Call of Duty 3

"Pure Excellence"

Call of Duty 3 is the latest installment of the Call of Duty series on the PS2. As such, your pretty much familiar with how the Call of Duty storyline and gameplay works. Taking control of a group of infantry in a series of chapters moving to point to point in terms of completion. Each chapter has a series of objectives that needs to be completed.

Gameplay (9/10): Call of Duty 3's controls aren't that hard to figure out after using the tutorial in the beginning of the game. Moving your character back, forth, left, and right, is mostly comprised of the control sick and switching weapons consists of a flick of the triangle button. You could only carry one primary and one secondary weapon so it's not like you could gather as much weapons as possible during a mission. Throwing grenades and smoke grenades never felt easier with a mere press of the R2 and L2 buttons. One of the most interesting features of Call of Duty 3 is melee combat. Enemy soldiers can grab your weapon and force the player to repeatedly press R1 and L1 before executing a counter attack. The the is, you could actually hear your character gasping as both him and the enemy are struggling with the weapon in close melee combat fighting, which I think is awesome. Lastly, firing and reloading weapons is somewhat easier during battle and shooting enemies with a sniper rifle from a long distance never felt better. Unlike in other games you see, running up at the enemy exposed and firing is not the way to complete a mission. Another aspect of the Call of Duty series is that it focuses on as much realistically features as possible while creating a World War 2 game. As such, moving in groups, running and taking cover is the only recommended way to complete objectives successfully. The enemy AI is extremely intelligent in terms of attacking and adds a new sense of challenges. The downside I had with the gameplay was that driving vehicles was somewhat difficult and cumbersome. If you miss a certain turn point on the road, it is difficult to reverse and than move on while being fired on by the enemy. Also, I would like to point out that dieing in this game is a lot more easier than expected so don't be surprised if you get a "Mission Failed", after a few times.

Sound (8/10): Infantry chatter realistically during cut scenes and on the battlefield. Explosions and gunfire is nicely recorded accurately. You real like your firing an Thompson during gameplay after while. The only thing I didn't like that sometimes, your enemy shouts the same thing during battle. An example being that one of my infantry ahead of me kept shouting, "Germans to the east, first building", though after I had cleared that room previously. At other times, it can sound a bit generic.

Storyline (9/10): The missions are broken up in campaigns or chapters throughout the game with multiple objectives. As such, you take the role of Private Nichols, attached to the 29th Infantry Division. Traveling first to Saint Lo, your infantry group is forced to recapture this area from the German attacks. Afterwards, your unit is folded into the 90th Infantry Division to secure the woods of Saint Germain-Sur Seves. As you might have expected, your character changes from each countries nationality in a new series of chapters. One section might allow you to play as the Americans while the next, British, Canadian, and Polish forces. It really is an interesting feature as you move around the Falaise pocket area in France with a multiple nationality group of infantry unit for the rest of the game unlike in Big Red One. There are fourteen chapters in all which should allow you to finish the game within 18-20 hours, at most. The only problem I had the storyline was that some of the objectives were usually led to an automatically "Mission Failed", because it involved you taking some type of location with heavy resistance while you led and the rest of your infantry slowly followed. A few of the missions are difficult and require more thinking than just going in and blasting away.

Graphics (8/10): Despite being the last installment for the Playstation 2, the graphics are still impressive for a system that has been out for almost 8-9 years. Explosions, gunfire, and the overall environment is extremely detailed to look around. One of my favorite features was that whenever there was a sub cut scene of your infantry talking or giving out orders, you could automatically rotate your view left or right to look around during that scene. I liked how enemies attack and fire individually or groups during combat. Tanks, planes, and even artillery fire realistically during battle. Building fall apart or are punched with holes due to enemy fires. Finally, shooting enemies down are nicely detailed. You could even see a splash of blood squirt out after they are hit.

Multi Player Mode (10/10): Online with sixteen other players split into two teams without any much lag is almost icing on the cake for this game. Unlike the 360 version which can hold 32 players at once, the Playstation 2's version isn't really that bad despite having a lower amount of people onscreen. Game modes consist of Deathmatch, Team Battle, War, Capture The Flag, and Single Capture The Flag. A player can select a class of soldiers that have a various abilities unique to each other. Classes also have riflemen, light or heavy assault, medic, support, and anti-armor. If you enjoy playing the single player mode, the online is incredibly fun and exiting to play through. Expect some lag though while playing.

Closing Comments: Call of Duty 3 was actually the first game that I ever played in the Call of Duty series. It was my first taste of playing through a World War 2 game and I enjoyed it. Bonuses are included such as historic veteran interviews, character and weapon profiles, and even concept art once you complete the game. Call of Duty 3 is a tremendous game to play and will leave you extremely satisfied of what you paid for.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/20/07

Game Release: Call of Duty 3 (US, 11/07/06)