A look into the short but exhilirating Call of Duty: Black Ops single player Do you smell that? Sweet smelling victory? Steaming bullet holes? Blood spewing? Oh! How I love the smell of fresh Call of Duty in the morning, guns blazing, fires burning, screams in the distance, you and your gun mowing...

Interesting story line; above average character development; amazing and interesting new combat styles and objectives.

Graphics are similar to past games, almost too similar; Boring cover to cover combat at higher difficulties

After First Strike DLC, Black Ops fans wanted some more action from the Treyarch and Activision. Left with no option apart from listening to demands of fans second DLC map pack titled "Escalation" was released exclusively on Xbox 360 for a limited time.

The campaign sees you playing as Alex Mason, a special forces operative who spends most of his time being shot at, tortured or suffering from hallucinations. The content is short yet intense, with missions connected through several different time periods and perspectives.

Arriving with an entirely appropriate bombastic marketing campaign last week, Black Ops , the latest instalment of the Call of Duty series, has more of an air of the blockbuster film sequel or much-awaited follow-up album about it.

First Strike is an expensive but ultimately excellent selection of new multiplayer maps for Call Of Duty: Black Ops. Tom Hoggins finds himself converted.

As it begins, your name is Alex Mason and you're sitting in an interrogation chair, getting electric shocks and being asked about a man called Dragovich while random numbers flash up in front of you on a screen. What do they mean?

Black Ops is made up of all the yummy ingredients that one would expect a first person shooter cake to contain and so it's very appealing to those that enjoy eating them. Of course, not everyone likes first person shooter cake, and those that do will sometimes wish for a change.

outing came during an off year - something to tide us over until Infinity Ward blew us away with their game. Well, not any more.

Formats: Xbox 360 (Tested) | Playstation 3 | PC | Wii Developer: Treyarch Publisher: Activision Release Date: 9th November 2010

Treyarch return with the next iteration in the Call of Duty franchise