Call of Duty 3: Reviewed

At first glance everything is very Call of Duty 2, with the game mechanics, minimal 'head-up display', regenerating health, and those familiar, if rather panic inducing grenade symbols, all present and correct.

It's a good job too, as you'll need something familiar to cling onto. Within seconds you'll be running for the nearest cover, and some missions don't even let you move before assaulting you with gunfire.

To say Call of Duty 3 is explosive would be putting it lightly - it's absolute chaos, and you rarely get a moment to breath, let alone think.

After lengthy sessions of Call of Duty 2 I was left feeling a little worn out, but once you put down the controller after a few hours with 3, you'll feel absolutely exhausted.

It's a total assault on the senses, with all hell breaking loose on-screen and your ear drums being blown out at the same time.

Sure, some poor checkpoint placement will cause a few expletives, as you fail at the same point numerous times in a row, but it matters very little when you're so caught up in what's happening - to the point that you'd keep playing until your fingers bled.

It might be a predominantly linear path shooter, but who cares? When the atmosphere and level of action on offer is this great, the fact that I can't wander off to see what's behind a tree half a mile to the East really doesn't bother me. I can certainly live without poor WWII first-person shooters, but when they're as much fun to play as Call of Duty 3, I'd happily play them year after year.

Call of Duty 3 is out now on Xbox 360, Xbox and PS2, with the Nintendo Wii version available for pre-order.

Review courtesy of Pro-G's Tom Orry. Read the full review here