The whole situation with ranked gaming on CoD 3 is getting quite tiresome. Call of Duty 2 stretched everyone’s patience levels, and CoD 3’s numerous issues don’t help either. Don’t get me wrong here, CoD 3 is superb when you finally connect to a ranked game; otherwise normal unranked servers are faultless and huge fun. The reasons for these problems lies down to the way Treyarch have implemented their netcode topology.
It’s been explained in detail by xGeneral Deathx on the Xbox.com forums. Basically most common games require players to each connect to a central server hosted by the game publisher themselves, in my opinion this is how all 360 games should be. However Treyarch have implemented a new method that more and more games seem to be using as it doesn’t rely on a central server. CoD 3 relies on a Peer-To-Peer (P2P) connection, where every player on the server connects to each other so the workload is equally split up between each 360’s internet bandwidth. Now using this system means that large scale battles are possible, forget 24 players as 32 or more are possible but the more players you add to this equation, the greater chance of it falling over. This is because no internet connection is identical, no routers are identical so every user has a different internet configuration and just a single user can make the entire server fall over.
In my opinion, Treyarch messed up here. Console games should be about simplicity and seamless game play. The 360 is just that, but this is a second generation Xbox Live platform and online gaming should be seamless and efficient. Gamer’s should NOT have to be told to mess around with their routers, opening ports etc, but if you’re using a router/gateway that will always be the case anyway. They really should have implemented a different networking topology though, similar to the system that EA’s Battlefield series, and almost every other game reliably uses. Hopefully Treyarch can re-address these issues because this game is huge fun online - when it works.
Conclusion
Let’s get one thing straight. Call of Duty 3 is a really good game. It’s one of the best titles on the 360, and it also has the best multiplayer too. Despite the numerous issues and flaws this game has, it’s hard to ignore how fun the game play is, both in the single player campaign and in multi player. If you enjoy WW2 shooters, and god there are way too many as it is, then you’ll adore this.
Treyarch have produced a winner here, and if they are working on additional content E.G. Multi player maps, then CoD 3’s position in the Top 10 games of 2006 will only get better. They’ve focused hard on overhauling CoD 2’s multiplayer, and their hard work has paid off. In addition to this, they’ve revamped the single player side of things, and it is good but not as good as it could be. If you like WW2 shooters, and a brilliant class based online mode, then this is the game for you. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 8.5/10
Pro’s:
- Visually outstanding. Explosions, effects and sound blend superbly together.
- Online multiplayer is huge fun, when it works right.
- The weapons feel very well balanced.
- Veteran mode is still present, and just as painstakingly hard.
- The ability to pick up thrown grenades and throw them back is most welcome.
- No lag online, no frame rate problems either. Sweet!
- Multiplayer classes are great!
Cons:
- Getting stuck on bits of debris is no fun.
- There are squad AI issues
- QTE’s are a waste of time, but still welcome
- Multiplayer Ranked servers have occasional issues
- Enemies spawn in front of your very eyes - very poor