Call of Duty: Black Ops Multiplayer

There are also a couple of new perks (such as Flak Jacket, which reduces damage from explosions) mixed in with old ones (Sleight-of-Hand, Scavenger), while others have been renamed and re-catogorised (for Cold-Blooded, read Ghost). What's more, Category 1 perks now influence the player's appearance in the game. For example, players armed with Scavenger are carrying tons of equipment while those who pick Flak Jacket look like bomb disposal experts. It's a nice cosmetic touch, but it also makes the player's primary perk obvious to their online opponents.

The killstreaks are a mixture of new and old. Some are re-skinned versions of their MW2 counterparts (UAV is now Spy Plane) some are slightly tweaked (instead of a Predator Missile you have a remote controlled RC-XD) and some are completely new (such as SAM Turrets and Napalm Attack).

There are also a couple of new, nasty pieces of hardware available from care packages: The Grim Reaper, a satisfyingly brutal chaingun, and The Death Machine, a high-powered RPG. In the build we played the killstreaks only went as high as 13 - which produced a Gunship - so it's too soon to tell if Treyarch has removed the Nuke. The Death Streaks, however, have disappeared - presumably because Treyarch feels that Combat Training is enough of a concession for newbies.

Black Ops also boasts its own currency system. Every time players take part in an online battle they gain COD Points (CP), much in the same way they earn XP. However, unlike XP, CP can be spent as and when the player sees fit, and effectively removes linear progression from the unlockables.

What once was only unlocked by progression is now for sale. If a player wants a high-level perk, killstreak, weapon or skin, they can buy it provided they've earned enough CP. They can also invest CP by purchasing time-limited challenges called Contracts, which once completed award more CP or XP or both. The Contracts themselves are divided into three categories: Mercenary, (which award players for kills and using killstreaks), Operation (which reward players for doing well in team-based matches) and Specialist (unique or unusual challenges). The harder the contract challenge is, the bigger the payoff.

Players can also gamble CP in Wager Match mode. In these high-tension affairs, players can ante up in four different online match-types for a bigger payoff. Those who finish in the top three positions get a share of the pot and the rest go home empty-handed.

To prevent dishonest souls from farming CP, all the Wager Matches are Free-For-Alls and so opponents are randomly selected. The match types are all designed in a way to ratchet up the tension to nail-shredding levels. First up is One-In-The-Chamber, in which players are armed with a knife and a handgun with one bullet in it. If they manage to take out an opponent, they receive another bullet. If they miss with the gun they only have a melee attack.

Next is Sticks and Stones. Players enter the match with a crossbow, a ballistic knife and a Tomahawk. If a player manages to kill an opponent with the Tomahawk, they bankrupt them. Gun Game forces the player to use a variety of weapons to win the match; they start with a pistol and finish on a rocket launcher. However, if another player kills them with a knife they are set back by one weapon. Then there's Sharp Shooter, in which all players starts with the same randomly selected weapon and are forced to use it for a fixed amount of time before everyone cycles to another random gun.

There are still a couple of questions left unanswered concerning killstreaks and downloadable content, but there will of course be dedicated servers for the PC version, which is sure to entice back players who were put off by the lack of this in Modern Warfare 2.

Finally, Treyarch has gone to great lengths to accommodate the more creative shooter fan. Players can customise nearly every inch of their avatar's appearance, using camo facepaint, uniform patterns and skins for their guns. They can create their own clan tags and place them on weapons. They can even change the shape of their reticule and put a smiley face on the red-dot sight. There's also a theatre (sic) mode in which players can record segments of their online battles, watch them in playback from nearly every conceivable angle and then share them online.