Treyarch's opus finally arrives in a blaze of napalm and glory.

Like clockwork, every twelve months Activision rolls out a new title in the Call of Duty franchise and the public goes wild.  Sales go through the roof, the media falls in love with the game, and all is good.

For anyone that's a fan of first-person-shooters or calls themselves a gamer for that matter, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you that Call of Duty: Black Ops is one of the years biggest and best selling games on the market.

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.

Human nature suggests that we should be sick of Call of Duty by now. Black Ops is the series' sixth game in as many calendar years on Xbox 360, and we'd be well within our rights as gamers to not care about it anymore.

+ Glorious; reinvigorated multiplayer modes; + Intense; varied campaign; + Oodles of extras like Theater mode; Dead Ops Arcade; and Zork

? How long until the first documented case of Call of Duty gambling addiction hits the news

As the first Call of Duty game since the split between mega publisher Activision and the talented team at Infinity Ward, there was a lot riding on the back of Black Ops . Could Call of Duty as we know it continue to exist even without the original partnership that produced the best titles in the...

A thrilling and brutal single-player campaign that's one of the series' best. But will you be blown away by multiplayer the fourth time around?

Best campaign in years; Stunning set-pieces; Proper plot; Wager matches are brilliant

Enemy spawning/AI is still dodgy

When a franchise consistently delivers massively popular, high-quality games, each new entry in the series comes laden with expectation. Call of Duty: Black Ops has some big shoes to fill, but it does so admirably.

Thrilling variety throughout campaign; Fractured story creates an intriguing atmosphere; New multiplayer currency system is invigorating; Combat training lets anyone enjoy multiplayer excitement; Theater lets you share and enjoy triumphs and failures

Short campaign

Every time a Call of Duty game is about to be released, the video game industry stops and watches. Whether you like it or not, Activision's multi-million dollar franchise continues to attract everyone's attention as a new game is being released, despite the claims from quite a few gamers who think...

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