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Is it possible to overdose on WWII themed FPS games? Activision doesn’t think so. Call of Duty 3 ready and waiting to take you back to Nazi country for more gun fights, grenade play, and hand-to-hand combat with the most prolific of all FPS adversaries. In fact, pretty much anything you shoot in an FPS game may as well be a Nazi. Space mutants? Nazis. The walking dead? Nazi all the way.

Unfortunately I don’t get to behold the majesty that is this game with freaking awesome graphics on the XBOX 360, Wii, or *GASP* the glory that is the PS3. On the plain old XBOX it looks only slightly better than its predecessor. No matter though. It’s still loads of fun for players looking to bust an Allied cap throughout a cinematic gaming campaign that has no problem keeping your attention.

CoD 3 delivers some nifty new missions and a few original features but probably could have been an expansion for CoD2. Sure, that’s not so much of an option on the console systems. My point is that it doesn’t feel like a complete and separate game. I like that they shake things up by going against conventions that even earlier CoD games helped to establish. If you run smack into an enemy trooper there’s a chance you’ll have to mash buttons to keep him from taking your gun and using it against you. Also, when you reach one of your mission objectives and the screen begins to fade for a cut-scene, enemy tank shells explode around you and suddenly you’re back in the game and struggling to find a hiding spot.

The most notable addition to the franchise is the inclusion of multiple occupancy vehicles in multi-play. This nifty little feature brings Call of Duty that much closer to being a pretty version of Battlefield 1942. (Too bad EA beat Activision to the punch in 2002.) Players are able to choose from class kits that perform the standard functions. Medics heal and revive dead players; support units employ a heavy machine gun and can resupply other troops, and so on. If you play any other FPS with kits you know the score. Distinctive multi-play features like Stupid Cam (which shows how you died from the perspective of your killer) and the quality of the general game mechanics easily solidify CoD 3 as the top WWII FPS for close quarters, infantry-based battles.

There’s a wealth of unlockable extras but I didn’t have the patience to get them all. That’s not a jab at this particular title; I’ve just never been a fan of game content that requires multiple hours of play to access. Most of us have jobs and girlfriends and lives on the side. We should be entitled to same gaming experience as the 15 year-olds who can veg out in front of their TVs for 16 hours a day.

Ultimately it’s a great game that is every bit as enjoyable as the previous installments. There’s more than enough action and worthwhile new content that you’ll be glad you reenlisted.

B+ (3.58) The genera may be done to death, but Call of Duty still knows how to please.

-Baron has been a writer for Shakefire.com since 2006.  Contact him at baron@shakefire.com

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