Pretty Much the Same Game as Call of Duty 2
Thankfully, CoD 2 was damned fun. And CoD 3 is more of the same --- though changes better be forthcoming by #4 otherwise these reviews could become somewhat harsh.
OK, the concept of letting you fight the war with four different military groups is a good idea, but the execution does seem to be lacking. None of the characters are terribly engrossing. You don't feel any real connection to your characters since they change every level. And some of the accents are irksome --- but, let's be honest, French is obnoxious on a good day.
The level design is quite excellent. There is a reason why WW II games tend to focus on the European more than the Pacific theatre and that one reason is city combat. The presence of extremely old cities with many different paths to different areas presents the game maker with some fertile canvases to paint the game upon and Treyarch did a bang-up job here. Some areas of level design are less than stellar, but for the most part, it's an exquisitely laid out title. The cutscenes are pretty good, but an option to skip them would have been greatly appreciated.
The weapons are terrific and have a very authentic feel to them. Spot-on marksmanship in the chaos of battle is not something you'll see very often and these guns are no exception. You have some time and you can pick people off, but usually, you're hoping to hit somebody while running for cover. The sound is downright spectacular, with all of the explosions and people barking out orders. The biggest plus of the game is the sheer level of chaos it depicts. War is incredibly chaotic and there is so much crap going on in every battle that you will look around nervously trying to figure out who is firing on you. You don't have the time to sit back and figure out everything --- survival is the only thing to concern yourself with and the game makes that abundantly clear.
This game is on the verge of jumping the shark, but it has not done so yet. This is a great FPS on a system overly gifted with great FPS.
The difficulty rating is based on the veteran difficulty, which can make you weep.