If Hans Zimmer, Mr. Hollywood himself, contributes the soundtrack to a game, you almost expect it to be on a top list. However, it should be noted that a bit of marketing window dressing was involved here. Even though the theme was written by Zimmer, most of the score was composed by Lorne Balfe. That's just fine, though, as Balfe proves his skill with the pieces Ranger’s Lead the Way and Exodus from the Complete Edition of the game. The former, sad and solemn, shows us the melancholy we know from a wistful space opera like Edge of Chaos. Exodus, on the other hand, is a cross between Pirates of the Caribbean and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, which is thematically apt, but probably owes more to Balfe's background as the composer of AC3.

The first Call of Duty has earned my respect not only because of my admiration for star composer Michael Giacchino, but also because he had to set the tone for the series in its debut installment. He succeeds brilliantly, giving the drama the gravitas that such a serious subject as World War II requires. As a fan of classical composition, Ebenezer (Red Square), an orchestral version of the well-known melody of the same name, is naturally a highlight, but Band of Brothers, which is reminiscent of Pegasus Bridge, is also worth a listen. With a total of 13 tracks, however, it is difficult to achieve a critical mass of highlights, which means it does not make it beyond 9th place.

This ranking comes closest to the normal structure of a top list. Usually, you would stand there and say, “I like this score more, this one less, and boom, there's your list.” Of course, that doesn't work with my quantitative “Who has the most tracks with a 5 rating?” approach. So it's all the better that we now have a total of six albums, each with three top tracks. So I can sort them freely. That's why Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ends up in 8th place. Its theme represents a concrete break from the first three games in the series: away from World War II and into a modern military setting. That's why the music by Stephen Barton and Harry Gregson-Williams sounds a bit like an excerpt from a modern Bond-movie (Blackout) or the Black Hawk Downsquad (Outlaw Two-Five). I think it's great!

Well-made action is fun. It doesn't matter that we've already seen it in various movies or games. The three tracks I like in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 are those in which the orchestra, under the direction of composer Jack Wall and his colleagues, conjures up the apocalypse. The best example of this is The Final Standt, whose strings and percussion project stereotypical yet epic images onto our retinas.

Yes, Black Ops 7 is currently considered the worst installment in the series. But as we have repeatedly and happily discovered, a bad game does not necessarily mean a bad score. I particularly like three pieces from this score, which Jack Wall has once again delivered in collaboration with other composers: the classic Hollywood-esque theme Black Ops 7, the tribal-like Roji and the God of War-esque Raising Hell. The score may not win any awards for innovation, but it is a tad more entertaining than its predecessor – at least for me.

Call of Duty 2 is one of the few CoDs, I've played myself, which is why there's naturally a touch of nostalgia here. But you don't need rose-tinted glasses to praise Graeme Revell's stylish continuation of Giacchino's work. After all the newfangled iterations, it's refreshing to hear the pathos of violins and drums in Reinforcements to the Pointe . As lamentable as any war may be, this sad chapter in human history at least gave us some of the most moving melodies: from Saving Private Ryan on Band of Brothers to here, Call of Duty 2.

With Modern Warfare 3 from 2011, Marvel-master Brian Tyler was given the opportunity to try his luck and gave the score a style that is reminiscent of Crysis 2, on a small scale and, on a larger scale, primarily of his work for films such as Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark Kingdom or Avengers: Age of Ultron . Indie film fans are welcome to cry “mass market” and “interchangeable,” but I don’t care. If it means I have to do without pieces like Heroes, London Attack or End Credits , then you can call me a cretin.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, the second installment of the 2022 series reboot, unfortunately only makes it onto this list as an honorable mention. This is by no means due to the quality of the compositions written by Sarah Schachner for the game and Jason Graves for its Warzone mode, but rather to that of the original. The original featured big names such as Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe in 2009 and, despite having the same number of top tracks, pushes past the new edition to take 10th place. In contrast, the newcomer stands out with the short victory anthem Victorious and the dramatic Welcome to Al Mazrah .