Best Small COD Maps

Summary

• Call of Duty’s small maps are fast-paced, chaotic, and iconic across various installments.
• New small maps like Babylon and Subsonic in Black Ops 6 offer unique gameplay experiences.
• Classic small maps like Rust, Nuketown, and Shipment continue to provide intense action and nostalgia.

Whether you let out a groan of disappointment or a sigh of relief as they grace your loading screen, the small maps of Call of Duty hold a special place in the hearts and minds of gamers around the world. Fast-paced, chaotic, and explosively loud, what these claustrophobic deathtraps lack in substance they make up for in excitement.

From earlier installments of Call of Duty to the latest and greatest of the series, the game’s smallest maps have often become its most iconic, surviving across iterations to be remade, re-imagined, and re-skinned in new and interesting ways. Come along for a trip down memory lane to discover the best small maps the series has to offer.

Updated on December 19, 2024 by Tom Hopkins: Now that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is out, there are new small maps to compare. The latest game has been well received, with some of the maps becoming fan favourites quickly. The new small maps have been added to the ranking below.

12 Babylon

For a modern Call of Duty, Babylon from Black Ops 6 is pretty old school. Rather than focusing on three lanes of action, there’s a central structure to the map where a lot of the action focuses. Grenades will be chucked in there constantly, particularly in modes like Domination and Hardpoint, so keep your head down.

The lack of vertical elements is great and the layout ensures fights are spread out across the map. The only downside of Babylon comes when playing Domination. If your team spawns in the structure with archway exits, there’s a high chance you’ll be spawn-trapped by the other team.

11 Shoot House

First making its debut in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s deserts of Urzikstan, then getting a remake in Modern Warfare 2’s Mexican city of Las Almas, Shoot House features heavily-protected spawn points that funnel players through narrow doorways into compartmentalized points of contact.

With limited high ground, players have to rely on what small bits of cover are available, if they want to attempt what will inevitably turn out to be a close-range sniper shot. Otherwise, stick to submachine guns and assault rifles, back into a tight corner and let the action come to you.

10 Subsonic

Subsonic is another small map from Black Ops 6 that has a central focus to the map and very little in the way of verticality. The hanger in the middle of the map is perfect for objective-based modes, allowing players to hide on or under fighter jet. Also, the hangar doors that open and close throughout the map add a real unique element to it.

Also, the open area on one side of the map, near the crater, adds variety to the map and opens up the opportunity for some longer-range fights. When playing, be prepared to shout at your teammates who keep closing the doors.

9 Firing Range

Firing Range takes the narrow, central open-air concept of Nuketown and throws in a few extra entry points that force players to stay frosty while passing through. It also shifts the overall map shape from square to a sort of bent ‘L’ that encourages a more dynamic diagonal flow of play instead of getting stuck in a repetitive meet-in-the-middle-and-die scenario.

But there’s no lack of action at the center of Firing Range. Running inside one of the multi-story structures that form the perimeter of the map’s core all but ensures you’re about to be engaged by an enemy protecting an objective or camping for an easy kill. Watch out for claymores, and you’ll be well on your way to taking care of any snipers tormenting your team’s spawn.

8 Strikezone

Put away the LMGs and sniper rifles, and whip out whatever you have in your arsenal with a high rate of fire, because things are about to get frenzied. This war-torn baseball stadium in Call of Duty: Ghosts has seen better days, but that doesn’t mean you can’t spruce it up with a few fresh bullet holes.

Strikezone is about as close to a maze as you’ll find in the long list of Call of Duty maps, which means players who’ve memorized the layout, and have experience running submachine guns or shotguns, will have an easier time tipping the balance in their favor. Check your corners, and maybe you’ll survive long enough to earn a killstreak or two.

7 Combine

Time travel to 2065 to wage futuristic warfare on Combine, a hectic Black Ops 3 map that features a well-balanced mix of tight-cornered interiors and hard-to-clear exteriors. Combine’s layout bears some resemblance to Slums, but with fewer safe spots for snipers to set up shop.

If you’re not afraid of heights, test your coordination with a wall run along the corridor on the north edge of the map. Pull it off without falling (or taking a bullet mid-run) and you’ll be well on your way to a successful flank of the enemy team.

6 Rust

Maybe Modern Warfare 2’s most iconic map, Rust is similar to shipment but with a little more cover and a vertically-oriented central flashpoint. This all makes for less predictable gameplay that’s tougher to strategize around but almost always makes for an action-packed match.

Rust has returned for new games, so you can 1v1 players on games that aren’t Modern Warfare 2.

Rust balances the advantage gained by players who take the high ground by forcing them to contend with increased exposure, making them vulnerable to assault rifle fire and cooked grenades tossed from the base of the structure. Be patient when you rotate, you can use the various nooks and crannies to sneak within lethal striking distance of your opponents.

5 Hijacked

A Black Ops II classic, Hijacked takes to the waves on a commandeered superyacht that keeps things up close and personal. Despite having three levels on which to unleash the submachine gun-fueled chaos, most of the action takes place on the main deck, where two narrow walkways form a ring around central towers with vantage points for sniping.

Stay mobile and be prepared to hurl some grenades, especially if you decide to push the enemy team’s spawn on the other end of the ship. And keep clear of the tower interiors unless you’re prepared to take a shotgun blast to the face.

4 Slums

This Black Ops 2 staple pits the ISA against the Mercs in a tropical Panamanian town that looks far fancier than its name suggests. Its layout consists of a series of narrow streets and alleys that wind around a central courtyard.

Despite not having much verticality, Slums is on the larger end of the small map category and has a few long stretches with unobstructed lines of sight. Snipers can find success setting up on the East-West margins of the map, or, if you can protect your flank, near one of the entrances to the action-packed courtyard.

3 Shipment

In Call of Duty Black Ops: Declassified, it goes by Container. In Ghosts, it goes by Showtime. Regardless of the name, design tweaks or the installment on which it makes its appearance, Shipment is reliably one of the smallest maps you’ll drop into.

Shipment is usually added to new Modern Warfare and Infinity Ward games, so it’ll keep appearing.

The double XP weekend and 24-hour playlist darling guarantees maximum carnage by providing minimum cover and funneling players into a game of cat and mouse that culminates in a tight, four-way central intersection that is designed to minimize survivability.

2 Dome

Not to be mistaken for the Modern Warfare 3 map of the same name, this World at War arena transports players to the top of what’s left of Berlin’s Reichstag for an indoor-outdoor battle that prioritizes close-quarters combat but also allows for some well-planned ranged engagement.

Watch out for flankers and campers around the margins of the map, and plan on pushing the second story if you want to take the advantage away from enemy snipers and force a spawn swap. Holding the interior isn’t always the best strategy, but that added cover from airborne killstreaks can come in handy.

1 Nuketown

The all-time Call of Duty classic made its debut in the first installment of Black Ops, and players haven’t looked back since. Nuketown’s action is never farther than a barrel’s-length away, as players sprint through its nearly-symmetrical layout that features a pair of two-story homes, a school bus, and a tractor trailer.

There have been various Nuketown variations released over the years, but the original version is still the best.

Its most recent rendition in Black Ops: Cold War introduces some decay to the picturesque, white-picket-fence 1950s neighborhood aesthetic, but otherwise keeps the layout true to its roots. Stick around after the match for a positively explosive nuclear test that’ll render unrecognizable of all the destruction you left in your wake.