Call of Duty 2 was by far my favorite Xbox 360 launch title. Up until the release of Call of Duty 3 I was still playing COD 2 multiplayer, online and off. The overall experience of COD 3 is great, but I find that the multiplayer has taken a slight step back from COD 2.
Still a WWII series, COD tries to make you feel closer to your squad mates with some nice dialogue as you head towards the start of each level. The game immediately throws you into an intense battle and keeps you on your feet through most of the game. The auto healing, Wolverine style, does take a bit away from the gameplay however. A new addition to the gameplay is the ability to throw an enemies thrown grenade back at them. Obviously you must react quickly to prevent from being blown up yourself, but it is a rewarding move. Unfortunately, there is also a change to throwing grenades. There is now a timer when you pull a grenade out until it explodes in your hand. It also seems like you can't throw grenades far at all.
Another new mechanic is getting into a struggle with the enemy. An Axis soldier might jump in front of you and grab at your gun. At this time you must press the appropriate button to win the struggle and kill him. We also see the series introduce vehicles. This is something that seemed to be missing from Call of Duty 2. First person perspective can become a bit annoying for driving, but third person seems worse with the terrible camera angle. The vehicles are nice for a quick get around but are actually something I could've done without.
Graphically, Call of Duty 3 looks nicer than Call of Duty 2 but not by a large margin. It is, however, able to show off plenty of action and destruction than its predecessor. A nice, small touch lies in the grass. Sneaking through the grass, you might notice that you are leaving a trail behind you as the grass is being pressed down. A very nice realistic touch if I do say so myself.
Upping the online player count to 24 people and allowing for split-screen online play is a great improvement from Call of Duty 2. The game also has classes now with each one having a special ability. This nicely mixes up the online games and makes things a bit more interesting. The levels, however, seem to all be set up for the increased player count. Playing split-screen, the levels are a bit too large and take away from the action. I would love to see a download featuring COD 2 maps.
Call of Duty 3 has a great single player mode, even if it is another WWII game, as well as a fun multiplayer mode. I still prefer Call of Duty 2 for offline multiplayer games, though. The game goes beyond Call of Duty 2 and deserves to be checked out. If you enjoyed Call of Duty 2 at all, Call of Duty 3 is a must buy.
