Ranking the 10 best Call of Duty maps ever
After playing Call of Duty games for so many years, it’s often crossed our mind, which is the best CoD map of all time? So we’ve gone through them all, and come up with what we believe to be the 10 best ever, and ranked them.
Between Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Sledgehammer Games, and Raven Software, the franchise’s main developers have created some astonishingly good maps over the years. Some have stood the test of time, with some becoming recurring features in multiple CoD games.
We decided to take the unenviable task of going through every single Call of Duty online multiplayer map and trying to pick the top 10 ever. Some CoD games don’t feature at all, and that doesn’t necessarily mean they were bad games, it’s just that some did it better.
Here is our official ranking of Call of Duty’s 10 best maps ever.
10. The Pines
Black Ops Cold War probably won’t go down in the annals as an all-time great, but it’s had plenty of highspots, including The Pines.
A throwback to a certain, classic 1980s film, The Pines has a great environment to explore with frantic battles in shops, lots of verticality, several perch-type spots, and the middle of the map is very accessible thanks to walls and its fountain.
Also, see where it ranked on our list of the best Black Ops Cold War maps!
9. Highrise
Modern Warfare 2 gave birth to the craziness of 360 no-scoping, quickscoping, and various other ridiculous sniping tricks that would become permanently etched in the early days of YouTube.
Lots of players we know now got their start using Highrise to climb to fame, and that’s also because it’s a great map. You can always use either building to become engaged in heated battles and use them for range before inevitably flying down to the rooftop below for even more conflict.
8. Bloc
On the other hand, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’s Bloc is probably the finest example of a sniping map in the series’ storied history.
Its predominant feature is the two opposing, war-torn apartment blocs that are quite literally set up for a battle of Sniper Rifles. It’s always great fun moving from window to window and changing floors to vary your attack. If that wasn’t your thing, then Bloc has plenty of avenues to storm both buildings and move around the edges of the map to ambush.
7. Rust
Before “1v1 me in the Gulag“, there was Rust. Taking the idea of a small map from CoD4’s Shipment, Rust still manages to create a small playground but added so many possibilities.
From its stairs-esque shaft to the ladder taking you to the top, there are so many ways you could get the jump on your opponent. Rust also has a myriad of crevices to move around in, making this tiny map feel massive.
6. Rammaza
Rammaza is not only a bright spot in an otherwise divisive 2019 Modern Warfare reboot, it’s also just a classic Call of Duty map.
With three different levels of fighting possible, a multitude of different ladders and stairs to allow fluid traversal, Rammaza is just big enough and has all its obstacles in the right place. It’s a great map on any game mode and one that we’d definitely like to see return.
5. Strike
There isn’t a wasted space in quite a sizable Strike map. The spawn points are well-hidden and it doesn’t feel bare in any parts.
It has several key spots such as the iconic middle building, the kitchen area, the houses near each spawn, and there are genuinely so many different ways to play it. Search & Destroy was a particular delight to play on Strike, and it’s aged very well.
4. Raid
Raid might be the most scenic and stunning map on this list with this luxurious hollywood home boasting incredible architecture, mega-expensive sports cars, and even its own basketball court.
The map just feels unique and underlines this by allowing you to swim under its pool. It’s well-connected by the middle’s garden area and again, firefights can literally take place anywhere on the map. It was one of Black Ops Cold War’s first classic maps to be added to the game, and that’s because it’s still incredibly popular to do this day.
3. Firing Range
Another smaller map that manages to cram so much into it that it’s hard not to love. The concept is great as we’ve found ourselves on these practice ranges in multiple CoD games, so now actually trying to kill people on it feels apt.
Firing Range is a hotbed for high-scoring games, but unlike a map such as Nuketown, Firing Range feels fair and doesn’t feel like you’ll be spawn-trapped for multiple deaths in a row. It’s definitely the best “small” map in Call of Duty history and we’re sure we’ll be seeing it for multiple games to come.
2. Terminal
To many, the top spot is always going to boil down between one of two maps, and our number two spot goes to Terminal. If the action had perhaps been locked down to only the outside or inside, then Terminal wouldn’t fair so well.
But thankfully it doesn’t, and it leads to lots of crazy matches with close-range combat, long-range sniping, and everything in-between. Terminal perfectly manages to capture the balance of gameplay, whilst providing a cool backdrop at the same time.
1. Crash
The best map honor goes to Crash. If the sight of that destroyed helicopter doesn’t make you feel nostalgic then you probably never played Call of Duty 4. Infinity Ward’s take on modern warfare changed first-person shooters forever, and Crash is symbolic of this.
Gone were the days of the arena shooter, Crash represented a new era of detailed, intricate, multi-channeled maps with new ways to play each time. Whether you stayed at the top of the street to snipe down a lane, or headed to the bottom to ascend the three-story building, Crash had everything and more to make a map you wanted to play time and time again.
Which is why we believe it’s the best map in Call of Duty history.
Also, check out our 5 best Call of Duty games ever ranked: Full tier list too.
Do you disagree with any of our selections? Be sure to let us know on our Charlie INTEL Facebook Page and Charlie INTEL Twitter Page!
Image credits: Activision / Infinity Ward / Treyarch / Sledgehammer Games