Call of Duty, like every other game on the market, has its own iconic soundtracks that have made the franchise memorable. In the twenty-or-so-year history of the Call of Duty series, we’ve heard some portions of these soundtracks that’ll stay with us for years. However, there are a few songs or compositions that really are landmark tracks that have helped shape the series – and in this guide, we’re taking a look at those top Call of Duty soundtracks, fully breaking them down.
From Call of Duty Zombies to the traditional multiplayer games, and from promotional performances to menu music, so many parts of the collection of all the Call of Duty soundtracks are deeply memorable. They call us back to days gone by, they energise us, or they fill us with dread. There’s something so powerful and raw about a good game soundtrack, but which of the Call of Duty soundtracks is most recognisable or iconic?
Let’s see how many of these tracks you recognise.
The Scariest Call of Duty Soundtrack
We’ll kick off our breakdown of Call of Duty soundtracks with a piece that literally gives us chills – and everyone else, we’d assume. In 2010’s Black Ops Zombies – often considered the best Zombies game ever by some – we hear a soundtrack that fills us with fear. It’s an ethereal, ominous soundtrack that teleports us back to 2010, playing Black Ops and trying to reach as high a round count as possible. Here’s the track:
The Most Memorable Call of Duty Soundtrack
It’s only a small piece of one of the best Call of Duty soundtracks, but the main menu music for 2009’s Modern Warfare 2 really was something special. It’s iconic, and it has been heard by tens of millions of players around the world. As Modern Warfare 2 is considered by many to be the best Call of Duty game ever, we just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to include it in this breakdown. Here’s the track, but be warned – you’ll start to feel nostalgic as soon as you hear it!
The Saddest Call of Duty Soundtrack
We’re sorry, but we need to bring up those miserable, old-school memories. In 2009’s Modern Warfare 2, players witnessed a scene of betrayal like never before, and it shocked them to their core. It was a heartbreaking scene, and the words ‘one less loose end’ will stick with them forever. There’s a piece of the MW2 soundtrack that goes hand-in-hand with this scene, and it’s a heart-wrenching track that calls players back to that fateful mission…
The Call of Duty Soundtrack We Want Back
In 2020, Call of Duty: Warzone was released, bringing with it an all-new experience for Call of Duty players the world over. It quickly became one of the most popular battle royale games in the history of gaming, and it went hand-in-hand with an intense, energising soundtrack. Sadly, since Verdansk was eliminated from Call of Duty: Warzone in 2021, we’ve lost the soundtrack, but it’s still in our memories, living strong, and we hope that one day, we’ll return to that ill-fated region.
The Best Promotional Call of Duty Soundtrack
In 2013, Call of Duty: Ghosts was released, a one-shot title that passed from our memory with relative ease. However, one part of the game that hasn’t been forgotten is the promotional track that was released by Eminem to market the game – Survival. With a hard-hitting beat, punchy flow, and aggressive lyrics, Survival was a fantastic track in 2013 and it remains the same today, easily standing tall as one of the best promotional Call of Duty tracks ever.
In general, a good soundtrack will enhance the overall gaming experience, and there’s no doubt about that. For every good game, there’s a great soundtrack, and that’s true regardless of whether you’re talking about Battlefield, Fallout, The Sims, Grand Theft Auto, or Red Dead Redemption. If it’s a top-tier series, it’ll have a fantastic soundtrack – and some of these soundtracks are composed, curated, and compiled by some of the biggest names in music.
Call of Duty’s soundtracks are no stranger to that fact. As time goes on, the production value of each new Call of Duty game swells, and that means that there’s more money available to pump into things like the soundtrack. It makes for a guarantee that the sounds accompanying every Call of Duty game will be as sweet as can be.
Which Call of Duty game has the best soundtrack in your eyes?