Call of Duty 3

After battling our way through the level on foot, we hopped on the back of a tank for what we hoped would be a leisurely ride around town. Instead, we ended up using our trusty binoculars to pinpoint enemy positions, calling out directions to the tank. While it was a bit like the sequence in Call of Duty 2 in which you give coordinates for strikes on enemy tanks, this was a lot more satisfying in many ways. When you tell the tank where to shoot, you'll see the turret turn toward the spot and blast a shell at your entrenched enemy. This gave us a chance to check out the new emphasis on environmental destruction. When that explosive shell hit the building, dust and debris went everywhere, although we're not really sure just how much will be destructible.

Some of the most intriguing additions to the franchise are the new Battle Action sequences, which are basically in-game mini-games to switch up the action a bit. In the one we saw, a Nazi jumped our character as he walked through a doorway, kicking off a little hand-to-hand fight. The player was prompted to alternately press the left and right triggers as he battled with the Nazi for control of a rifle, then finished him off by pressing the Y button. It looked like a cool way to mix things up, giving the player a chance to take a quick break from the rest of the game's fairly standard FPS action. The team also mentioned that the Wii version of the game will utilize these moments in some unique ways.


There's a lot of other reasons to get excited about Call of Duty 3, including a new cover system (softer forms of cover will slowly erode under enemy fire), dramatically improved AI squads that will work together to flank your position, and some new and improved grenades. We were also incredibly impressed with the visuals, which relied heavily on an advanced particle system and a hefty physics engine. Grass will trample realistically when you run through fields, and smoke will react differently depending on what direction the wind is blowing. Granted, these are just little details, but they help to make the proceedings feel more realistic. We were also told that there's more of an emphasis on character development this time out, and that the game will progress seamlessly, loading during the cinematics that play between missions.

While it's still one of the most-played multiplayer games on Xbox Live, Call of Duty 2 really didn't break much new ground. With CoD3, however, the folks at Treyarch are really trying to place a greater emphasis on the multiplayer side of things. The game will feature a class-based multiplayer mode, in which you'll be able to play as a Medic, Gunner, Support, or any of a number of other character types. Each of these will bring special skills to the battlefield, such as the ability to heal their fellow soldiers or drop landmines. Best of all, using these skills will actually boost your kill count at the end of the match, so it pays to know how to best utilize your chosen character.

As we mentioned above, Call of Duty 3 will be available for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, and Xbox (we're still checking on Commodore 64 and ColecoVision versions). The differences seem to be mainly cosmetic, given the fact that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are vastly more powerful than the current-gen machines. So, you won't be seeing the same smoke effects and advanced particle physics, but you'll likely be getting the same overall experience no matter what console you own. And if you're a PC owner, well, sorry; looks like you're out of luck this time.