Call of Duty 3 [360]

[ChrisF]

Victory is mine!

[Extra Terrestrial]

Absolutely fan-bloody-tastic.

This game on a HDTV looks the absolute business and shows off the extremely high quality environmental and character detail. The visuals don't have any clippings or tearing that look out of place so I assume that the game has anti-aliasing on to the maximum!

There is some really nice haze effect going on with the lighting and the models of the characters leading you about are something to behold. The rain effects and the flowing water during the second mission is just something you can stand and gawk at for ages.

As usual, the audio output is second to none where the explosions drown out the voices and screams and the gunfire is still as loud and satisfying to listen to as ever. The tanks have that extra oomph in the audio department by hearing the tracks grinning over the ground and the loud blast of the gun is enough to knock you back.

However, the best thing about the game so far is just how much is going on in your surroundings and the battlefield where you find it incredibly hard to believe that in these situations there is no slowdown to speak of and I cannot find a single piece of tearing in any part of the game.

A very good example of this is when a soldier gives you a boost over the wall, after you have completed the brief training section to see two to three seconds of complete all out war scene where at least 30 very detailed character models are thrown about within the chain of explosions and the rest running up towards the church as the gunfire continues along with the swaying vegetation in the environment.

That particular moment is what the next generation is all about and anything less is just not worth the time or effort. I wouldn't be lying if I said that the opening mission is the best thing that has happened on the Xbox 360 so far.

Astonishing stuff.

Oh yeah, I started the game on Normal mode but I managed to get through the level without dying or getting hit very much so I restarted the game on Hard mode and I have to say, "now that's more like it!"

Normal mode is fine but if you want an all out war going on within your surroundings then playing the game on Hard mode is the way to go. The difference between the grenades on Normal and Hard mode is that you die very much straight away on Hard mode whereas on Normal, you can get away with a few blasts.

You certainly have to give Treyarch a round of applause for developing a game that is just as good if not better than Call of Duty 2.

[ChrisF]

Oh dear, a little crashie poo. Seems to have been loading (after i died) for a few minutes now

[Rossco]

Out of interest, who has turned off "Sticky Aim" In the gameplay options? I hated it in CoD2 so took it off and I'm just about to turn it off now so theres more skill involved, but then when I go online, does that mean everyone else will have it on and I wont making it a bit unfair? Should be an option when creating a game to have it on or off, or just turn it off completely in Multiplayer as its just cheating.

[Nembot]

What`s "sticky aim"?

Is it like a watered down auto aim feature? I ****ing hate aimbotters on the PC incarnations so I don`t want to see that on teh console version aswell.

[Crisp_Rapper]

sticky aim was tap the left trigger was it not? you'd move the sight near a person and it'd home in as such? i turned that off straight away (on 2).

[Rossco]

Yeh, you just need to be aimed in the general direction, then when you press left trigger, it hones right in on them, I hate it. And I want to know what its like online too. Will really suck if everyone else is using it and I'm not.

[Uli]

the game is definitely on par with the "Big Red One" but it's not as good as CoD2 in my opinion - most of all in terms of atmosphere and tension.

also, why the game is lacking brightness adjustment and only features 4.1 sound through a 5.1 setup es beyond me and also unexcusable in times of "HD gaming".

[Rossco]

There is brightness adjustment! I'm trying to join a game right now in either Player or Ranked matches and none are working. I find it hard to believe that I'm the only person in the world online with this game right now!?

[RLench]

What makes you think it's 3.0, Uli? It's 4.1 - there's definitely a discrete LFE track and both surrounds are independant of each other. Stand next to a character while he's talking and spin round. You'll definitely hear sound travel between both surrounds

As for sticky aim, I don't think it's as bad as you've made it sound. It only auto-aims to within a small degree (maybe a few degrees either side of your aim). You still need to aim properly before pulling the left trigger, otherwise you'll see no benefit from Sticky Aim

[Uli]

There is brightness adjustment!

hmm, can't seem to find it. mate, please enlighten me!

[PeteJ]

The release date isn't until Friday, plus Gears is out in the US which has no doubt stolen the whole Live pool.

I agree that so far CoD2 was the better game - like Brats said it feels too 'gamey', gimmicky minigames get in the way and I get the impression they've tried too hard with the scripting. It feels so rare that I'm actually left to settle into a battle, most of the time I'm just following a script. Also, though CoD2 was very linear, it did have scope for tactics, I'm not getting this with the third game.

I expect a patch soon for multiplayer too - the the first few games had an ugly black loading screen every time you respawned (sometimes lasting 30 seconds). We weren't sure if it was an option, but it didn't look as such. Waiting the usual ten seconds for the respawn counter to go down, then a further thirty for loading, was a bit off.
Also later in the night we played a 1-flag ctf, but the flag didn't spawn! Turned into team deathmatch, which was fine because we pwned

[ChrisF]

hmm, can't seem to find it. mate, please enlighten me!

It's in the options off the main menu. Basically several Activision logos and you adjust the settings until you can barely see the darkest one.

[Uli]

What makes you think it's 3.0, Uli? It's 4.1 - there's definitely a discrete LFE track and both surrounds are independant of each other.

yep, there are 2 rear channels, and the LFE is on (at least). correct myself. but i still miss the center.

can also confirm that CoD2 features the same 4.1 mix. piss poor. ft:

[ChrisF]

I expect a patch soon for multiplayer too - the the first few games had an ugly black loading screen every time you respawned (sometimes lasting 30 seconds). We weren't sure if it was an option, but it didn't look as such. Waiting the usual ten seconds for the respawn counter to go down, then a further thirty for loading, was a bit off.

Odd? I've never had any 30 second loading after respawning!