With well over a decade of yearly releases,Call of Dutyhas been able to stay as relevant in the video game medium as it was when the very influentialCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfarereleased in 2007. While many fans of the franchise have their sub-series they idolize, everyCall of Dutygames manages to be one of the most sold games of their respective year. Over the course of the past decade, Activision has created some of the most popular industry standards with its famous first-person-shooter franchise, however,Call of Dutyhas also been known to take things that have worked for other companies and incorporate them into their titles.
10Influential: Modern Setting for a First-Person-Shooter
During the early 2000s, many first-person-shooters were based on the great battles ofWorld War II. As this trend continued, however, gamers slowly became fatigued of the setting. When Activision releasedCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, it was instantly loved by fans for being something new. While many games today are set in a fictional modern setting,Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfareis the sole reason that trend became so popular.
9Influenced By: Regenerating Health (Halo: Combat Evolved)
In the early days ofCall of Duty, the health system was far different than what fans are used to today. While many people are used to regenerating health, the firstCall of Duty, which released in 2003, had players scavenge for health packs. While the later games would make regenerating health synonymous with their multiplayer, the idea for this came from Xbox’s flagship series,Halo.
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AlthoughHalo: Combat Evolvedactually had regenerated armor, the concept of waiting a few seconds to regain strength is the same.
8Influential: Popularized Killstreaks
While there are many reasonsCall of Duty: Modern Warfareis regarded as one of themost influential multiplayer games ever released, arguably the biggest is the addition of killstreaks. AlthoughCall of Duty’s game style can be traced back to games likeQuake, the addition of killstreaks made the game far different than anything that came before.
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By rewarding players for the number of kills they could get without dying,Call of Dutyinstantly became the must-have series.
7Influenced By: EA Sports Titles (Annual Releases)
One thing fans of Activision’s most acclaimed first-person shooter series have come to expect is that a new title will be released each year. The way the publisher is able to keep this cycle is by having different teams working on differentCall of Dutytitles. WhileCall of Dutyand several other games are known for annual releases,Electronic Arts' several sports titlesfirst introduced this idea to the industry.
6Influential: Multiplayer First Approach In A Console Game
For manyCall of Dutyplayers, multiplayer is the most important part of the series. Although there is a campaign in almost every title,Call of Dutyfans tend to spend several more hours playing through matches online than the campaign. While many games beforeCall of Dutyhad a multiplayer component, most console games focused heavily on the development of the single-player portion of the titles. WhenCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfarewas released, however, it was clear that Infinity Ward spent a large portion of their time making sure the multiplayer was perfect.
5Influenced By: Fortnite (Free To Play Model)
WhileBlackoutwas a successful attempt at the battle royale genre, there is no arguing thatCall of Duty’s second battle royale,Warzone, has been commercially superior to its predecessor. One of the major differences between the titles is the fact thatWarzonehasno cost to start playing. Instead of locking the mode within a full-priced game, likeBlackoutinBlack Ops 4, Activision took the idea fromFortniteto incorporate small cosmetic based microtransactions into their game so players begin playing at no cost.
4Influential: Standardized FPS Controls
Before the firstCall of Duty, each first-person-shooter seemed to have their own layout and controls. While some games still try to stray from the status quo, the control layoutCall of Dutyintroduced to console gamers is what many games use today. With theCall of Dutyfranchise being one of the biggest intellectual properties in video games, many studios began replicating its controls so that players would not have to learn a new skill set to pick up their games.
3Influenced By: LA Noire (Season Pass)
Ever since Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Activision has incorporated a form of a season pass. While traditionally theCall of Dutyseason pass granted players access to content throughout the year, like new maps and weapons, recent installments in the franchise have used the season pass model to entice players to unlock in-game cosmetics.
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AlthoughCall of Dutyhelped popularize the Season Pass business model, they were not the pioneers of it. The most notable game that started the season pass was2011’sLA Noire.
2Influential: Popularized Aim-Down-Sights
Although it may seem strange to gamers that have never played early first-person-shooters, aiming down iron sights has not always been something players could do.Halo, Doom, GoldenEye, and several other titles never gave players the ability to aim down the sight of every gun. While many players now take it for granted, whenCall of Dutyintroduced the mechanic into their titles, it instantly became something every game needed.
1Influenced By: Quake (Online ArenaCompetitive FPS)
Although almost everyCall of Dutyreleases with a full campaign, the franchise’s greatest assets is its online competitive multiplayer. Although the series has changed over the decades, its multiplayerconcept has stayed relatively the same. WhileCall of Dutycan be credited for popularizing the arena shooter on consoles, it is not the first game to introduce gamers to the close quarters' style of gunfights in an online competition. In 1996, six years before the firstCall of Duty, Activision released a different online shooter,Quake.
