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Activision follows up on the Xbox 360’s best selling game. When Activision announced that they were whipping up a sequel Call of Duty 3 in a year we were a bit worried. We were a bit more worried when we found out that Infinity Ward was not working on the game. Now that the final game is here those worries were unfounded. Call of Duty 3 is always just as exciting—and sometimes more so—then Call of Duty 2 was.
Call of Duty 3 focuses on the Normandy Breakout including D-day and the liberation of Paris. The game has a comprehensive retelling of the events that occurred during this time period. It does this, in part, by allowing you to play as officers in the American, British, Polish and Canadian forces. But although the story is comprehensive and lets you see that the war involved many men and countries, it isn’t particularly interesting. One cool thing about Call of Duty 3 is that when you complete a mission, you’re shown a briefing video as the game loads the next mission so you never have to watch a loading screen.
Probably because of the accelerated development cycle, Call of Duty 3 plays a lot like its prequel. The actual gameplay mechanics—shooting, throwing grenades, taking cover, etc—are exactly the same as they were last year. This is still the very realistic depiction of war that the previous games have gotten you used to. You’re still experiencing extravagant scripted events, gunning down enemy soldiers, and taking cover to avoid getting gunned down yourself. Call of Duty 3 chooses to make the action even more intense than it was before. While the series has always been noteworthy for recreating the feeling of being in a real battlefield, Call of Duty 3 is definitely the closest it has come so far. It has a bigger than life feeling that really makes you feel like you’re part of a bigger picture.
There is never a boring a moment in Call of Duty 3. Whether you’re trying to find cover to save your life or shooting away at enemies, the game always keeps you busy. The actual mission objectives are actually fairly straightforward. Most of them have you getting from one point to another. Sometimes you’ll assist other players by manning stationary guns. There are a few missions where you’ll use vehicles to drive other players to safety while avoiding getting shot.
Call of Duty 3 has an improved multiplayer component. The most obvious difference is that the game now supports multiplayer for up to 24 players compared to just 8 lat year. The game includes nine multiplayer maps and six match types including capture the flag and team battles. The multiplayer mode now uses classes for your characters so you’ll have options including antitank (armed with heavy machinery), medic (can revive players), support (have tons of ammo at your disposal), light infantry, heavy infantry and others. As a support troop you’re actually supposed to be delivering ammo to other players and doing so will unlock an achievement for the game. The different classes have a few special skills but mostly differ in their initial weapons load. Another noticeable change is that the game now includes vehicles. Many vehicles allow for a driver, passenger, and third person manning the weapon.
While Call of Duty 2 was an amazing looking launch game, Call of Duty 3 benefits from being a second-generation Xbox 360 game. The characters in last year’s game were intricately detailed and animated. The same is true of Call of Duty 3 but the characters are even more detailed. This comes across most obviously in the improved clothing and facial expressions. The environments share that level of detail so you’ll notice authentic looking architecture and individual blades of grass. The excellent lighting and top-notch particle effects further help recreate the feeling of war. The draw distance is expansive allowing you to get the full scope of what is going on. Despite all of this the game never skips a beat as the framerate stays locked in at 60 frames per second.
As impressive as the graphics are, the audio steps it up just a notch. The soundtrack, performed by the Slovak Symphony Orchestra, is epic, ambitious and perfectly fitting for the game. The sound effects, particularly if played in surround sound, are equally impressive and really recreate the chaotic feeling of war. The voice acting is similarly amazing as you hear your squadmates talk and give you directions or hear enemies scrambling to save their lives.
Call of Duty 3 is in the uncomfortable situation of innovating and adding new features while being similar enough to previous games to please loyal fans. Call of Duty 2’s best features—the action-packed gameplay, the multiplayer and presentation—have all been improved in the sequel. Although the singleplayer campaign only lasts for 8 hours or so, this is a game that you will probably want to replay in the different difficulty setting and play for countless hours online. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Nov 8, 2006
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