Anilrgowda

Even though I’m pretty sick of the whole World War II genre, Call of Duty (CoD) is one World War II franchise that doesn’t make me want to curl up and die. Introduced way back in 2003 on PCs, CoD single handedly managed to breathe some fresh air into this dying genre with cinematic battles, intense action, engrossing scripted sequences and sound that would make your ears bleed (in a good way). Last year, Infinity Ward gave us an even better Call of Duty 2 for the PC and the Xbox 360 and apparently, the 360 version did so well for itself, it even managed to boost console sales to a certain extent, or so I’ve read.
Unfortunately for the third iteration, development has been passed over from Infinity Ward to Treyarch (Call of Duty: Big Red One, Ultimate Spiderman) as a result of which this game lacks the punch, the first two packed and to make matters worse, it’s completely abandoned the platform that launched this franchise—the PC—making a bee line straight for consoles; current as well as next gen. So after all this change is it still as compelling and intense as the first two and more importantly, is it fun to play or has it become as clichéd and crappy as other WWII shooters out there? Read on to find out...Since every one and their grand mum has played at least one iteration of CoD, you’ll be glad to know CoD 3 is no different, as far as gameplay mechanics go. You’ll come to terms with the brutalities of war through the eyes of four different soldiers from four different nationalities; American, British, Canadian and Polish, and you’ll have to overcome an insane amount of odds to survive World War II. The single player campaign roughly spans fourteen missions and along the way you’ll indulge in a plethora of missions like planting explosives, defending an area, sabotaging German tanks to simple reach from point A to point B, and even though they may sound pretty boring on paper, they’re pretty engrossing to play. Ever since Call of Duty 2, this series has done away with the conventional health bar. The more damage you take, the more the edges of the screen redden indicating that you need to get out of harms way ASAP. Take cover, regenerate your health and you’re good to go. Borrowing a bit from Valve’s Word War II mod, Day of Defeat, CoD 3 even allows you to lob an enemy grenade back where it came from; as long you have quick reflexes, that is.Even though development has shifted hands, Treyarch aren’t exactly new to the series (since they’re the ones behind call of Duty: Big Red One) and all the characteristics you’ve come to expect from this franchise (stuff I mentioned in the first paragraph like intense firefights, scripted sequences and so on) can be found in this game. I mean take the very first level for example; you’re in a truck making your way to the battlefield with your fellow soldiers, talking, making jokes when *boom* your convoy is hit by a bomb sending it tumbling. You black out, only to be dragged to safety by your comrades and once you shake the haze off, you're way to the nearby cemetery, and that’s when you’re hit with the magnitude of the situation. Bodies are strewn all over the place, bullets are whizzing past you, left right and center, Allied as well as Axis soldiers are panicking, shouting, screaming and dying... its all very cool, very Call of Duty.Something new to this series is the addition of close quarter combat. While this doesn’t affect gameplay a lot, and occurs only three to four times throughout the entire game, it’s still a pretty interesting element; hopefully they’ll flesh it out a bit more in the next version. How this plays out is at pre-determined sequences, you’ll be rushed by a crazed Nazi whose sole aim is to bludgeon/choke you to death with his rifle. Pretty soon you’re locked in a mini game of sorts where you have to move the controller furiously from side to side to get him to loosen his grip. Once that’s done, you’ll be prompted to press the square button that’ll allow you to finish him off. Besides melee combat, the motion sensor capabilities of the SixAxis controller have been used for activities like planting charges, rowing and driving; although I strongly recommend you drive using the analog sticks.
The first time I saw this game running on the PS3 I remember being pretty impressed with its visuals, but that quickly turned to dismay when I saw the game running on an Xbox 360. As compared to the 360 version, CoD 3 on the PS3 looks bland and washed out, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the game starts framing pretty badly during certain segments (all this strikes me as weird since the PS3 is the more powerful console here). Apart from that, the game is also plagued by certain clipping issues (not sure if this is prevalent on the 360 version as well) and I even found my character getting stuck at times in mid- air (WTF!!).

In the end, CoD3 is fun to play and is an intense and enthralling experience, but if you’re looking for an excuse to pick up a PS3, this isn’t it. And if you’re a big fan of the series and want to play Call of Duty 3 in next gen, I suggest you pick it up for the Xbox 360.