17. Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War
Originally in development by Raven and Sledgehammer Games, the seventeenth entry in the bestselling FPS franchise underwent major changes as friction between the game’s developers began to rear their ugly head.
As a result, Sledgehammer Games was dropped from development, and Treyarch were charged with dragging the title over the finish line. Interestingly, 2020’s Cold War wasn’t even planned to be a Black Ops installment. Let that sink in for a sec.
Of course, all these issues ultimately went on to have a profound impact on the final product, which resulted in some dodgy net code, technical issues, and just a general feeling of been-there-done-that. Despite all of said problems, though, Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War still went on to become the biggest-selling game of 2020 in the US, which is pretty impressive, no?
16. Call of Duty: Vanguard
After four years away, it was time for the popular military first-person shooter series to return to the muddy trenches of World War II. Indeed, it’s safe to say that Vanguard is yet another installment that isn’t particularly fondly remembered by the fanbase.
Developed solely by Sledgehammer Games, 2021’s Vanguard saw the introduction of Combat Pacing, which gave players a little control over the size of multiplayer lobbies, as well as an impressive number of multiplayer maps at launch. The campaign was also pretty decent, with some memorable set-pieces and story twists.
Unfortunately, though, the Zombies mode released like a fart in the wind, as it felt utterly incomplete content-wise. And to add insult to injury, the ray gun — an iconic fan favorite weapon — wasn’t even included. Absolutely bonkers!
