Review : Call of Duty 3 for PS3

Call of Duty 3 is one of the many World War II games out there today, and one of the best at that. The graphics, sounds, and online play are the major strengths of Call of Duty 3. With the better rendering abilities of PS3, the graphics of Call of Duty 3 are a step above the rest of the series. However, the major strength of Call of Duty 3 is the online multiplayer mode where you can play with 23 other players. At it's best, it feels like you're a part of a massive war, which is what the game is trying to get at. At its worst, Call of Duty 3 plays like a good First Person shooter. Like all games, Call of Duty 3 has its good and bad stuff.

One of the first things that I would point out is that, at least according to me, Call of Duty 3 for Xbox 360 is better that the PS3 version. Yes, even the graphics. Call of Duty 3 has many frame rate problems when playing on the PS3 and slows down considerably from the 60fps standard. However, this problem is minimal in the multiplayer mode, which I believe the game is intended to be really played the most at.

Call of Duty 3 has a single player mode that doesn't play much different from the previous version of the game. The storyline isn't really there, and there are some frustrating parts about the game. For example, when fighting outdoors, enemies will constantly keep spawning to replace fallen comrades. This doesn't happen indoors however. You have a group of CPU controlled soldiers with you. In the earlier versions, if you shot one of the, it was game over instantly. This time around, it's a little more forgiving. At the same time though, the ability to lean to the sides is noticeably absent. One more problem, that is really just unrealistic is the fact that when you're hit, you can hide away and regain your health to full. Which means you might have been hit by a grenade that nearly blew a limb off, but you'll be able to get back to full health just by waiting around.

Other than these frustrations, Call of Duty 3 is really awesome. There are plenty of cool additions that make the game more realistic as well. For example, every time you lift up the rifle using L1 to aim better, there's a moment of blur to simulate the eye adjusting to the scope vision. There's no health bar, but the red around the screen that moves in overtime shows the situation of your health.

All in all, I was personally a little disappointed with Call of Duty 3. The whole series has been great, and while Call of Duty 3 wasn't bad at all, it seems like the developers failed to take full advantage of the PS3 capabilities. I personally would prefer the Xbox 360 version (or PC if that comes out). While good, Call of Duty 3 doesn't meet my expectations (which were pretty high to begin with).