War is spiffing, as the saying doesn't go, but not so for the Battlefield series, which has spent the last few years getting its bum spanked by the superior storytelling of the Call of Duty titles.

Not today, though, no sir.

First-person shooters are nothing without story - just a guy with a pop-gun and some naughty foreigners to educate via extreme violence. Call of Duty delivered first-rate baddies and some knock-out set pieces, while Battlefield seemed content to play in its own little corner of the sandpit with its Tonka trucks and little plastic army men.

Battlefield 4 empties magazine upon magazine of sweet set-pieces that make you wonder what the hell they were playing at over the previous three volumes. Naturally, the dialogue is little better than Saturday afternoon drama (aside from the naughty words and exploding heads) but watching a monstrous stricken and flaming aircraft carrier hove into view, and then having to board its listing carcass is terrific tension-building stuff.

Online and matters are even better. The sense of freedom among the destructible buildings in these maps is tremendous, and they're spiffy to look at when you're not picking bullets from your spleen.

Battlefield has finally put Call of Duty in its sights here and is closer than it's ever been to squeezing the trigger.