The Hardest Trophies And Achievements In Call of Duty History

Since Call of Duty: World at War released in 2008, every Call of Duty game has had a trophy and achievement list for players to work through. While some lists have been simple and straightforward, which is seen with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s trophies, other lineups have seen players needing to master every facet of the game to find success. While many of the franchise’s trophy lists offer the standard objectives of completing the campaign, some sneak in a brutally difficult challenge here and there.

Whether it be in the campaign, multiplayer, or Zombies, Call of Duty players with a passion for trophy hunting have faced down some tough tasks over the years. Whether it be a brutal Zombies easter egg, luck based RNG challenges, or a borderline unfair campaign request, there is just as much variety in these trophies as there is difficulty. For anyone looking for a challenge, or simply trying to keep track of some achievements to avoid pursuing in the first place, here are the toughest trophies that have ever appeared inside the Call of Duty franchise.

Kicking things off is the first Call of Duty game to include trophies, and the list was quite the doozy. However, these two trophies stand out as particularly troublesome, with the pairing blocking may players off from reaching 100% completion for the game. For Hardened War Hero, players needed to complete every mission on Veteran difficult. While this is standard for the Call of Duty franchise, the issue here was just how absurd Veteran was. Widely regarded as the hardest version of the hard mode the series has ever seen, one-shot deaths and never-ending grenade spam from enemies ensured that this objective was painful.

As for Sum of All Zeroes, absurd reflexes were needed to add this badge of honor to a trophy case. Players needed to shoot down 45 of 57 Japanese planes during the mission “Black Cats.” Not only does ensure that there is almost no room for error, but the planes move overhead at an absurd speed — so much so that spawns will need to be memorized. A process that could require hours of trying the same section on repeat, plenty of patience is needed. With Call of Duty 2021 supposedly returning to World War 2, hopefully the achievement list is more like Call of Duty: WW2 and less like Call of Duty: World at War.

After Call of Duty: World at War, easier trophy lists became the norm for the next few years. While there were some challenging objectives, like “Star 69” in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, nothing was brutally difficult. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 changed this in 2012, however, offering a tough grind in the form of Giant Accomplishment. This trophy tasked players with completing 160 different campaign challenges, many of which were obscure and lacked proper guides online. While guides have since come, this is still an incredibly demanding task that requires replays of every single mission.

As for Tower of Babble, players are forced to complete the easter egg in the Zombies map TranZit. Not only is the main quest hard to pull off due to the gameplay flaws of the map, but RNG requirements like getting the EMP grenades from the box make it even more painful. While players can choose from two sides, the “easier” objective requires four players — meaning that those who only have one friend need perfect timing and practice. With the easter egg not doable solo and objectives requiring players to leave the power off, ensuring that they have no perks, this trophy is a Platinum blocker for many.