COD: Black Ops gets UK age rating

Activision's mega-blockbuster Call of Duty: Black Ops has been given an age rating of 18 by the BBFC.

It contains "strong bloody violence and strong language".

The game passed with no cuts made.

The classification reads (do not read on if you're avoiding spoilers):

"Call of Duty: Black Ops is a military first-person shooter in which the player takes the role of a member of an elite CIA covert action team operating during the Cold War and attempting to stop the threat of a Soviet chemical weapons project.

"The violence takes the form of the player's involvement in gun battles with various enemies in which an array of contemporary weapons such as automatic rifles, pistols, grenades and other types of explosive ammunition are available, along with larger weapons such as missile launchers which are carried on ships, helicopters and road vehicles. The player can also access bladed weapons for stealth attacks and hand-to-hand combat.

"The battles are intense and conducted from a first-person perspective with impacts registering as blood spurts which vary in strength depending on the weapon and the range at which it is used. More powerful weapons can also cause dismemberment with resultant gory detail and enemies can be set on fire. Although dead bodies can sometimes be used as shields against enemy attacks there is no opportunity to inflict post-mortem damage on downed victims.

"Whilst most of the intense fighting action, in which the player encounters hordes of enemies, does not linger on injuries or carry a personalised edge, some stealth attacks in which a knife is used to slit an enemy's throat contain more of a focus on the damage inflicted and some of the non-interactive cut-scenes contain stronger bloodshed. For example, in the assassination of a political leader where the action plays out in slow-motion."

Those "stronger, more focussed moments of bloody violence" were what pushed the age rating up from 15 to 18. There are also lots of people saying "f***", and teenagers under 18 can't be doing with that.

Call of Duty: Black Ops will be released worldwide on Tuesday, 9th November.