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Exciting Gameplay with a Few Annoyances

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 60 / 63
Date: November 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I played Call of Duty 2 on the Xbox 360 and loved it. I recently bought the Wii and decided to buy Call of Duty 3.

Overall I enjoyed the gameplay. The story is well-developed and not an after thought as with so many other games in this genre. Moving around, aiming, and shooting all seem very natural with the Wii remote and nunchuck controller. Driving the jeep is a lot of fun, and the tank is also a good experience. You'll also have the opportunity to fire a wide array of weapons, artillery pieces, and throw lots of grenades.

The graphics are decent, though the textures are not quite as vivid as the Xbox 360 predecessor. The characters seem to have a very fluid and natural motion, and they have excellent aim (so watch out!).

There are some drawbacks. In many levels, the object is not to eliminate enemy troops but to accomplish some other task. As a result, at times it seems that the enemy soldiers are respawning like crazy and appear out of nowhere thus detracting from the realism. Fellow squad members are mostly worthless, and contribute only superficially to fending off the onslaughts.

There are also actions that require the Wii remote, such as fending off a hand-to-hand attack and setting demolitions. The actions required in these situations are awkward at best.

One final drawback to mention: there is no way to escape the cut scenes. There are times that even when a checkpoint is reached, resuming the game from that checkpoint requires that you re-watch the cut scene. Some of those cut scenes, while entertaining, are a bit lengthy especially when it's the third time you've seen it! The final scene in the last chapter is quite long, having a checkpoint in there would have been nice too.

Overall I'd recommend Call of Duty 3, just keep in mind that like with all games this one has a few disadvantages.

New Console Gamer from PC, very pleased with first console FPS

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 32 / 35
Date: November 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Similar to another reviewer, this (the Wii) is the first console since the original Nintendo that I was ever excited about. I generally avoided the consoles, especially FPS games for them, due to my reliance on Keyboard+Mouse control.

Gameplay: I'm very pleased with the aiming and control you have with the guns. While I seem to have a 50/50 chance of losing a fight over a gun struggle, it's still a very exciting event. Early on, it was a little dizzying due to my lack of control, and that relaxed state of my arms seemed to point the wii-remote downward, which resulted in me looking at the ground. After about 20-30 mins of gameplay,(probably quicker for some others not so reliant on the Keyboard+Mouse combo), the aiming controls felt quite natural, and my focus during play was strictly on the game itself and not the controls.

Like some other games, (Halo if I remember correctly) you(your character) doesn't have hitpoints so to speak, but works off of a sustained damage idea. You won't die unless you take a lot of damage very quickly. This is enjoyable during the game because it keeps the action going, and has less of a "Rainbow Six" feel where all the Terrorists were headhunters and 1-shot killed you.

Display: First off, I don't own a HDTV. It's an old 1993 25" tube TV. The graphics for this game look excellent on this TV. I've been very impressed with overall look and feel. There have been several times, when looking through my weapon's sights that I felt like I was watching scenes out of "Saving Private Ryan". The movement and body motions of humanoids look very natural and don't draw your attention for un-natural deformations or robotic movements.

Pros: I love the wii-remote aiming. Driving is a lot of FUN!!!

Cons: Some of the gestures with the remote, at least in the beginning for me, felt awkward or left me looking around wildly with the remote. This will probably get better as I get better with the controls, but I thought I'd mention it. AI: The AI of the enemy is Ok. It suffers from the usual AI problems such as: You've mowed down 6 Nazis running through a doorway, and they just keep coming. Because they are not affected by the loss of their comrades, they'll keep strolling through the door instead of tossing a grenade in first. As said, this is a standard problem with most FPS games.

Overall: I'm very pleased with this game and would highly recommend it to FPS lovers. Especially PC gamers looking to take the plunge with a console. (Wii specific)

Disappointing, although some appeal can be found.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 26 / 28
Date: November 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm going to start this review by saying that I came to the Wii as a lifetime PC-only gamer. I have never felt the need to buy a console until the Wii and its fun controller system came out. The aspect I was most excited about was controlling first person shooters just as precisely and intuitively as the mouse and keyboard, together with the added entertainment of using it for other motion-activated actions within the game (rowing, throwing grenades, close combat, etc). As a result, after spending the night out in the cold to get my console, and flushed with excitement at seeing all the merchandise, I grabbed three games: Zelda (a no-brainer), Trauma Center, and Call of Duty 3. Of those three titles, I'm sorry to say that CoD 3 was the one to leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

As I have stated before, I am a PC gamer; I'm really into my hobby, and love the satisfaction of building a PC which can manage all the latest games. I played CoD 1 and 2 on the PC, and greatly enjoyed both. By far the biggest problem with the Wii version, however, especially as someone accustomed to playing on the computer, are the graphical shortcomings of the title. I literally had no idea what was going on. I could barely tell which direction the enemies were coming from and the only reason why I was going in the right direction was because of the linear construction of most of the levels. Added to this, I had no idea how to get rid of the first German to engage me in hand to hand combat (a much advertised feature, which is actually just an interactive cut-scene). I followed the instructions to wave my controllers around wildly, and although I worked myself into a frenzy (causing my dogs to panic and think something really was attacking me) that inevitable German (I tried throwing all my grenades into the room he hides in) kept clubbing me to death. Even beyond this setback, I found that the controls were often quite poorly implemented. It is also disappointing (yet speaks volumes) that the grenade 'throwing' function that involves you actually 'throwing' the nunchuck (without letting go, by the way, unless you've got a backup TV) is disabled by default; trying to use it usually gets you to miss your target/get cut down/ blow yourself up. For the record, I know that the Wii controller works. I've played many hours of other games already (as the system conveniently informs you). This just seems like a shoddy implementation of it.

I can definitely tell you that there is a lot of ambition here to convey the frenzy of war, with some obvious strong attempts at creating absorbing combat scenes. Nevertheless, it essentially boils down to being a messy soup of blurry pixels which, even to my gameplay-over-graphics mentality in buying the Wii, blocks the enjoyability of this title. To be honest, it has made me think that WW2 isn't the best-suited area for the Wii. After all, these historical titles tend to rely a great deal on cinematically portraying the visceral splendor of war, rather then pushing exciting new gameplay elements. My advice on the FPS front: wait for the Wii 'Far Cry' game and see how that turns out. In the meantime, there are countless hours of other great titles more suited to the Wii graphics waiting for your attention.

Before leaving you, I'd just like to clarify on thing: this is the perspective of someone who has very little experience with consoles. Perhaps you're reaction to the game will be very different if you come to the Wii straight from a gamecube instead of PC/high definition gaming.

Oh, and if you're still determined to buy it, keep an eye out for my used copy of the game; I'm going to need the money for 'Banana Blitz'...

Great game, but a little bit short

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: January 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ok, first to all u guys that say that your arms hurt when u play this: u CAN play the wii sitting down. this way you can rest your hand on your leg instead of having to keep your hand up. Ok, now to the review.

Graphics: 6.5/10. decent for the wii. definetly not xbox 360 or PS3, but what do u expect for $250?

Gameplay: 9/10. great game, but short. Its not repetitive at all, at least in my opinion.

Fun: 10/10. The 12 hours you spend playing this game should be great. just make sure to get used to the controls by playing wii sports and making a mii first.

Controls: 8/10. Overall, the wii controls really well. Just when you're fighting a guy, planting a bomb, or driving, the wii doesnt read ur motions too well (note: im 14 and dont really know how to drive, so that may have something to do w/ it)

Overall: 9/10. Great game. Decent graphics. Good controls. If you bought a wii, like FPS, and realize that u can play the wii sitting down; buy this game

Great game-Not so great motion recognition

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

When the first Call of Duty dropped, it's stellar production values and tight game play elevated an already impressive first person WWII shooter genre to even greater heights.

With Call of Duty 3, the series continues to build a superb legacy for itself despite a few minor yet unfortunate miss steps. COD 3 is an incredibly immersive game and everything from its impressive graphics, (ignoring the awful smoke grenade effects) to it's incredible sound effects and its cinematic story telling approach, places you squarely in the heart of battle. Any concerns about how this game would control on the Wii can be laid to rest. Call of Duty 3 plays amazingly well on the Wii-to a point. (More on that later)

For most newbies however, it's still going to take a moment or two to get used to the idiosyncrasies of the Wii-mote. Instead of controlling a second analog stick to move the camera, COD 3 (and every other fps on Wii for that matter) has you simply turning your Wii-mote left or right. Once the initial learning curve of this movement has passed-control feels completely natural and intuitive as if it was the way it was always meant to be. This works so well after a while that in other games (like Zelda) you will miss the ability to do this.

Where Call of Duty 3 fails however is in it's attempt to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Wii. Certain actions such as setting charges and such, become entirely too gimmicky and are a nightmare to control. Initially I could set a charge by sliding the on-screen pin into the charge with my nunchuck, then turn the nunchuck around in a circle to tighten into place. But then, when I needed to pull back from the charge, the game refused to recognize the action I was performing with the nunchuck. This happened every single time. There were certain moments where I literally sat there for five minutes (swearing heavily) trying to finish up the action, swinging the nunchuck about in every possible direction and at every possible angle with no luck. The game simply refused to recognize my movements.

Another gripe I had with the COD 3 also pertains to poor recognition. During battle, it is not uncommon for German soldiers to toss a grenade or two your way. COD 3 gives you the option of picking up the grenades and tossing them back. It's great when it works, but 90% of the time when you "toss" your grenade by flicking the nunchuck it doesn't recognize the movement even after you've done it repeatedly, therefore the grenade blows up in your hand-killing you instantly. I don't know how many times I died because the game simply wouldn't recognize that I had thrown the grenade. Granted there are options to set grenade throws to button presses only, but the layout of the buttons is clunky at best and would render the grenade tossing entirely too cumbersome in the heat of battle anyway.

All in all, despite its flaws, I still found COD 3 to be a very enjoyable game and played it all the way to the end. I would even re-play it given the chance. If you're a fan of the Call of Duty series, or any first person shooter for that matter-you'll enjoy this game. Despite the occasional aggravation of faulty controls, COD 3 has still become my favorite in the series. Here's hoping they'll do a better job with the controls in the next installment.

Better than I thought

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have to admit, I entered into this game skeptical as to how it was going to work. I am a PC person, and believe that the best play for an FPS, was on the PC. Duel analog sticks are just clunky to control for the consoles. Upon cracking this thing open, I found the controls to be way over sensitive. I couldn't hold the crosshairs still. In my mind I'm thinking, "I knew this was gonna suck!" I finally thought of trying to turn down the sensitivity on the controllers. After adjusting the Horz. and Vert. sensitivity in the COD3 options, I was on my way. It was really alot of fun. Moving around with the Nunchuck, and aiming with the remote was really easy to pick up. The screenshots really don't do this game justice. You just have to see it to appreciate it. I kept hearing about how the Wii was inferior to the PS3 and 360. I really don't see that much difference. The smoke effects, and the lighting are probably better on the other consoles, but the core graphics are pretty close. It certainly doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the game. In fact, the gameplay was better for me, just because I don't have to use those clumsy controllers. Overall being one of the first games out for the Wii, I would have to give this offering a B+.

Best first-person shooter on the Wii so far!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It's sad to see that people are sharing their discouraging views of this game after "...playing it at a friends house for only ten minutes"--it really is. I first played this game on the XBox 360 and thought it was great. But despite the graphical downgrade, the Wii version took the gameplay to anoter level. The experience is much more immersive and to be honest, the graphics aren't as bad as people are claiming them to be. After playing this game on the Wii, it's really hard to imagine playing it on any other system. Sure, there are some motions that might not be as responsive as we'd all like, but what these XBox 360 fanboys failed to mention is that most of these guestures are also programmed as buttons that you can press instead. With that said, I've never had my rifle stolen by a Nazi while playng this game like most claim to have done. My guess is that they're waving the controllers too fast. To sum it all up, driving, shooting, and throwing bombs are done with extreme precision. This is truly an experience you won't want to miss. If you're still in doubt, rent it first. But don't be surprised if you end up buying it.

NO Multiplayer

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Overall, this is a great game that is worth the time and money.

However, I just wanted to fix a huge mistake Amazon put in the product discription.

The Wii version has NO MULTIPLAYER

Poor controls make me (a weathered PC FPS player) nauseous

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 13
Date: November 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I am not really into console-based FPS games but my friend told me to get this game because it would be awesome.

Well I got the game and let him try it out first. I quickly started to get dizzy watching him as his finesse was lacking. Then I gave it a try. The controls are layed out well - trigger is shoot. Reload is pulling up your nunchuk, change weapons is moving the nunchuk to the left... but implementation is poor. Looking around is done by pointing the remote. But the head doesn't track the remote quickly so it leads to a lot of "player induced oscillations" that got me dizzy to the point where I really felt like throwing up. And I am not a new FPS player... Battlefield and CounterStrike have wasted more hours of my life than I would like to admit here. So I am pretty confident when I say the gameplay/controls suck. COD2 on the PC (which I've played for a few hours) seemed better to control.

Of course the graphics here are really nice... the characters use very human gestures.I just really was not satisfied by this game. You can get shot so many times and still live. It's pretty mindless and all you're doing is blasting away, and getting frustrated at the delayed-response of the aiming apparatus.

My recommendation is that you rent this game before buying. It's not "all that."

Solid FPS for Wii...hopefully the first of MANY

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm a console gamer who recognized that the best FPS were on PC. Unwilling to spend hours on my computer chair in front of a 19" screen, when I could be on my Lay-Z-Boy watching a 37" TV, I've put up with a lot of crud.

CoD3 for Wii is a refreshing change for console FPS. Yes, it has its flaws, but it's also a launch-title...so I was surprised just how few there were.

Pros:
-Good graphics (better than PS2/GameCube/etc., sub-PS3/Xbox360)
-Great controls (once you adjust the sensitivity)
-Sound effects are great on my surround sound
-Smooth gameplay (minimal slowdown, etc. despite MANY moving characters)
-Most of the maps allow for strategic approaches, utilizing cover effectively.
-FUN!!!

Cons:
-Wii-mote is too sensitive until you adjust settings
-Enemy AI leaves something to be desired...I'll shoot the soldier in one window, only to have his buddy start shooting out of the same window.
-While maps have plenty of cover, you sometimes feel like you're being "herded" to your objective, rather than strategically identifying and approaching (no free-roaming).
-Suspect "hit-detection". Seems like a head shot and a leg shot often have the same effect.

While there will be better FPS coming out for the Wii, this is a solid launch-title and should satisfy any Wii-owner suffering from "Zelda-fatigue". While not perfect, CoD3 truly satisfies!

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