Call of Duty 1

Call of Duty 1 came out in 2003 and basically rewrote the rulebook for WWII shooters by focusing on squad-based combat and cinematic set pieces instead of the lone-wolf power fantasy that Medal of Honor had been pushing. You play through three interlinked campaigns as an American paratrooper, a British SAS commando, and a Soviet tank crewman, and the game constantly reminds you that you're just one small piece of a much bigger war. The core gameplay loop is all about scripted intensity, squad cohesion, and run-and-gun firefights with a heavy emphasis on cover and positioning.

Your AI squadmates actually do stuff—they call out enemy positions, throw grenades, and push forward with you—which makes firefights feel chaotic and alive in a way most shooters at the time didn't. You've got your standard WWII arsenal: bolt-action rifles, submachine guns, grenades, and mounted machine guns, and the game uses a health pack system instead of regenerating health, so every bullet you take actually matters. There's no iron sights mechanic yet—you just point and shoot—but the level design keeps things varied with tank sections, stealth missions, and full-scale assaults on bunkers and bridges.

The iconic compass at the bottom of the screen shows you where objectives are, and the game loves throwing scripted events at you, like buildings collapsing or enemy waves charging across open ground. It's short, it's linear, and it's scripted to hell, but that's exactly what makes it work. Call of Duty 1 set the template that the entire franchise would follow for decades, and it still holds up as a tight, thrilling slice of WWII action.