Call of Duty will forever remain known as a multiplayer behemoth but that doesn't mean players should sleep on the campaigns of the popular first-person shooter. The plot might have suffered from being a token part of the game until the Modern Warfare series which added story developments and intense explanations of the multiplayer battles. Modern Warfare 2 contained the tradition with its fair share of mesmerizing (and controversial) moments. Other games might be harder to beat, but few are better.

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 14, 2023 by Mark Sammut: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is now out, and the game launched to a mixed reception by the franchise's standards. While the multiplayer will dominate the discourse as the weeks and months roll by, MW3's campaign attracted quite a lot of attention in the lead-up to the title's debut. Is it one of the shortest or longest COD games?

20 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)

5 Hours

Modern Warfare 3 garnered a lot of criticism prior to its full launch, specifically due to its single-player campaign that was available to play a few days early. Sledgehammer delivered the shortest Call of Duty game, one that just about creeps over the 5-hour mark. Now, to be clear, concise campaigns can be great, a reality Call of Duty has actualized multiple times through the decades. Modern Warfare 3's negative reputation is primarily due to the content's quality rather than its quantity.

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For one, the story is filled with poorly developed characters who rely on nostalgia to trigger an emotional response in players. The plot also lacks consistency and will likely seem confusing if someone has not kept up with Warzone. The actual gameplay is serviceable since Call of Duty has largely perfected its gunplay, but Modern Warfare 3 offers very little in the way of innovation in its presentation of the franchise's staple missions and ideas.

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. The series still needs customization that makes players feel like the star of the story like they did in Black Ops Cold War.

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.

Mercifully, Vanguard is on the shorter side of the franchise's campaigns. The installment was a bust in about every way, leading to new release models to avoid making the mistakes that this game made.

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 as well. To focus on these, the game elected to drop the zombies mode. Perhaps this was the right call as other games in the series took the time to do it right.

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. When it comes to online play, gamers debate which games have the most powerful perks. When ranking campaign experiences, there is little debate to be had; this is one of the worst across the board.

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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 (2011)

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 and gave players the feeling of being on one of the most elite forces in all of gaming.

14 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

6.5 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

7 Hours

This is the head honcho that is Modern Warfare. This is not only one of the greatest campaigns 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. Many Call of Duty games are forgotten but those who played for the first time were immediately aware this was going to be something special.

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. Call of Duty has had balancing issues but this experience online was pretty fair.

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. Without this game then, nobody is arguing about the hardest zombies maps today.

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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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 of the futuristic wonder weapons have stuck around. 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. This wasn't the first Call of Duty game to have a zombies mode, but it popularized the mode and gave rise to the zombies mode tier lists around today.

7 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2

7 Hours

It seems like Black Ops 2 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. Xbox Game Pass keeps classic Call of Duty games alive for those who want to relive the glory days.

6 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's often remembered for its unique fire mechanics and there is a chance it could be revived if Call of Duty gets an MCU-style treatment.

5 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)

8 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. Gamers still want more tricks from previous titles but this title did not disappoint.

4 Call Of Duty 3

8 Hours

Very few people remember Call of Duty 3 that well despite being a decently-sized campaign. Even at the time, it was considered an inferior product to its predecessors. The series may add a controversial feature to keep from being forgettable again.

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 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 hours. At this point, the franchise had not yet locked in on the epic final missions that it is known for. However, when dealing with non-fictional history, it's probably best that the sensationalism was left out of this one.

2 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3

9 Hours

Black Ops 3 is arguably the longest Call of Duty game. Most people report finishing the main story in about nine hours, which is certainly a respectable amount of time for a first-person shooter that releases just about annually. Black Ops 3 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).

The online portion of the game didn't disappoint either, giving players some of the best maps in the series.

1 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4

10.5 Hours

Although this list is not intended to be controversial, this product's ranking at the top might be. Black Ops 4's 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.

Some might say this makes the single-player part one of the most underappreciated "campaigns" in the series but there isn't an attempt at an overall plot or story holding it together. Because of the map styles, the length is propped up more by repetition and countless enemies than content.

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