Call of Duty 3
We were called to duty, but let the answering machine pick up instead
Tags: Call of Duty 3 Categories: PS3 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox 360 Reviews
Posted by Tracy Erickson on Dec 20th, 2006
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Call of Duty 3 (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| First Person Shooter | No | ||
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While Electronic Arts hunkers down for the next installment in the long-running Medal of Honor series, Activision has been owning the next-generation first-person shooter space with Call of Duty. Last year, Call of Duty 2 was the most popular title on Xbox Live and became one of the first Xbox 360 games to sell a million units. It’s unsurprising that Activision would pursue a third course in the hopes of repeating its success. There’s no avoiding the fact that Call of Duty 3 brings little new to the table; however, it succeeds in how well it mixes up gameplay by means of a stunning presentation.
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Call of Duty 3 essentially dishes out more of the same World War II first-person shooter gameplay that you’ve come to expect, but it’s never been quite as varied and engaging as it is here. The hard-hitting, immersive first-person action for which the series is renowned remains intact in this third installment. Through the course of the game’s fourteen missions, you’ll play as American, British, Canadian, and Polish soldiers who each play a role in the Normandy Breakout campaign immediately following D-Day. Subplots specific to each playable character run through several of the missions, but the focus stays on the overarching Allied campaign. Missions vary from taking out machine gun nests to clearing out bunkers with explosives to zipping through enemy encampments via a hardened truck. The single player campaign isn’t very long, but manages to leave a lasting impression.
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Like previous installments of the young series, shooting wildly won’t get you through the game; instead, you’ll have to utilize cover, special weapons, and context-sensitive actions to get through some of the tougher missions. The artificial intelligence is challenging, but not impossible. A few missions into the game, you’ll begin recognizing enemy patterns and adjust your tactics accordingly. Friendly intelligence is pretty good too, helping you clear the way of Nazi soldiers. Should your buddies be killed, the game will supply you with additional support if your squad mates are killed in action, which doesn’t really offer much incentive to watch their backs.
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Given the relatively short length of the single player campaign, you’re likely to get a lot of value out of multiplayer. Call of Duty 3 continues to offer one of the best online experiences available on a console with balanced gameplay and a ton of options. Nine maps are available for play with six different game types including battle and team battle (synonymous with deathmatch), capture the flag, and headquarters. Up to twenty-four players can join a match, which can make for some pretty exciting battles. Of course, accommodating this many players means the maps are much larger than previous games; it’s easy to get lost in some of the maps, especially in matches with few players.
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Multiplayer has a slight advantage on Xbox 360 thanks to more features and options, but the PlayStation 3 version still possesses the core experience. Matchmaking options and statistical tracking are simply more robust on Xbox 360. With the PlayStation 3 version, you’ll be prompted to download an update when playing online for the first time. This is an annoyance, especially considering no update is necessary when playing the Xbox 360 version.
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Perhaps the only advantage given to the PlayStation 3 version over its Xbox 360 counterpart is in the controls. While the game handles just fine on Xbox 360, the capabilities of the Sixaxis make context-sensitive actions within the game incredibly entertaining. Whenever you’re caught in a close-quarters struggle with a German soldier, for example, you’ll be prompted to shake the Sixaxis in order to shove him off; with the Xbox 360 controller, you simply move the left and right thumbsticks up and down quickly. The difference is small, but does much to immerse you into the game.
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If the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of Call of Duty 3 are night, then the next-generation versions are day. Running on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the game is absolutely stunning. Highly detailed uniforms on soldiers complete with patches and stitching, water that trickles realistically down ruined walls, even accurate weapons fire are just a sampling of what the game has to offer in its presentation. A few minor graphical flaws can be seen in the PlayStation 3 version such as dead soldiers that stick to walls or clipping of random objects, but overall both games are visually outstanding. Similarly, the audio design is superb. Weapons fire is authentically recorded, the voice acting spot-on, and the musical score is a rousing orchestral tribute heightens the action.
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Call of Duty 3 extends the series with an engaging single player campaign, plenty of multiplayer options, and a truly next-generation presentation. Even if it is more of the same World War II first-person action you’ve trudged through before, it hasn’t ever been this good. Aside from near negligible differences, you can’t go wrong with either versions of the game—just as long as you keep popping off Nazis.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Superb presentation + Engaging single player missions + Robust multiplayer |
8.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- More of the same first-person action you’ve already seen - Single player campaign is relatively short |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Call of Duty 3 packs in more impressive features than any previous installment: gorgeous graphics and audio, an intense single player campaign, and a wealth of multiplayer options. Even if it isn’t the most original game, Call of Duty 3 is certainly one of the finest. | |
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Tags: Call of Duty 3
Posted by Tracy Erickson on Dec 20th, 2006 and is filed under PS3 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox 360 Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
