Whoa man! I just had me one bad flashback (nothing to do with the 16 bit game of the same name.) When I picked up my copy of Call of Duty 3 it musta triggered something in my noggin'. Everywhere I looked there was a World War II game. They just wouldn't stop coming! I was overwhelmed by all the Medal of Honors and Battlefields and it just seemed like there was no end in sight.

Well…I guess the best way to overcome this traumatizing experience is to face this new game head on. I got my army helmet on my head, trusty bayonet by my side, and trained the cat to dial 911 in case I snap and run out the front door like a crazy person.

Does whatever an army man can! Call of Duty 3 embarks on a couple of firsts for the series. It's the first time that the game wasn't originally developed by Infinity Ward, though Treyarch did do the Xbox/PS2 versions of CoD2. It's also the first time that a Call of Duty title didn't debut on the PC. Supposedly Activision will have Treyarch do all the odd number Call of Duty games, while Infinity Ward will do all the even ones. Still don't understand why there's no PC version, though Infinity Ward swears that CoD4 will be on the PC. Anyhoo…

The timeline for Cod3 is during the Normandy Breakout where the allied forces are trying to liberate Paris from the Germans. During the course of the game you will play though various campaigns as an American, Polish, Canadian, or British solder. While it's cool to use different weapons, tanks, and vehicles from the other allied forces the game really doesn't differ at all and you're just any ol' Private John Smith. While it's disappointing that they didn't try harder to differentiate between the various allied forces (other than the accents and guns) it doesn't deter the great storyline and action from the game.

Drives a tank, any size…
It seems like those Spiderman kids, Treyarch, didn't try too hard to recreate the franchise. If anything they just took Call of Duty 2, pushed the graphics a bit more and expanded the multiplayer. If you played CoD2, you'll be able to jump into CoD3 with no problems whatsoever. The controls are exactly the same. The graphics are fantastic, especially during the single player campaign and really show what the Xbox 360 can do. The audio is just as outstanding. Using a proper surround sound system, you'll totally feel immersed in a WWII battlefield with explosions and gunfire flying all around you.

Multiplayer has been beefed up substantially from Call of Duty 2. The number of players online has been bumped up to 24 from only 8 players on CoD2. Three of your buddies can join the online fray using 4 player splitscreen on your single Xbox 360. There are also tanks, jeeps, trucks, and motorcycles to add some spice to gameplay. My only complaint that there aren't many maps (less than 10), but Activision promises that more downloadable maps are on the way. Uh oh. I see some microtransactions in your near future

Look out! Here comes the army man!
Treyarch played it safe with Call of Duty 3. They knew not to mess too much with a sure thing and just added some spit and polish to the existing franchise. The areas they did brave to tweak help push CoD3 as the title to own this holiday. The multiplayer alone makes this a must buy. Makes you wonder what Infinity Ward is going to do with Call of Duty 4. How can they make a game better than this? I guess we'll just have to tune in next year and see what happens. The ongoing soap opera that is Call of Duty…

- NakedBoB