Call of Duty 3

"Yet another WW2 game. Gotta love em'."

Another World War 2 game, this time on the Xbox 360. Some people have an objection to games based on this horrible tragedy. If you are one of them, I suggest you read no farther.

Story:

As this is the 3rd in the 'Call of Duty' series, it follows the previous somewhat. You are a promising soldier in the Allied armies. What is interesting about this, is that you are in reality, 3 different soldiers. The storyline shifts between alternate armies that you play in, all of the armies are linked in what they do. Your character is basically a silent protagonist, though he does have a few lines.

That said, the story begins as a history lesson, then a set of short, to the point, cut-scenes; then long confusing bouts of cut-scenes. Since everything is so brief, you can't really tell what's going on, and as a result, you don't really care what happens to your fellow soldiers. There are a few memorable characters, but most of them are just mindless fellow 'AI' (artificial intelligence) protecting you.

Sound 1 (musical):

There are some nice WW2 melodies. Appropriately corny themes when you're stacked against impossible odds, orchestral bits. That's pretty much it. What is conspicuously absent, is some music that really gets your blood pumping.

Sound 2 (SFX):

Very nice effects. The gun shots rarely get repetitive, the grenades explode well, the tanks boom, the car wheels 'vrooming'. It really gets the mood down.

Sound 3 (human):

The voice acting is very good for the most part, they hired some talented people to do the roles. Unfortunately, as stated above, while the voice acting is good, the story has no depth, so you rarely feel in touch with the characters.

There are on some rare occasions, when your soldiers are yelling at you to do something, they will repeat themselves. While it happen rarely, it severely detracts from the mood.

Graphics:

First of all, I want to praise the character modeling. The modeling looks and acts just like you'd think it would. Their mouths move realistaclly. You could swear their was life behind those seemingly moist eyes.

The textures are not as well done. From a distance they look stupendous, but even on the great Xbox 360, they become very bland up close. And that is very unfortunate, as you are going to be up close and personal with your environment, as you dive for cover.

If you shoot an enemy, you're not really sure if you see blood or not, mainly because of the weather effects. While they work fine, they make all the environments seem very dark and dreary, to repetive. It begins to feel like you are playing the same levels over and over again. Still, when they do make it sunny and leafy and green, you'll want to play that level over and over again, just because it's a change of mood.

Gameplay:

It is a 1st person shooter, if you have not already guessed, and it tries to make you feel like you are that person shooting/ducking/diving ect. It succeeds quite well, and often you'll wonder why you don't feel that hand when it smacks against a cold hard wall. Or why you're not breathing hard after a hand to hand struggle with the enemy. Added to this, you are able to look freely from person to person, in the cut-scenes.

Controls:

A game that does not completely copy 'Halo's' control scheme. You use R1 to shoot, R2 to throw a frag grenade. L1 to aim, L2 to throw a smoke grenade. You move with the two anolog sticks, and use X to jump. Triangle to switch weapons, Square to reload, and Circle to duck. Okay, it does use the 'Halo'control scheme. But that's not a bad thing.

Replay:

Not much here. They added some interviews if you like that stuff, and you can do things in a slightly different order in the missions. Other than that, it's just snuff.

Call of Duty is praised by many as one of the best WW2 1st person shooters. It lives up to that title and more.

+ Lots of missions
+ Voice acting is excellent
+ Good control scheme

- A bit unoriginal
- Textures could be better

All in all, 'Call of Duty 3' for the Xbox 360, is an excellent addition to your 1st person shooter collection, if you don't mind the historical significance.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/07