Last year at this time there weren't many killer apps appearing on the new Xbox 360, but it's safe to say that from the drooling I witnessed at those kiosks, many proud X360 owners went home with a shiny copy of Call of Duty 2. A year does make a difference and now many of these same gamers have just experienced this year's killer app, Gears of War. While it's easy to be oohed and awwed by Marcus Fenix and company, Treyarch's Call of Duty 3 is no slouch in the action department either.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, Treyarch has taken the "war as usual" approach to CoD3 and provided gamers with the same intense action, while allowing them a little more depth by dividing up the action between the Yankees, Brits, Canucks and Poland. I have to agree with Adam in his observation that the gameplay is beginning to feel a little dated, as the locales have changed but the feeling of deja vu is ever present. Clearing out waves of enemy soldiers (with some frustrating moments of magically respawning enemies) just to reach another checkpoint, does tend to feel a little old by the third game already. But that's not to suggest CoD3 is boring, as 5 minutes has enough pulse-rattling action to physically stop your freakin' heart, but perhaps it's safe to say that the formula isn't as fresh as it once was. I wouldn't argue if the next game featured more wide-open areas. The level design is just feeling a little too linear and forced. The only way to evolve this war during this next generation is to reduce the limitations by giving gamers wide-open areas, multiple paths and while we're at it, let's kick the graphic violence up a notch and make it ultra-realistic. No blood and gore makes this feel like the Medal of Honor series and that harkens back to the PSone.

Even though the gibs aren't flying, CoD3's presentation is top-notch, both visually and aurally. War-torn Europe comes to life once again, but you'll have little time to sightsee, what with all the bombs, fire, shrapnel and bullets whizzing by your skull courtesy of the axis of evil. I found CoD3 to be even more impressive visually than it was last year, although some of the building textures look a little current gen. The sound is dynamite (excuse the lame pun), although I find it annoying that voices drop off suddenly if I'm not looking in the speaker's direction. Some of the accents in the game are a little oddball, but unless you're Canadian or Polish, you probably wouldn't notice.

The multiplayer is a far sight more advanced than last year's online model. The action is more intense, the emphasis is more on teamwork than individual squirmishes and the level design is far more condusive to all-out war. The only fly in the ointment, much like last year's lagfest, is that there seems to be a big problem joining matches. Let's hope for a patch for this ASAP. You can fiddle with your router to open some ports if you're so inclined, but this may or may not solve the problem. If you're more of a fan of multiplayer than the single player campaign, CoD3 won't disappoint.

The series is starting to show its age a little bit, and in my opinion needs to really take it up a notch in terms of level design and graphic realism. CoD3 is still an impressive title and if you can't get enough of that WWII, it will satisfy on most counts, especially if you're pleased as punch that it follows the same rules as CoD2.

Vaughn's Overall Score - 4.0 - Great

Rating out of 5 Rating Description 3.8 Graphics Detailed characters are wrapped in somewhat bland backdrops. 3.7 Control Allies who constantly get in your way and some poor hit detection can make combat a little frustrating. 4.2 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting Heart pounding music, realistic sound effects, and decent voice acting really pull you into the experience. 3.5 Play Value This game is fairly short and doesn't really offer anything new. 3.8 Overall Rating - Good Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.