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For the last 20 years, a new Call of Duty game has been released every fall. This year, that game is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. 14 years ago today, November 8, that game was the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. While other Call of Duty games may have sold more or are remembered more prominently, Modern Warfare 3 was when the series crescendoed for me. That's not because this is the best Call of Duty game; in fact, I have several issues with it. But at the time of release, it felt like a natural climax and potential endpoint for the series. But no franchise can truly die, and this series has now gone on for longer since Modern Warfare 3 than it existed before it came out. Looking back at the game on its anniversary, I can confidently say that 2011's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the game that made me fall out of love with Call of Duty, even though it was also the game that ensured this series would forever be enshrined as an annual mainstay of the gaming industry. Looking back on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, 14 years later Call of Duty was never the same after this game 2007's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is what truly made the franchise a phenomenon, and the years that followed were part of what I consider the golden age of Call of Duty. World at War was technically my introduction to the series, but I went back to play the first Modern Warfare and was hooked as Modern Warfare 2 and the first Black Ops came out. Each game felt like it was building on the momentum of the last, with the campaigns of Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops in particular taking narrative risks in their campaigns that felt revolutionary to me as a fledgling gamer. The multiplayer modes also felt like they were improving year over year, and this was the era when the now ubiquitous Zombies mode was born. Then, Modern Warfare 3 came out. I played it around release, and remember being a little disappointed. It upped the ante of the plot even further, toppling the Eiffel Tower and killing the beloved character Soap McTavish during its story. But for the first time, I felt like the series was retreading ground and lacked the mission-to-mission creativity of previous Call of Duty campaigns. Its story also wrapped things up in a way that felt final, leaving me less interested in Call of Duty stories going forward. Additionally, the multiplayer was still a lot of fun, but didn't feel that much better than Modern Warfare 2's online play. I don't think Modern Warfare 3 is a bad game, but its launch was the first time I remember being underwhelmed by a Call of Duty game. In retrospect, the developer exodus that happened mid-project likely had a major impact on this. Regardless, my honeymoon phase with the series was over, but there was no end in sight for this franchise. We no longer let franchises die Should Call of Duty have ended 14 years ago? The finality of its story, diminishing game design innovation, and developer shake-ups made Modern Warfare 3 seem like a natural endpoint for the series. The series had consistently one-upped itself game after game, but it finally felt like Call of Duty reached the end of that cycle. While the Modern Warfare sub-series would be put on rest for eight years after this, Call of Duty at large wasn't. Modern Warfare 3 was one of the biggest game launches of all time after all. There was obviously more money to be releasing Call of Duty games, so Activision kept annualizing the franchise. This strategy has paid off as Call of Duty games are often the best-selling games each year. Even when the new games are good, though, each Call of Duty title has felt less like an exciting new game release and more like an obligation. In the modern era of entertainment, we can rarely let a franchise die, even if it reaches a natural endpoint, when there's still money to be made. The same issue is prominent in film. Think about the Marvel Cinematic Universe hitting a natural endpoint with Avengers: Endgame, only to continue with narratively wayward films in the half-decade since. While good art can still come from that process, each new piece becomes a little less alluring than the last. I know the Call of Duty series will never make me feel like it did during the heyday between the first and third Modern Warfare games. Maybe it doesn't need to, as they came out at the perfect place and time for me, something that will never be recreated as I get older. Still, I can't deny it's hard for me to get excited about Black Ops 7, given that it has been nearly a decade and a half since Call of Duty felt meaningful to me. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has a messy legacy And it's not even the only game to bear that title anymore When Soap died, part of the Call of Duty franchise's soul did too. It jumped the shark and became a worldwide phenomenon, cursing the series to meet that standard every year for the rest of its existence. The series has had to reinvent itself several times to keep that pace going, meaning modern Call of Duty games are a far cry from what got me hooked on the series in the first place. The fact that the Modern Warfare series was rebooted in the 14 years since only cements that fact further. Call of Duty has been an annual franchise for the past 20 years, and I have no doubt it will continue for another 20 as long as it keeps topping the sales charts. Looking back, I'm grateful for the years of fun the golden age of Call of Duty games gave me. No matter how good a game like Black Ops 7 is, though, I'll never feel the same about this series again.
