8 Best Treyarch Call of Duty Games

Activision’s flagship franchise has encountered challenges in recent years due to releases that fell short of the expected standards, resulting in mediocre to subpar titles. However, that all seems set to change, thanks to Treyarch’s spectacular work on Black Ops 6, which is aiming to be one of the best in a long time.

This development team has managed to restore hope among veteran players of the saga by completely overhauling the gameplay and adding other much-needed features. Here are the nine best games from this franchise developed by Treyarch.

8 – Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Despite being considered one of the weakest entries in the Black Ops saga, it’s worth noting that the studio attempted a bold change during a time when battle royales dominated the genre.

Treyarch completely removed the campaign mode to focus all resources on creating a battle royale experience to compete with games like Fortnite and PUBG. Unfortunately, the game ended up disappointing most fans, but it introduced some original gameplay mechanics.

This title served as a rough blueprint for the eventual launch of Warzone, which remains one of the most popular battle royale games today. The unique combat system of Black Ops 4, which included health bars, shields, and other mechanics, later found its way into the free-to-play version, albeit with some changes to avoid resemblance.

As always, Treyarch aimed for a paradigm shift, but corporate pressure was immense due to the success of the battle royale genre taking all the players away.

7 – Call of Duty 2: Big Red One

Big Red One was one of the first steps toward what would become the first Black Ops game years later. Released for the PlayStation 2, it received fairly positive reviews from FPS fans.

One of the game’s standout features was its well-designed and varied levels, along with a memorable story for its time. These types of games were the first to genuinely attempt to pique the interest of console players in this genre, much like Halo did.

The game focused exclusively on a specific division of the U.S. Army, following its members through various missions during World War II. This division, known as Big Red One, gave the game its name.

This was one of the last Call of Duty games to focus on World War II before making the big jump towards modern combat. The fourth installment started one of the most prolific streaks in video game history.

6 – Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

One thing Treyarch consistently does well is innovate by adding new mechanics to a formula that often remains unchanged.

In this case, Cold War, which will now see a sequel with Black Ops 6, tried to implement decision-making within the game’s story, giving players access to alternative endings based on their choices. This was a very fresh idea, especially in this kind of game, but the story mode was too short to exploit the feature.

Some characters in this particular entry are quite forgettable, but others maintain the spirit seen in the earlier Black Ops installments.

Set during the Cold War, the studio took full advantage of the era to offer a highly original-level design that respected the period and used all its resources to craft a deeply immersive narrative. One of the few complaints from fans was that the campaign was too short.

5 – Call of Duty 3

The third instalment of the franchise marked a significant leap to the new generation of consoles at the time, specifically the PS3 and Xbox 360. This would be one of the last Call of Duty games set in World War II for a long time, making way for some of the series’ most solid titles in the coming years.

One notable aspect of this game was the inclusion of four distinct battlefield perspectives, showing the conflict from several angles.

Call of Duty 3 was one of the last intergenerational games, and it became clear that the studio wasn’t fully utilizing the power of the seventh-generation consoles to achieve absolute success for future games using this hardware.

The game allowed players to control various vehicles and use a wide range of weapons, creating a spectacularly immersive experience across different battlefields scattered throughout Europe.

4 – Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

Black Ops 3 was Treyarch’s attempt to join the wave of futuristic games that had been so successful yet controversial for Infinity Ward and other developers.

This game takes place years after the events of the second Black Ops entry, focusing heavily on the use of exoskeletons and other technologies that allowed players to move much faster across the map and perform superhuman jumps. The entire dynamic of the movements makes the maps more useful than ever.

Both the multiplayer and campaign modes were among the most solid in this instalment, at least for the most futuristic side of the franchise. The game provides an intriguing insight into the potential course of future wars, introducing previously unthinkable elements.

Treyarch’s narrative style, known for its multiple twists and turns, consistently delights the fans with its highly entertaining story.

3 – Call of Duty: World at War

The premise of this title returns once more to World War II, but this time following the tremendous success of Modern Warfare in 2007. With a completely original approach to depicting the conflict, the game introduced several protagonists.

The gameplay was among the best in the franchise, incorporating all the elements that Infinity Ward excels at, and it also introduced the popular Zombies mode for the first time, a feature that persists to this day.

The weapon design and parts of the story introduced some of the best moments in the series’ Zombies mode. Treyarch fully embraced the brutality of war, offering incendiary weapons for greater effectiveness and showing the savagery of this conflict and how it can turn humans into monsters.

World at War is easily one of the studio’s best games to date, paving the way for the release of Black Ops, another iconic series.

2 – Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Set in a not-so-distant future, this game serves as a direct sequel to the first major Black Ops title. Today, players and fans remember it as one of the best entries in the franchise, with one of the most intriguing and spectacular storylines and key character twists.

It introduced new gameplay mechanics and futuristic weaponry. It also expanded on many of the events from the first game.

The studio understood everything that worked well in the first installment, improving each aspect exponentially, making Black Ops 2 one of the best-selling games in the studio’s history.

The development team replicated the success and pace of the original Black Ops story, leaving fans warmly surprised with a narrative full of twists and surprises. The plot advances through the use of retribution and a remarkable antagonist.

1 – Call of Duty: Black Ops

Widely regarded as one of the best first-person shooters in video game history, Black Ops didn’t just revolutionize storytelling with its Hollywood-inspired flair, it also elevated Call of Duty to a level of recognition so high that, to this day, it’s still considered one of the best action games ever made.

The sheer amount of content this game offered was truly unprecedented for a title in the genre. Featuring some of the most iconic and legendary characters in any first-person shooter, Black Ops became synonymous with plot twists and surprises, something that has since become a Treyarch trademark.

Released during what was likely the golden age for this type of game, Activision had truly found the winning formula to deliver a unique and immersive experience with virtually unlimited replayability.

What’s your favorite game in the franchise? Let us know in the comments!