War is hell. Call of Duty 3 is heaven.
Graphics - 9
Fight Night was the reason why I bought a 360 because of what I guessed would be the potential of the system graphically and COD delivered the goods with the subtlety of a German blitzkrieg. The battles you engage in are incredible huge and detailed; so much so that you can even make out individual skirmishes taking place when you are not worrying about saving your own skin. The buildings convey individual levels of damage to an extent that none of the houses look cookie-cutter and you can even damage them to an extent. The soldiers who accompany you on your missions also convey visual indivduality although in the case of the Germans you spend more time killing them to care if they look different.
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Gameplay - 8
Treyarch took what was good about COD 2 and tweaked aspects although there are not as numerous or influential improvements as one would expect from the developer. If you have played COD2 then learning to play COD3 will take you all of 5 minutes. A new addition is the ability to pick up a live grenade and return it to its owner. While it makes for a decent fight for in multiplayer sadly, the computer controlled Nazis do not take advantage of this ability like in the Medal of Honor series. In addition, you can also "milk" the grenade which was also in MOH though should have been long included in the COD series. My only real gripe with the gameplay is that although some parts of the environment are destructible, having the ability to do major damage like providing an exit for your soldiers through a wall while being shelled, was not realized a la Red Faction. In addition, while the soldiers do a better job of staying alive, they do get in your way if you need to make a tactical retreat which is a nuisance at lower levels and at higher levels will get you killed.
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Sound - 10
People with surround sound never had it so good. It is the only way to fully experience and appreciate the game. You can still distinguish the sounds of the different weapons during battle, you can tell the difference between the soldier ally and enemy alike, but the real moments where the sound takes center stage are those scripted events where you are almost hit with explosions full on. Already sounding chaotic during battle, all of a sudden you will hear a loud explosion followed by ringing in your virtual ears, dulling of sound, followed by the gradual return to your senses. If you had the unfortunate luck of being close to an explosion of any kind this game might bring back flashbacks because it sounds as real as it gets. The music is the standard orchestral fare that one can expect from these games and the only difference in this version is that you hear more of it during pivotal moments in the gameplay.
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Value - 9
While the single player mode will keep you engrossed, the multiplayer experience can keep you hooked long after the ending credits. Supporting up to 24 players, the online mode resembles the Battlefiled series in that you have to select character classes such as the scout, medic, heavy weapons, rifleman, and support complete with the same features and drawbacks. Having to choose such classes means that in objective based games, the game places emphasis on variety to achieve victory more effficiently. Entering player matches is a lot easier as you do not have to wait for a certain amount of people to join just to start the game that may or may not be on your friends list. While acquiring the achievement points are more gameplay based, they make the game more interesting than merely completing levels on an increased dfficulty like in COD2.
To sum up my review, if you want a quality FPS for the 360 then you can't go wrong with COD3. If you want a good WWII game, you are two for two with this one. If you are not buying into the hype of Gears of War but want a quality game to show off what your 360 can do, then you scored the trifecta.