Call of Duty 3 , rent it for free. XBOX 360™

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Call of Duty 3

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Overview

November 9, 2006 - I was recently asked by a Japanese game developer why first-person shooters are so popular in America. Don't we get bored of doing the same thing over and over? At the time I was at a loss for an explanation, but after playing Call of Duty 3 I can answer that question. We don't mind playing scores of shooters because month after month we're presented with games in the genre that up the ante in terms of presentation, mechanics, and overall quality. For example, only a year after Treyarch brought us Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, they're back with another installment in the series. They've added enough to the successful Call of Duty formula that we were happy to once again join the battle for the free world.




Last year Call of Duty 2 hit store shelves as two separate games with Infinity Ward on next-gen development while Treyarch created Big Red One. The latter developer was put in charge of the third installment as well and has successfully taken the look and feel of last year's 360 title and ported it to a much less powerful system.


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Call of Duty 3 Review
Surprise! Another great game for a nearly defunct console.
by David Clayman

Dzien Dobry!
This time around Treyarch decided to tighten the focus and center the game on the Normandy Breakout. The chapters are told chronologically through 14 single player missions that span the 88 days leading up to the liberation of Paris. Players fight as the Americans, British, Canadians, and Polish. That's right - you have the honor of joining a Polish armored division as they roll their tanks across enemy lines. Canada and Poland are two forces that have yet to be represented in a WWII game and their inclusion is refreshing.


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The cut scenes that tie together the story are filled with enough personality (and heavy accents) to make for a few memorable characters. However, the action is always seen through the eyes of the main character so players become something of a floating name that is secondary to the drama they witness. COD3 does a good job of humanizing the soldiers reminding us momentarily that real heroes don't have to resemble a roided out linebacker with no neck. And they don't always make it through the day. The cut scenes are well directed, but it would've been nice if the user was able to skip them after the initial viewing.

Icing on the Cake
If you want a near perfect descriptor of the gameplay in COD3 just pop in last year's hit Call of Duty 2. The core mechanics are identical down to the slight auto aim that occurs when players use the left trigger to look down the sight of a gun. The "overshield" damage system has also returned allowing soldiers to recover from all damage by resting behind cover for a few seconds. The beautifully rendered smoke grenades are back, only this time there isn't as heavy a stress placed on using them to obscure the enemy's field of view. To spice things up Treyarch did add a few new combat mechanics. The most commonly used technique is the ability to toss grenades back at the enemy by picking it up with the X button and quickly tossing it with the trigger. Running towards an unexploded grenade to lob it in the other direction can be exhilarating but overusing the technique will eventually lead to some messy deaths.

Also new are action events that have replaced mundane tasks like placing a charge or aiming a mortar. Players now have to complete a series of button combinations that appear on screen as the task is completed. The most successful example of this occurs during the hand-to-hand combat sequences that put you in the face of the enemy to struggle for your life It's more exciting than just pressing "X" but not difficult enough to add any real tension. Overall, the action events are used sparingly and barely add or detract from the overall experience.

The enemy and ally artificial intelligence in COD3 is nearly identical to the last game in every respect. Enemies are good at taking cover, varying their attack patterns, and acting aggressively with grenades; don't get caught thinking you're the only one that can toss those babies back. A new facet of enemy behavior occurs when a line of Germans are outgunned. This sometimes causes them to retreat as a group to find better cover. Act fast and you can pick them off as they turn tail, drag your feet and you'll be faced with a better entrenched enemy.


Along with the aforementioned intelligent behavior players still have to deal with allies who jump into their line of fire and block doorways. The only thing more frustrating than trying to wedge between friendlies to advance is winding up for a grenade toss and having it bounce off the back of your buddy's head. This doesn't occur too frequently, but it will happen. The campaign can be completed quickly on the normal difficulty setting and veterans should crank it up to one of the two tougher modes for a more lengthy experience.



Beautiful Ruin
Treyarch's last Call of Duty game was Big Red One, where they excelled at creating a frantic battlefield with an impressive amount of scripted events. Their handiwork is visible in COD3, and without ruining any of the surprises I will say that there are some jaw dropping moments that are incredibly immersive and jarring. Combine this with some dramatic lighting affects, and a great score and Call of Duty 3 is easily the most cinematic entry in the series.

The soldier's voices are almost all caricatures, but they work in the context of the game. Just like the last game battle chatter has a tendency to become very repetitive, you'll be thankful for the switch to Polish just for a change of pace.

Visually, COD3 is pretty amazing for an Xbox game. One of the standouts is the foliage which is the best I've seen in a WWII shooter. Trees and brush sway in the wind and the boundaries of the level are dense with brush. Destroyed buildings are filled with rubble and scattered remnants of what once filled the rooms. The beautiful smoke that fills the next-gen version is closely mimicked on Xbox, making the cover system work just as well on the old-gen hardware.

The levels are comprised of semi-destructible environments. Unfortunately hardware constraints still don't allow for fully destructible worlds but the developers have managed to make objects blow to bits where it counts. Tossing a grenade will send pieces of debris flying through the air adding to the chaos of battle. Unfortunately, the game suffers from a muddy pallet and you'll be subjected to mostly browns and grays in the darker levels.

Online War
Even with the additions that I've mentioned, Call of Duty 3 still has to contend with the World War II genre becoming a little stale. Basically the game mechanics are the same as last year's installment. Thankfully, there are enhanced multiplayer options using system link and Xbox Live but no split-screen mode. Taking a page from the Battlefield series Treyarch has implemented the multiplayer mode that COD2 was sorely missing.

Sixteen players have access to all of the standard modes including deathmatch, team battle, capture the flag, headquarters, and a War mode that designates a random zone that each team must capture and protect for as long as possible. There are arrays of vehicles at your disposal as well as seven character classes that make team play more intelligent and necessary to reign victorious online. In our play sessions the medics and armor support classes were amazingly helpful when properly utilized. There's nothing like calling in an air strike, or using an RPG at the right moment to completely turn the tide of battle.



You can change classes after each death and while your overall online stats are recorded, there is no experience or level-up system to speak of. We experienced some slight lag and a few flickering textures online but for the most part the game ran smoothly. If you're comparing it to the next-gen version you'll see a few less details and vehicles spread across the maps on Xbox. You can never truly judge the online mode of a shooter until it's been released to the community, but COD3 has all the makings of a satisfying Xbox Live experience.

Closing Comments
When we received the Xbox version of COD3 we were told that it is “content identical” to the 360 build of the game which we reviewed here. Having just witnessed the spectacle of a great looking second generation 360 game, we were suspicious of the claim. However Treyarch has managed to keep the two versions of the game surprisingly close. This is a great example of just how far the Xbox is being pushed in the twilight of its life cycle.





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