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Regardless of the content, players and viewers should also take note of their respective lengths. Luckily, no Call of Duty campaign outstays its welcome; some are even brutally short. The numbers for this list were produced by HowLongToBeat, a website that excels at compiling submitted data, separating the times into categories, and averaging the statistical results.
Updated on November 3rd, 2022 by Hodey Johns: With the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022), it is time to enter this game into the catalogue with the rest of the franchise. After many gamers felt the franchise dropped the ball on Call of Duty: Vanguard, the most recent installment borrowed its name from an earlier and more successful previous title. But did it also borrow the same length? In addition to updating this list with the most recent title, the previous titles have been fully re-evaluated based on the latest data and had their previous times and locations on this list altered based on this latest information.
19 Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War - 5.5 Hours
Surprisingly, despite a global narrative, this Call of Duty game is the shortest at just over five hours. The campaign is memorable and takes the player all over the world in rich and detailed environments, so the short time is not reflective of the massive hard drive space that it takes up.
There are plenty of secrets and spooky side quests lurking in Black Ops Cold War. This game took a lot of risks with the timeline that paid off despite what the length of the content might indicate.
18 Call Of Duty: Vanguard - 6 Hours
Attempting to put together a game with a cast of characters that could be used going forward into the next installments, Call Of Duty: Vanguard was met with disastrous reception. Specifically, gamers did not relate to this new cast.
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Mercifully, Vanguard is on the shorter side of the franchise’s campaigns. New maps tried to salvage the multiplayer, but the campaign was a short bust.
17 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) - 6 Hours
Modern Warfare’s campaign was highly acclaimed upon release, which just goes to show that length doesn’t always correlate to quality. The main story of Modern Warfare takes just six hours to complete, with some people even rushing through it in five.
The reboot of the popular campaign got the multiplayer right, too. Gamers still want to have the prestige shop make a comeback.
16 Call Of Duty: Ghosts - 6 Hours
Ghosts is often regarded as the weakest Call of Duty entry, and its short and subpar campaign certainly didn’t do it any favors. Some may label it as one of the franchise’s more underappreciated campaigns, but most players simply call it bad.
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Most people will complete Ghosts within just six hours, and some people have reported completing it in four.
15 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - 6 Hours
Although Modern Warfare 3 served as the brilliant culmination of the original Modern Warfare series, many gamers at the time felt the campaign was too short.
The campaign could be completed in four to six hours, making this one of the shortest Modern Warfare titles. Still, it stirred feelings in the fans and reminded them of what the classic franchise can still be, especially with one of gaming’s most intense interrogation scenes.
14 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 6 Hours
Gamers can expect to be done with Modern Warfare 2 in about six hours, about double that for those hoping to knock out all of the achievements.
Regardless, these six odd hours were packed with some incredible moments, and it remains one of the greatest campaigns of the series. It sets the bar high for the entire Modern Warfare series. The campaign was so well-received that the most recent title copied the name in the hopes that reception would match the enthusiasm.
13 Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - 6 Hours
This is the head honcho that is Modern Warfare. This is not only the greatest campaign of the series but arguably one of the greatest campaigns in first-person shooter history.
It’s filled with brilliant moments and character work and it measures in at a rather respectable seven hours. Not too long, not too short; the Goldilocks of the CoD series and the top of the tier list for the series’ games.
12 Call Of Duty: WWII - 7 Hours
Everyone let out a collective groan when Call of Duty returned to World War II, as most of the fans believed they were cashing in on Battlefield’s success. But cash in or not, Call of Duty: WWII contained one of the finest campaigns in years.
WWII will take roughly seven hours to complete, although it can take upwards of ten for those who stop and take in the views. Gamers that like the World War 2 setting had a lot to love from this entry.
11 Call Of Duty - 7 Hours
This is the one that started it all. The original Call of Duty was released back in 2003 and was met with widespread acclaim.
Yes, the multiplayer component was, of course, fantastic, but it also contained a surprisingly great (and surprisingly long) campaign lasting roughly seven hours, a more than respectable amount of content, especially considering the atmosphere in which it was released.
10 Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare - 7 Hours
By the time Advanced Warfare rolled along, people were getting a little sick of the Call of Duty franchise. Even a campaign lasting seven hours and filled with the talents of Troy Baker and (regrettably) Kevin Spacey couldn’t kickstart new life into the tiring formula.
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Still, a select few players are hoping for a sequel to the title.
9 Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare - 7 Hours
The criticisms levied against Advanced Warfare were nothing compared to those that Infinite Warfare faced. This game was seemingly dead on arrival thanks to a particularly dreaded reveal trailer and the fact that it took place in space.
Gamers know a franchise is out of ideas when a gimmick like this appears. Activision certainly tried with the campaign and some gamers still defend the content. But by this point, the general consumers desperately needed a change of pace and scenery.
8 Call Of Duty: Black Ops - 7 Hours
Black Ops was a different sort of Call of Duty game, and it remains a fan favorite. The campaign was especially notable thanks to its unique setting, time period, and storytelling devices, and it lasted a solid seven hours which is the norm for the franchise.
There are some newcomers to the series, but few match the start-to-finish intense gaming that the campaign has in store.
7 Call Of Duty: Black Ops II - 7 Hours
It seems like Black Ops II didn’t want to mess with the formula too much. It likewise weighs in at roughly seven hours of playtime.
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There are a handful of gamers who feel this could use a remaster as the story held up but the polish was considered somewhat lacking.
6 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) - 7.5 Hours
Gamers had every right to suspect that Call of Duty was giving up on their single-player experiences with the two titles before this one clocking in at under 6 hours each. The developers had to decide whether to abandon that aspect of the game entirely or go back to delivering a robust experience.
Given rival Battlefield’s decision to abandon the campaign, Call of Duty wisely decided to not only keep the game mode but beef it up a bit, giving players a decent amount of content for solo gamers. The results are already far more positive, a happy sign for what might be ahead.
5 Call Of Duty: World At War - 7.5 Hours
World at War had the tricky task of following up Modern Warfare. And while it didn’t quite measure up in terms of acclaim, it still did an admirable job and fans weren’t at all disappointed. It came equipped with a rather sizable campaign, which most people complete within seven and a half hours.
It does leave its mark in gaming history as one campaign with tremendous fire mechanics.
4 Call Of Duty 3 - 8 Hours
Finally breaking the seven-hour curse is Call of Duty 3. Ironically, very few people remember Call of Duty 3 that well. Even at the time, it was considered an inferior product to its predecessors.
Regardless, it’s easily one of the longest games in the series, taking anywhere between eight and ten hours to complete depending on pacing and achievement hunting.
3 Call Of Duty 2 - 8.5 Hours
It’s clear that the earlier Call of Duty games put way more time and care into their campaigns. Call of Duty 2 is even longer than its successor.
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Most people report completing the game in eight and a half hours. If this series decided to focus on incredible FPS world-building a bit more, it could have been one of the best in gaming history.
2 Call Of Duty: Black Ops III - 9 Hours
Black Ops III is arguably the longest game in Call of Duty. Most people report finishing the main story in about nine hours, which is certainly a respectable amount of time for a first-person shooter.
Black Ops III is certainly the meaty boy of the franchise when it comes to storytelling and has the longest official campaign so far (though see the caveat in the next entry).
1 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 - 9.5 Hours
Those who loved this game that popularized the zombie mode will be happy to know that this mode is still alive and cranking out excellent zombie modes.
Although this list is not intended to be controversial, this product’s ranking at the top might be. The solo content is indeed the longest of the franchise, but the solo modes are broken up into single missions and not a unified campaign. So put an asterisk on this title if that doesn’t seem like a qualifying single-player experience.
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