THEY say the classics never go out of style.

And that is probably why after more than 15 games the Call of Duty series is still arguably at the top of the heap for multiplayer first person shooters on consoles.

With the latest game by Californian studio Treyarch, the single-player campaign has been scrapped to concentrate on what the developers do best.

Black Ops 4 is a purely competitive gaming experience – and it has been streamlined and stripped back to make it as intense as possible.

Treyarch has thrown out the futuristic gimmicks of previous titles like Advanced Warfare and Infinite Warfare for more of a focus on teamwork, tactics, wisely choosing your weapons and gear, learning the maps and essentially practice.

But as usual you get more perks the more you play via a levelling up system.

Rewards for long-time players are essential to keep them coming back but it is a double-edged sword as those starting out can quickly find themselves out of depth in a hornets' nest of highly tuned players.

Without wanting to sound like a sore loser I'll admit I was constantly beaten by – let's face it – teenagers with cat-like reflexes.

A tiered system where beginners can battle other beginners and the experts can find a proper challenge among other experienced players is much needed. But that is my only criticism of a balanced and highly sophisticated gaming experience.

It took just seconds to find a match when I tested Black Ops 4 on PS4 and all the games ran very smoothly. Team deathmatch is still king but there are a range of objective-based games as well as the new mode Blackout.

This is a 'last man standing' style game on huge maps with up to 100 players bidding to survive in a battle royale. Players only have one life in Blackout which gives the experience a different pace and leads to intense stand-offs

The popular co-op zombie mode also returns where you team up to fight hordes of the undead in tongue-in-cheek gladiatorial-style matches. It offers a very welcome change of tempo.

DAVID MORGAN