You may have noticed that Treyarch released its latest Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack yesterday. Annihilation offers four new multiplayer maps as well as a new zombie level entitled, Shangri-la.

I've had a few goes on all the multiplayer layouts now, and they seem to be among the most architecturally dense and complex that the studio has produced. Here's what I've enjoyed so far...

Drive In (main image above) is essentially this pack's take on the Stadium level from First Strike: a small, intense space in which an overlooked central point – this time the drive-in car park – becomes an all-out slaughter zone. I love the '50s styling, and the mini amusement arcade where you pass a couple of Operation Wolf-style coin-op cabinets, apparently running a game called Call of Duty: World at War...

There are nasty little rat runs hedging around one side, with corrugated iron hangers to lurk in and flies buzzing about. Snipers can climb up behind a big neon sign, while a nearby building provides nice overviews of that courtyard area and has already provided me with some furious sieges.

Visually, Hazard is the real treat – a re-designed version of the Black Ops campaign level 'Cliffside' it's a chic coastal golf club, complete with bars and a small swimming poot (which, with its elevated position, provides a nasty sniper hole). Treyrach says this is designed specifically for long-range engagements so ditch that Uzi and go for an assault or sniper rifle. Also, the undulating fairway is an absolute killing field as it's criss-crossed by multiple firing lines. Still, if you survive long enough you get to appreciate the little ranbow effect around the sprinklers.

Silo is based around a Russian nuclear missile construction site and is a mass of sub-stations, control rooms and missile complexes. Between the buildings are an array of narrow alleys and interconnecting paths, and I was constantly legging it straight into enemies. Treyarch has built in lots of flank routes too, so this is one to take slowly and carefully, preferably with someone watching your 'six'. Which I never have. Alternatively, load up on decoys and see if you can trick out naive opponents. Again there are several very good sniper points above the congested ground level, allowing patient campers to pick out enemies as they jog between cover points.

Finally, Hangar 18 is a medium-sized map filled with references to alien conspiracy theories and esoteric technology. In the middle is a big Lockheed Blackbird, which you can climb on top of if you facy making yourself a target for any of the snipers hiding out in the facility's satellite dish emplacements. Treyarch reckons the key to this map is getting in to, and maintaining control of, the eponymous hangar. But if you're not playing as part of a functioning team, Hangar represents another nerve-shredding slog through military-industrial buildings, where you'll doubtless be continually whacked from 100m away by some clever swine who's already worked out all the deadliest engagement angles. Good fun though.

A decent selection, then, with lots of scenic flourishes to distract you as you play. There's less multi-layered verticality than some of the other packs, but much more complexity at ground level.

At least that's what I think. Now over to you...