Call of Duty 3 (Wii) (gamespy)
- gamespy -
Seldom have the battle lines between the competing armies of graphics and gameplay been so clearly drawn as with Call of Duty 3. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions feature excellent graphics and compelling, full-featured online play. The Wii version, meanwhile, is much more modest in appearance and devoid of multiplayer. However, it also has truly novel controls thanks to the Wii's unique motion-sensitive controller. Pointing and aiming at the screen feels much neater than tooling around with dual analog sticks, but is that enough to make up for the game's technical and online shortcomings? Not quite.
In Call of Duty 3, D-Day has come and gone, and the focus shifts to the 1944 Normandy Breakout, which was approximately 44 days of desperate fighting that led up to the liberation of Paris. It was a complex, intricate operation that required American, British, Canadian and Polish troops to act in concert to bust through dense clusters of imposing fortifications, and you'll get to play a few missions from each nation's perspective. It's not a bad idea, even if the story elements necessarily play second fiddle to the in-your-face combat action.
Point 'n Shoot
Beyond its multiple-viewpoint storytelling, Call of Duty 3 is another fairly typical entry for the popular franchise. The basic gameplay feels like Call of Duty 2 with less loading and more continuous action. Running around blindly is discouraged; shooting carefully from behind cover is a much better tactic. You've got the usual assortment of Allied and German rifles and machine guns, as well as smoke and frag grenades. The latter can be cooked to prevent throwbacks, and you can also toss back enemy explosives. There's also a very effective melee attack, should the fighting reach close quarters.
Seldom have the battle lines between the competing armies of graphics and gameplay been so clearly drawn as with Call of Duty 3. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions feature excellent graphics and compelling, full-featured online play. The Wii version, meanwhile, is much more modest in appearance and devoid of multiplayer. However, it also has truly novel controls thanks to the Wii's unique motion-sensitive controller. Pointing and aiming at the screen feels much neater than tooling around with dual analog sticks, but is that enough to make up for the game's technical and online shortcomings? Not quite.
In Call of Duty 3, D-Day has come and gone, and the focus shifts to the 1944 Normandy Breakout, which was approximately 44 days of desperate fighting that led up to the liberation of Paris. It was a complex, intricate operation that required American, British, Canadian and Polish troops to act in concert to bust through dense clusters of imposing fortifications, and you'll get to play a few missions from each nation's perspective. It's not a bad idea, even if the story elements necessarily play second fiddle to the in-your-face combat action.
Point 'n Shoot
Beyond its multiple-viewpoint storytelling, Call of Duty 3 is another fairly typical entry for the popular franchise. The basic gameplay feels like Call of Duty 2 with less loading and more continuous action. Running around blindly is discouraged; shooting carefully from behind cover is a much better tactic. You've got the usual assortment of Allied and German rifles and machine guns, as well as smoke and frag grenades. The latter can be cooked to prevent throwbacks, and you can also toss back enemy explosives. There's also a very effective melee attack, should the fighting reach close quarters.
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The only thing really joltingly new about Call of Duty 3 for Wii is the novel control scheme. Aiming is achieved simply by pointing at the screen, which serves to move the crosshair around. Turning is as simple as moving the cursor nearer the screen's edge, resulting in turns of varying speed. Meanwhile, the Nunchuk handles running, strafing, duck and jumping. Things are rounded out with a few gestures. Jolting the Nunchuk right switches weapons, while thrusting the remote serves as an alternate way to melee. (I prefer the button.) You can even throw grenades by flicking the Nunchuk, but again, I preferred to stick to the button method.
Special mention must be given to the weapon struggle sequences, in which an enemy surprises your characters and initiates a hand-to-hand struggle mini-game. I had a heck of a time following the onscreen prompts, which wanted me to alternate thrusting and pulling back with both the Nunchuk and the remote. I just wasn't getting it, and died about ten times before an online message board told me exactly what I needed to do. As such, I didn't really appreciate this attempt to add a little physical realism to the action. It was too abstract, and I ended up straining my left elbow a bit during my frantic attempts to survive.
Outside of the weapon struggles, the controls are solid and probably better than the typical dual-analog scheme used by the other versions. That said, they're still not as quick and accurate as a PC-like keyboard and mouse setup. Then again, what is? It would appear that the Wii is not the FPS control heaven we had hoped, but it is a step in the right direction.
Missing in Action
On the technical side, the graphics are comparable to those of an average PS2 or GameCube title. That's disappointing, but we couldn't really have expected more given the Wii's lack of raw horsepower and the game's multi-platform nature. The frame rate is mostly consistent, hovering around 30 fps. On the bright side, the music and sound effects are excellent, particularly if you have good speakers and a high-end receiver. It seems the Wii can hold its own when it comes to audio.
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In my mind the biggest disappointment is the complete lack of multiplayer. Call of Duty 3 doesn't even have split-screen options; they're just not there. This is in stark contrast to the excellent and extensive online features of the two other next-gen versions. The Wii has built-in wireless networking hardware and is easy to get online; the lack of any sort of online action is a huge drawback to the Wii version.
Call of Duty 3 for the Wii is an interesting but flawed game. The control is neat and the single-player campaign is solid, but I've come to expect more for fifty dollars. The lack of multiplayer is a real bummer, and the last-gen visuals are hard to get excited over, too. The Wii version of Call of Duty 3 could be a good buy if you've got to play it and lack the other consoles, but most people would be better served by springing for the superior-looking, online-enabled Xbox 360 version instead. The lack of long-term play potential makes this one more of a rental.
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