The latest news:

Sony has sold 1.2 million PS Vitas worldwide, a promising start for the gigantic handheld console. It’s just over two months since the Vita went on sale in Japan, and a week since us Brits were able to pop to our local games emporium and pick one up.

There’s no knowing how much we contributed to the total sales, as Sony didn’t break down the figures by region. But it did acknowledge the European and US launches helped the Vita “exceed expectations”. It’s still early days, but maybe smart phones haven’t killed the handheld console after all.

The Vita touched down in the UK last week, with Asda undercutting everyone else, charging just £197 for the Wi-Fi-only version. A 21-year-old from Uxbridge was the first Brit to pick one up. It went on sale in Japan just before Christmas, and shifted 321,400 units in the first two days — though that lagged somewhat behind the Nintendo 3DS, which managed 370,000 in its first 48 hours.

Is 1 million units (and counting) enough? Game studios are famously conservative, requiring what they see as guaranteed sales of millions of copies before they’ll commit to the huge expense of producing a game. With 60 million PS3s sold, that’s a massive user base to sell games to.

Let’s say the Vita sells 5 million this year — that’s great, but it’s still a pretty niche system. So we’re likely to see a lot of ports of games already created for the home consoles. And if you’ve bought a £40 game for your PS3, are you going to buy the same one for £30 on your Vita?

The Vita’s Japanese launch was marred with some faulty hardware, with some consoles having stains on the screens, and others refusing to boot. The UK launch was relatively glitch-free, though there is a slight software issue. And the Facebook app was pulled, but that was Facebook’s fault, according to Sony.

The Vita packs a 5-inch touchscreen, but there’s a touch panel on the back, which adds even more controls. That’s along with the screen, two thumb sticks, buttons and a d-pad. It is pretty large compared to phones though, and games are a lot more expensive. The battery isn’t brilliant either. You can also stream PlayStation 3 games to the Vita without switching on the TV, though they won’t be the full versions.

Did you buy a PS Vita? What do you make of it? Do you think it’ll sell enough to make it a vibrant games platform? Let me know in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.

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It’s going to be Medal of Honor v Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 this year, then, as the first-person shooter battle between EA and Activision continues

EA has announced through its Medal of Honor website that the next addition to the long-running shooter series will arrive this autumn, subtitled Warfighter. The February US edition of the Official Xbox Magazine apparently has all the exclusive details.

Right now, it seems the game will be developed entirely by Danger Close, previously known as EA LA, the studio responsible for the campaign mode in 2010′s re-boot of the MoH series. The game will use the Frostbite 2.0 engine – the same tech as Battlefield 3.

Once again, it seems the story will involve so-called Tier 1 operators, elite soldiers working on special missions within enemy territory. As with the previous title, which was largely set in Afghanistan, it’s likely the emphasis will be on real-world tactics and conflicts.

This caused some controversy in 2010, when Labour MP Liam Fox complained about the appearance of Taliban fighters in Medal of Honor – however, his comments revealed only a passing knowledge of the game content, and the Labour party distanced itself from his statement. More details on the scenario of the latest title are expected to come to light at the GDC conference in two week’s time.

2010′s instalment of MoH was a critical and commercial success for EA, shifting around 5m copies, despite some criticism of the extremely short single-player mode. However, it failed to make much of a dent on Black Ops, which went on to record-breaking sales of more than 25m.

Rumours circulating at the moment suggest that Treyarch is also preparing a sequel to its own 2010 hit, Call of Duty: Black Ops. It seems the two brands will go head to head again in 2012.

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Mike Anderiesz talks character development, building new worlds and epic ambitions with two of the creative minds behind the new RPG on the block

With The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim proving one of our collective games highlights of 2011, and the likes of Witcher 2 and The Old Republic snapping at its heels, a rejuvenated RPG market is suddenly brimming with quality.

Yet debut developer 38 Studios has bold plans with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – not least by breaking a few of the genres oldest rules.

Founded by former professional baseball pitcher Curt Schilling, 38 Studios established instant kudos in 2009 when it took over Rise of Nations developer Big Huge Games from THQ.

It meant that this first game from the Rhode Island-based studio became a collaborative effort involving two teams, a combined staff of almost 300 and nearly five years of development.

Ahead of the game’s February launch, I caught up with two of the game’s key creative forces – “creator of worlds” R.A. Salvatore, and art director Todd McFarlane.

“Curt [Schilling] and his friends had a basic idea of what they wanted” says Salvatore. “I was responsible for fleshing out a broad history of the world, but there were so many people involved on both teams.

“Even my old D&D group worked for me as research assistants. I was really excited by the potential of coming up with a whole philosophy for how Amular worked – everything had to make sense. You can’t just stick a pile of rocks in a forest and call them ruins, you have to know their history and it has to be consistent with everything else.”

Though better known in the US, Salvatore’s skills at weaving deep, compelling and, above all, plausible sci-fi mythologies underpin Reckoning’s epic ambitions. Certainly, the world of Amular has been carved out in painstaking historical detail.

Key to the look and feel of the world was the guiding influence of renowned comic-book illustrator and entrepreneur McFarlane. Though enthusiastic about the concept, he was in no doubt about the scale of creating a new franchise in today’s RPG-savvy market.

“The hardest task of making an RPG is that if you set down 10 people, you’ll get 10 different reasons why they like them,” he says. “That’s very different to a car racing or even an FPS. Some people want to see the map, others to level up, others to quest. It’s all important to each one, so we decided not to treat any of those areas with less significance.”

As a result, Amular is not just epic in scale (five massive areas – including Forest, Coastal and Desert regions – and more than 150 hand-crafted dungeons) but ambition too. It begins in a conventional way, choosing your character from four playable races – the Human (Almain) Elvish (Dark Dokkalfar and Light Ljosalfar) and the nomadic Varani.

Your hero can then be customised for appearance, before embarking into the game’s mammoth single-player challenge, which Salvatore estimates will last more than 40 hours, excluding the hundreds of optional side quests. Reckoning helpfully puts main quest conversations first, so you can see at a glance which NPCs are most worth interacting with.

Which brings us neatly to combat – by no means the game’s most distinctive feature, but probably the one that gamers will debate the most.

Reckoning uses a hybrid system of simple hack and slash (controller buttons mapped to main weapons such as swords, bows or magic staffs) and quicktime events (for boss battles and some finishing moves). The result is a combat system that veers more towards the more cinematic style of God of War than the more realistic Witcher 2.

This may not please hardcore fans of either game, but it’s a system capable of impressive combos, including the eye-catching “Reckoning Mode” where time slows down and moves can be chained together.

McFarlane is pleased with the balance of fluidity and finesse that Reckoning’s combat system has achieved.

“We wanted to make sure the action was big and huge in an RPG context but at the same time avoiding have to hit six buttons,” he says. “We kept the sequences simplistic to avoid it being a ‘combat game’ – yet doing those exact same sequences with a different character will achieve a completely different effect. It’s cool as hell, but not frustrating.”

However, although much of your game time will undoubtedly be spent in combat and questing, Reckoning’s most innovative feature is the concept of Fates & Destinies. Originating from the game’s mythology, it’s an element that will have a potentially profound effect on the gameplay, depending on how you approach it.

Most RPGs and MMOs treat character progression as something written in stone; indeed, the only way to succeed is to pick an upgrade path and concentrate on maxing out those abilities. Effectively, if you choose to be a warrior, that’s what you are from start to finish.

Reckoning takes a different approach. You start the game as a blank slate, able to buy three main paths – Might, Finesse and Sorcery, with each path containing around 20 upgradeable Abilities. However, at any leveling-up point you can choose to specialise in other areas, creating hybrid characters that may combine Abilities from all three paths.

As you level up you also unlock one of eight Destinies, which help shape define not only your combat style but also your profession. For instance, Rangers are perfect stealthy assassins but if you want to add magic to the mix, you can simply accumulate enough points to switch Destiny to Archanist.

It remains to be seen whether such a dynamic form of character development will either empower or baffle the player, but Salvatore believes it enforces a kind of open world realism and flexibility so far unseen in RPGs.

“Your hero is the first person to come through the well of souls and be reborn,” he says. “But these powers have consequences that affects every aspect of the game: what does that mean to the world? What does it mean to religious institutions who rely on the power of an afterlife or to the parents of the last person who died at the well of souls?”

This flexibility also extends to other areas of the gameplay. Looting and Crafting, for instance, has been designed to cater for fans of both expediency and depth. You don’t need to access the Inventory to select, equip or discard items if you just want their value in credits; but if you want to delve deeper, you can head for a town and start experimenting with the game’s three distinct crafting systems – Alchemy, Blacksmithing and Sagecraft.

Use Sagecraft, for instance, and you can start socketing weapons with magical gems; if not, you can still gain bonus points (and a cool onscreen appearance) from collecting complete sets of armour items.

There are also nine non-combat skills – some which have unexpected affects on the gameplay. Improving Stealth, for instance, not only introduces some fantastic stealth kills, but opens up corrupt career paths like pick-pocketing. Neither are you all alone in your quest. There are six joinable faction, including Nomads, Travelers, Scholars and Warrior Priests.

So, given it’s a game that thwarts easy summaries, how pleased is Salvatore with the way Reckoning has translated his original vision into a living, breathing, role-playing experience?

“I don’t want to say it will raise the bar,” he says. “But it does bring something a little bit different. With Reckoning, I wanted a world that had beauty and horror – something really frightening that was worth fighting against and then giving you all the tools to do it. I think fans are going to like what we’ve achieved.”

And if they do like it, there’s clearly a big future already planned for Amular. Reckoning only features a small part of a persistent world that will be fully revealed in a forthcoming MMO codenamed “Copernicus”, which both development teams – including Salvatore and McFarlane – are already hard at work on.

Although neither would be drawn on an ETA, having made a fortune from multimedia franchises such as Spawn, McFarlane in particular understands the potential value of an original IP. However, it’s also clear that Amular means more to him than just a string of lucrative sequels.

“I appreciate all the 2s, 3s and 4s attached to successful RPGs – you don’t have to spend as much time reminding people what it is,” he says. “But even Hollywood can’t survive on just sequels, so is there’s room for new ideas? That’s a question people have been asking us from day one … now it’s up to the consumers.”

Reckoning sounds like just the kind of start to 2012 RPG fans were hoping for.

• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will be released for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on 10 February

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Doctor Who is coming to PS3, Vita and PC courtesy of a new collaboration between BBC Worldwide and developer Supermassive Games

BBC Worldwide has announced a new Doctor Who game for PS3, Vita and PC. Subtitled The Eternity Clock, the downloadable title will be the first in a series of new interactive adventures for the Time Lord. It’s due to materialise on Earth early next year.

From the little info the BBC is handing out at the moment, players are set to take on the roles of the Doctor and River Song as they explore the universe in the Tardis. According to the press release, time travel will form the basis of the game’s structure: “Changes made in one time will impact another, creating multiple possibilities and challenging players to solve puzzles across the centuries.”

The story has been co-written by the BBC Wales team responsible for the TV series, and Matt Smith and Alex Kingston will be voicing their roles. There’s no mention yet of any other major characters from the series appearing in the game, but more announcements are planned soon.

For now, the pairing of the Doc with River rather than with Amy suggests the timeline of the game is around the sixth series or possibly after. Interestingly, you’ll get to play as both the Doctor and River, maybe swapping roles to solve different game elements. It also suggests the possibility of co-op play.

Eternity Clock is being developed by Guildford-based independent studio Supermassive Games, previously responsible for PlayStation Move titles Start the Party and Tumble. We’re promised, “photo-real graphics, television quality scenes and highly realistic characters”, which moves us on visually from the browser-based series Doctor Who: The Adventure Games – these took a more stylised approach.

Next year will be an interesting one for Doctor Who-loving gamers. It should also see the release of Doctor Who: Worlds in Time, a free-to-play MMORPG from US developer, Three Rings. Co-published with Sega, this one was expected at the end of 2011, but will surely arrive at some point in 2012.

So, a downloadable action-adventure with the Doctor, River Song and a range of multi-chronological challenges … thoughts?

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The fun-packed Xbox Live update is nearly here, so here’s the details of the movie and TV apps that come with it. LoveFilm and 4oD are in the first wave this month, with the BBC’s iPlayer coming next year.

The update to the dashboard of the Microsoft Xbox games console arrives tomorrow, with a swathe of apps giving you access to on-demand music, movies and more, as well as the usual gaming goodies. While iPlayer isn’t on board yet, it will be added to the service in 2012.

Apps will be searchable via Bing and controlled both by your voice and your flailing arms, thanks to the Kinect motion-control gaming system.

Telly channels offering access to their online catch-up and on-demand services include Channels 4 and 5, with 4oD and Demand 5 apps launching later this month. ITV is expected to bring its ITV Player service to the party next year.

Blinkbox, Vevo and YouTube also hit the Xbox in December.

Apps launching in the US include sports channels ESPN, streaming services Hulu and Netflix. Netflix will launch in the UK next year, but there’s no word yet on whether it’ll come to the Xbox when it does.

Meanwhile, Sky customers can watch their satellite sports, news and movie channels on their Xbox — in Germany. Sky Go, which lets you watch Sky channels on your phone, tablet, games console or laptop, is launching on the Xbox for our teutonic chums this month. Sky Go is already available on the Xbox in the UK.

Microsoft has also built a companion app for Windows Phone that allows you to use your phone as a TV remote, as well as searching and finding more information on what you’re watching or listening to.

The Xbox Live update goes, er, live tomorrow. What services would you like to see on your Xbox? Tell us in the comments or on our Facebook page.

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Amazon is planning to unleash its online game download store in the UK this October, MCV reports.

The store would serve as a place where you could purchase games, then download them digitally, without having to go through all the hassle of having the darn things delivered to your house.

The service has existed in the US since 2009, which in tech-years equates roughly to the bronze age, so we’re glad Amazon has finally seen fit to bring it to our green and pleasant land. According to MCV’s sources, the service is currently in the testing phase, but is on track for a proper release in autumn.

Amazon is not the first to try and capitalise on digital downloads. Steam, from Half-Life developer Valve, is currently king of game downloads. But Amazon has the benefit of already being a household name that people trust, so when it comes to grabbing new customers it could have a massive advantage.

Assuming the UK service is the same as the US version, when you browse to a game that can be downloaded, you’ll have the option to buy it normally and have it posted to you, or to download it there and then. Tidy.

It looks as if the whole world is abandoning physical media. Not only did Apple remove the optical drive from its latest Mac mini, but it made Lion, the latest version of OS X a download via the Mac App Store.

Are you all for the gleeful abandoning of rubbish physical objects? Or do you prefer to have a physical collection of games? Let us know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.

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Harry Potter signs off in style, EA serves up a feast of summer bargains and you can win Gran Turismo 5: Signature Edition with PlayStation.

It all ends here for Harry PotterHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2: The Videogame is the thrilling finale to one of the biggest entertainment series of the past ten years. The downfall of Voldemort is the priority in this gripping, emotional farewell to the boy wizard who came of age throughout a magical series of books, movies and video games. Join the fight now on PlayStation 3.

Captain America hits PS3As we wave goodbye to one icon in Harry Potter, another comes crashing in. Captain America: Super Soldier places the US patriot into a fight for his nation’s future against the massed ranks of HYDRA. It’s a titanic battle that can be witnessed in impressive stereoscopic 3D when it launches on PS3 this weekend.

Gamocracy shows the sense of Community Introducing Gamocracy One: Legend of Robot, the result of a unique project to get the official PlayStation Community involved in developing its very own game. H-7 is the robot hero, mankind’s survival the goal, and across 20 breakneck levels – including Los Angeles and the South American jungle – you’ll witness the ingenuity of your fellow PlayStation fans in this minis game. Download it to your PS3 and PSP, only from PlayStation Store.

Sizzling EA Summer SpecialsHead to PlayStation Store where you’ll find the EA Summer Specials sale taking place. There’s 30 per cent off a host of downloadable games, including the classic puzzler Tetris, the scribbled delights of The Fancy Pants Adventures and the PlayStation Move enabled shocks of Dead Space: Ignition. The sale runs until 20 July 2011, so download some bargains today.  

Stay cool with the Video Store of PlayStation StoreDownload a fantastic new selection of movies at prices to give you a sunny outlook, courtesy of the Video Store of PlayStation Store. Some you’ll want to keep forever, while others are available for rental so you can save room for exciting new content. You’ll be able to clap eyes on blockbuster films for your PS3 and PSP throughout the summer at great prices.

Win a copy of Gran Turismo 5: Signature EditionGet your hands on the highly sought-after Gran Turismo 5: Signature Edition on PS3 in our exclusive competition. There are 15 copies of the game up for grabs, each one signed by the creator of the Gran Turismo series himself – Kazunori Yamauchi. To enter, head to eu.playstation.com/competitions before 18 July 2011.

Win an ace Virtua Tennis 4 bundleGrand Slam tennis season is in full swing in Virtua Tennis 4 on PS3. With the excitement of Wimbledon still fresh in the mind, you can bag yourself a copy of the game along with a PlayStation Move motion controller and a PlayStation Eye camera. Just head to eu.playstation.com/competitions and sign in with your PlayStation Network Sign-In ID to be in with a chance of winning.

Keep an eye on PlayStation Blog at blog.eu.playstation.com for the latest PlayStation news as it happens and visit eu.playstation.com/competitions for your chance to win great prizes.

Be sure to opt in to receive PlayStation emails when you sign up for a PlayStation Network account. If you already have an account, sign in to your PlayStation Network account settings at eu.playstation.com/registration or via the XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) and opt in. That way, you can keep bang up to date and receive the latest PlayStation news direct to your inbox.

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The Sony PlayStation Vita has been listed for pre-order on game retailer ShopTo.net’s website with a 4 November release date. Sadly, this date is probably more speculation than official launch.

We’d love to think the Vita is coming so soon — we can’t wait to slide our sticky, cake-covered fingers on that rear touch panel. Sony told our friends over at GameSpot UK, however, “No one has communicated any release dates to retail partners. That date
is not official as we haven’t
announced anything yet.”

It seems probable that ShopTo has put a speculative launch date on the Vita in order to attract more attention and pre-orders. It’s a cunning tactic — the Vita is going to be a hot product when it eventually arrives in stores, and its estimated price of £225 for the Wi-Fi only model is pretty reasonable for such a big-screened, capable gadget.

The gaming community — and us — have been eagerly awaiting the
Vita after its outing at E3 last month. The powerful quad-core
processor found at the Vita’s heart, in concert with the dedicated graphics
unit, should provide some serious grunt for games, which should
look beautiful on the 5-inch AMOLED screen.

Still, we do expect the Vita to be in stores in time for Christmas, so it could be that ShopTo isn’t too far off the mark. It is unlikely, however, that we’ll be seeing it before it lands in the US.

For more info on the Vita, check out our preview here and keep your eyes peeled for a full hands-on soon.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is pure 21st century action cinema, a cacophonous opera of destruction and gunfire in intricately recreated cityscapes around the world

Earlier this week, at a studio complex somewhere in Kentish Town, Activision previewed what will certainly be one of the biggest entertainment events of the year. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the latest in the long-running series of first-person shooters, is likely to make more money than any blockbuster movie release, and through subsequent downloadable content, it will continue to generate millions of dollars throughout 2012.

Last year, the Cold War-based Call of Duty: Black Ops shifted something in the region of 18m copies and became America’s biggest-selling game ever. But fans consider the spin-off Modern Warfare titles – developed by the original Call of Duty studio, Infinity Ward – to be the standard bearers for the series.

Of course, Modern Warfare 3 was always an inevitability, but nothing about its development has been predictable. Last year, several months after the release of the smash hit Modern Warfare 2, Activision sacked Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella for, “breaches of contract and insubordination”.

The duo sued Activision, Activision counter-sued and in the meantime dozens more Infinity Ward staff left, many joining their previous bosses at new development start-up, Respawn Entertainment, now working on an undisclosed project for EA. Very quickly, Activision revealed that it had also formed a new studio, Sledgehammer Games, with Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey previously of EA’s Visceral Games at its head, and a remit to work on the Call of Duty brand.

Indeed, the team was already being paired up with a restructured Infinity Ward to start work on Modern Warfare 3. The two companies have shared development duties – an increasingly common set-up in the modern industry, where projects can require teams of up to 200 people.

“We’re taking it to an entirely new level,” says Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling, displaying the customary games industry hyperbole. “We’re taking players into the heart of major cities all around the world, delivering urban combat in places like Manhattan and London. We’re also going throughout Europe, to Russia, parts of Africa, and the Himalayas – you will travel the world.” Yes you will, and judging by the two missions Activision revealed to us at the press event, you will blow most of it up in the process.

The story, apparently, picks up immediately after the close of Modern Warfare 2, in which Russia launched an invasion of the US, while the elite counter-terrorist squad Task Force 141, attempted to gather evidence against Russian ultranationalist leader Vladimir Makarov. “Washington DC is burning, ” explains Schofield. “Task Force 141 is either dead or on the run and battles rage along the eastern seaboard of the United States. You must now join with your delta team in Manhattan to help turn the tide against the Russians who have occupied New York City…”

Titled Black Tuesday, the first mission we’re shown picks up at the opening of the New York campaign. The player starts aboard a Black Hawk helicopter that’s just crash-landed in the city’s financial district. The objective is to get to the stock exchange, but there is a full-scale battle raging. Missiles cut through the sky, taking out vast chunks of Manhattan real estate. A front line of obliterated roads, burned-out police cars and crawling APCs is populated by groups of soldiers cowering behind great chunks of fallen masonry. It is, in short, what we expect from a Call of Duty set-piece – a cacophonous opera of destruction and gunfire, through which the player is closely guided by a computer-controlled superior (in this case, someone called Sandman).

From here, we burst into an office block riddled with bullet holes. An enemy chopper hovers outside, spraying everything with machine-gun fire. Then we’re out into an alley between tenements and fire escapes, before bursting into a jewellery store and engaging in another gun fight amid dozens of glass display cases exploding into shards.

The key moment is when we finally reach the stock exchange and indulge in a lengthy shoot-out on the trading floor, which has been intricately replicated – and then destroyed. Then we’re up a series of scaffolding platforms onto the roof where a thermite charge takes out a satellite dish, blocking enemy communications. From here, we get the grandstanding conclusion.

A comms link is established with a drone craft, and as in Modern Warfare 2, the player is able to remote-guide Reaper missiles at enemy positions, finally taking out a Hind and watching it spin to fiery oblivion in the streets below. But this isn’t quite the end. There’s still time to leap into a Black Hawk, laying down mini-gun fire, and duelling with another Hind between the skyscrapers – the final audacious moments see the two craft firing at each other through the superstructure of an unfinished building. It is every Michael Bay movie condensed into one roaring aerial showdown.

“The campaign is all about that cinematic intensity,” says Bowling, somewhat needlessly after what we’ve just experienced. “We are locked into delivering 60 frames per second; that’s what allows us to combine the high-speed gameplay and tight gun control. But the single player is just one aspect of a much, much larger experience.” Along with the main campaign, we’re promised the now customary Spec-Ops missions, and a two-player co-op option that will be apparently be massively built upon since its Modern Warfare 2 introduction. As for online multiplayer – well, something big is planned and an announcement is due next week.

To close the event, Bowling and Schofield show us another level, this time following the Bravo Six team on a covert mission in London’s docklands. An enemy weapons shipment is being unloaded, and we’re here to gather valuable intel (guided from the air by a voice actor who sounds uncannily like series regular, Craig Fairbrass).

There’s no indication of how this all links in with the Russian invasion of the US, but the air support is picking up heat signatures in a nearby warehouse and our job is, naturally, to take out the bad guys. The player is in control of a character named Burns who’s using a silenced P90 to pick off soldiers. Then we’re out into the dock and a full-on assault, with car alarms going off everywhere and Canary Wharf towering in the background, just visible through the night-time drizzle.

Whatever was offloaded from the ship has now seemingly been spirited off, and we’re giving chase in a truck, which thunders onto railway tracks and down into the tube system, where enemies fire from a hurtling train. We zig-zag between oncoming trains, taking constant fire. At one point, the whole cavalcade whips through a packed station, and we see commuters running in panic. We’re told to watch our fire – and for a second it looks like the infamous No Russian scene from Modern Warfare 2, where the player has to take part in a terrorist raid on a Russian airport filled with civilians. Eventually, the tube train jumps the track and spins through the tunnel in a fury of debris. And we’re out.

It is, as Call of Duty has always been, breathless stuff – a total sensory assault, this time lent an extra dramatic charge by those intricately detailed representations of familiar cityscapes. I wonder if the developers have considered how the use of such imagery will remind some of real-life atrocities in New York and London – and indeed, the trailer has already evoked the hysterical wrath of the Daily Mail, which has claimed that the tube train sections essentially simulate the July 7 bombings. It is an attention-grabbing connection, but it is also spurious; players will understand that the use of recognisable landmarks ramps up both the intensity and the stakes, and these hugely familiar cities have been destroyed countless times over the years in monster and sci-fi flicks.

With the tumultuous demo over, plenty of intriguing questions remain. We’re not sure if any favourite characters from previous Modern Warfare titles are returning, and there’s much to discover about the reworked multiplayer. In gameplay terms, amid the state-of-the art special effects and sheer graphical detail, the corridor-like structure is hugely familiar, a single route plotted through the chaos.

A question mark looms over whether the Modern Warfare 3 single-player mode can innovate beyond the restrictive formula of its predecessors. But then, do its millions of fans want it to?

This is a series based on bombast and bullets, and while last year’s Black Ops made a few interesting narrative sojourns into the territory of the 1970s conspiracy thriller, it looks like Modern Warfare 3 will be pure 21st century action cinema – a gigantic paean to the art of computer-generated destruction.

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released on 8 November for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

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Details of the as-yet-unannounced Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 have been leaked online, and include an in-depth plot summary, images, multiplayer mode details and even a release date.

The follow up to the astronomically successful Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 hasn’t even been officially confirmed by publisher Activision, but gaming site Kotaku has spilled the beans on almost every aspect of the upcoming shooter, in what is probably the biggest gaming leak since the Nintendo 3DS was exposed early last year, months ahead of its E3 announcement.

Modern Warfare 3 is in development across studios Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software, and will probably get an official reveal at the upcoming E3 conference in Los Angeles. Any of the details in the leak are obviously subject to change before the final product hits the shelves, but the info that’s been released is incredibly detailed.

The game is bound to be one of the biggest titles of the year, so Activision will surely be tearing its hair out at this security breach. 

We wouldn’t want to fill any unwilling eyes with poisonous spoilers, so if you fancy finding out what happens in the game for yourself then stop reading now.

Okay, we’re good?

Sure?

Okay. So now we know that Modern Warfare 3 will kick off where the previous game left off, with the US under siege from Russian forces, crazy bad guy Vladimir Marakov still at large, and Captains ‘Soap’ MacTavish and Price wounded and on the run.

The game will take place across a wide variety of locations, including London, New York, Paris and Dubai, where the final showdown takes place.

The game will be released on 8 November, and the multiplayer is said to feature 20 different maps, including a battle in Brooklyn and closer to home in Lambeth — just down the road from CNET UK’s office. We hope the imposing Imperial War Museum is part of the map.

If you’re keen to see the complete plot (it involves frequent changes of location and lots of shooting), and a tonne more spoilers, pictures and audio clips, head on over to the original story. And let us know what you think about the whole debacle in the comments, or on our Facebook page.

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