Call of Duty 3 First Look Preview

Ah, the Second World War, how we know it all too well. Gamers have risked life and limb to liberate small French towns, battled German tanks in snow-cloaked forests and ran head-long into German machine guns in an indiscreet reprise of the opening scenes of Enemy at the Gates. Fans of the genre have been truly spoilt for choice over the years, with the likes of Medal of Honour, Brothers in Arms and Call of Duty proving indecently popular. But of all the WWII franchises, Call of Duty has delivered most consistently, with taut design and strong production values resulting in each edition selling like hot cakes. It’s of little surprise, then, to see Activision pushing another edition out the door this Christmas, and although Treyarch – the makers of Call of Duty 2: The Big Red One – are now at the helm, there’s little reason to believe Call of Duty 3 won’t sell as well as its predecessors.

As a multi-format release, Call of Duty 3 will be appearing on PS2, Xbox and all next-generation consoles, including, somewhat surprisingly, Nintendo’s Wii. Surprisingly because, even if Wii arguably suits first-person shooters, Call of Duty strikes as one of the least likely to appeal to traditional Nintendo customers. Paradoxically, as of now, there are no plans for a PC release for Call of Duty 3, which may upset fans who’ve followed the series since its debut on the PC.

Set during the Normandy Breakout, the precursor to the liberation of Paris, you’ll be taking control of American, British, Canadian and Polish forces in a 14-mission campaign to defeat the Nazi forces and their vertically challenged leader. New features this year include destructible ‘soft’ cover, a completely revamped close-quarters combat system, new class-based multiplayer and branching mission paths, along with all the mandatory improvements such as smarter A.I, better animation, enhanced physics and updated visuals.

Activision was showing off the Wii version at Nintendo’s recent launch event and although journalists weren’t allowed to play it, it was a good opportunity to see the game in action. The demo level, which depicted an assault on what looked like a Nazi controlled châteaux, was pretty typical of Call of Duty gameplay in the past. Fans needn’t worry about the series going on a complete tangent, whatever format they play it on. The demo was also, clearly, an early build. Representatives were at pains to point out that many of the textures and effects were not final, making a visual assessment difficult. That said, based simply on experience, the Wii version will likely be closer to the Xbox than Xbox 360 or PS3 in terms of visuals.

Where it obviously differs greatly is in control, as Call of Duty 3 makes full use of the Wii’s remote and nunchuk. Aiming with the remote, and moving using the nunchuk’s analogue stick, Call of Duty 3 uses the basic system already adopted by the likes Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Red Steel. Although it wasn’t present in the demo, there will also be a leaning mechanism in the final version of the game, essential for peeking out from cover.

It’s not just the standard controls that have been adapted for the Wii Remote, either. One section of the demo had the player taking a squad across a river using a rowing boat, requiring the player to perform a rowing action with the remote. Similarly, throwing a grenade will require you to mimic a throwing movement and you’ll be able to throw grenades through closed glass windows, breaking the glass on contact. These small additions are encouraging, and give the impression that this Wii version could be more than just a piecemeal effort to appease potential Wii owners.

Melee combat is one area where the Wii version of Call of Duty 3 could well excel. During normal combat, a melee attack can be performed with a quick and simple stab forward with the remote, making it easy to go from firing on someone, to taking them down with a quick crack over the head. It’s an area Treyarch has worked particularly hard on, with what they call their ‘Battle Actions’ system. The more advanced parts of the system weren’t on show, however, Treyarch promise intense hand-to-hand combat where enemy soldiers will pounce on the player, pinning them to the ground, and wrestling with them in life or death circumstances. It’s a feature that’ll be present in all versions of the game, and it’ll be interesting to see how Treyarch use the Wii’s controls for such encounters.

Critics of Nintendo’s Wii console have been quick to cite the problems of porting multi-format titles to the system. Wii’s control system is completely different to anything found on competing systems, and must be treated as such. It’s encouraging therefore to see Treyarch attempting more than the minimum required with Call of Duty 3. There is, though, a distinct difference between attempting to do the right thing, and doing it right. Without the chance to get some hands-on experience with the game it’s impossible to tell if what Treyarch is doing actually works. Although Activision’s representatives were firm in the assertion that the game would be ready for Wii’s launch, a precise date has yet to be confirmed.