Call of Duty 3, the latest in Activision's long-running World War II-ish first-person shooter series, contains plenty of thrills, such as taking a bazooka into a crowded room of German soldiers, or sitting on a hill and sniping, unaware that your buddy is sneaking up for an up-close-and-personal head shot. These are all pleasures that can be found in the outstanding Xbox 360 version. Sadly, the PS3 game, while fun, doesn't hold up nearly as well.

The game takes place during the 1944 Normandy Breakout campaign. The story hops between campaigns, ranging from working with British soldiers to taking on German troops in the smoke-filled streets of Poland. As these soldiers proceed through the campaigns, new problems arise, some even within the ranks. Developer Treyarch tried to put some spark into the storyline, and it stays mostly true to the theme, the only annoyance being the inability to skip intros the first time through.

Visually, Call of Duty 3 looks astounding. Treyarch was handed a daunting task when it had to take over for series creator Infinity Ward, the team that developed last year's Call of Duty 2. Fortunately, it delivered. Each of the maps shows a war-torn country like no other game before it. The insanely good smoke effects impress, especially with smoke grenades, and the strikingly realistic player animations add to the high level of immersion. However, the frame rate jumps around from time to time, going speedy one minute and chugging the next. The 360 version maintains a solid 60-frames-per-second speed throughout, making the PS3 game's deficiency unacceptable. It still runs sufficiently, but it would have been nice for the developers to keep the game at one particular pace.

The sound is fantastic. The voice cast for the soldiers is emotional and true to the content, led by Michael Biehn (Navy Seals, Terminator 2) as a gruff Sergeant. The sound effects are good coming through TV speakers, but this game was built for surround sound. Hooking up a multi-speaker system and setting it up for the game delivers quite a pay-off, with bullets whizzing by, massive explosions that'll shake the walls, and death screams all over the place. Audibly, Call of Duty 3 perfectly captures the essence of war, without missing a beat.

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