adamVH1984's Review of Call of Duty 3

Treyarch redeemed themselves to me.

User Rating: 8.8 | Call of Duty 3 PS3

By adamVH1984 | Review Date: January 21, 2007

I had some fears that Call of Duty 3 wasn't going to be that great. After playing Big Red One, I was really scared that this would turn out the same way. I couldn't wait for this game until I heard it was made by them and not by the makers of COD2. But rest assured, It delivers way past those fears and really makes me relieved. Some parts are a little worse than COD2, but it exceeds it in many others. Gameplay-The campaign in this game gets a lot better as it moves along, unlike a lot of FPS's. The game starts off with a fun little training session, and then immediately moves to a huge battle at St. Lo. This level is pretty cool, but it seemed to be missing something. I still can't put my finger on it. But the game improves. Almost every mission is better than the next. My personal favorite is The Forest, but I won't spoil anything. The story is in order of how the events happened in the war. You play as 4 different countries, and it does give you a very cool way to view the war, but it doesn't let you spend quite long enough with each one. Overall, I think I like COD2's way of telling the story, although this is nice. The AI is nothing special but it gets the job done.There are about 14 missions total. They are pretty lengthy and are engaging and varied. There are several difficutly levels to choose fun, so you can adjust to your skill. There are lots of guns in the game, and they are really authentic. They all do have a very distinct feel and you will have your favorites. Once you beat the campaign you can do online, which is extremely fun. There are jeeps, motorcycles, and tanks to drive in the game. I was skeptical at first, because I thought they would ruin the game, but they are really balanced, and most people don't use them anyways. The action definately as a slower paced feel to it than Resistance, and it fits the game well. There are 7 classes to choose from online, and they all have special abilities, such as healing fallen troops, or dropping ammo. There is one problem with the online though, which is very critical. A lot of the games have such a bad connection to them for some reason, that you can't connect. I have experienced this and so have a lot of other players. But If you do find a game, it is extremely fun and there is actually very little lag. You just have to spend an extra couple of minutes to find one. Overall, I think the online is a huge improvement over COD2, if only the connecting was better. I'm hoping this can be fixed later.

Graphics-I'll start off with the pros. There are high levels of detail in the troops, with excellent lighting and lots of wrinkles. They also move and animate very nicely. There will be the occasional jolty movement here and there, but overall, they are very nice. The environments are exceptional too. The buildings are spectacular from just about every angle. When you get up close, they are a little muddy, but not that bad. The ground is pretty nice, but far away, it gets a little muddled. The trees are exceptional. They even sway in the wind and everything. The grass is very nice too. There are individual strands of grass that move in the wind. This game has some of the best lighting around. Smoke is very nice, but it is 2D. Haze looks real and they way light penetrates in places is unbelievable. The ambiance in this game is just incredible. Also, the focus blur when you aim looks really nice and it works really well. Now for the cons. On the PS3 version at least, there is some slowdown. It isn't as bad as some people make it out to be, but it is noticable. Also, the ragdoll is nice but it isn't perfect. The bodies will have lots of glitches and sometimes just hang in the air. There are also some glitches in the levels where you will fall through the floor or get stuck on the wall. So far it has happened 3 times to me. Overall the graphics are nice and very good looking but the lack of polish is evident. Most things just look incredible, but the graphics aren't without flaws.

Sound-WWII games always have good sound. Atleast most of them. This one is no different. The guns and explosions are some of the best in the genre. They're that good. Voicework is also nice, but nothing too special. The music is well orchestrated and is top notch. The only problems I have with the sound is that some of the small things like menu sounds are kind of muffled and when the battles get really intense, sometimes things that should make sound, don't. It's rare but I do notice sometimes in the heat of battle, my gun won't make a reload sound.

Value-The campaign is a pretty good length with a few unlockables and varied difficulties. Also, there are several paths to go through on each of the levels, so the single-player alone will keep you busy. When you put the multiplayer into the mix, you get a very long lasting game. This is worth a buy definately and not just for now. Some things that hurt the value though are that there is absolutely NO stat-tracking or ranking in online. Also, there aren't any motives to play the campaign more than once. Call of Duty 3 has it's problems, but it is a really fun and authentic WWII experience; probably the best one to date, I might add. Some aspects are better than COD2 and some are worse, but overall, I'd say its an upgrade. The most relieving part is that this is made by Treyarch and it is very good. Can't wait till COD4.

Call of Duty 3

Treyarch redeemed themselves to me.

Read for a rant review of this dissappointingly short solo campaign.

Good game