Call of Duty 3 is a launch title for the Wii (and PS3) in America, Canada, Europe, and Australia. It was also the first major Call of Duty installment not to be released for PC, instead being a console exclusive. It was also the first major installment in the Call of Duty series not to be developed by Infinity Ward, but instead by Treyarch of Spider-Man 2 (video game) fame.
System: Wii, PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Release dates: November 14th 2006 (USA), December 7th 2006 (EURO), December 8th 2006 (EURO)
Players: 1
Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Origin: America
The follow-up to the #1 next-generation game, Call of Duty 3 delivers the intensity of being closer than ever to the fury of combat during the Normandy Breakout, the historic campaign that made the liberation of Paris possible and brought the Allies a step closer to Berlin.
Through a seamless narrative that delivers the rush of unrelenting battle and breathtaking action, players assume the roles of four ordinary Allied soldiers — American, British, Canadian and Polish — and are thrust onto an authentic, living, destructible battlefield for an unprecedented variety of combat, with direct aiming control via the Wii Remote, detailed character animations and explosive on-screen action, delivering an immersive and cinematically intense war experience.
Watch the Call of Duty 3 launch trailer.
Unlike most other games in the Call of Duty series, the events in Call of Duty 3 are based on a single combined campaign, with the player being switched between the four nations and their respective characters for each leg of the story. There are 14 playable campaign missions.
So what are Call of Duty 3’s main features?
* Fight alongside your squad through the heavily-defended French countryside in an all-out assault to liberate Paris.
* Unprecedented variety of combat featuring drivable vehicles, nighttime raids and full-scale intense battles.
* Immerse yourself in the heat of battle as you slide, twist and swing the Wii Remote to interact with the action on-screen.
Watch some more Call of Duty 3 gameplay.
Now let’s see how much fun Call of Duty 3 is on a scale from 1 to 10?
FUN FACTOR – 8.0
Call of Duty 3 has quite a learning curve for the various ways the different weapons and actions require motion sensor movement. But once you get over the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controller learning curve, you’ll be rewarded with an engrossing World War II shooter. While the story isn’t anything new or unexpected, as you fight alongside CPU-controller allies that talk to you throughout the game, you’ll be drawn into the warzone far more than previous Call of Duty games could thanks to you executing all the on-screen action yourself.
Since you’re constantly under attack and generally always blowing stuff up, you’ll always be busy driving back the Nazi invaders, as you move from checkpoint to checkpoint along a predetermined path (although sometimes you’re given multiple ways to achieve your missions). Especially on the harder difficulty setting it’s quite a challenge as enemy movements become more unpredictable and aggressive. The game has very fun gameplay, looks pretty good, and has an awesome soundtrack. I recommend FPS fans, who can live without multiplayer or high-res graphics, to give this game a try.
Graphics – 7
The Wii version of Call of Duty 3 is clearly lacking next-gen graphics, but that’s not to say it looks bad. Despite the blurry textures and bland color palette used in-game, the visuals look good overall. This is thanks to the large detailed outdoor environments, with good level design, that have an impressive art direction that really makes you feel like you’re traveling through war-torn towns. The visual effects of weapons fire, especially explosions, look pretty awesome.
Audio – 8.0
Famed composer Joel Goldsmith, whose credits include Star Trek: First Contact, The New Untouchables, Helen of Troy, Witchblade and was nominated for his work on Stargate: Atlantis and SG1, scored the soundtrack for Call of Duty 3. He adds his style of big, bold, symphonic scores, performed by the Slovak Symphony Orchestra. The sound effects are fantastic too, weapons sound real and are satisfying, add in the environmental sound effects and solid voice acting and you have yourself a fine warzone ambiance.
Ingenuity – 8.0
Call of Duty 3 defines gameplay over graphics. While (online) multiplayer is completely missing as well, the games makes up for it with excellent Wii Remote and Nunchuk controls! The game controls fluidly, and aiming and shooting your weapons is infinitely more fun by moving around yourself. If I had to nitpick I’d say turning while moving is a bit slow and some of the controls, like when driving, can feel a bit off, but there’s nothing repeated play can’t fix. Whether you’re using the controller to steer vehicles, pushing the controller out in front of you for melee attacks (I don’t care what the instructions say, aim your Wii Remote AT the TV, not sideways), or even peddling a boat across a river-turned-warzone, it’s all very immersive. You’ll literally feel tired after playing for hours, which just goes to show how intense the gameplay is.
Replay Value – 7.0
A serious flaw in the game is the complete lack of local split-screen multiplayer in the game and the absence of online multiplayer at the Wii launch. Sadly this means that you’re only getting one single player mode, that’s it. Luckily it’s great fun and solid enough to give you many nights of FPS action. Expect to be playing Call of Duty 3 for 8 to 10 hours.