Thanks to Activision's Call of Duty franchise, players can enjoy impressive action-packed stories of soldiers and special operatives saving the world with awesome weapons. Moreover, the game's enjoyable multiplayer mode made it one of the best FPS franchises to ever come to a gamer's arsenal of titles. Additionally, with a Modern Warfare remake, the battle royale Warzone, and phone-based Mobile, the hit action franchise has established a presence in almost all of gaming.

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Granted, Call of Duty remains heavily popular in the FPS scene. However, fans almost always know a Call of Duty game when they see one. After all, considering the franchise's almost-yearly release, it seems its games do share common elements. However, what elements do most Call of Duty games share?

10 Throw In The Shade

Greys and browns dominate a lot of COD games

Granted, modern Call of Duty games made a ton of improvement over their aesthetic and design choice. However, fans know Call of Duty has always been fond of browns, grays, and otherwise neutral tones for much of their visuals. As such, much of the games tend to feel "sandy" and "dusty," especially during explosions and other action set-pieces.

Unfortunately, some FPS newcomers do tend to look at Call of Duty's aesthetic choice as a bit "dull" in comparison to other titles. As Of course, this perception becomes contrasting to the series' FPS action staple.

9 Two Points Make A Line

Checkpoints scattered in between COD Missions

Unfortunately, Call of Duty has already become notorious for extremely linear campaigns. Players most likely know that all missions need them to go from Point A to Point B, trigger a cutscene, and proceed to the next level. Moreover, most of these levels have action set pieces, as well as scripted instances of exactly what happens and where opponents will come from.

Additionally, most levels force players to take a particular path and "blocking" other paths they see, especially in open areas. Granted, when done right, a lot of Call of Duty levels ended up pacing perfectly. When paired with the right cutscenes, a lot of levels end up becoming heart-wrenching and impactful. Unfortunately, most other levels end up just forcing a player through a straight path of enemies to kill.

8 Action Set Pieces Galore

Clean House mission

In speaking of set pieces, a lot of Call of Duty campaigns contain staple level designs that long-time fans will likely expect from each entry. For instance, players know they're in Call of Duty if they have an on-rails shooter level set inside a vehicle. Sometimes, wave after wave of enemies will rush towards the player. And in other instances, non-combat levels force players to participate in quick-time events.

Again, most recent Call of Duty entries tried to spice things up when it comes to level design. As a result, fans of the franchise ended up having certain levels tied close to their hearts. For instance, Modern Warfare's "All Ghillied Up" had Lt. John Price utilizes stealth mechanics to navigate an open base to assassinate a target. In the same game, "Clean House" sets players on a mission to clear a townhouse filled with both opponents and hostages, with players free to choose the route they'll take.

7 Everyone Is Macho Spec-Ops

Ultra hardcore protagonists going on a mission

Why is it that, whenever gamers get FPS titles, they always star some form of spec-ops operative? Granted, Call of Duty needs their characters to be specialized individuals to justify the action set pieces and awesome arsenals. And of course, only hardcore members of this secret rogue team within a mysterious section of an unknown organization working for a supposedly-defunct military project can conduct this high-stakes mission.

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Of course, much of the above falls under exaggeration. Regardless, unlike other military-themed games, Call of Duty doesn't hesitate to go over-the-top with their portrayal of memorable soldiers and protagonists as games progress. And sometimes, these over-the-top action sequences do result in memorable stories.

6 Compelling Missions

A rail level in COD Advanced Warfare

Of course, Call of Duty has quite the reputation for telling captivating stories. Critics can say what they will about the over-the-top action. However, some Call of Duty games got to shine thanks to compelling cutscenes and missions that just capture the storytelling-shooter mechanic the games aim for.

For instance, "Suffer With Me" in Black Ops 2 culminated with a sniper shot that resulted in one of the most agonizing story sequences at the end of an otherwise-ordinary level. Moreover, blood-pumping missions such as Advanced Warfare's "Terminus" and Black Ops 1's "Vorkuta" would have players lean towards their seats in anticipation.

5 Welcome Plot Armor

The player in a critical state

Another notable Call of Duty element would be its weird health system. Outside the first few games in the franchise, Call of Duty relies on a "blur" mechanic to denote various instances in the gameplay environment. For instance, players experience shellshock — where everything gets slow — after explosions, which does add a bit of realism.

However, why can players instantly recover from wounds just by hiding or taking cover? It's such a sharp contrast to what "leads" to this mechanic, where players don't rely on health bars and instead the entire game shows blisters of red and blurriness as players gravitate to lethal levels of damage. Of course, this quirky mechanic does help players stay longer in fights as Call of Duty is an action franchise.

4 Quirky Knives, Accessories

A view from a shield

All FPS titles are guilty of making weapons and accessories a bit too powerful for the sake of fun. However, as a long-time brand, Call of Duty does have its unique share of quirky guns and accessory mechanics unique to the franchise.

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For instance, unlike ballistic shields in games like Rainbow Six, riot shields in real life won't last long against bullets unlike their portrayal in Call of Duty. On another note, how come players can heal from lethal damage by being in cover but can be one-hit with a knife?

3 Killstreaks

Using a Killstreak

Another quirky mechanic in Call of Duty would be Killstreaks in multiplayer matches. In essence, players receive numerous benefits the more players they kill in a streak. Three kills let them tap into a UAV drone, revealing enemy positions. Meanwhile, five kills give them an Airstrike to bomb certain targets. Lastly, seven kills allow players to deploy an actual Helicopter to wreak havoc against opponents.

Killstreaks serve as a nice way to get players into performing better in matches. However, they do seem funny in the context of real-life battles. For instance, does this mean soldiers have to count their kills in order to get support? And how come higher-ups give support to the winning side? Wouldn't the losing side deploy their reinforcements?

2 And Then, Zombies

The popular Zombies mode

What other military-themed FPS title has an entire game mode for zombies? Interestingly, the now-iconic Zombies Mode in Call of Duty didn't come in until later in 20018, in World at War. Developers inserted a random zombies mini-game in the title that they didn't expect to be a massive hit. As such, modern titles moving forward now feature maps and content exclusively for this mode.

This mode serves as a nice change of pace away from the campaign and multiplayer modes of Call of Duty. After all, sometimes all players need is a good session of just killing through hordes of zombies to protect their base.

1 The Numbers, Mason

A COD Meme

Quirky and ironically iconic moments remain something to look forward to for Call of Duty fans. Funnily enough, some weird mechanics, encounters, or cutscenes in the game can become a pop culture phenomenon by accident. And unlike other games, Call of Duty got to give the world some of the funniest memes out there.

For instance, "Revelations" in Black Ops 1 finally revealed to players "what the numbers meant," spawning the popular meme. Moreover, Advanced Warfare's iconic funeral scene had the "Press F to pay respects" mechanic also become a funny communication phenomenon for both fans and non-fans alike.

NEXT: Modern Warfare: 5 Campaign Characters That Should Be Operators (& 5 That Shouldn’t)