Call of Duty: Black Ops III (PlayStation 4)

Another year, another Call of Duty.

Black Ops is back and brings with it a new campaign full of tech-laden espionage action.

The player assumes the role of a black-ops soldier on a mission to extract hostages from Ethiopia.

Things go awry, and before long our protagonist is being fitted with cybernetic enhancements which add abilities for running up walls, performing ground pounds, or using enhanced forms of tactical vision.

Call of Duty’s usual linear style is still prominent, with trigger points causing on-screen action. There’s now however a great deal of variation to be had, maybe even more than previously seen in the series.

This comes from two things; the variety in levels and set pieces, and the customisation through cybernetic enhancements and weapons.

To take things even further – up to four players can play co-op through the campaign in a drop-in/drop-out style.

Multiplayer certainly doesn’t fail to excite with 12 maps available, and nine selectable characters with their own defensive or offensive traits. It’s as solid as it’s ever been.

Zombies mode is bigger and better, taking place in a 1940’s slum town and featuring the vocal talents of Jeff Goldblum and Ron Perlman.

There’s enough customisation and variety available in the campaign to make it the best we’ve seen in years, and the multiplayer and zombie modes are excellent.

This should be getting boring – yet Black Ops III is far from it.

SCORE: 8/10