Underestimate Call Of Duty at your own peril.

5 million units in just 24 hours across the US and UK. Staggering when you consider that those numbers only represent two nations.

The figures are up 900,000 units from Call Of Duty: Black Ops. It also did a million more units than Battlefield 3 managed over five days.

Incredibly, Modern Warfare 3 netted Activision a staggering $400 million in just 24 hours. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said that the lifetime earnings for the Call Of Duty series now exceed those of Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings.

Activision publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg added: “Call of Duty is more than a game. It’s become a major part of the pop cultural landscape. It is a game that core enthusiasts love, but that also consistently draws new people into the medium. It is the most intense, adrenaline pumping entertainment experience anywhere.

“I would like to thank our incredible teams at Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games for making a brilliant game. But most of all, I would like to thank our millions of passionate fans worldwide. We made this game for you.”

"Adrenaline pumping entertainment experience" would be the words we'd use to describe Modern Warfare 3 too. We've just spent a good hour with the campaign and haven't had a moment to breathe yet. We've literally been engrossed in a non-stop sequence of explosions for about 60 minutes. (It's kind of awesome.)

Review forthcoming.