Call of Duty 3

Call of Duty 3 took the series into the final months of World War II – the player experiences the liberation of France, the Battle of the Falaise Pocket, and other key operations from the perspective of American, Canadian, British, and Polish soldiers. Treyarch, the studio that has since held the role of the series' second main developer alongside Infinity Ward, built the game on a familiar recipe: scripted, cinematically directed battles that guide the player through a narrow corridor of action. The campaign also introduced, for the first time in the series, man-to-man melee duels controlled by quick button sequences, along with simple squad commands that let the player signal fellow soldiers to advance or take cover with a gesture, meant to give the battles more dynamism and cinematic feel. Throughout the campaign, the player alternates between soldiers of four different Allied armies, underscoring the multinational character of the campaign in Western Europe, and alongside the infantry action there are occasional vehicle-driving sections.

The original Xbox version was released alongside its successor, the Xbox 360, as a companion port for players who hadn't yet bought the new console, or who simply wanted to try it on their existing hardware. Compared to the next-gen version, it's a technically more modest production suited to the older generation – lower resolution, simpler lighting, less detailed environments, and reduced explosion and smoke effects. The campaign and the selection of multiplayer modes were kept unchanged, however, including online play via Xbox Live, so players on the original Xbox didn't miss out on any content, only the visual polish and animation smoothness that the next-gen console handled better.

Call of Duty 3 is also the only main entry in the series that never came out on PC – Activision decided at the time to leave that platform to the previous installment and focus development on consoles. The original Xbox version, alongside the PlayStation 2 and Wii ports, is therefore one of the last ways to play the game outside the new console generation of the time.

Why play it: As a version from the time when Activision left the PC release solely to the previous installment, the original Xbox remains one of the last ways to play it outside the new console generation of that era.