Next Tuesday, what can safely be described as the most anticipated videogame of the year finally arrives. Effectively the follow-up to Call Of Duty 4, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sees the series' original and best developer, Infinity Ward, back at the wheel (Treyarch handled Call Of Duty 3 and last year's Call Of Duty: World At War), and - as the title gives away - it returns the franchise to a more contemporary setting.

Call Of Duty 4 remains a masterpiece from where we sit, and thus we're not anticipating doing a fat lot of work next week, as Modern Warfare 2 will be arriving on 10th November, and wiping out a good chunk of our life. Early reports from UK retail suggest that it's outselling the preorders for The Dark Knight right now, and even with its inflated price tag, it's surely one of the games to own of 2009.

Elsewhere, Infinity Ward has announced an 18-player cap for multiplayer games of Modern Warfare 2 regardless of platform, while there are planned midnight openings on Monday night for gamers keen to get their hands on it as soon as possible.

And finally - for now - TV spots have been running, including this terrific one that demonstrates just how stunning the game is looking.

Next week? It's going to be one hell of a week...

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PC DVD)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)