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Good: Online play, visuals, audio, great WWII experience

Bad: Occasional glitches, framerate issues, trouble connecting online

Why, why, why: Can't you skip cutscenes?

As the highest-profile title from the 360's launch, Call of Duty 2 certainly found its way into countless gamer's homes last November. It was a terrific gameplay experience that was slightly marred by some major lag issues online (initially). Call of Duty 3 is a similar beast in some ways, but things have changed a bit. This time around, the single-player is a bit on the weak side, but the online play shines.

It's amazing how many authentic battles from World War II are included in the COD series. Rather than going with the standard D-Day battles we've seen a million times before, COD3 throws you in the middle of many lesser-known skirmishes as the Allies march towards Paris.

The narrative isn't particularly interesting, and you'll shift characters and countries quite a bit. Perhaps the most infuriating aspect of the entire title is the fact that you can not under any circumstance skip cutscenes or dialogue segments. It would be understandable if you had to watch them the first time only, but that isn't the case. Even if you've watched every single cutscene in the game, you'll have to watch them every single time you start a mission.

Core gameplay is almost identical to Call of Duty 2, but there are a few additions to keep it varied. From time to time, Nazi soldiers will attack you at close range, initiating a minigames of sorts that requires you to tear the gun from his hands and knock him out. Certain instances of this will be more cinematic, as one features you knocking an enemy off of a water tower and then climbing back up to safety. These instances only pop up a few times throughout the campaign, and don't really add anything substantial to the gameplay experience.

While the single-player campaign stays on par with the action from the previous installment, it pales in comparison to the new and improved online play. It now supports up to 24 players and the game modes War, Battle, Team Battle, Single Flag, CTF, and Headquarters. War is certainly my favorite, and features Allies vs. Axis in a struggle to capture and keep multiple areas on the map (indicated by flags). I got a little tired of Headquarters after ten or so rounds, but all of the others are extremely solid.

Unfortunately, the game definitely isn't without flaw, both online and off. You'll occasionally get caught on environmental objects, sometimes hindering your movement until you die. As of this writing, the online play still has some huge problems when it comes to finding and joining online matches. COD2 may have had lag issues, but at least you could get into a game in less than five minutes. Other times featured odd glitches that caused me to fall through the terrain. On one occasion, a standard deathmatch round featured odd flags placed around the map and no discernable way to score points. Supposedly, a patch is being worked on to fix some of these problems, and it will hopefully be released soon.

COD2 was no slouch in the visual department, but this sequel is noticeably superior. Missions involving water look fantastic, with some amazingly detailed rivers and rain effects. Some missions are truly chaotic, with airplanes, tanks, soldiers, and explosions everywhere. The 360 version managed to handle this with almost no slowdown, but that's not the case on the Playstation 3. It's not constant, but the framerate takes a hit from time to time. Regardless, it's a fantastic visual presentation from beginning to end. The experience is even more immersive when you consider the excellent sound effects and wartime music.

If the patch truly does fix the matchfinding process, COD3 will easily be one of the best games on the Playstation Network. The single-player may only be worth one or two playthroughs, but I can see many gamers getting countless hours battling the Nazis online.

Graphics: 8.5

Sound: 9.5

First Play: 9.0

Replay Value: 9.0

Gameplay: 8.5

Overall: 8.8