Call of Duty 3 review

Throughout Call of Duty 3, you're presented with slightly-gimmicky but still exciting events. As you're entering a doorway to clear yet another house, you might get ambushed by a disarming Nazi, who you'll need to pummel up close if you want to proceed. The mechanics of this "melee event" boil down to reflexive button mashing, but somehow they seem to feel more fresh as the game progresses.

There're also the bomb placing minigames, which, again, boil down to reflexive button presses, but the way the audio shifts to focus on your soldier's loudly beating heart provides just the right mood of tension. Even with Call of Duty 3's extremely linear gameplay, these little touches break up the constant oncoming tide of screaming Nazis with a little diversity.

Another addition we were pleased to see was a third-person camera for piloting vehicles. In certain sections of the game, you get to hop in a jeep and tool around the French countryside, and the experience is much more fun when you can get a broader overall view of where you're going.