Following the famous World War 2 setting, Call Of Duty 3 doesn't dissapoint.
The storyline in Call of Duty 3 focuses on the battle for Chambois in France. In the battle you'll play the role of Polish, Canadian, American, and British troops fighting the German army. Interestingly the game sees you switching between the four different nationalities during the one major battle to reach the one ultimate goal, to cut of the German Panzer division and elite forces. Developed by Treyarch (as opposed to Infinity Ward who handled the first two titles) the developer isn't totally new to the series having worked on the very impressive Call of Duty: Big Red One on the PS2. As with most World War 2 based titles authenticity is the key. Not only have the developers spent considerable time ensuring that the weapons and vehicles have been authentically recreated, but also the look of the locations throughout the game. By pressing the L1 button during battles you can aim down your sight for more accuracy, and you can even switch between standing, crouching and prone positions with the press of the circle button. I know that sounds silly, me explaining, cause' I know everyone knows the controls for Modern Warfare and World at War, but it's good to point it out. As you may have noticed you can also use several different vehicles in the game including tanks and jeeps to name a few. Throughout the game you can take cover behind a variety objects but much like real life their level of protection will vary according to the material they are created from. Steel pipes, brick walls and large tree trunks will offer solid cover while wooden crates and exploding barrels probably won't extend your life too much. Speaking of staying alive the game also uses an auto regeneration method of healing. If you get hit too many times the screen will turn a red colour, you'll need to find some shelter pretty quickly as another bullet or two and it will be game over (like all first person titles, but this game does use it responsibly). One of the new features added to the PS3 version of this game is support for the Sixaxis' tilt mechanism. During certain sections of the game you will have to move the controller to perform actions. It may be to steer a vehicle through a level, wrestle an enemy soldier, insert the fuse into a bomb, or row a boat across a river. At times I felt it was a little inaccurate, and it didn't really add to much to the overall experience however it was nice to see it being used moderately effectively in a game so early in the consoles life, but you can change the setting if need be.
There are some small problems with Call of Duty 3 which hold it back from true greatness. On occasion the CPU controlled friendly solders will get in your way and not move to allow you past. On more then one occasion I was backing away from an enemy only to hit an obstacle before dying, that obstacle was a teammate. This shouldn't happen. Friendly AI should have also been improved to eliminate, or at least reduce, the frequency of friendlies walking right in front of your weapon as you're shooting at an enemy. Finally there were two occasions playing through the single player campaign when the character seemed to get stuck in the game world and I had to revert back to the previous checkpoint. Graphics in Call of Duty 3 are impressive. Yes, there are a couple of other games which look a little better overall, but this is certainly a great looking game, for its age. Running at 720p the visuals are very impressive indeed. The battlefields are littered with smoke, haze, explosions and debris while there's often dozens of soldiers, both friend and foe, running around the battlefield. There are though occasional glitches to be found in the game. On numerous occasions there was clipping issues with parts of enemies such as weapons or arms visible through walls thus giving away their position and the frame rate does drop occasionally, but nothing serious. One of the biggest changes I have noticed with the PS3 is the improvement in audio. The Call of Duty franchise has always been strong in this already, but the addition of Dolby Digital 5.1 sound just brings that something very special. You'll hear gunfire all around, soldiers talking from different directions, and with the volume cranked up, I here some of the meatiest and downright heart pounding explosions ever heard in a game, even better than Killzone 2 and Modern Warfare. I just can't emphasise enough just how much better the sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1 as opposed to the old Stereo and Dolby Pro Logic II in the previous generation.
If you love World War II based FPS's this game is a no brainer, it's an essential purchase. There really isn't a single major disappointment in the game with every aspect managing to impress. If you're after something decent to play online, then this game will also keep you happy for quite some time. Indeed while there are one or two titles that seem to be capturing all the limelight at this launch Call of Duty 3 is a game which also deserves to be added to your collection. Great fun.
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Good Points: Great story, amazing graphics and sound, brutal combat, great gun selection, good lenghty campaign.
Bad Points: Bad AI, some clipping and graphical issues, some terrible voice acting.