While a number of gamers have taken a stance to dismiss WWII games based solely on their seemingly relentless quantity over the last few years, at Game Almighty, we happen to still thoroughly enjoy World War II games. We hold strong the stance that these types of games – if developed properly – have a long life span left. The Call of Duty series has put forth as strong a line of World War II games as anyone so far, so the pressure is on for Call of Duty 3.

Fans of the epic First-Person-Shooter series won’t be surprised that this time around they’ll find themselves in the role of soldiers from America, Canada, France and Britain. For those of you who skipped history class, these were all members of the Allied Nations, AKA the good guys. The gameplay here is as solid as it’s ever been. The single player campaign is nothing short of intense and amazing, offering a great deal of varied challenges that take you through a historically recreated series of battles during the Normandy Breakout. Fighting for the liberation of Paris, you’ll travel across numerous battlefields and be part of countless blazing gun battles, using everything from pistols and hand grenades to rocket launchers and tanks to take out your adversaries. Anyone who’s played a previous Call of Duty game will certainly not be surprised that intense effort was made to pay attention to detail and accurately recreate some of the most brutal conflicts of the last century. Although you’ll inhabit 4 different characters throughout the game, there’s a good sense of connection with each of them, your surroundings, and most importantly your squad members. There are no squad controls to be found in this game, so you’ll have to rely on their AI, which thankfully is quite solid; although they’ll still do some very dumb things from time to time, such as throw a smoke grenade in front of you when you’re set up in a sniper position.

The game engine has been really cranked up this time with new physics and new AI, not to mention the amazing new graphics and animations. Fighting a war has never looked better or more cinematic than it does in Call of Duty 3, and all of these improvements really serve to make it a great game and a worthy sequel. Games like this one prove how and why graphical enhancements serve to better all-around experience. To further enhance the immersion provided by the graphics, a good deal of effort has been spent on the audio in this game. The 5.1 surround mix is absolutely amazing, and all of the sounds seem to have come straight out of the war itself. Every element of this game, from the design to the weapons, and from graphics to the sound recreates a harrowing feeling of a real WWII experience.

However, like most games it’s not without flaws, both graphical and technical. Their new close-quarters combat system can be an interesting paradigm shift from shooting at first, but it gets tiring and feels like a gimmick by the end of the game. The driving missions presented some technical issues (especially so on the Wii version of the game). There were a handful odd graphical bugs and glitches found in every version of the game, but they were never bad enough to bring gameplay to a halt. While the graphics and sound on the 360 or PS3 might blow you away, the Wii game pretty much pales in comparison, but it’s no worse (or better, for that matter) than the Xbox or PS2 versions. While the single player campaign is intense and immersive, it’s a little less so than it was in Call of Duty 2. That game had a much stronger closing battle than you’ll find here, but the stuff in-between is pure genius.

After you’ve finished the fight, there’s still plenty to do here, as well. The intense Veteran difficulty setting is still here, and if you’re not ready for it, you should prepare to get shot; because it’s seriously tough as always. Of course, Call of Duty is also known for its dedicated set of online followers, and they shouldn’t be disappointed with this offering. While there’s no multiplayer at all on the Wii version, all of the other consoles support split screen and online. You can play with up to 16 players online on PS2 and Xbox, but up to 24 can battle it out on 360 or PS3. Everything runs butter smooth, so get your squad ready for combat. There are plenty of game modes, and you can bring along vehicles, so be ready for intense front line combat - just please try not to spawn camp. We hate that.

Overall, this is an amazing game, no matter how you slice it. It’s a great FPS, it’s a great WWII game, and it’s a great online game.

Xbox Specifics

The powerhouse of the last console generation may be on its way out, but it’s still getting game ports, too. While you’re obviously not going to get the same experience available on your Xbox’s big brother, the 360, the game is no slouch here. Everything runs solid, whether you’re in split-screen or single player or online. You will, however, only get to play with 16 players online, instead of the 24 offered on the 360 and PS3.

If you can’t manage to get your hands on a next-gen console yet, this may just serve you well for now. COD3 offers a solid experience, even on the older platforms.