Battlefield 4

Easy listening and violent videogames make strange bedfellows, but they hook up more often than you'd expect. A mere month since Kenny Loggins appeared on Grand Theft Auto V, Battlefield 4 kicks off with Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart.

The Battlefield franchise is more popular as a multiplayer experience than a single-player campaign, but this time the story and characterisations are stronger than usual. Harrowing, relentless and ambitious, it feels more like an extended training session for the online games. There are ethical debates, squabbling among soldiers and the threat of war when a popular Chinese official is murdered.

Battlefield 4 is a reasonably exciting single-player campaign, but the multiplayer mode is sublime. It's fast-paced, initially dizzying and compellingly controlled chaos, so much so that it was hard to put down the controller for long enough to write this review.

The locations are varied and rich, from snow-caked mountain fortresses to expansive rural retreats and tight office spaces. The strength and integrity of every surface feels unique and relevant; shoot the glass roof beneath your feet to fall to a safer floor; fire your weapon through a light wooden screen to dispatch enemies; and don’t assume every concrete wall will protect you. As tanks, choppers, and rockets whirl around you, your building can crumble down around your ears at any moment.

When it's done right, the slick and smooth online multiplayer will always trump the artificial intelligence of computer opponents. I frowned in frustration and then smiled in admiration when one online enemy threw a grenade into a lift I'd just stepped into; the automated doors sealing my steel, portable coffin. battlefield.com