Title: Call of Duty 3

Date: 12.20.2006

Genre: FPS

Platform: PlayStation 3

Developer: Treyarch

Publisher: Activision

This review was conducted on the PS3, which makes the fact that a little over 5 years ago the only Online WWII shooter was Day of Defeat; a remarkable feat! Yes there was a distinct lack of content, where now there is entirely too much and maybe that's why your reading this. I use to eat this stuff up, but by the time Call of Duty 1 was released the market was flooded. Let it be known that you don't need to have played ANY of the COD's to fully enjoy number 3.

How is this game different from other war shooters? Unlike franchise shooters Castle Wolfenstein or Medal of Honor, the capacity to feel alone on a secret mission and exploration is not present. After all this is war! There was a television commercial for COD that showed a solider narrowly avoiding a mine, attaching a sticky bomb to a tank, assisting in the death of a German platoon while an airplane spun out of control into a church tower: in the space of a few seconds. That's EXACTLY what this game is about. An embellishment of every war vet's stories, all rolled into one gaming experience. For this reason the levels are very narrow as you weave threw them so that the developers can wow you with their attention to detail. The buildings architecture is simply fantastic.

The visuals on the PS3 were stunning once game play started, in full 1080i. I've heard some complain that the Xbox 360 version looks better. It probably does because it spent more time being developed on that system. It's not a direct port to the PS3 though. The most exciting times during the game were exclusive to the SixAxiS controller, forcing the gamer to follow on-screen actions to avoid being stabbed in the chest with a knife. This was taken right out of a movie. However on completion of every level the cut scenes looked surprisingly bad. They couldn't be skipped either, as the game attempted to tell its tale.

The story is set in the Normandy campaign as the Allied forces fight to close the Falsie gap. What this means for game play is that every level switches it up between 1 of 4 different groups. You'll play as the Americans, British special forces helping the French resistance, as well as the Canadians and even a Polish tank brigade. You'll get to drive a jeep and if you want you can use the PS3 motion controls.

With the levels being so well scripted, sometimes it puts you in some pretty frustrating positions. The health system cures your character on its own once you've found cover. But what are you suppose to do if you can't find cover or one of your teammates is blocking a door. With the 4 different groups it helps it feel less repetitive as you get different weapons, vehicles and the occasional option (do you want to go left, center or take the right path). Ultimately it comes across as a fascinating way to play a game and I lost track of time as I came upon completing it. My guess is it's about a 10-12 hours. Upon completion you get to watch 3 different interviews with War Vets as they paint the picture for you.

Multiplayer supports up to 16 people which in my experience is the PERFECT amount. Fans of COD2 are stating that COD3's 9 online levels are often too big so the gamer doesn't see enough action. I only spent an hour online but it certainly has more of the flavor gamers will be craving after finishing the campaign. Noticing that grenades weren't in an abundance online is a nice touch too, explosions help add depth but take away when it's all that's happening on-screen.

Don't let my relatively low score fool you either, it's a game I want you to experience. But like a novel you probably won't want to relive it immediately upon completion. The PS3's special controller features made it unique enough, but also demonstrated some of the short comings developers are going to have to overcome if they want to make it really fun!

Game Score

B

Reviewed By: Contributed