The PlayStation 3, as rocky of a start as the console had, managed to turn itself around at the end of its generation to be a memorable console in its own right. It introduced players to franchises like Uncharted and The Last Of Us as well as having free online play that did not require a subscription. As good as the PS3 was though, it too had hardware limitations like other consoles.
Whether the hardware was not powerful enough for what the developers wanted or the system was pretty complex to work with, some games were ultimately hampered by the limitations the console presented. The next games were those that were held back due to the hardware.
10 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3
By 2015, the time of Black Ops 3’s release, developers were now fully committed to the PS4 that the PS3 was now left in the rear-view mirror. Due to the massive file size of the game, a lot content present on the PS4.
The PS3 version lacks a campaign and only has multiplayer and zombies. Despite this though it still features the smooth gunplay and specialists oriented gameplay found in the PS4 version. It just unfortunately lacks the graphics and presentation.
9 Middle Earth: Shadow Of Mordor
An open world game set in The Lord of The Rings universe, the game still has a dedicated following, as shown by its mods, and the introduction of its nemesis system. The game was much better than people could have anticipated.
The game was also released on the PS3 and while the differences between its PS4 counterpart is minor, the game is best played on the PS4. The game ultimately runs better on the superior hardware on the PS3’s successor.
8 Metal Gear Solid 5
The final game in the series that involved famed game developer Hideo Kojima, he and his team went out with a bang. With its open-world gameplay and numerous weapons to take down enemies, the game is surely one to be talked about for years to come.
The PS3 version is essentially the same game as its successor but ultimately lacks the smoothness at which the game runs at due to the hardware limitations. This leads to the open-world being a bit emptier than it should be, ultimately affecting the experience as a whole.
7 Battlefield 3
One of the best games in the series, Battlefield 3 made the series a legitimate challenger to Call Of Duty in the first-person shooter (fps) genre. While the PS3 version is a great game, it lacks a key feature in its multiplayer that its PC counterpart lacks. That being the number of players the multiplayer maps could handle.
Limitations led to the system only being able to handle half the amount of players the PC could handle. As such this led to ground portion of maps being extremely limited. While the multiplayer is fun to play, the hardware ultimately makes it the inferior version.
6 MAG
Perhaps the most ambitious game on this list, MAG was an online only FPS could was able to support a whopping 256 players. This obviously had an affect on the game’s maximum storage which ultimately affected the game’s performance.
This led to the game lacking in content and overall polish, as well as stiff animations. Players got bored easily which eventually led to servers getting shut down in 2014, rendering the game unplayable.
5 Assassin’s Creed 3
While Assassin’s Creed is still thriving today, Assassin’s Creed 3 nearly affected the reputation of the series due to how over-hyped it was. While the game had a great combat system, the game was lacking in some areas and that had to do with its hardware limitations.
The game’s frontier, a large open environment where around one third of the game takes place, is pretty empty of life due to PS3 being unable to handle what Ubisoft intended for it. A number of features were also cut due to the hardware limitations like the ability to row a canoe.
4 GTA 5
A game that pushed the PS3 to its absolute limit in terms of what it could handle. The game managed to pack a ton of content on a large map as well as giving us the chaotic GTA Online. Of course though, even the PS3 version of GTA 5, as impressive as it is, could not do everything.
This was apparent when the game was rereleased for the PS4 which could hold double the NPCs, vehicles and wildlife that the PS3 version could handle due to the PS4’s superior hardware. This essentially led to the PS3 version getting left behind for its successor’s version.
3 Bayonetta
Bayonetta is perhaps the most insane hack and slash game out there. The game’s titular character was sassy in the most likeable way possible and the game also featured colossal bosses that would be the final boss in most other games. While everyone agrees the game is great, the same cannot be said for its PS3 version.
The PS3’s hardware was notorious for being complex to port to and that is exactly what happened to Bayonetta. This led to the game looking like a run-down version of what it was supposed to be and failing to run as good as other versions of the game.
2 The Orange Box
While technically three games in one, those being Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal, all three games fell victim to the PS3 port complex.
They crashed constantly which basically rendered three of the best PC games ever made unplayable on the PS3. On the plus side though, this was a learning experience for Valve. This led to Portal 2, the first Valve game to come out on PS3 after The Orange Box, becoming surprisingly the best version of Portal 2.
1 Skyrim
Skyrim is hailed as one of the best games ever made. Those words of praise though were pointed more towards the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the games as the PS3 version was a disaster at launch.
It was filled with glitches galore and would see the framerate drop constantly to a snail’s pace. Not to mention that Skyrim’s DLC came out at much later dates than the PS3’s competitors and it all has to due with the complexity of porting to the PS3’s hardware.
