Summary
- Call of Duty campaigns offer relaxed FPS experiences, varying from brutally short to engaging and rich narratives.
- Campaign lengths differ, with some titles like Finest Hour and Ghosts lasting around six hours, and others like BO4 extending to over 10 hours.
- Modern Warfare 2 (2022) and Black Ops 6 offer lengthy campaigns with unique stories and engaging gameplay lasting up to nine hours.
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. Black Ops further emphasized campaigns, shifting the focus away from battlefields to behind-the-scenes espionage.
Best Call Of Duty Games For Split-Screen Co-Op
Split-screen has appeared in several Call of Duty games, but these are the best in the series for playing on one screen.
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 March 26, 2025, by Ben Painter: Call of Duty remains one of the most popular multiplayer games year after year. The latest installment in the franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, has received widespread acclaim for its various game modes. However, the Call of Duty campaigns are often overlooked, with many players skipping them in favor of online matches. This is unfortunate, as the campaigns offer an engaging first-person shooter experience without the pressure of competing against real players. The campaign lengths vary, but some can be completed in a single playthrough. This update also includes the three spin-off games that were released early in the franchise's history.
24 Call Of Duty: World At War - Final Fronts
4.5 Hours
Call of Duty: World at War - Final Fronts
- Released
- November 11, 2008
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 2
- Genre(s)
- FPS
Final Fronts, the spin-off of World at War, has a remarkably short runtime of just 4.5 hours for a complete playthrough. This version was released for the PlayStation 2 and did not include multiplayer or the COD Zombies game modes. Instead, it featured a three-part campaign that took players through the final stages of World War II, showcasing both American and British troops.
Despite having only a single-player offline mode, Final Fronts boasts the shortest campaign length in the series, even when compared to other entries that offer more gameplay options. Additionally, the game suffered from poor artificial intelligence, leading to unfavorable reviews from critics. Players were generally advised to opt for the full version of the game if they owned a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360 at the time.
23 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
5 Hours
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III
- Released
- November 10, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Sledgehammer Games
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
Modern Warfare 3 garnered a lot of criticism before 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.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Review
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has a series-worst campaign, but its multiplayer is a blast and open world Zombies is better than one might expect.
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.
22 Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
5.5 Hours
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Released
- November 13, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Raven Software, Treyarch
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Platform(s)
- PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
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.
21 Call Of Duty: Vanguard
6 Hours
Call of Duty: Vanguard
- Released
- November 5, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Sledgehammer Games
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Genre(s)
- Shooter
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.
20 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
6 Hours
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Released
- October 25, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Infinity Ward
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
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.
19 Call Of Duty: Ghosts
6 Hours
Call of Duty Ghosts
- Released
- November 5, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Infinity Ward
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
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.
Activision Might Have Unexpectedly Fixed Some Old Call of Duty Games’ Matchmaking
A Call of Duty player spots unexpected fixes in some of the older games' matchmaking, which may bode well for the future of the classics.
Most people will complete Ghosts within just six hours, and some people have reported completing it in four.
18 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)
6 Hours
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Released
- November 8, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Genre(s)
- FPS
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.
17 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
6.5 Hours
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
- Released
- November 10, 2009
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Infinity Ward
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Genre(s)
- Shooter
Gamers can expect to be done with Modern Warfare 2 in about six hours, and 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 the reception would match the enthusiasm.
16 Call Of Duty: Finest Hour
7 Hours
Call Of Duty: Finest Hour
- Released
- November 16, 2004
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Spark Unlimited, Kuju Entertainment, Exakt Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Platform(s)
- PS2, GameCube, Xbox (Original)
- Genre(s)
- War & Military, First-Person Shooter
Call of Duty: Finest Hour is significant for being the first game in the franchise released on consoles, as the original Call of Duty was exclusively available on Windows. As a spin-off of the first entry, Finest Hour features an entirely different story, allowing players to experience six chapters from the perspectives of US, British, and Soviet forces.
6 Call Of Duty Games That Deserve a Remaster
Call of Duty's attempts at remasters have long since been abandoned, but here are some Call of Duty games that deserve the remaster treatment.
The game takes approximately seven hours to complete. With its varied viewpoints, it stays engaging throughout and provides a satisfying experience. Released in the early 2000s, Finest Hour was well-received, performing strongly both critically and commercially, and it set a precedent for many future console entries in the Call of Duty series.
15 Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
7 Hours
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)
- Released
- November 5, 2007
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Infinity Ward
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS
- Genre(s)
- FPS
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.