With Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 now released, this series now has more games than any other within the wider Call of Duty franchise. There are more Black Ops games than Modern Warfare or World War II titles bearing the Call of Duty name. With Black Ops 7 being a week old at this point, now is the perfect time to rank it alongside all of its predecessors.

Black Ops is the one series of Call of Duty that I have played every game in, so I used this opportunity to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of each and sort them accordingly. I'm only ranking the primary console versions of each entry, so lackluster handheld and mobile spin-offs won't factor in. From my least favorite to my favorite, here's how I'd rank every Black Ops game.

7 Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Released for PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2018

Black Ops 4 is actually one of the better-feeling games to play in the Black Ops series, but it's at the bottom of this list because it feels unfinished. Infamously, this Call of Duty game shipped without a campaign to meet the series' grueling release schedule. While people, myself included, love to critique Call of Duty campaigns, its absence in Black Ops 4 just makes the package feel incomplete.

This game is notable for introducing Blackout, Call of Duty's first take on the battle royale formula. The subsequent release and popularity of Warzone does make Blackout a little redundant now, though. There's nothing particularly bad about this game's interpretation of the standard multiplayer and zombies modes either, but they don't do enough to stand out and make up for the lack of a campaign.

6 Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

Released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in 2025

Black Ops 7 is a lot of fun, but it has issues that prevent me from ranking it higher. Namely, its use of generative AI for several pieces of in-game art related to progression and rewards gives the game a cheaper feel than its Black Ops brethren. The campaign, which is very co-op focused, also isn't for everyone.

That said, it builds upon the amazing omnimovement from Black Ops 6 to offer some of the best game feel of any Call of Duty game. Meanwhile, Endgame is the franchise's best attempt at an extraction shooter concept yet, multiplayer benefits from making skill-based matchmaking optional, and Zombies mode's Ashes of the Damned map is impressive in scale. If not for the AI usage, this game likely would have ranked higher.

5 Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

Released for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One in 2015

Black Ops 3 doesn't have as strong an identity as the other Black Ops games, so I'd deem it the most forgettable game in the franchise. That said, it's an important Call of Duty game from a design standpoint. This is the game that introduced ideas like a co-op campaign, Gunsmith, Operators (called Specialists here), and Gobblegums in Zombies, believe it or not.

While I can't say I look back on or think of Black Ops 3 very fondly, I can see that modern Call of Duty owes quite a lot to this game. There are several other Black Ops games that I would personally want to return to before this one, but this may be up there with the original Modern Warfare and Warzone as one of the most impactful games in the entire series.

4 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in 2020

After a long stretch of futuristic Black Ops games, Black Ops Cold War, set in the titular historical era, was a breath of fresh air. It gives the game a very different feel than most other games in the Call of Duty series. In particular, this features one of the best campaigns of any Call of Duty game in the past decade, with an entertaining blockbuster thriller of a story and some novel mission design that doesn't just boil down to point-and-shoot.

Black Ops Cold War's standard multiplayer modes were very enjoyable, though the new modes it introduced were mostly duds. This is also the first game that allowed players to bring their Loadouts from other modes into Zombies and exfiltrate mid-match, a design decision I'm still not very fond of. Despite those pitfalls, I like the campaign and core multiplayer modes of Black Ops Cold War enough that it's the first game on this list I still boot up from time to time.

3 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in 2024

Black Ops 6 was Call of Duty's grand return to the sub-series after four years, and it was fantastic. At launch, Zombies and Multiplayer both were in top form, massively benefiting from the new Omnimovement system, which drastically increased the number of movement options at the player's disposal. Its campaign was passable, if forgettable, too. If I were ranking these games at the release of Black Ops 6, I might have put this game even higher than it already is.

Unfortunately, this is a case of a game getting worse after its initial release. Content that was clearly created by generative AI started to pop up in the game. Crossover skins with animated series like Beavis and Butthead and American Dad also ruined any visual consistency it had established. That's a shame, as Black Ops 6 is otherwise one of my favorite Call of Duty games of the past decade.

2 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Released for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in 2012

I know Black Ops 2 is one of the most beloved games in the series. While I still really like it, I am cooler on this game than many others. Maybe it's because I became less invested in Call of Duty as a whole after Modern Warfare 3, but the futuristic jump Black Ops 2 made was jarring to me at the time. In retrospect, there is a lot to like about this game.

Multiplayer and Zombies were both at their peak in Black Ops 2. Some of the most iconic maps from the entire franchise for both modes come from this game. This is also the Call of Duty game to introduce the pick-ten system for multiplayer, which is beloved by Call of Duty fans. In many ways, Black Ops 2 was the quintessential Call of Duty game that future games would shape themselves in the image of.

1 Call of Duty: Black Ops

Released for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii in 2010

I couldn't put any other game in the top spot than the original Black Ops. It was released during what I consider the golden age of the Call of Duty franchise, and I have a lot of personal nostalgia for this game. Considering it was good enough to spawn six sequels, many others, and Activision itself, would probably agree with me. It's one of the best Call of Duty games ever made.

In particular, I have a fondness for its campaign, which is one of the best-written in the series. Alex Mason's psychological journey through the Cold War still holds a fond place in my heart as one of the most clever and surprising stories I have experienced in a AAA game. I have fond memories of playing its Multiplayer with my brother and friends, and this is the game that made Zombies the substantial side mode they are today. No other game is as deserving of the top spot on this list.

The Black Ops games are some of the best Call of Duty titles

While some Black Ops games are much better than others, I can honestly say that this is the most consistent sub-series in the Call of Duty franchise. If I were to rank every Call of Duty game ever made (let me know if that's something you want to see in the comments below), none of these games would be at the bottom of the list. Considering these games make up a sizeable chunk of the Call of Duty catalog, that's very impressive.

The first game in the series still holds up great today. However, I'd recommend Black Ops 6 over it if you're looking for a game with the community, cosmetic continuity, and the general feel of modern Call of Duty. While not every Black Ops game lives up to the standard of those titles, a game bearing this series' name will always intrigue me.