Back in the day, there used to be this niche little series named Call of Duty.
Once a humble World War II shooter that was a better version of Medal of Honor became a household name once the warfare became modern. Many years and a jillion games later, and Call of Duty is in a weird state yet has no sign of stopping. But through those highs and lows, everyone has at least one game in their collection they've played at least once. Heck, I used to enjoy the series quite a bit until Advanced Warfare and Black Ops 3. One was a stale Call of Duty, and the other was just not a good Black Ops game. But things REALLY hit a downturn when CALL OF DUTY GHOSTS came along, and if you ask anyone who knows the series, they'll tell you its the very worst COD of the entire franchise (not counting the handheld games).
Like I said, COD's had a bunch of ups and downs and I've dropped off when Ghosts arrived... but most will always have that one entry or two that they hold in high regard. To me, the BEST Call of Duty will always be the original Modern Warfare (COD 4)
Being my first Call of Duty ever, the planets aligned with this game and it one of the games that helped solidify my love for the Xbox 360 forever. In fact, Call of Duty 4 was so big, so impactful, that it somewhat changed the way we view console FPS games to this day. The subtle, thrilling campaign. The epic, new multiplayer that did a lot of things we don't see in modern entries (for better/for worse), the uncomfortable feeling I get when I replay that NUKE scene over. It was all so... wonderful! Heck, the remaster for the game brings it all to a brand new sheen that if it wasn't for Activision's dumb, predatory tactics yet again, I would actually have bought and played it again. And while the series hit a golden age with the rest of the Modern Warfare series, World at War, AND Black Ops 1 and 2, COD 4 is still a very impactful game that brought us where we are now.
I may not get the same high for COD these days, and much prefer games I played prior to COD 4 like RAINBOW SIX VEGAS, HALO 3: ODST, and PERFECT DARK ZERO... but the minute I pop in COD 4 again, its like a quickscoping nostalgic bliss.
Do you play Call of Duty? Which entry's your favorite and tell me why. What are the new entries (Black Ops 4, Modern Warfare 2019, Cold War) like? They look different enough that I thought about jumping back in.