Call of Duty 3 is a 2006 first-person shooter game created by Treyarch and released by Activision. It is the third main version in the Call of Duty series. The game was available on PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. It was one of the first games released for the PlayStation 3 and Wii in North America, Europe, and Australia. It is also the only major version in the series that did not release on a personal computer.
The game received good reviews when it was first released and earned several awards and nominations. Later reviews have been less positive, with critics pointing out that the game lacked new ideas compared to earlier games in the series. However, some noted that it included features later used in other games. Call of Duty 3 has ranked poorly in lists comparing the quality of games in the series.
As of 2025, Call of Duty 3 is the only game in the series with officially active multiplayer servers on the PlayStation 2. These servers require special settings to connect, but they remain working. On the original Xbox, the game can be played online through Insignia, a service that restores online play for older Xbox Live games. On the Wii, the game is available through Wiimfi, a community-created replacement for the Wii’s original online network.
Gameplay
Call of Duty 3 is a historical first-person shooter game that includes both a single-player campaign and multiplayer modes. Players can choose different ways to complete tasks, but the game plays similarly to earlier games in the series. Players team up with computer-controlled allies to fight enemies who use different attack strategies, hide behind cover, and regroup to improve their defenses.
A character can move in three ways: standing, crouching, or lying down. Each movement style affects how fast a player moves and how accurate they are. Players can carry two weapons and use both fragmentation and smoke grenades. Unlike earlier games, players can throw live grenades back at enemies. Weapons and ammo from fallen enemies or allies can be picked up to replace items in a player’s inventory. Players can fire from the hip or aim carefully using the gun’s iron sights. A compass on the screen helps players find objectives.
Using cover helps players avoid enemy fire or heal when hurt. Similar to Call of Duty 2, the edges of the screen turn red, and the character’s heartbeat becomes louder when health is low. Health can be restored automatically when the character is not under fire.
During the single-player campaign, players take the role of soldiers from the United States, Britain, Canada, or Poland. There are 14 missions set in 1944 on the Western Front during World War II. These missions focus on four major Allied campaigns in the Battle of Normandy. Tasks include reaching checkpoints, killing enemies in specific areas, operating tanks, and marking targets for air strikes. The game adds scripted close-combat scenes and tasks involving setting explosives, which require pressing buttons in order.
The game also includes multiplayer modes. Up to 24 players can join on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, while up to 16 players can join on PlayStation 2 and Xbox in a single match. These modes are only available online. Multiplayer features are not included in the Wii version.
Call of Duty 3 is the first game in the series to include two different game modes. The "Normalized" mode was added to help players adjust to smaller playing areas in earlier games.
On Xbox 360, multiplayer is split into Player and Ranked matches. Player matches let players invite friends, but they don’t earn points or achievements. Ranked matches match players randomly and earn points and achievements.
Multiplayer on Xbox Live was available until April 15, 2010. The game is now playable online on new Xbox Live servers called Insignia.
Plot
In the American campaign, the player controls Private Nichols, a replacement soldier in the 29th Infantry Division. The squad participates in the final offensive to capture Saint-Lô, where they meet Pfc. Salvadore Guzzo, a radio operator who joins the squad. Later, the squad is transferred to the 90th Infantry Division as reinforcements to help secure Saint-Germain-sur-Sèves.
The squad attacks Mayenne to capture a bridge before the Germans can destroy it. Private Huxley is wounded during the fighting, forcing Sergeant Frank McCullin to disarm German bombs on the bridge instead. McCullin dies from his injuries. Corporal Mike Dixon is promoted to Sergeant and takes command. Soon after, the squad is sent to clear Forêt d'Écouves and locate a group of combat engineers. A surviving engineer reports that their supply depot was overrun. The squad recaptures the depot and destroys a German roadblock. They then help liberate a crossroads at Le Bourg-Saint-Léonard, trapping remaining German forces by closing the Falaise Pocket. The squad is later ordered to defend Chambois against retreating German troops.
At Chambois, American units hold off German attacks. Guzzo tries to call for air support but is wounded. Nichols and Dixon rescue him as air support arrives, but Dixon is shot and killed. Guzzo takes command, and the squad fights through the town, holding off the final German attack as American reinforcements force the Germans to surrender. Two days later, Guzzo is promoted to Sergeant. Later, Nichols and Huxley are promoted to Corporal. Four days later, Allied forces liberate Paris.
In the British/French campaign, the player controls Sergeant James Doyle, a returning character from Call of Duty: United Offensive and a member of the British SAS. Doyle is sent to France to help the local Maquis Resistance. He reunites with Major Tiberius Ingram, also returning from Call of Duty: United Offensive, and joins Corporal Duncan Keith.
After their plane is shot down near Toucy, Doyle is rescued by Pierre LaRoche, the Maquis leader. Later, they recover a jeep to regroup with resistance member Isabelle DuFontaine. The group attacks a manor house to free a captured Maquis member, Marcel, and destroy the FlaK 88s before escaping on the jeeps.
The SAS and Maquis raid a German-held fuel plant at Autun, destroying its fuel and facilities. Doyle, Keith, Isabelle, and Marcel escape in a German vehicle, but Ingram’s vehicle is destroyed, and he is presumed killed. Later, the group learns Ingram is alive and being held in a nearby village. The SAS and Maquis rescue Ingram and other captured Maquis members, fending off a German counterattack during which Isabelle is killed while trying to destroy a German armored car.
In the Canadian campaign, the player controls Private Joseph Cole of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada. Cole is part of an infantry platoon led by WW1 veteran Lieutenant Jean-Guy Robichaud and his second-in-command, Sergeant Jonathan Callard. The platoon is part of the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division.
Near Tilly-la-Campagne, as part of Operation Totalize, the platoon attacks south along the Falaise road. They destroy a German artillery battery and capture a German-held industrial complex, holding off an enemy counterattack. The platoon later clears a forested area near the Laison River of anti-tank positions and a motor pool for Allied convoys to move through. While advancing to relieve Polish forces defending Hill 262, Private Leslie Baron is assigned to the Polish 1st Armored Division to replace their radio operator.
Cole’s platoon frees a captured Canadian tank crew during the battle for St. Lambert-sur-Dives and helps capture the town. The platoon is attacked by a King Tiger tank. They flank the tank and detonate an underground German ammunition stockpile to destroy it. However, one fuse fails, forcing Sergeant Callard to manually detonate the charges and sacrifice himself. Robichaud recommends Callard for a posthumous Victoria Cross and promotes Cole to Corporal. The unit rejoins Canadian reinforcements to aid the Poles on Hill 262.
The Polish campaign follows Corporal "Bohater" Wojciech, a Sherman Firefly driver in the Polish 1st Armored Division. His crew includes Major Stan "Papa Jack" Jackowicz, Sergeant Lukasz "Bang-Boom" Kowalski, Corporal Joakim "Lucky Rudd" Rudinski, and Private Marek "Beksa" Ulan.
The Polish forces cover the left flank of Anglo-Canadian troops during a sweep of the French countryside near Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil, engaging German armored units. During the battle, Bohater’s crew destroys a King Tiger commanded by the tank ace known as the "Black Baron." Later, Polish forces take defensive positions at Mont Ormel.
While defending Hill 262, the crew faces an assault by remnants of the German 7th Army trying to escape the Falaise Pocket. Bohater’s tank is destroyed, forcing the crew to fight on foot with Polish infantry. Sergeant Łukasz Kowalski is killed during the battle. With their position overrun, the crew and Polish soldiers retreat toward Hill 262’s summit. Baron joins them and provides artillery support to destroy German tanks but is killed by German fire when he refuses to flee further. Private Marek Ulan retrieves the crew’s radio, using it to call in artillery strikes. At the summit, a large German counterattack arrives, killing Corporal Joakim Rudinski. After fierce resistance, the Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian reinforcements arrive, repelling the Germans and securing Hill 262 for the Allies.
After the battle, Lieutenant Robichaud speaks with Major Jackowicz, praising his crew’s efforts in defending the hill. Robichaud also notes that the Germans still have an escape route at Chambois.
Downloadable content
Three map packs were released for the Xbox 360 multiplayer game on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The first pack, called "Champs," was made available for free download on January 11, 2007. It included one map named "Champs." The second pack, "Valor," was released on January 27, 2007, and cost 800 Microsoft Points ($10). It included five maps: Crossing, Ironclad, La Bourgade, Stalag 23, and Wildwood. The third pack, "Bravo," was released on May 31, 2007, and also cost 800 Microsoft Points ($10). It included five maps, two of which were recreated from Call of Duty: United Offensive. These maps were Gare Centrale, Marseilles, Aller Haut, Seine River, and Rimling. Later, the price of each map pack was reduced to 400 Microsoft Points ($5).
Development
Call of Duty 3 was announced by Activision shortly before E3 2006. It was said that Treyarch would develop the game (their second in the series after Call of Duty 2: Big Red One), which was planned to release later that year. The game would use Treyarch's own internal engine, called NGL. This game was a launch title for the PlayStation 3 and Wii in North America, Europe, and Australia. It was also the only major Call of Duty game not released for personal computers and the only numbered sequel so far to be exclusive to consoles, along with Big Red One and Call of Duty: Finest Hour.
In an interview with Video Gamer, Noah Heller, senior producer of Call of Duty: World at War, said the team had eight months to develop Call of Duty 3.
Reception
Call of Duty 3 received "generally positive" reviews on all platforms except the Wii, which got "mixed or average" reviews, according to Metacritic. IGN gave it a score of 8.8, and GameSpot scored it 8.2. The game won awards for best shooter and sound design. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences honored it with "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design" at the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. It also received nominations for "Art Direction," "Online Gameplay," "Original Music Composition," and "Visual Engineering."
Later reviews of Call of Duty 3 were mostly negative, and it ranked low in lists comparing games in the series. Critics said it lacked new ideas compared to earlier games, though some noted it included features later used in the series, such as vehicles, larger multiplayer maps, and fast action combat moves in the story. Because of its short development time, some critics called it the weakest Call of Duty game made by Treyarch but described it as a "first draft" for future improvements.
When it was released, Call of Duty 3 was one of the top-selling games in the United States in November 2006. It reached #3 on UK charts but dropped off the top 10 by February 2007. By the end of 2006, it sold about 1.1 million copies in the US, according to NPD Group. By February 3, 2007, sales in the US reached 2 million units. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 versions each earned a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), meaning each sold at least 300,000 copies in the UK. By November 2013, the game had sold 7.2 million copies worldwide.