Here’s the 10 best moments in Call of Duty history.
Category
🎮️
GamingTranscript
00:00Since the original Call of Duty, the campaigns have been putting us in the boots of larger
00:11than life soldiers in some of the most intense combat moments you could imagine.
00:15Now it's time to reflect on some of the most memorable moments that have defined the
00:19series.
00:20Here are the 10 best moments in Call of Duty history and, of course, there are spoilers
00:24ahead.
00:25Hijacked plane sequence.
00:27Turbulence.
00:28Modern Warfare 3.
00:29And there we were thinking Modern Warfare's breathless, aeroplane-based bonus mission
00:32Mile High Club was pretty special.
00:35But then Modern Warfare 3's Turbulence comes along and takes in-flight combat to the next
00:39level.
00:40Protecting the Russian President from hijackers in the claustrophobic space of a jet is high-stakes
00:45stuff on its own.
00:46Then the engines stall and the dive sends you into a sequence of zero-gravity shooting and
00:51a crash landing that rips the air fuselage in two.
00:53This is true action film stuff.
00:56It's an artifying the woods.
00:57The forest.
00:58Call of Duty 3.
00:59A wonderfully paced rising crescendo of a level.
01:02At first requiring a softly softly snipey snipey approach with the relative peacefulness
01:06of the forest creating an edgy atmosphere.
01:08Then it kicks things up a notch with the battle intensifying as it moves between tight burrow-like
01:13trenches and wide open spaces.
01:15Finally, and in complete contrast to the cautious way the mission starts, you're given a mortar
01:20to play with, allowing you to merrily blow apart any of Hitler's helmeted hobgoblins unfortunate
01:24enough to still be lurking in the forest.
01:27The Airport Massacre.
01:28No Russian.
01:29Modern Warfare 2.
01:30Best is perhaps not quite the right word for this entry, but it's undoubtedly one of the
01:35series' most effective, affecting missions.
01:38No Russian places you in the shoes of an undercover agent in a terrorist cell.
01:41Quickly you'll understand just what that asks of you.
01:44You enter an airport and are told to mow down everyone you see, regardless of who they are.
01:49It's a video game mission that sparked protest, academic study and genuine soul searching.
01:53And there's very little else like it in the medium.
01:56Beach Landing.
01:57The Battle of Pointe du Hoc.
01:58Call of Duty 2.
01:59This starts with a fellow soldier in the landing craft having a fear-induced puke.
02:04Quickly followed by the sound of bullets whizzing through the air.
02:06Then clouds of red mist as those bullets thud into flesh.
02:10Others fall to the ground, spray from a near-miss explosion obscures your view, then the ramp
02:14is down and you're running onto the beach.
02:16Cue the semi-deafened, shell-shocked horror of war moment as you survey the scene around
02:20you.
02:21When you regain your senses, the metaphorical implications of the vertical cliff face ahead
02:25of you become very apparent.
02:27Your role to this point is one of spectator, but it's still a breathless couple of minutes.
02:31Getting Revenge.
02:32Dust to Dust.
02:33Modern Warfare 3.
02:34Makarov haunted the Modern Warfare sub-series from its first instalment.
02:38And Dust to Dust is the perfect send-off for the bastard.
02:41Playing as mustachioed death merchant Captain Price, you stomp through his defences in a
02:45juggernaut suit, hijack and crash his escape helicopter, wrap a cord around his neck, ride
02:49his body to ground level through a shattering skylight, then enjoy a cheeky cigar while you
02:54wait for Evac.
02:55And that is how you exact revenge.
02:58Planting the Russian flag at Reichstag.
03:00Downfall.
03:01Call of Duty World at War.
03:02This ending has got it all.
03:04Explosions.
03:05Shouting.
03:06Smoke.
03:07Patriotism.
03:08Edge of the seat tension.
03:09A surprise attack.
03:10Rezanov wildly hacking a Nazi to death with a machete.
03:12A Russian flag flying as Berlin burns all around you.
03:15Rousing music.
03:16Comradery.
03:17Victory.
03:18And cheering.
03:19It's a guaranteed vibrations down the spine moment.
03:22Crossing the Volgla River.
03:23Stalingrad.
03:24Call of Duty.
03:25The first Russian mission in the original Call of Duty was a good indication of what
03:29developer Infinity Ward was going to bring to the FPS table.
03:33Namely, shock factor.
03:34The boat trip across the Volgla River is loud and chaotic, disorientating and terrifying.
03:40It's a masterclass in scene setting, creating an unusual sense of powerlessness in the player
03:44even before it eventually throws you into the fray without so much as a rifle.
03:49Betrayed by General Shepard.
03:50Loose Ends.
03:51Modern Warfare 2.
03:52Whether you saw this coming or not, the moment General Shepard is revealed as one
03:55of the bad guys is thoroughly, tangibly, affectingly bleak.
03:59Not for the first time, Infinity Ward has landed us with a well done you survived the mission,
04:03but hard luck we're going to kill you anyway, sucker punch.
04:06But it really doesn't lessen the impact when it happens.
04:09The brutal, cold-hearted manner of betrayal Shepard shoots Ghost and Roach point blank
04:13and then sets a light to their bodies before nonchalantly strolling away, propels the player
04:17crazily eyed with vengeance into the game's finale.
04:20Nuclear Death.
04:21Aftermath.
04:22Call of Duty Modern Warfare.
04:23This is one of the most talked about gaming moments probably ever, and undoubtedly Infinity
04:28Ward at its cinematic finest, with the dev expertly hitting all the right notes on the
04:32shock scale.
04:33The frantic preceding shock and awe mission ensures adrenaline glands are at full pump,
04:38and its apparent successful conclusion is a fist-pumping moment.
04:41But the high is short-lived, cruelly blown apart with the force of, well, an atomic blast.
04:47Then all that's left is to watch as Sergeant Jackson crawls from the downed chopper, inevitably
04:51to his death in the dirt of the scorched wasteland.
04:55Behind enemy lines with Captain Macmillan.
04:57All ghillied up.
04:58Modern Warfare.
04:59Dressed like shrubbery for a slow, slow, quick, slow, slow, slow dance deep in enemy territory,
05:04this is tense, terrifying, nerve-wracking, and arguably the standout moment in the entire
05:09series.
05:10Which is kind of funny as it's so completely at odds with Call of Duty's deafening,
05:14shoot, shoot, and shoot some more signature style.
05:17You weave unseen through enemy patrols, stopping occasionally to stealth snipe an oblivious
05:21soldier, or lie prone in the grass as a tank rumbles just feet away from your position.
05:26It's genuine don't-forget-to-breathe, edge-of-the-sea stuff.
05:30And those, in our opinion of course, are the best moments in Call of Duty history.
05:34Do you agree?
05:35Think we've gone mad?
05:36Haven't played a Call of Duty since Modern Warfare 2?
05:38Let us know in the comments and don't forget to subscribe for more gaming news, reviews,
05:41previews, and features right here on GamesRadar+.
05:47Thanks!