First-person shooters thrive off of their weapons. Guns are always on screen in FPS titles, which means having a wide selection of them that feel distinct from the last is important to keep the game fresh. Call of Duty has learned this well, introducing new weapons with each installment.
With that said, more recent Call of Duty titles have had fewer weapons to use than in older titles. Here are all of the major Call of Duty games ranked by weapon variety. This list will not include mounted weapons such as turrets, guns from Zombies or Extinction, variants of the same weapon, or Specialist weapons as seen in Black Ops 3 and 4. Weapons from the campaign and added post-launch are taken into account.
16 Call Of Duty (19)
It makes sense that the first Call of Duty title would have the fewest amount of weapons for players to use.
With that said, each of Call of Duty's 19 weapons feels distinct from each other and would set the rather high bar for weapon quality that future games would have to meet.
15 Call Of Duty 3 (19)
Treyarch's first Call of Duty game also had 19 weapons in it. Call of Duty 3 carried many of the weapons from the first two entries over while adding little on its own.
Standard bolt-action rifles and support machine guns existed as fans came to expect, but this game played it rather safe with its variety of weapons.
14 Call Of Duty 2 (23)
Call of Duty 2 had a much larger emphasis on the eastern front of World War 2, and the weapons players could use respected this.
Classics like the PPSh and Mosin-Nagant showed their true power in this game, but the other factions received new weapons as well.
13 Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (27)
Many might be surprised by how few weapons are in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The franchise's first entry point into the modern setting had many more weapons compared to earlier Call of Duty titles, but it is lacking compared to over a decade of additions since.
Its inclusion of perks in multiplayer and a progression system was also a great surprise that shaped the FPS genre forever.
12 Call Of Duty: World At War (29)
World At War contains most of World War 2's iconic arsenal while adding its own weapons to differentiate itself from previous titles. Even though this game had the most varied sandbox for a World War 2 Call of Duty game for years, it would eventually be overtaken by Call of Duty: WWII's massive array of weaponry.
Still, this is one of the few Call of Duty games that allowed players to control tanks in large-scale game types.
11 Call Of Duty: Ghosts (45)
Including the Ripper and both versions of the Maverick, Call of Duty: Ghosts has 45 weapons shared between its campaign and multiplayer modes.
Despite fan fatigue with modern Call of Duty titles at this point, Ghosts arguably has one of the best weapon sandboxes out of any CoD title, featuring a healthy mix of rifles, submachine guns, and powerful shotguns. The game's larger maps even gave sniper rifles a chance to shine.
10 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (46)
While CoD 4's new roster of weapons was good enough for that game, few Call of Duty titles can match the pure insanity of Modern Warfare 2's weapons.
Infinity Ward introduced akimbo weapons, turned shotguns into secondary weapons, buffed explosives to be downright overpowered, and added killstreaks to further fuel the carnage. Its balance ethos was focused on making every weapon feel powerful, and they succeeded with flying colors.
9 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 (46)
Black Ops 4's weapon roster is a mix of classic weapons from previous Black Ops games while also bringing a new mix of its own. Most weapons from the older titles were brought back as post-launch content, but the core weapon roster Treyarch made was varied enough to keep the game interesting.
Since Black Ops 4 made the time-to-kill much higher than previous games, weapons had more room to shine in the sandbox with more varied TTK values.
8 Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare (47)
Few games can say they have weapons that 3D print bullets or fire lasers. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare made many changes to the formula by adding exo-suits and introducing a whole new suite of weapons.
Weapon variants were also introduced in this game, although the actual number of weapons is 47 when not including these. Still, the variety that these weapons provide makes Advanced Warfare one of the more unique CoD titles.
7 Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare (49)
Infinity Ward had the same issue with Infinite Warfare as they did with Ghosts. Call of Duty fans were sick of futuristic shooters and wanted something else, which resulted in Infinite Warfare being resented by most of the fanbase.
However, the few who played it know how powerful the weapons in this game were. Energy weapons, SMGs with double barrels, and a sniper rifle that was also a shotgun are just a few examples of Infinite Warfare's weapon sandbox.
6 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare (50 As Of Season 4)
After Season 4's third weapon releases sometime in the future, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will have 50 weapons for players to use. Unlike most titles, Modern Warfare allows players to modify nearly every aspect of their weapon through the Gunsmith.
Anything from adding scopes to converting the weapon's ammo type is possible with this system, allowing for tens of thousands of combinations. Even without this system, 50 weapons are more than enough to allow for variance in each of the game's weapon categories.
5 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (52)
Many complained when Modern Warfare 3 released that it was Modern Warfare 2 with a balance patch. It did borrow weapons and perks from previous MW games, but the game couldn't have played any different.
Strike Packages and the Specialist Package complimented the new weapons Infinity Ward added. The inclusion of weapon mastery perks was a great addition as well that allowed players to fine-tune their favorite weapons as they saw fit.
4 Call Of Duty: Black Ops (53)
Besides futuristic CoD titles, few entries in this franchise saw the type of variety that Call of Duty: Black Ops provided.
Its unique setting allowed for strange weapons like the Crossbow and Ballistic Knife to have a use. This variety also extended to the game's game types and maps, making for one of the most varied Call of Duty titles ever released.
3 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 (61)
If post-launch weapons were not included, Black Ops 3 would have substantially fewer weapons. The game's post-launch weapons were tied behind loot boxes that the community couldn't stand.
With that said, they did add a large selection of weapons to the game that kept the sandbox interesting. Few Call of Duty games can match the number of SMGs and assault rifles Black Ops 3 had, let alone the entire roster available.
2 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 (65)
Including Black Ops 2 is almost cheating considering this game used many of the first Black Ops' weapons for the campaign. Still, the number of weapons players could use has only been surpassed by one Call of Duty game since.
Customizable loadouts in the campaign and the Pick 10 Create-A-Class system did wonders for this game's weapon sandbox and made for one of the most fun and balanced metas Call of Duty has ever seen.
1 Call Of Duty: WWII (77)
Sledgehammer's Call of Duty: WWII has a whopping 77 weapons players can use! Unlike Black Ops 2 where most of the weapons were in the campaign, nearly every weapon is usable in multiplayer.
The sheer volume of weapons in this game might sound great in theory, but it leads to many weapons in WWII feeling the same and having little room to stand out from each other. Objectively speaking, though, WWII has the most weapons when not including variants by a landslide.