First-person shooters thrive off of a wide selection of weapons. From snipers to submachine guns, a wide range of guns helps keep any shooter engaging for dozens of hours whether in singleplayer or multiplayer. Call of Duty has done well with its weapon variety, but not necessarily its balance.
Most know of how overpowered virtually everything was in Modern Warfare 2, but every Call of Duty game has had their overpowered weapon that dominated the meta. Even as far back as the first Call of Duty, there have been guns that have dominated over the rest of the sandbox for better or worse. Here is the most overpowered weapon in every Call of Duty game. This list is ordered based on when the game released and not the weapon's power.
16 Call of Duty: Sturmgewehr 44
Typically referred to as the STG-44 by most Call of Duty players, the Sturmgewehr 44 in the first Call of Duty is one of the best weapons in the game. Most fully-automatic weapons lack the raw firepower of bolt-action rifles, but not the STG. This weapon shreds through any enemy in the campaign or multiplayer game modes.
15 Call of Duty 2: Mosin-Nagant
Before the Intervention took the Call of Duty community by storm, old-school CoD players used the Mosin-Nagant. This bolt-action rifle was a one-shot kill in the chest and head in any game mode. Combined with its clean iron sights and fast ADS speed, the Mosin-Nagant was a devastating weapon in the competitive multiplayer scene during Call of Duty 2.
14 Call of Duty 3: M1 Garand
Call of Duty 3's weapon balance was better than previous entries, but that isn't saying much considering each game's limited arsenal. With that said, some players gravitated towards the M1 Garand for its fast rate of fire, high damage profile, and quick reload. If it wasn't for the weapon needing to fire all 8 rounds before reloading, it would have been much stronger than it already was.
13 Call of Duty 4: M16A4
When it comes to the most overpowered weapons in Call of Duty history, few can match Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare's M16A4. For a starter weapon, the M16 featured a solid fire rate for a burst rifle and could kill enemies in 2 bullets anywhere on the body with Stopping Power. Needless to say, many players used this weapon during CoD 4 and its remaster's lifespan to great effect. No weapon came close to this thing's damage output.
12 Call of Duty World at War: Mp40
Not including pre-patch weapons in Call of Duty history, World At War's MP40 is by far the most overpowered weapon in Call of Duty history. Featuring a 32 round magazine—64 with the drum mag attachment—and a 4-shot damage profile from any range, this SMG outperformed most assault rifles and even bolt-actions at virtually all ranges.
It was even stronger up close, capable of two-tapping players not using Juggernaut. Stopping Power wasn't even needed thanks to how much damage it did, meaning many players ran Juggernaut with this weapon for even more health. It's shocking that Treyarch never patched this weapon.
11 Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: UMP45
Just as the MP40 blurred the line between SMG and assault rifle, the UMP45 is arguably a lightweight assault rifle in Modern Warfare 2. Capable of taking most enemies down in 3 to 5 shots, the UMP45 is an exceptional weapon on virtually any map. Using Rapid Fire alongside Stopping Power with this weapon turned it into a complete monster in MW2's various multiplayer modes.
10 Call of Duty Black Ops: FAMAS
Even after a rather massive nerf, the FAMAS dominated lobbies during Black Ops 1's lifespan. Many players also used the Galil, but the FAMAS has an absurdly fast rate of fire that rivals most SMGs while having the damage profile of an assault rifle. In other words, this weapon dominated all but the longest sightlines in multiplayer.
9 Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3: ACR
Don't mistake the ACR as a suboptimal pick in Modern Warfare 2. It was frequently used in that game as well, but something about Modern Warfare 3's sandbox turned the already fantastic ACR into a meta choice.
The gun has little recoil, great damage output with little falloff, and one of the best iron sights in CoD history. This weapon sat alongside the MP7 as the best weapon in MW3, although the ACR get the edge due to its longer damage range.
8 Call of Duty Black Ops 2: MSMC
It seems the older Call of Duty titles couldn't get the balance right between SMGs and assault rifles. Yet another SMG that bled into an assault rifle's role, the MSMC is one of the strongest and highest-damaging weapons in all of Black Ops 2 after the FAL and DSR-50 were nerfed. The MSMC has it all, including a fast reload time and great damage output. Adding a Rapid Fire attachment onto this weapon gives it one of the highest damage-per-second values of any Black Ops 2 weapon.
7 Call of Duty Ghosts: MTAR-X
Most players skipped out on Ghost's multiplayer due to a lack of major innovation. Those that did play it experienced a solid multiplayer offering with tons of variety. Ghosts had relatively good multiplayer balance overall, but most players stuck with the MTAR-X for the game's lifespan due to its versatility. Even as a submachine gun, the MTAR was able to use attachments that made it closer to an assault rifle or similar weapons. Despite its slow fire rate, the MTAR-X is one of the most forgiving and damaging weapons in Ghosts.
6 Call of Duty Advanced Warfare: BAL-27
Most Advanced Warfare players know just how overpowered the BAL-27 was. As the starting assault rifle, the BAL-27 caused frustration amongst the community with its incredibly quick time to kill and overpowered variants. Many players joked that Advanced Warfare should have been called "Bal of Duty" with how many players used it. Great accuracy, a fast reload, and a rapid fire rate were the main reasons the BAL felt so forgiving and was overused during the game's lifespan.
5 Call of Duty Black Ops 3: 205 Brecci
Treyarch hit their balance stride with Black Ops 2 yet decided to throw that experience away when designing the 205 Brecci in Black Ops 3. This rapid-fire shotgun can 2-tap players from any range.
Considering the game's fast movement mechanics and small maps, this resulted in plenty of Brecci shotgun rushers in every game two-shotting players from assault rifle ranges. As with the MP40, it's shocking this weapon was never nerfed.
4 Call of Duty Infinite Warfare: NV4
Infinity Ward tends to make the starter multiplayer weapons the best guns in any given installment. The NV4 from Infinite Warfare is yet another example of this trend. Similar to the MTAR-X, the NV4 traded pure lethality with versatility with its great ease-of-use and wide range of weapon variants that allowed this weapon to align with nearly any playstyle.
3 Call of Duty World War 2: BAR
Sledgehammer Games had to release many patches for WW2 to make the game somewhat balanced. Weapon and perk metas changed frequently during this game's lifespan, but the end of its life saw repeated usage of the BAR. This assault rifle could kill players with 3 shots from nearly any range. Alongside the weapon's low recoil, the BAR was a nightmare to go up against at nearly any range.
2 Call of Duty Black Ops 4: Auger DMR
It took over a decade of Call of Duty titles for a semi-automatic weapon to become arguably overpowered again. Black Ops 4's Auger DMR is a powerhouse in the right hands, capable of slaying opponents in as few as 2 shots. Equipping High-Caliber Rounds and a Laser Sight turned this weapon into a two-tap machine from the hip or while aiming. While semi-auto weapons have certainly seen use in previous games, none have maintained their relevancy as well as the Auger has.
1 Call of Duty Modern Warfare: M4A1
A reboot of the Modern Warfare series seemed to also bring the classic M4A1 back in full swing. While the M16 was the king of CoD 4, its fully-automatic cousin has taken the 2019 reboot by storm due to its incredible accuracy and solid damage profile. Out of all of the entries on this list, however, the M4A1 is most likely to change due to Infinity Ward's constant meddling with damage values without telling the community. As of Season 4, the FAL and CR56 Ace dominate Warzone and multiplayer, but Infinity Ward will likely change this in the future. What has stayed consistent is the M4's reliability and lethality.