There have been manyCall of Dutygames over the years, and the series shows no signs of stopping. Since 2005, Activision has been releasing a new entry every year, ranging from World War 2 shooters to a spacefaring sci-fi adventure. Along the way there have also been a couple subseries within the greaterCall of Dutyfranchise that focus on different story arcs, and there needs to be a better way to access some of its older titles.
The lifecycle of aCall of Dutygame lasts until the next entry releases, and that means a game usually lasts about a year before being left to gather dust. However, these games do not deserve that fate. One of the best ways to let them shine would be to adopt the model established byHalo: The Master Chief Collection, which breathed new life into the entire franchise, and served as a love letter to what came before. That needs to happen forCall of Duty.
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The Call of Duty Subseries Should Be Bundled Together
In the greaterCall of Dutyfranchise, there are two major subseries. Treyarch is in charge oftheBlack Opsseries, and Infinity Ward has been making games under theModern Warfarelabel. Both have become the focal point of theCall of Dutyfranchise, with a new entry in each coming out almost every other year. Some of the bestCall of Dutytitles are contained in each, and fans deserve a better way to experience them.
TheBlack Opsseries has told a loosely connected story covering the events of World War 2, the Cold War, the near future, and the far future. The series began in 2008 withWorld At Warand has continued through 2020 withBlack Ops Cold War. Almost every entry feels vastly different from the one before, and has diversified a lot of its mechanics.Black Ops 4was perhaps the biggest departurefrom the rest of the series as it chose to do away with the story altogether.
TheModern Warfareseries brought the FPS gameplay to the modern era. It started in 2007 withCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and is currently being revamped by Infinity Ward with a reboot series that started in 2019. This has created some of the most iconicCall of Dutycharacters like Captain Price and Soap, and it has some of the most popular multiplayer maps. Currently, this series is the only one in the franchise to receive both remastered campaigns and a reboot.
Both of these subseries include some of themost popularCall of Dutytitles, but currently the only way to purchase all of them is to get theCall of Dutyfranchise bundle that costs over $900 on Steam. Even if players choose to purchase the games individually, there is a significant paywall to experience an entire storyline.
Halo: The Master Chief Collectiontook the entireHaloseriesup toHalo 5: Guardiansand bundled it into one easy-to-access package. The story of each game was present, andHalo 2got completely remastered. On top of that, the collection has multiplayer offerings made up of the individual entries from every game. It is a great example of how to do a series bundle, andCall of Dutyneeds to emulate that with its subseries.
ABlack OpsorModern Warfarecollectioncould bundle the five different games in both theBlack OpsandModern Warfaresubseries. This would be one less than the amount of games thatHalo: The Master Chief Collectionfeatures, as throwing in the stories and the multiplayer for each could create a great celebration of the differentCall of Dutyseries.
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Other Call of Duty Games Could Also Have Bundles
Call of Dutyis not just made up ofModern WarfareorBlack Ops, as there have been many standalone titles that also deserve the bundle treatment. While Treyarch and Infinity Ward continue working, Sledgehammer Games has been focusing on projects likeAdvanced Warfare, WW2,andVanguard. It is not the only studio that has made standalone projects, as Infinity Ward also worked onGhostsandInfinite Warfare. These titles are not a part of a broader series, but aHalo-inspired collection that includes them could also be pretty great.
On top of that, there is aset of classicCall of Dutygamesthat have not gotten any love since beforeCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfaretook the series in a new direction. There were three different titles set during World War 2 that started it all. These games are nowhere near the level of the newerCall of Dutygames, but without these original titles theCall of Dutyseries would not exist, so they should be honored with a bundle.
There are a lot of differentCall of Dutygames with the potential to be bundled.Halo: The Master Chief Collectionshowed that giant bundles of multiplayer shooters work, andCall of Dutyshould follow suit. No one wants to pay over $900 to play some old games, but that is the only option for those who want to experience the franchise as it stands. ACall of Dutycollection would change all that, and now isthe time for Activision to deliver.
