Call of Duty 3 Review

Graphics vs. gameplay. That's the battle Nintendo is facting this generation, and now that final copies of Wii games are hitting our desks, we as reviewers are trying to sort through the ups and downs of the "HD vs. Innovation" debris. Take, for example, Call of Duty 3. Hitting nearly a 9.0 score on both 360 and PS3 just a week ago, we've now had our run with the Wii version as well. Is it essentially the same game? Minus a few changes, yes it is. Interestingly enough though, it feels like a totally different experience. Whether or not the sacrifice for notably weaker graphics is worth it will come down to your personal preference. For us, the game is a great start to a new way of playing, though we wouldn't go as far as to say it's better than its console counterparts just yet.

Developed by Treyarch, Call of Duty 3 takes a bit of a different approach to the traditional COD world. Rather than playing in token battles of World War II and switching from area to area all over the map, Call of Duty 3 is based on one specific set of battles centered around the Normandy Breakout, working up until the liberation of Paris just 88 days later. Taking control of each region represented, players will jump from the American troops over to the Canadians and Polish, as well as the British forces as they push against the elite German Panzer forces. Enough with the story though; lets kick some Nazi ass.

Breaking it down:
Call of Duty 3 has been reworked and reinvented this time around, following a more specific story and centered around a more cinematic approach due to Treyarch's design. Taking a few notes from Call of Duty: Big Red One, the team has added a ton of cinematic flair, with constant action surrounding the player at all times and the same solid gameplay mechanic as the previous games. Where the title sets itself apart form the other console versions is in the revamped FPS control. Working along the same lines as Metroid 3: Corruption, Call of Duty utilizes a bounding box that gives the player faster and more precise controls, very similar to a PC mouse and keyboard. When the cursor is in the middle of the screen, the player is still. Start moving the Wii-mote against an invisible bounding box, however, and you'll start to move your character's head as well. The farther from the center of the screen you move the controller, the faster you'll turn.

But does it work? That's the question on everyone's mind. After all, Call of Duty 3 got a huge graphical overhaul on the other next gen systems, so the game's control better be worth it, right? Well, the overall feel is definitely solid, but we wouldn't go as far as to say any and every player out there is going to enjoy it more than the traditional dual-analog setup. When you're in the heat of battle, the controller is amazing for snapping your head in a direction, sighting up while holding the A button, and then blasting a soldier with pixel-perfect precision. In that sense, it's a success. Still, there are a few control issues inherent in the FPS design at this point. While the ability to control turning speed is there, the sensitivity isn't as complex as we'd like it. Let us change the bounding box. Let us change the sensitivity of the cursor movement speed. Simply put, let us make the controls ours.

The controls work great when firing at a distance or navigating through large, wide open spaces. Where they lack a bit of finesse is in up-close combat. When at a range, players can quickly turn into any direction, sight in, and tweak their shot to deliver lethal blows with ease. When working in hallways or around staircases, however, it's difficult to move and turn at the same time, and the quick feel that we're used to in a dual-analog setup isn't quite there. Even still, the controls work well enough for us to genuinely enjoy Call of Duty on Wii, but we'd say they're at about 90 percent. The flaw with control relies entirely with how the head turns dependant on the body. To turn, you're moving your gun to sort of shove your head around. Bottom line: Call of Duty 3 is the most natural feeling FPS on Wii thus far, but there's still room for improvement.