Call of Duty 3

Call of Duty 3 is a World War II first-person shooter and the third installment in the Call of Duty video game series. It has been released for all three seventh generation video game systems: the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. It has also been released on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was originally released on November 7th, 2006. This game was a launch title for the PS3 and Wii in the U.S., Europe and Australia. It was also the first major Call of Duty installment not to be released for PC and the only numerical sequel to date to have been a console-exclusive game alongside its side-story games like Call of Duty 2: Big Red One and Call of Duty: Finest Hour before it. It was also the second major installment in the Call of Duty series not to be developed by Infinity Ward after Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, both of which were released by another of Activision's design branches, Treyarch.

Single player

The single player is modeled after the Normandy breakout, where the British, Canadian, Polish, American and French Resistance forces pushed into the village of Chambois, France, also known as the Falaise Gap. Unlike most other games in the Call of Duty series, the events in Call of Duty 3 are based on a single combined campaign, with the player being switched between the four nations and their respective characters for each leg of the story. There are 14 playable campaign missions.

British Campaign

During the British campaign, the player controls Sergeant Doyle, a returning character from Call of Duty: United Offensive and member of the British Special Air Service. Doyle parachutes in France with a squad led by Major Ingram, also of Call of Duty: United Offensive fame, and meets up with members of the French Resistance. Due to fire from an 88 mm gun, their Handley Page Halifax is shot down. The plane gets a chance though to drop the squad and the two jeeps: Vera and Lynn. Soon after making contact with the French resistance, S.A.S. and French resistance fighters attack a position of German anti-aricraft guns. The French resistance and S.A.S. then try to destroy a German-held fuel plant. While escaping, Major Ingram is captured after going out of control in his escape car, and tensions rise as Corporal Keith accuses one of the Resistance members, Marcel, of collaborating with the Germans. Against the advice of the Resistance, Keith and Doyle attempt to locate Major Ingram. Soon after rescuing Ingram (who was held in a wine cellar), French and British fighters attempt to stop the executions of captured Resistance fighters. They rush to save as many as they can, but in the process the Resistance loses one of their significant members, Isabelle DuFontaine, who is killed after planting an explosive charge on an armored car. Cpl. Keith is then seen comforting Marcel, showing that he actually respects the French resistance members.

Canadian Campaign

The Canadian aspect of the campaign involves members of the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division. It is centered on Private Cole, led by World War I veteran Lieutenant Robichaud, who demonstrates a proud and often haphazard style of leadership, often making assaults and completing objectives beyond his assigned mission at the risk of his own men. Robichaud commands a platoon in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada. The platoon captures an industrial area and successfully defends it from superior numbers of German infantry and armor. While the Polish 1st Armored Division guards their western flank, the unit clears a forest near the Laison River, during which Robichaud berates a young radio operator named Private Baron over his lack of combat participation. Tension builds between the two, and Baron insists that he is not a coward. Robichaud dismisses him and assigns him to act as radio operator for a Polish unit. Robichaud proceeds to clear a town to rescue a captured Canadian tank crew, but rather than withdraw with the rescued servicemen he decides to assist in capturing the whole town. After a King Tiger tank appears, the men plant demolition charges in a German ammunition dump to destroy the tank, but when Callard tries to defuse a defective charges, the platoon is decimated. Robiechaud and Cole are wounded, and Sergeant Callard is killed. A saddened Robichaud decides to nominate Callard for the Victoria Cross and promote Cole to Corporal. They then start moving reinforcements through the town to help the Polish defending Hill 262.

Polish Campaign

The Polish campaign revolves around Cpl. Bohater, a tank driver in the Polish 1st Armored Division. Cpl. Bohater participates in a sweep across the French countryside, engaging German armor. The Polish later move into position at the base of Hill 262, which is assaulted by the remnants of the German 7th army desperate to escape the Falaise Pocket. Bohater and his crew defend the hill against attacking German tanks, but eventually their tank is damaged and the crew abandons it. They join in the battle alongside the Polish infantry units and other tank crews, holding off the German attack. The Polish continue to take heavy casualties and, waiting for Canadian reinforcements, start to retreat up the Mace through pockets of German-infested trenches. The Canadian radio operator, Pte. Baron, who was in the player's squad in the Canadian campaign, arrives to call in artillery. As the Germans push Bohater and his crew backwards towards the summit one of Bohater's crew members, Pvt. Ulan, ask Pte. Baron "So, where are the rest of the Canucks?", to which Pte. Baron responds "Don't worry, you'll see green flares soon enough!". As he goes to call in artillery yet another time, Pvt. Ulan says "Your post is about to be shot to pieces! You're running away from bullets, not job!", to which he replies "I am not a coward! I'm not running away!". Then he stands and is killed by a shot to the head. Ulan scavenges his radio, which is used again for Artillery strikes. In the final minutes of the level, Major "Papa Jack" Jachowicz bravely commands Bohater to defend the hill. He defends the other side of the hill and finally, as green flares illuminate the skies, the Canadian infantry arrives to save the day for the Poles on Hill 262.

In the aftermath of the battle, most of Bohater's crew has been killed, Leaving only Bohater, Papa Jack and Pvt. Ulan. In the final cinematic for the Polish and Canadian campaigns Lt. Robichaud and Papa Jack speak to each other about the battle. Lt. Robichaud apologizes for being late and notices that Papa Jack is getting emotional. Lt. Robichaud asks if Papa Jack is alright. Papa Jack requests that he gets time to collect his fallen men.

Multiplayer

In addition to the single-player campaign, Call of Duty 3 features a wide range of multiplayer modes for players to participate in - each team allowing up to 24 on the PS3 and the Xbox 360, but 16 for the PS2 and Xbox in a single match, three times the limit that impeded Call of Duty 2 on console platforms, but three times smaller than that allowed on the PC version of Call of Duty 2. This is only in the online mode. All team game modes feature the soldiers of the Allied nations (Specifically the US forces only. Canadians, British SAS, and Polish forces are not featured in MP) versus those of the Axis (German). Multiplayer features are absent from the Wii edition.

Game Modes

The game features six game modes, five of which are team based, and one individual:

• Battle: Traditional Deathmatch-style game-play - the only individual game mode. The score at which the game ends depends on the number of players, and decisions of the game host, but is by default set to 20, the more killed, the better. A certain number of kills gets players a promotion, i.e. to corporal, who gets a smoke grenade and one additional frag grenade.

• Team Battle: Two teams (Allies and Axis) battle, the only objective being to eliminate the opposing team. The score at which the game ends depends on the number of players, and decisions of the game host, but is by default set to 100.

• War: There are several fixed flags around the map (either five flags or three, depending on the choice of map) and teams must gain control of one before moving onto the next. Allies and Axis start with equal numbers of flags and a neutral flagpoint in the center. The team who takes all flagpoints first wins. In the event of a tie, the team that held the neutral flag the longest wins.

• Capture-the-flag (CTF): Each team has a flag at their base. Teams must infiltrate the enemy base and bring the enemy flag back to their own base. Generally, the first team to capture the enemy's flag 5 times is victorious. In the event of a tie, the team with most kills will be the winner.
  

• Single CTF: Teams spawn on either side of the map. Flag spawns in center. Objective is to successfully take the flag to the opposing team's base. Generally, the first team to take the flag to the enemy base 5 times is victorious.

• Headquarters: A radio spawns at a random location on the map - teams must possess the radio. The team who successfully possesses the radio establishes a base there. Teams must either defend or attack the base. The team who established a base at the radio gains a point for each second they remain in control of the base - if the opposing team destroys the base, they gain ten points. Normally, the first team to 300 points wins.

Gameplay

There are various features and functions which add to the realism of gameplay.A character can be positioned in one of three stances: standing, kneeling, or prone; each affecting the character's rate of movement, accuracy, and stealth. Using cover helps the player avoid enemy fire or recover health after taking significant damage, as there are no armor or health powerups. When the character has taken damage, the edges of the screen glow red and the character's heartbeat increases. If the character stays out of fire, the character can recover. When the character is within the blast radius of a live grenade, a marker indicates the direction of the grenade, helping the player to flee from it. Players have a HUD which includes a game map.

Classes

Moving away from the game-play style of previous Call of Duty games, where players would simply select a team and weapon, Call of Duty 3 multiplayer bears closer similarity to that of the Battlefield series, in that players select a class of soldier and a team, the chosen class defining both the player's weaponry and the unique abilities that they will hold over the other classes. There are seven classes of soldier to choose from, with different weapons (although of similar specifications) depending on which side the player fights. Every class has a sprinting action used instead of the normal binoculars used when the usual binocular button (during single player mode) is pressed. Classes include riflemen, light and heavy assault, medic, scout, support and anti-armor. Players select a class when entering a match, but can change classes after they have been killed. Each class has a primary weapon, a pistol, and a unique ability, such as reviving team mates as a medic, calling in artillery as a scout, laying mines as light or heavy assault, giving ammunition as anti-armor or support, or firing rifle grenades as a rifleman. Unlike in previous Call of Duty titles, the player can only switch their side arm and not their primary weapon. This fact has drawn some criticism due to the fact that once empty the player is forced to keep their empty weapon instead of picking up another weapon to replace it.