360 screen shot
Following the events of the Normandy Breakout, which resulted in the liberation of Paris and brought the Allies closer to Berlin (that would have been a spoiler alert but I'm sure most of you fell asleep during history class and missed this info anyway) CoD3 breaks away slightly from the regular formula and introduces 4 different country campaigns: American, British, Canadian and Polish (the Russians are going to sit this one out). I wonder if they'll have some poor Canuck in the recording studio saying "After we shoot these hosers, let's go for a beer, eh?" As a Canadian it's nice to see the efforts of my fellow countrymen recognized in games such as this. I've spoken with countless WWII vets over the years and their stories scared me silly. It's a wonder any of them came back alive.
Other advances to the core gameplay include hand to hand combat, improvisational explosive devices, branching mission paths, destruction of environmental cover (ala Black) and more options for online multiplayer battles.
One of the areas we'd love to see addressed in the next gen iterations of FPS war games are the linear paths which often hinder the exploration and experimentation within the game. Often times you'll want to flank the enemy only to realize the game designers made it impossible for you to do so, as your path may be blocked with a high fence or some other obstruction. Other games warn you not to leave the battle area when you attempt to "think outside the sandbox".
Since Call Of Duty 2 was one of the most impressive X360 titles released at launch (and responsible for selling an army warehouse of X360 systems to boot) we can say that the screenshots of the third installment look mighty good on the next consoles. Even the Wii which doesn't have quite the horsepower of the PS3 or the 360 looks darn good, and it supports the funky Wii-Mote gun which will be mighty cool. We haven't seen screens of the current gen versions for the PS2 and Xbox, but we'd expect them to look downgraded from the Wii shots.
In terms of multiplayer, expect up to 24 players to battle it out in cyberspace in either infantry positions or commandeer vehicles such as tanks, jeeps and motorcycles complete with side-cars. The online play of CoD2 was a little less than seamless when the game debuted on XBL last November, so let's hope Treyarch can ship the game with the online play in tip top shop - or at the very least, release a patch toots sweet.
If you're a CoD fan, no doubt you're in 7th heaven waiting for this one to come down the chimney. We'll have more info when we can. For now, grab your rifle, dig a foxhole in your living room and wait...
Re: cod3
