Call of Dutyhas been one of the biggest franchises in gaming for almost 20 years now. There has been a game almost every year since 2003, with over three studios taking a turn each year to bring out their newCall of Dutytitle.
With so many cooks in the kitchen and so many visions over the years, it’s no surprise thatCall of Dutywould be home to some ideas too silly not to discuss. With games spanning multiple decades, and multiple generations of players and consoles, it’s time to embrace the series' silly streak by acknowledging these moments.
12Press F To Pay Respects
During the beginning segments ofCall of Duty: Advanced Warfare, players experience an emotional moment as the protagonist loses a limb, and a good friend. As the player’s viewpoint transitions to the funeral for a soldier lost in war, no one expected thenow-iconic “Press F to pay respects"to pop up.
The reason this feels so silly is that there was no need for the player to have a quick-time-event in which they put a hand on their friend’s grave. It takes players out of the immersion.
11Players Vs Predator
Before multiplayer games were brimming withcollaborations with other franchises,Call of Duty: Ghoststook the crown for the most unpredictable collaborations to come to the FPS shooter. This took place on the map The Ruins with thePREDATORfranchise.
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Players could become The Predator long before the franchise iconic appeared inFortnite. This gave them access to an infrared vision and the ability to use the iconic one-hit-kill shoulder canon. Predators could be a fearful enemy to fight, and a fun one to become in the game.
10Fighting Nazis With A Ray Gun
Call of Dutyhas portrayed serious gun combat throughout history, to the modern-day, and even the future. InCall of Duty: World at War, the second campaign mission “Little Resistance” has the player storm a beach with other American soldiers.
Toward the beginning, if the player stands correctly in a bunch of puddles, statues emerge from the ground speaking gibberish and holding ray guns.The ability to explode Nazis with this alien weaponwas fun and silly.
9Nuketown’s Mannequins Are Alive
Nuketown has been one of the most famous and iconic multiplayer maps from the franchise, and has been in everyBlack Opstitle since the first. The mannequins have always been a part of the map, and players always thought they were creepy.
InCall of Duty: Black Ops 3, there’s an even creepier Easter egg. If players shoot the heads off all the mannequins within two minutes, an ominous ding can be heard, and an army of mannequins will come after the player until the game ends.
8A Jetpack Joyride
After some years of success, theCall of Dutyfranhcise tried to change the game of their FPS shooter design and ditched the boots-on-the-ground warfare for something a little more fast-paced and versatile. Starting withAdvanced Warfare, and ending withInfinite Warfare, the jetpack allowed for quicker action.
Gone were the days of prone shooters, as a new killer emerged. The shooter would simply fly up and force the player to follow them with your sights. Jetpacks were a silly addition to the serious shooter, but it certainly was refreshing for a while.
7Menendez And Woods Rock Out
Fans of heavy metal and Avenged Sevenfold will be happy to know thatCall of Duty: Black Ops 2includes just that. After the end credits to the serious game, players will see the villainous Menendez freaking out about rocking out on stage.
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Thisbizarre easter eggwas included due to the band’s love ofBlack Ops.It includes Mendez and Woods from the campaign, playing on stage with them as if the events of the campaign never happened.
6Snoop Dogg Operator
Call of DutychallengedFortnitefor its Battle Royale crown when it releasedWarzone, a dedicated Battle Royale with its spin. What this title has thatFortnitedoesn’t is therap heavyweight himself, Snoop Dogg.
It would be quite the strange thing, checking corners and carefully planning a route, just to be 360 no-scoped by Snoop Dogg. Let’s just hope he’s a fair sport and doesn’t spam the crouch button.
5Project Blackout’s Story
BeforeWarzone, there wasCall of Duty: Black Ops 4. This game abandoned the concept of a campaign, in favor of the franchise’s first attempt at a Battle Royale. Blackout was a new and unique Battle Royale, which had its own story.
Set in the future,Black Opsicons like Alex Mason and Frank Woods would return. The story was the product of much speculation, as it was only shown through mini-cutscenes and even brought back Sam Worthington. Yet, there was no conclusion. The working theory is that these characters were resurrected as “Archetypes,” but that’s all that is known.
4Evil Monkeys From Outer Space
The beloved attachment that fans hope never leaves theCall of Dutyfranchise is that of theZombies game mode. The mode itself is silly fun, and it has its own player base that doesn’t even care for the campaign or multiplayer.Call of Duty: Black Opsintroduced a map called “Ascension,” which featured cute monkeys.
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These “cute monkeys” were the replacement of devil hound rounds, and they would crash their spaceships and smash up any perk machines that the player had drank from. They were annoying, silly, and everywhere.
3Celebrity Cameos
As a franchise with mega-success, it’s no surprise thatCall of Dutycan spare the cash to have a few A-listers appear in their games now and then. It can take players out of the experience of a series story when they see Jon Snow fromGame of Thronesas the villain.
Gone are the days when celebrities would play characters that don’t look like them, such as Gary Oldman as Viktor Reznov. Today, celebrities in the COD franchise have their faces plastered everywhere. It’s even a gimmick for the Zombies game mode to feature a crew of celebrities for one map, like Ron Perlman and Jeff Goldblum inBlack Ops 3’s “Shadows of Evil,” a game mode that has slowly become sillier with its story.
