As planned

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 managed to keep Hitman: Absolution at bay this week, as Square Enix’s prominently marketed stealth title could only reach second in the latest UK sales charts. Activision’s shooter suffered an 87 per cent drop in sales over the previous week, but was still strong enough to stay at the summit.

It wasn’t all bad news for Agent 47's most recent appearance, however. The murder simulator enjoyed the strongest opening week of any game in the series, beating previous entry Hitman: Blood Money by a factor of three. Fellow new release LEGO Lord of the Rings debuted in sixth, while stalwarts FIFA 13 and Assassin’s Creed III fleshed out the rest of the list.

New arrivals Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two and Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse took the 34th and 35th spots respectively. Meanwhile, the excellent PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale slumped into 38th position. That’s a really disappointing opening for the mascot mash-up.

You can peruse the full set of movers and shakers through here.

[source chart-track.co.uk]