Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

Call of Duty - COD to its many friends - is, more or less, an annual event. Every Christmas a new chapter in the highly popular first-person shooter franchise hits the shelves.

The latest instalment is mostly business as usual, with a slick, sensational single-player campaign and a variety of different multiplayer modes. It will most likely sell by the bucket-load. But do we really need a new one every year?

COD's single-player campaigns are known for their big set pieces and occasional flirtations with controversy. Modern Warfare 3's story is a direct continuation from the previous game, resurrecting a few familiar faces and providing some fresh ones.

The ‘what if?' scenario (effectively the outbreak of World War III) requires quite a big stretch of the imagination but allows for plenty of blockbuster moments, including an underwater assault on a nuclear submarine, a Russian invasion of Lower Manhattan and a battle beneath the Eiffel Tower.

As long as you don't take it too seriously, the campaign rarely hits a duff note. Relatively short but never outstaying its welcome, it provides a surprising amount of variety and is buoyed along by some pitch-perfect pacing.

Many would consider COD's multiplayer modes to be the ‘main' part of the game. And, far from trotting out the same old thing for the umpteenth year in a row, the game's developers have bravely implemented several tweaks to improve the experience.

Players now have more control over their characters' development, accruing ‘point streaks' for various in-game achievements and translating experience into a re-balanced selection of ‘perks' or special abilities.

Throw in a couple of completely new multiplayer game types, a separate survival mode and a series of standalone co-operative missions and you're looking at an unbeatable overall package made up from a generous selection of highly polished individual component parts.

Graphics and sound are both of a very high standard too, though it's worth noting that the game has some demanding system requirements (see www.snipca.com/X4902). Far from feeling like a routine update to last year's model, Modern Warfare 3 cements COD's reputation as the best shooter in town.

PEGI age rating: 18+

Available on: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360