Have you ever been in a drought? Or perhaps not a drought, maybe you've
experienced a flood. If so, then you know what it's like to see another
World War 2 game appear on the shelves at GameStop or EB Games (which
are one in the same). The genre itself, World War 2 Game, can be broken
down into two types the FPS and then the RTS World War 2 Game. In both
areas games struggle to be the crème of the crop or at least stand out
from the rest. The FPS that stood out for me, and most, was the CoD
series. Then of course our RTS father, or at least the mother of World
War 2 RTS games is Company of Heroes. Both of these games have a fine
tuned game play mechanic that no one else has been able to replicate.
When I say no one, I mean even studios that have worked on the Call of
Duty series such as Treyarch and Spark haven't been able to touch
Infinity Ward's quality, although the former did it the best.
Call of Duty 3 is another, run of the mill, World War 2 game. We know
how it ends, America and its allies triumph over the Axis of evil which
includes Germany, Italy, and Japan, all the others were really just
little nuances in the overall picture. Let's mention the things I like
about Call of Duty 3 on the Xbox 360. It's more of the same; it's more
of that tried and true formula from Call of Duty 2. Now I replayed the
single-player in Call of Duty 2 I'd say three to four times and the
single-player for around 60-Hours; it, to me, is the pinnacle of World
War 2 games. Now I am a bit late of playing Call of Duty 3 and
submitting a review. Here's what I liked about the game:
The graphics are well, they are pretty. Although some areas could be
improved; a la texture mapping maybe or scaling to widescreen. A lot of
times I felt like the textures were stretched to fit a 16:9 aspect
ratio or characters at times looked more so fat, or for lack of a
better metaphor, as if they took a duce in their pants and never
bothered to go empty it into the closest lavatory. The use of HDR and
bloom is a nice touch, although, albeit a bit overdone in some areas.
Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of this game comes from when the
action gets going and when the graphical fidelity ramps up. With
grenades going off and some motion blur kicking in, it reinforces the
idea that this is war, and it is hell. The guns are well modeled,
although sometimes lacking detail (a la MP44) and then the grass in the
game. Let's not forget the grass. This is actually a huge improvement
over the engine that I would go prone just to be sneaking in the grass.
I mean, who doesn't want to frolic through the grass?
In order to move on beyond mechanics and graphics or anything that is
purely artificial in my mind (it's a video game, what isn't?), here is
what I think about sound also. The sound is very well done, some gun
sound seem to have changed from what I remember. This isn't bad though,
for some weapons it makes them sound much better and then the other
raises the question, "Why did you bring a teddy bear with you to war?"
Some added features would be them pausing the game for you to plant
explosives, turn a lever, or fight in hand to hand combat with those
nasty Krauts. While this does break up the monotony of the linear
experience it feels a bit out of place; more so the pausing to setup
explosives and pull a lever than fighting Krauts.
The story itself revolves around, and too my liking, more than just the
Americans, Brits, and Russians. Although the Russians have been exempt
this time around let's hope they make an appearance in Call of Duty 5
(they already showed in Call of Duty 4, those bastards.) So you follow
storylines which follow Americans, Brits, Pols, French, and Canadians.
It's nice to see three countries involved in the war, although I could
have sworn the Pols and French had decided to surrender when they saw
Hitler's mustache. Half way through the game you may realize something;
it's following the same campaign Company of Heroes followed. The
Falsaise Pass and the cornering of Germans in Chamboise. This is very
nice to see and part of me wishes that Relic and Treyarch had
cooperated on both games and made the stories interlock with each
other. So as usual you're running around destroying flak cannons,
driving tanks (which are still some of my favorite missions, and to be
honest, are better in Call of Duty 3 than 2 or the original.) So
Treyarch did a good job. Although they took some liberties with the
series in adding a few quirks that at times don't feel right, the
multi-player isn't worth discussing as it leaves a lot to be desired
when compared to 2's or 4's multi-player experience. When you're done
playing this game you'll feel a since of release and no need to replay
it. That lost point is sad. Also, at times, I felt like the stories or
internal conflicts between say the Pols and Canadians and Brits and
French were cliché or just not done in a general tasteful or well put
together fashion.
To sum this up. Call of Duty 3 isn't a buy. But if you have a friend,
who owns the game, then borrow it from them. Have some fun, the
campaign I would venture to guess last between seven and ten hours
which are decent. So if you have an itch, like me, sometimes for a
World War 2 game then check this out.
