Call of Duty 3
Submerged into the world of success, Call of Duty was constantly accelerating in interest levels of the public. Its previously released two versions had outclassed the conventional design and animation of the gaming media. However still not receding from the predominant uphold, a new and better version Call of Duty 3 was disclosed in the market, again shocking the sphere of the gaming world.
Big Red One
Big Red One was an animated game released by Trey Arch in 2005 exclusively for the previous generation of hardware including the PS2, Game Cube and the original Xbox. It was the first game to use Trey Arch NGL engine. It was their own version of Call of Duty 2, however was still not enough competent to the original one. The Activison assigned Grey Matter to assist in development hence raising the bar of conventional gaming animation.
Big Red One was renowned for being tangent to previous themes and sticking up to a single American Infantry Division. The player is named Sergeant Roland Roger and is ordered to attack cities in North America, Africa and Germany. Although animated in WW2 documentary style, its level designs are much smaller and linear as compared to its Xbox 360 counterpart. The multiplayer had still iconic graphics with distinctive areas and unconventional player navigation.
Big Red One As Inspiration
Big Red One achieved a generally positive review from the critics. Hence the game’s success propelled Trey Arch into the forefront of the Call of Duty scene and ultimately led the studio to become a major pillar in the franchise.
Only a year later Activision revealed that Trey Arch was hard at work for their mainline entry to the series of Call of Duty. It was titled as Call of Duty 3. As the time period was only 8 months for the design, the game was only released for the console market in 2006.
Call of Duty 3 Campaigns
American Campaign
In the American campaign, the player Private Nicholas becomes a part of the 29th infantry and aims to capture Saint Lo. The crew then assists the 90th infantry division in securing Saint German sur Serves and captures Mayenne bridge. They evacuate Foret d’Ecouves from the enemies, and recapture a supply depot. They abet in the liberation of crossroads and defend Chambois against retreating Germans. Guzzo takes the command after Dixon is killed. They defend the town valiantly and afterward travel to liberate Paris.
British Campaign
The player is controlled as Sergeant James Doyle in the British campaign. They assist Marquis resistance in France After their Handley Page Halifax is shot down, Doyle is rescued by Pierre LaRoche and regroups with Corporal Duncan Keith, Major Gerald Ingram, and resistance member Isabelle DuFontaine. The group attacks a manor house to free a captured member, Marcel.
The German-held fuel plant is assaulted by the collaboration of SAS and Macquis. It proved successful with the destruction of its fuel and facilities. Ingram is seemingly killed by his vehicle crash but the information later claims that he is alive and held captive in the nearby village. Doyle and Keith rescue Ingram and several counterattacks take place during which Isabelle gets killed.
Canadian Campaign
In the Canadian campaign, the player controls Private Joseph Cole of the Argyll and the Sutherlands Highlanders of Canada, led by the veteran Lieutenant Jean-Guy Robichaud. Cole’s platoon successfully accomplished varied missions which included a German artillery battery, apprehending a German-held industrial complex and evacuating a forested area near the Laison River. They also rescue a Canadian tank and crew with a retake of their town.
Polish Campaign
The Polish campaign is played by Corporal Bohater, a Sherman firefly whose crew gave a helping hand to Canadian and British forces in the French countryside. They collaborate with German armored units and occupy Hill 262. The squad then fights alongside Polish infantry and Sergeant Lukasz Kowalski gets killed. A large German counterattack gets Corporal Joakim Rudinski killed. The Royal Canadian force then arrives at the battlefield and by repelling German captures Hill 262 in allied hands.
Progress in Feature – Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty introduces numerous gameplay elements which were quite novel at that time. It features a grenade throwback and one-to-one fight on the battlefield. Being laced with realistic animation the gameplay of Call of Duty 3 was immersed in the player’s imagination to rise in the battlefield.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer included an even larger picturesque built around using vehicles and long-range weaponry. It included unique classes and specialized tools for player’s game tactics for example the players are equipped with medic class from which they can not only aid themselves but also their teammates with health. There was a blunt use of ammunition with machine guns firing excessive gunshots. The vehicles are again used on the battlefield specifically the tanks with their aim to destruction of the enemy and their checkpoints.
There is an improvement in graphics as compared to Call of Duty 2 as the game contained an impressive amount of grass sprites, detailed character models and much smoother motion. However, it was the last game to be built on Trey Arch’s intel GL model. Overall it was marked as a game with beautiful presentation and expanded multiplayer modes.
Call of Duty 3 Review and Acclaims
The review aggregator Metacritic graded the game with “mixed or average” remarks on the platform Wii. IGN put a score of 8.8 as well and Game Spot marked it an 8.2 score. Call of Duty 3 was awarded Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design by The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences in 2007. The game was highly praised as the best shooter game and sound design. Therefore, a whole of “generally positive” was commented for Call of Duty 3. A “Platinum” sales award was awarded from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association(ELSPA) on the releases of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2.
Call of Duty 3 was named as the best-selling title in the United States in 2006. By the end of the year, NPD Group reported that the game sold approximately 1.1 million units in the US. By 2007 the total sales in the US were 2 million units which was raised to 7.2 million copies worldwide in 2013.
Final Word
Call of Duty 3 remained the best animation game of that time by being #3 on the UK charts. The gaming animation was however not followed in its successor versions as they were made on different engines. Activision continued to leave the audience drowned in curiosity for its upcoming version. Hence the game became an emblem of public foretaste.
