Introduction
Call
of Duty 2 stood out as one of the most prominent launch
titles for the Xbox 360 last year with its jaw dropping
visuals and intense combat experience. Instead of
being developed by Infinity Ward, however, Call of
Duty 3 was made Treyarch, the makers responsible for
Big Red One on the PlayStation 2. Although the gameplay
mechanics haven’t evolved much, the immensely
revamped multiplayer modes and great production values
make this release worthy of the Call of Duty name.
A
Whole Year Later
After
having an entire year to tinker around with the 360's
hardware, it's clear that developers like Treyarch
are surely getting an understanding of what can be
done. For starters, the newly introduced semi-destructible
environments are a step in the right direction. Seeing
crates explode and wine bottles leak amidst a heavy
firefight adds a realistic touch, but, as is the case
with most games, there are still a handful of invincible
objects that don't fit right at all. Another major
improvement includes the toned up environments. Every
blade of grass will rustle in your face as you go
prone, and traveling through the deep vegetation in
a forest setting has never looked so good. In addition,
there's a cool new depth of field blur effect that
replicates your soldier's eyes adjusting to the sights,
and all of the little features like this really add
up to a nice package. The texture detail looks marginally
better than Call of Duty 2, while the explosion and
particle effects look sharp as always. The outdoor
levels look distinct and varied, but it's not uncommon
to be overcome with déjà vu once you've
made your way through several buildings. The only
other problem is that you are unable to skip through
cutscenes, and even though these cinematics are more
engaging than last year, it can be real annoying to
have to forcibly watch the same intro after you restart
your Xbox.
As
expected from this series, the sound here is nothing
short of exemplary. The character accents, including
the Americans, British, Canadians, and Polish, are
nice and strong to truly emphasize their differences.
Characters are also played up to help you become more
attached to the storyline, so cliché comrades
like the hardened war general and the nervous radio
operator make appearances. The sound effects on the
battlefield are possibly this games best feature.
Especially if you have a surround sound setup, it's
hard not to appreciate the nonstop bombardment of
explosions, whizzing bullets, and battle cries as
you struggle for survival. Now, your squad will shout
commands that actually give good advice, so if you
hear orders to flank an enemy or take cover behind
an object you better listen. The musical pieces are
as inspiring as always, so you can expect to hear
some fresh instrumental pieces to get you in the mood
for fighting.
It’s
Off to Normandy
Past games
have a more broadened focus on the WWII era by featuring
campaigns that span throughout Europe and Africa,
but Call of Duty 3 has a centralized focus on the
Normandy Breakout. We join the Allies on their struggle
to liberate Paris, so your objective is to control
each of the four aforementioned nations to get the
job done. For the first time ever players can control
both the Canadian and Polish forces, and it's always
good to view the war from different perspectives.
The combat
system hasn't evolved too much since the last release,
but that doesn't mean the new changes have gone unnoticed.
For starters, players can now cook grenades instead
of tossing them off right away, so if you time it
just right your enemies will have no chance to scramble.
However, if you carelessly throw a frag without cooking
it, the opposition now has the ability to pick it
up and throw it right back. This can be a dangerous
maneuver because waiting too long will result in death,
but on the other hand there's nothing more satisfying
than killing a friend with his own weapon. Smoke grenades
make a comeback here, except this time around these
grenades emit an appropriately thick fog that can
help your presence go undetected. Like last year,
the health bar has been replaced, allowing gamers
to be fully restored if they find cover for a few
seconds. The screen will increasingly become encompassed
with a crimson red circle if you're in danger, and
this sign should definitely not be ignored.
To
help spice things up a tad, some of your mundane tasks
can no longer be performed by the press of a button.
For example, if you are going to plant a fuse you
have to press a face button, rotate the control stick,
and then press another button. This does make the
process a little more involving, but it seems as if
this was tacked on just for the sake of being different
because it frankly isn't fun at all. On a more exciting
note, sometimes an enemy will charge at you and attempt
to melee you with his rifle. This will engage a minigame
in which you press the two triggers back and forth
to push him away, and if you are successful you can
deliver a finishing blow. These moments only occur
a handful of times throughout the entire fourteen
mission campaign, but when they do show up the brief
change in pace is certainly welcome.
In
addition to straight run-and-gun shooting, turret
missions and even driving levels make the overall
experience more diversified. Reigning machine gun
fire from the back of a jeep can be fun in short bursts,
but the real fun can be found in the driver's seat.
Several times you'll be able to race your crew through
war-torn territory in order to meet up with your squad,
and this racing is heart pounding to say the least.
Rather than sticking to the dirt roads, often times
you need to drive off the road and use various hills
and ramps to your advantage. One achievement can even
be unlocked if you catch enough air! The physics aren't
the greatest, but that doesn't prevent crusing around
from being fun by any means.
Above
everything else, though, the combat system in Call
of Duty 3 is as strong as anything this series has
ever seen. The computer AI can be a little shaky on
the easier difficulties, but if you're playing on
Hard or Veteran be prepared for a challenge. Opposing
troops search hard for cover, lob back grenades if
you don't cook them, and as a whole are great at analyzing
the wartime situation. If they see your squad pushing
crossing their lines, they will push back and attempt
to take you out from a defensive standpoint. This
makes it especially crucial to try and gun them down
while they're on the run before they can find a good
vantage point. In some of the outdoor levels, you'll
find that enemies keep reappearing regardless of how
many of their companions are killed. Without knowing
this, it can be extremely frustrating to hang back
as a sniper and pick off people only to find out that
they keep returning. In instances like these, the
only way you can wipe out the enemy is by pushing
them back. This does force players to be aggressive
at times, but it would be nice to at least have the
option to fight more conservatively.
A
Worldwide Conflict
The
single player enhancements help to add a little more
value to this game, but Call of Duty 3 really shines
in the multiplayer aspect. Previously, gamers were
limited to rooms of only eight people online, but
Treyarch has since tripled this amount. With up to
24 players across the current nine maps (more will
be available as downloadable content), the online
portion is essential for this release. The standard
modes like deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the
flag, and headquarters are all still here. Seven different
character classes can be chosen from after each death,
and when balanced properly teamwork can really pay
off. The medic and armor support classes might not
seem appealing at first, but having helpful players
on either side can really change the tide of battle
(plus you can earn achievement points this way too).
Vehicles have also been added to make travel through
the larger environments less tedious, and it's always
a blast to run over your friend with a speeding jeep
or lumbering tank.
The
whole structure of the online portion has been improved
so you are no longer kicked out to the lobby after
each round as well. The frame rates were extremely
smooth and we never experienced any problems with
lag, even on crowded servers, so Treyarch did a great
job on making Call of Duty 3 online a true next generation
experience.
Conclusion
World
War II shooters have been done to death, but somehow
Call of Duty keeps coming back and making us say otherwise.
The single player campaign lasts a solid ten hours
and has plenty to offer if you play through on the
more challenging difficulties, but the heart of this
game lies within the multiplayer. The problems in
last year’s release have been dealt with, so
now we’re left with an online component that
should keep any gamer busy for at least another year.
Although it doesn’t compare to Gears of War
in terms of innovation, fans out there yearning for
another Call of Duty will not be disappointed.
Gameplay
|
17/20 |
Graphics
|
17/20 |
Sound
|
18/20 |
Value
|
18/20 |
Preference
|
17/20 |
Overall
|
87/100 |
