Call of Duty 3 (Wii, 2006)

Call of Duty 3 for X-Box is a relatively enjoyable game and historical first person shooter. You play as a variety of different soldiers, as you go through forests, buildings, trenches and fields either carrying your weapon or piloting heavy armoured tanks. You play as the allied forces in World War 2, fighting against the Germans. The game is an all action game, rarely is there a time when you are not engaged in some fight. Although you are engaging directly in combat, the game doesn't necessarily encourage simply charging in, there are many places for you to take cover.

Fortunately, for all players it has difficulty levels you can choose in the campaign: easy, normal and difficult, if you are new to COD or have been playing for a while the game should suit you fine.

I felt some of the missions were a bit unnecessary (such as 'spotting' tanks or clearing barricadea with a mortar) which probably could have been removed to improve game-play in my opinion. Also, you cannot sprint in this game - luckily you can still crouch, army crawl and jump. At times as well, I felt it did get a bit predictable but I still found it overall enjoyable.

I hardly spent much money on this game - a few US dollars and that's about it, so for what it is worth it is an extremely great value. If it were worth much more, I'd be making this review a lot more harsh and critical but since it is not I shall mark it accordingly.

Compared to Call of Duty: World at War and Modern Warfare 2 it isn't that much but it's a good addition to have for all fans of the Call of Duty series.
If you have an original X-Box you should have COD 3, I highly recommend it.

World War II may have ended in 1945, but that hasn't stopped the axis and allies from waging war against one another on the video game front. Call of Duty 2 was one of the Xbox 360's best games when the system launched last November. The game made use of the console's power to generate outstanding visuals and sound, immersing players in combat like never before. With Call of Duty 2 developer Infinity Ward having moved on to other projects, the series has been placed in the hands of Treyarch, the developer behind Call of Duty 2: Big Red One. It did not disappoint. Call of Duty 3 plays every bit as good as its predecessor, and it has improved multiplayer and visuals, too. Call of Duty 3 takes place in 1944 during the Normandy Breakout. After landing successfully on the beaches of France, the allied focus was on getting the Germans out of France and liberating Paris, which was under Nazi control at the time. As was the case in the last game, you're placed in the role of several different soldiers and you'll participate in campaigns for America, Britain, Canada, and Poland. Each country's campaign has a unique storyline that is supposed to get you emotionally involved with the characters, but the stories aren't very interesting; there's a soldier with a strong distaste for the French, an overbearing sergeant, and a young radio operator who has been labeled a coward. Though the stories aren't particularly engaging, fighting for four different armies works because it gives you a sense of not only how much effort it took to wrestle control of France from the Germans, but also that it wasn't just the United States that lost men and women in World War II.

Once again, the game opens with a brief training mission, though it's a little shorter this time around. Here, you'll learn how to fire weapons and throw grenades, as well as how to move around. The controls are identical to Call of Duty 2, both in how they are laid out and in how they feel. You can fire your weapon with a quick pull of the right trigger, but this doesn't allow for much accuracy. For precision aiming, you'll want to pull the left trigger, which raises your gun to eye level and lets you use the weapon's sight. Here, you're vulnerable during the time it takes to raise your weapon and while you wait for the blurring effect that simulates your eyes focusing to clear up. It's a subtle effect, but it works really well and it's not overdone. You can also perform a melee attack by pressing the right analog stick. Clicking the left analog stick brings up your binoculars--an unfortunate button-mapping choice because it's far too easy to accidentally push the stick down when you're scrambling for your life. You can toss smoke grenades to create cover and frag grenades to clear large groups of Wehrmacht. Call of Duty 3 also lets you scoop up grenades thrown by the enemy and toss them back. To prevent your grenades from being returned to sender, you can "cook" a grenade by pressing and holding the right bumper, which lets the grenade get closer to detonating before you throw it. This is an important technique to master--not only because it's useful, but also because screwing it up results in a grenade exploding in your hands. Because there's no health bar in the game, you'll need to watch the screen when you're getting hit. As you get shot, the edges of the screen turn crimson and close in around you the more you get hit.

Are you a first-person-shooter addict? Are you disappointed in the availability of quality FPS titles on the Wii? Well, pick up a copy of COD3 (Call of Duty 3) for a Wii-bit of fun, mate. Its better, in subtle ways, than its nearest competitor MoH Vanguard. COD gets the Wii remote and nunchuk system, allowing you to not only toss grenades, but to return-to-sender incoming nasties - if you are quick enough. Allowing you to drive jeeps, tanks, site mortars and howitzers-guns. Allowing you to fight hand-to-hand with the Gerries. Allowing you to "spot" tanks and artillary for air strikes. It isn't all run and gun... Your choice of weaponry spans across some 50+ guns, all stylishly represented with various levels of kick in the Wii-mote. The scoped sniper rifle plays prominently in the big finish, as does the bazooka. Unlike MOHV, there is more teamwork involved with the computer-operated soldiers. One of my favorite scenes is working with the Sarge to rescue a fallen soldier near the battle-line. Listening to your unit is critical, especially in tight quarters and when driving one of the vehicles -- a nice immersive feature. Another team-related feature, that you may not notice, unless you watch and listen, is that you are actually playing several different soldiers - unlike MOHV where you are one American soldier. COD3 places you with U.S., British, Polish, Canadian (Canuks) and French-resistance for a full-perspective of the battles. Unlike MOHV, COD has a tighter storyline with all of its battles and skirmishes leading up to the big finish at Chambois. COD3 for the Wii does not support any multiplayer features --unlike other-platform versions like XBOX-- either on-line or in side-by-side, such as death-match...which MOHV does. (Although, I found the death-match featurettes in MOHV to be trite.) The training for COD is virtually nonexistant, although the controls are not as complex as MOHV. (Returning-to-sender Gerry grenades is a skill that could benefit from some training, however.) The big-boss final scene in COD3 is actually realistic and doable, while the final scene is MOHV is simply exhausting -- finishing a game like this is rewarding. COD3 only saves at checkpoints; it does not allow you to save and quit anywhere you choose. While this is pretty typical of the Wii games, it is a real pain if Life calls or you just can't seem to target that last machinegeher (machine-gunner). One last feature that COD has is the interviews with actual WWII veterans who fought in the battles featured in the game -- this bonus may not appeal to the hard-core gamer, but I really enjoyed this part. Bottomline: if you enjoy the intuitive Wii-mote, are looking for a solid FPS title and would just as soon play in your living room instead of on the internet versus "professional gamers" ...Call of Duty 3 is for you.

Call of Duty 3 takes place in 1944 during the Normandy Breakout. After landing successfully on the beaches of France, the allied focus was on getting the Germans out of France and liberating Paris, which was under Nazi control at the time. As was the case in the last game, you're placed in the role of several different soldiers and you'll participate in campaigns for America, Britain, Canada, and Poland. Each country's campaign has a unique storyline that is supposed to get you emotionally involved with the characters, but the stories aren't very interesting; there's a soldier with a strong distaste for the French, an overbearing sergeant, and a young radio operator who has been labeled a coward. Though the stories aren't particularly engaging, fighting for four different armies works because it gives you a sense of not only how much effort it took to wrestle control of France from the Germans, but also that it wasn't just the United States that lost men and women in World War II.

Once again, the game opens with a brief training mission though it's a little shorter this time around. Here, you'll learn how to fire weapons and throw grenades, as well as how to move around. The controls are identical to Call of Duty 2, both in how they are laid out and in how they feel. You can fire your weapon with a quick pull of the right trigger, but this doesn't allow for much accuracy. For precision aiming, you'll want to pull the left trigger, which raises your gun to eye level and lets you use the weapon's sight. Here, you're vulnerable during the time it takes to raise your weapon and while you wait for the blurring effect that simulates your eyes focusing to clear up. It's a subtle effect, but it works really well and it's not overdone. You can also perform a melee attack by pressing the right analog stick. Clicking the left analog stick brings up your binoculars--an unfortunate button-mapping choice because it's far too easy to accidentally push the stick down when you're scrambling for your life. You can toss smoke grenades to create cover and frag grenades to clear large groups of Wehrmacht. Call of Duty 3 also lets you scoop up grenades thrown by the enemy and toss them back. To prevent your grenades from being returned to sender, you can "cook" a grenade by pressing and holding the right bumper, which lets the grenade get closer to detonating before you throw it. This is an important technique to master--not only because it's useful, but also because screwing it up results in a grenade exploding in your hands. Because there's no health bar in the game, you'll need to watch the screen when you're getting hit. As you get shot, the edges of the screen turn crimson and close in around you the more you get hit. Should you fall victim to a grenade or a bullet and not die, all you have to do is seek shelter to recover your health.

Pros
+ Innovative controls put you in the game & get you involved.
+ Trademark 'Call of Duty' small part of a big war action.
+ Realistic weapons & improved sniping & better tank driving than the previous installment.
+ Intense gameplay througout the whole game.

Cons
- Doesn't stand up graphically to other next-gen versions.
- No multiplayer whatsoever despite the Wii's ability for online play.
- Lots of glitches that make the game almost unplayable on harder difficulties like the CPU always knowing where you are & useless teammates.
- Shortage of checkpoints.

Comments
There aren't many improvements to the series but there are quite a few more glitches. These glitches are usually obvious & frustrating to deal with. You will also get tired of playing levels over on harder difficulties because checkpoints are so rare during big battles. Driving still needs some work & the series needs to break away from the traditional 1st person shooter by allowing you to take cover or sprint. Sprinting is available in multiplayer but never in the campaign. But getting shot trying to peak around corners gets old, especially when the enemy can hit you with blind fire. This is still a solid game though & plenty of intense Nazi-fighting fun. The Wii is proving that a new way to play can be fun & intense despite not being able to measure up graphically to other next-gen systems.

Verdict
Fun WWII game. Not a must have but if you are a fan don't pass it up.