Call of Duty 3

Call of Duty 2 on the PC was a huge success and it's still being played by my neighbors, my friends, the whole world actually. Its multiplayer mode was so entertaining and addictive that it became the next Counter Strike. Call of Duty 3 strayed from its predecessor, first by becoming a console-exclusive title and secondly by not relying on its multiplayer mode (at least the Wii version doesn't). Nevertheless, you can still play a decent campaign in the singleplayer mode, if you're able to adjust to the Wii's strange control scheme. Don't expect to be some sort of an expert in handling the Wiimote just because you've played a couple of titles on Nintendo's hit console. Call of Duty 3 on the Nintendo Wii is a decent title, with better graphics than the PS2 version, but with worse controls.

Story The plotlines for such first person shooters are never great, unless you're a fan of the WWII historic events. If this is the case, you'll surely like to know that Call of Duty 3 takes place during the battles of Normandy, where many nations fought for the liberation of France from the Nazi occupation. You'll play as 4 different soldiers, pertaining to 4 nations ranging from the cocky Americans, to the brave British, the tough Canadians or the vengeful Poles. Your soldier will play an important part in the fight of Saint Lo and the capture of the famous location and you'll also be visiting Saint Germain or Mayenne being aided by the French Resistance. Call of Duty 3 has night landing operations, assaults, city clean-ups and tons of cool-looking cutscenes showing you real events from the greatest war that mankind has ever known.

Concept This isn't the first FPS I've played on the Wii so I was expecting some clunky controls and crazy camera angles. My only point of reference was Red Steel, but even that failed to give me a good idea of what I was going to experience in Call of Duty 3. The famous Call of Duty series spawned a title that has quality gameplay, following the same success FPS recipe of the series that involves historic events, fast-paced combats, lots of dying soldiers on-screen and a great atmosphere. COD 3 doesn't feature a life meter, relying instead on a health recharging system that will increase the fun and eliminate the frustration we faced when dying in such shooters. You'll just have to take cover after eating some serious lead from the Nazis and the danger will pass. Also, you'll probably want to know that there are a couple of checkpoints in the missions and you'll be reset to their location once you're dead. Call of Duty 3 features 14 campaigns, giving you the chance to play on the good side, by joining the Allies and being a Polish, Canadian, American or British soldier.

I also played this title on the Playstation 2, so it's fairly easy to compare the PS2 version with the Wii one, but you should know that this is rather a port of the other games than an entirely different title. The producers surely didn't have Nintendo's console in mind while designing this game, because the controls aren't even similar to the other FPS I've played on the Wii, Red Steel. The joystick's sensitivity seems to have grown and the accuracy is only a dream mostly because you'll have to keep your Wiimote pointed towards the center of the screen. If this is your first title on the Wii, you've made an unfortunate choice, because one could really use a Wii Sports training session before battling it out with the Nazis. The AI of the game is not much, probably because the Nazis have taken quite a "beating" in previous WWII-based games and they might have given up hope. However, like in the real history events, the foes rely mostly on their numbers, tanks and aerial support. One thing that bothered me while playing this game, was that I had to watch the first cutscene over and over again, each time I restarted the game and loaded a previously saved mission, without the possibility of skipping it.

Gameplay If you're not keen on playing Wiimote-based games, you'll have a hard time adjusting to the controls, especially because some of the buttons' placement will make them almost impossible to use. Also those jumpy grenade throwing gamers will curse a lot when they'll find out that in order to throw a grenade you'll need to use the D-pad. Do you know where that is on the Wiimote? Right at its tip, so it will be hard to keep the remote pointed toward the screen and try to throw a grenade in an attempt to blast several enemies or a tank. Speaking of fireworks, you'll have the chance to toy with the classic Thompson, the MP-40 and there's even a cool rocket launcher in case you're a Nazi tank hater. If you're feeling wronged by the game's aiming system try using the weapon's sight by pressing the A button, which gives you a better view of your targets. In case you were wondering, the moving will be done with the Nunchuck's analog stick, which also incorporates the jump and crouch buttons.

There's a pretty good tutorial in the beginning of the game that will improve your aim and teach you some tricks in order not to get killed in the first combat. Spiced up with some ironic comments from your fellow mates, the tutorial teaches you how to shoot, aim, throw an explosive grenade or a smoke grenade. Call of Duty 3 introduced a gameplay sequence that some of us God of War fans would dare to call cineractive, but it would be an exaggeration. At some point in the game you'll enter a room and you'll be attacked by an enemy soldier, having to face him through some pretty complicated moves. While this seemed fairly easy on the PS2, in the Wii version you'll move the Nunchuck and Wiimote fast, alternatively, in a way that may remind me of Wii Boxing. Once you fight the Nazi off, just finish him with a hit in the head. COD 3 is not all about mindless shooting and there are some missions that will have you driving jeeps or tanks, in the midst of hardcore combat. Just hold the joysticks like the lateral ends of a steering wheel and drive the jeep around, trying to reach a series of checkpoints. Sometimes you'll even coordinate air strikes by pinpointing the enemy's location with your binoculars and signaling your fellows that it's time to light the fireworks.

Aside from the tossing-the-foe-aside minigame, there's also an explosive charge minigame, but it's nothing much, only an original way to blow something up and do a bit of joystick action. The Wii version of the latest installment in the Call of Duty series sure has an original presentation when it comes to switching to another weapon. Just move the Nunchuck to the left or right, a bit violently and you'll be able to use a Thompson or some other tool of destruction. However there's also the option of using D-pad for such tasks, since not many gamers will enjoy moving the joysticks for other purposes than targeting. Call of Duty was never about the "lone wolf" hero that defeats the Nazis and gets the credit. Unlike the heroes from the movies, the soldier you'll control has to collaborate with his teammates with the sole purpose of surviving a certain mission. Sometimes it's not enough to go from point A to point B like in most of the shooters nowadays, so you'll have to defend the captured location at all cost, till the reinforcements arrive. In order to do that, you may use machine guns, left behind by the Nazis or even tanks in those neat tank battles you'll take part in during the game. They may not be what we experienced in Medal of Honor, but still, it all adds to the whole atmosphere and WWII flavor.

Video The game's visuals offer more than the frustrating controls, being just a bit better than those you've seen in the PS2 version. Still, you can't compare this game's graphics with the outstanding eye-candy collection present in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. The weather effects are fairly good and while you're fighting in the grass and lying low, you'll really feel like you're crawling through some French countryside grass. COD 3 offers some various locations to fight in, ranging from ruined cities, to fields and military bases. All the friendly soldiers seem to be identical twins, or at least one would draw that conclusion by looking at their faces. They also have the same facial expressions and their movements and gestures are part of the great WWII soldier list of clich?s.

The vehicles look great and there's nothing compared to a good old tank fight right after the explosion of a few smoke grenades. If you're expecting lots of light and bright colors, forget it! Forget colors anyway, because the game features lots of grey and brown, with the occasional green of the grass you'll be laying your enemies on. Who's to blame for the camera angle that sometimes doesn't show when the Nazis are coming? It might be the Wiimote and its sensitivity or it might be a view glitch present in all versions. We tend to judge this as a 50-50 matter and I must say that moving the Nunchuck-Wiimote combination is not the brightest idea when you're trying to turn around and face the enemy.

Sound The game's soundtrack is good enough to be included in any of Tom Hank's WWII-based films and the fans surely know what I'm talking about. Symphonies and orchestras complement the mechanical sounds of the tanks approaching or the Nazis' desperate cries for backup and help. Your panicked mates will express their feelings in a critical situation and you'll start hearing things in slow motion once a grenade explodes close to you. All of these, spiced up with some ironic lines that mock the French, will give you a great audio experience, that can be considered the best part of this average title.

Multiplayer This may be the greatest disappointment of this title: the lack of the multiplayer mode. It's not just the online play that's missing, but also that little bit of fun generated by the split-screen experience. As Call of Duty 4 screenshots are just coming out, we're hoping for a return of the acclaimed multiplayer and its challenging sub-modes, for those fans that spend their nights playing Call of Duty 2 with their friends.

Conclusion Call of Duty 3 was one of the most awaited titles ? on the PC. However, being a console fan sure has its advantages, as the game became a console-only product, leading the series to a change of perspective. COD 3 had to be a little bit of a guinea pig as it had control problems in its Wii version, camera problems on the PS2 and becoming an experiment on the next-gen PS3 and Xbox 360. There's always a number of titles that get bad or average reviews, just because they surfaced in the era of changes, when the old consoles succumb and the producers are forced to release titles that are playable on the next-gen consoles and on the old ones as well.