Call of Duty 2 was easily the Xbox 360’s star title when Microsoft’s new console was released late last year. Even now, nearly a year on thousands of gamers go online to reenacted moments from World War II or just to brag about how good they are with a Lugar at close range. Treyarch are now working on the third title in the Call of Duty series, the aptly named Call of Duty 3 and now its time for 360Monsters first look of the new CoD game.
The first thing to note is the fact that Infinity Ward will not be developing the new title and as you’ve probably guessed it’s now Treyarchs job to deliver the goods. Treyarch are best known for Spiderman 2 and of course Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, but Treyarch will have to do a lot better than a guy in a skin tight spider suit who spurts out some kind of white ‘material’ from his wrists if they want to win over the next-gen crowd.
The campaign mode of the new game will revolve around the allies’ advances after D-Day. Once again this is a different step for a WWII title as most titles of this genre usually revolve around D-Day itself, so it will be nice to see what Treyarch can come up with. You will be fighting as American, British, Canadians and even the Polish in Call of Duty 3. What’s more the different armies now have different squads so it’s not just the same character with a different flag slapped onto his arm. This time you will be able to take control of the ‘bloody brilliant’ British SAS as you take them on recon-ops using nothing but your stealth to accomplish missions. Also you will be able to use the Polish tank regiments, Canadian medics and the American dudes with Tommy guns and bazookas, so the game will truly offer the average joe multiple views of what war was like in WWII.
Over the games 14 missions you will be able to get your grubby little mitts on even more weapons and the piece de resistance is the fact that you will now be able to take jeeps, motorbikes, sidecars, tanks and many more vehicles for a spin in CoD3.
We have seen quite a few videos for this title, but the best thus far is the video which starts off with you making your merry way to the frontline in the back of a truck, when out of nowhere you get catapulted out by a grenade and then the war truly begins. The main thing you will notice is not only the intense, edge of your seat action but also the absolutely stunning visuals and breathtaking audio. This is seen most when you witness an unlucky soul flying a spitfire into a church spire and creating an almighty explosion of giant stones which fly out in all directions, creating one hell of a mess. You then continue through the scarred battlefield with bullets whizzing pass your ears, grenades exploding on all sides and artillery rounds landing all around you and all the time your thinking ‘is this really a game, I mean seriously’.
What’s more, the video wasn’t CGI, oh no it was real time, which just makes your mouth water, your back tingle and your hair stand up on end thinking about it. The various videos that have been released just go to show how much of the CoD3 environment can be destroyed, everything from houses to churches can all be turned from amazing to abominations. It also means that cover won’t be as rock solid as you previously thought, sitting behind a wall could be as bad as running through the middle of a battlefield with no clothes on and screaming ‘have a go, if you think your hard enough’ as one grenade can blow your cover and yourself into little itty bitty bits. Not forgetting the fact that the enemy are subject to the same thing, so what they think is cover could simply be their coffin.
The games list of features doesn’t end there. You will also notice that each and every building, garage, barn, bunker, turret and HQ has been painstakingly recreated to make it look as it would back in the Second World War. So while going through Bastogne, St Lo or wherever you’re travels take you, you will in fact actually be going through the town as it was in WWII (well pretty damn close anyway) and that in itself is simply mind-blowing.
We mustn’t forget what will no doubt be the most popular aspect of Call of Duty 3, that of course being the multiplayer. Call of Duty 3 will now accommodate for up to 24 players and you can imagine that more players mean bigger maps, more gunfire and a hell of a lot more action. Also Treyarch have promised to make the new titles online servers rock solid which will hopefully mean lag is a thing of the past.
The game is still a few months off but already it is looking to be an absolute classic. With improved audio, visuals, online multiplayer and campaign modes, it looks like it will be truly breathtaking. Quite a few thought that Treyarch might not be up to the job of releasing a sequel to the Xbox 360’s best selling title CoD2, but by the looks of things they might have just cracked it. Let’s hope it plays as good as it looks.
Originally Written By: Lee Matthews
