Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Well, it's back! Call of Duty returns for another year of massive explosions, amazing set pieces, and frantic action, and now it's time for the tale of Soap & Price to come to an end.

The campaign tells the story of multiple characters – some you have seen before, as well as some new faces – with around five to six hours of gameplay. The game is set in several European cities (with a bit of Africa thrown in) and you're thrown in from one dramatic set piece to the next, in search of a rather unpleasant chap called Vladimir Makarov. You'll fight on foot, drive a boat, man a turret, use a remote control gun-on-wheels, control a remote predator missile, and you'll get a proper ending to the story that started in Call of Duty 4.

But, we've got to be honest… the story doesn't really grab you. It's not one you're going to be remembering a few weeks later, which is fairly shocking being as the game's script was written by Paul Haggis, the screenwriter for movies such as 'Crash' and 'Million Dollar Baby'. More Hollywood talent has returned once again to lend voices to the game too, although, unlike Black Ops which had Sam Worthington and Gary Oldman voicing characters, this has Timothy Olyphant (the bad guy from 'Die Hard 4') and a couple of others as random soldiers just shouting "Get down!" and so on. That being said, it IS an enjoyable experience and definitely worth playing, it's Call of Duty for God's sake!

For most, the campaign is merely an appetiser to the untold number of hours that can be spent in the multiplayer mode. This is where it's really at. The standard multiplayer modes return, and this time there are a couple of new ones: Kill Confirmed and Team Defender. Kill Confirmed is basically Team Death Match, but a kill doesn't count for your team's total unless you grab the dogtags the fallen soldier has just dropped, and teammates of the fallen soldier can also run and grab the dogtags to deny you the points. In Team Defender each team fights over a flag that gives them double points from kills while a teammate of yours is holding it.

An enhanced version of Co-op spec-ops mode from MW2 returns: 16 standalone missions are lightly connected to the main story for one or two players to conquer. This time you unlock weapons for use in the new survival mode, which is pretty much what it says on the tin. You have to take on waves of enemy troops – most are standard troops that get better weapons after each wave, but other enemies are also thrown in, including dogs, suicide bombers, and even suicide bomber dogs.

There are a few new bits added too, like the 'Juggernaut', in which one player clad in ultra-heavy armour fights all of the other team and is extremely hard to take down.

Infinity Ward seems to have improved on some of MW2's minor issues, specifically where players could hole up and just take shots at players as they run past. This time around there are fewer hiding places, which some will be delighted to hear. The game's Killstreak system is now in two categories, one for kills, and one to help your whole team. These small tweaks are enough to please the hardcore community that are looking for improvements from previous games.

It's essentially more of the same, but let's face it, that's pretty much what the fans want. When it boils down to it, MW3 does definitely meet expectations. Fans of the previous titles will know exactly what to expect but will certainly not be disappointed. And newcomers will have a fun, enjoyable and fast-paced experience.

It looks good, it plays well and it's solid. The creators have pulled it off again, making another great sequel to one of the most successful franchises of all time. But perhaps this should be the end of the Modern Warfare franchise; it might be time for something fresh for Call of Duty, especially with the Battlefield series hotting up this year.