Call of Duty 3

"A game that's too full of its own pretentiousness to be anything other than below average"

As a newcomer to the Call of Duty franchise, I have to admit that my expectations were very high for this game. Several friends have all played Call of Duty 1 and 2 in the past, and had nothing but praise for the game. Heck, I even played Call of Duty 2 for a while and had a blast at Stalingrad. However, this game just about disappoints at every step along the way.

Story

WWII Normandy action. Where can you go wrong, right? Well, just about everywhere to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I love the stereotypical kill the damn Nazis because they're nothing but a bunch of Nazis plotline for shooters like these, but this goes over the top in every possible fashion to forcibly convince the player of the environment. The fact of the matter is that the whole story has been done dozens of other times already, so it would take a really standout plot to elevate the game above the masses. However, this instead falls far short of the goal set by previous games. Needless to say, the whole story is tacky to the extreme and would've actually been better if that dialogue and pre-mission conversations were removed. In fact, the game actually punishes you into watching movies without even the opportunity of skipping them. Even if you quit at a checkpoint and restart the game, they make you watch the same mission "brief" before you jump back into the action. Really, Activision.... don't pander to us as if we're a bunch of morons and force us to watch your script. At least give us the option to skip it! That and the fact that you can beat the game itself in 10-15 hours by bungling around will give you a feeling of being ripped off. - 3/10

Game Play

This is where I got excited, the idea of using the Wiimote to kill some damn Nazis was what sold the game for me. While the controller has worked exceedingly well for every previous Wii game that I've played, its performance here is surprisingly lackluster. Never mind the obvious problem of the handling being insanely sensitive upon first touch, the format of the game really isn't conductive towards too enjoyable of an experience. While easy to point and shoot after you tone down the sensitivity, for someone like me with mild arthritis the complete inability to even so much as crack a wrist with one hand without spinning your character madly out of control is annoying at best. Ignoring personal problems like that, the bump detection in a number of areas is off by just enough to get you stuck if you try crouching past. And trust me, there's nothing more aggravating than being killed by a Nazi attacking from the side when you're stuck next to a table that you weren't supposed to crouch by. Which reminds me..... if you want a nonlinear, solve problems as you see fit adventure, pick something else up. Even when they give you the "amazing" opportunity of doing two or three different attack paths, the way to get by each of them will invariably be laid out in an utterly obvious fashion that takes no brain power whatsoever. Even when you find an excellent accidental sniping spot to tear the German infantry to pieces, if you're not in the spot that the designers intended you to fight from, you'll just face wave after wave of enemies. Quite aggravating to say the least. - 3/10

Sound Effects

This is the most horrible aspect of the game, bar none. While the actual sound effects (and even the voice acting) are actually well done, there is some flaw in the game that outright shuts down all other sounds except your own gunfire (and respiration if hurt). While this doesn't happen all the time, I could not go more than a few minutes without not being able to hear teammates give commands, bullets wizzing by, or even huge explosions going off ten feet away. And I'm not talking about being shell-shocked, I'm talking about the sound dying when I'm running across a field while the Nazis miss each and every shot they fire. Needless to say, I was utterly shocked at these problems. Believe it or not, I've actually found that the best way to hear someone talking is to not face them as you would expect, but to look to their immediate right or left without so much as a pixel of their character being on screen! And before you ask, no it's not on my end. My television works just fine for any other Wii game that I've tried (and I've gone through six or seven of them so far) without the slightest hiccup, yet Call of Duty 3 can't go more than a few minutes without crashing into itself. So, in a war game where you can't even hear the war going on around you for a good fifth of the time at least, this deserves nothing higher than a mere 1/10.

Music

Brilliantly done, I'll give the game that. The orchestra music fits very well with the tone attempted to be set by the game. If only the game designers had tried to put some of the effort they placed here into the sound issues mentioned above..... 10/10

Graphics

Another major plus, as the graphics in every way shape and form are excellently rendered. No complaints whatsoever and nothing to detract from the game here. - 10/10

Replayability

Ugh... I'll pass, thank you very much. Once through was more than enough.

Overall

While showing excellent promise and performing superbly when everything is at its best, Call of Duty 3 unfortunately falls far short of the mark by facing constant sound problems, having a very tacky storyline, and forcing you to watch the same cliche cinematic scenes over and over again. - 4/10

Rent or Buy?

Definitely a rent, and only if you're a hardcore WWII gamer. If not, this isn't even worth touching.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/07