipped it: you were one soldier among many, surrounded by AI allies yelling orders while artillery shook the screen. Splitting the story into American, British, and Soviet chapters kept the pace brisk and gave players a tour of the war’s major fronts.
United Offensive, the expansion, raised the stakes with bigger maps, vehicles, and early versions of the cinematic set piece, and a depiction of the Battle of the Bulge that has yet to be matched by other FPS games.
Looking back, the original Call of Duty really took inspiration from film and TV—for better and for worse. It took the grandiose battles of Band of Brothers, but it also kept the myths promulgated by Enemy at the Gates. However, within the context of its time, it really did depict combat well compared to its contemporaries and holds up even today.
Call of Duty 2 (2005)
Call of Duty 2 took what made the first game better and polished it further. Regenerating health kept firefights fast without turning you into a bullet sponge, and smoke grenades took center stage. Mission variety (at the surface level) is outstanding: push through a frozen Stalingrad suburb, raid Tobruk’s desert bunkers, and claw house-to-house through Caen.
The minimalist storytelling through brief text screens, a pseudo-documentary, and radio chatter in your ear trusts the player, which gives the campaign an immersive feel. The D-Day mission in Pointe du Hoc is a personal standout for me, as it shows D-Day’s chaos away from the overrepresented Omaha Beach. Operation Supercharge and moving across Stalingrad’s pipes also remain fond memories. Even today, the level pacing remains almost perfect, making Call of Duty 2 an enduring benchmark for linear shooters.
Call of Duty: World at War (2008)
World at War is the rare sequel that adds new ideas without losing what worked. Following up on the excellent Modern Warfare is difficult, and Treyarch’s skill was doubtful if you based it on Call of Duty 3 alone. However, by covering the Pacific and Eastern fronts, it offers two distinct play styles—tight jungle corridors where flamethrowers flush enemies from spider holes, and urban ruins where Soviet troops push block by block toward Berlin.
Treyarch doesn’t sugarcoat the material; banzai charges, war crimes, and the final brutal assault on the Reichstag all drive home the cost of the war. It feels rather exaggerated and exploitative with a distinct edge, but that was authentic. The M-rating is used to its full potential here, and it makes you wonder why Call of Duty didn’t go for that earlier.
The core gunplay is satisfying, and cooperative play lets friends tackle the entire campaign together. As a bonus, finishing any mission unlocks the now-iconic Zombies mode, giving the package surprising longevity. Thanks to its balance of grit, variety, and replay value, World at War stands as the series’ best trip to World War II.
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