COMPUTER game fans around the country braved wintry weather overnight to get their hands on the latest in the massively popular Call of Duty series.

The long-anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops went on sale at midnight at hundreds of stores across the UK, with many seeing lines of gamers forming outside.

The game, rated 18. sees players take on the role of special forces agents in places like Russia and Vietnam.

It is expected to become the fastest and biggest-selling title in history with well over one million sales in the first week alone.

HMV opened more than 100 of its stores around the UK and Ireland at midnight last night - including branches in London’s Oxford Street, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin - to cater for the demand.

Bosses said some of the queues began forming 12 hours earlier, with student Imran Chowdhury of Manor Park, east London, among the first to arrive at HMV Oxford Street.

The firm’s head of games, Tim Ellis, said: “We expect it to go on to become not just the most popular game ever, but an iconic release that will take gaming on to a new level.”