When the Xbox 360 launched in 2005 it did not have the super strong launch lineup that everyone including Microsoft had hoped for. The system just did not have that killer app title that Halo was for the original Xbox back in 2001. Most gamers would tell you that the highlight game for the 360 launch was Call of Duty 2.  Call of Duty 2 was a super slick looking shooter that featured top notch gameplay and very sharp graphics. The game was definitely one of the most intense shooters I have ever played. COD2 was developed by original Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward. After playing all the way through Call of Duty 2 I said to myself,”How are they going to top this?”. Well in 2006 Activision (publisher of the COD games) announced Call of Duty 3 and immediately the main question on gamer’s minds was,”Will it top Call of Duty 2?”

Right from the beginning Call of Duty 3 has had a tough time winning over the hearts of faithful Call of Duty fans simply because of the developer. You see Call of Duty 3 was not developed by the infamous Infinity Ward,this title was developed by our friends over at Treyarch. That alone caused many to doubt the quality of the game before anybody even played it. I however was not one of the skeptical,I was more excited to see what Treyarch could do with this game,I wanted to see how they would stand up to the original developer and to tell you the truth they did just fine. The game does have the same feel as Call of Duty 2 which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The same core gameplay is intact as well. Treyarch has added a new melee feature however,while you are playing through the single player campaign from time to time you will attacked by an enemy melee style,they will try to grab the gun out of your hands and pretty much beat you up hand to hand. During this you will see icons pop up on your screen telling you to press certain buttons at certain times to fight the guy back. This feature was made famous by games such as the Shenmue series and Resident Evil 4 and it adds a nice change of pace for Call of Duty 3.

Graphically the game is impressive. The visuals do have more detail in them in comparison to COD2,however one of the things that always bothered me was the lack of brightness in the overall look of the game. Most of the levels have the same dark,cloudy and sometimes rainy look to them. On the bright side the game does run smooth at 60 fps,I noticed very few hiccups in the frame rate,not enough to really bring the score down however. There are some unfortunate glitches in the game,sometimes you will see enemies’ arms sticking through walls,I even had a few fellow soldiers get stuck running in circles on a few occasions,it is like I said unfortunate but still kind of funny. Overall the game engine is fine and manages all of the on screen action steadily. I just hope to see these little problems worked out in future versions of Call of Duty.

The sound is excellent in Call of Duty 3. Fire this game up in 5.1 and you will almost find yourself ducking from the sounds of bullets whizzing by your head. There is also a lot of soldier chatter from the good guys and bad guys. The game could have used a little more variety in these voices,the germans pretty much all have the same voice,odd huh?. Control wise the game has no problems to mention. If you got the hang of the control in COD2 you will feel right at home in this game. The vehicles even control great,the jeeps control just like a dedicated driving game and the tanks are a blast to play as. They don’t feel too heavy and you won’t get irritated trying to maneuver them in tight spaces.

The online mode is pretty much the savior for the fun factor. Once you get tired of the single player campaign (and you will) jump on Xbox Live and battle your friends on one of the many multiplayer maps available in the game. The multiplayer is great with the new addition of vehicles that can be controlled by players. Overall Call of Duty 3 is a good not great game. It has the same qualities found in Call of Duty 2 but I just wanted to see a bigger jump from part 2. I would recommend this title for the diehard fans only,if you are not much of a fan of the series and you already own Call of Duty 2 you could go either way on this game. If the Call of Duty franchise wants to really stand out from the rest of the crowded WW2 shooter genre in the future part 4 better be a huge jump from Call of Duty 3,it is a quality game but just doesn’t offer much more than what you can find in Call of Duty 2.

THE GOOD___________________

+ Detailed graphics

+ Excellent sound

+ Same great feel that we know and love from Call of Duty 2

+ Fun and addicting multiplayer modes

THE BAD_____________________

- Occasional glitches in the AI

- Small collision detection problems

- Just not enough of anything new from COD2

- Not enough variety in missions or in the look of the levels

THE QUESTIONABLE__________

? Do germans really all sound just like each-other?