It’s the same every year. The nights draw in, the air turns crisp with cold, and the video game release schedule explodes with multimillion dollar releases.
The reasoning is obvious: all the major game publishers want to position their “tent pole” titles right in front of your Christmas list. But if your wallet is groaning at the thought of this bacchanalian extravaganza, here’s a quick guide to what’s coming up in the next few months – and most importantly, what you perhaps really can’t afford to be without.
September
Key releases
- Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (Disney, multiple formats) – 19/9
- Hyrule Warriors (Nintendo, Wii U) – 19/9
- Wastleland 2 (inXile Entertainment, PC) – 19/9
- Fifa 15 (EA, multiple formats) – 25/9
- Fantasy Life (Nintendo, 3DS) – 26/9
What are they?
Fifa 15 brings improved (again) physics, ball control and AI to the multimillion-selling footie simulation. The action adventure Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes lets you build your own game environments for a range of comic book characters. Hyrule Warriors is a hack-and-slash romp set in the Zelda universe, and Fantasy Life is a cute role-playing game where you take a job as a farmer, wood-cutter or even angler while slaughtering monsters. Wastleland 2 is a post-apocalyptic adventure that some people have been awaiting for longer than … well, the actual apocalypse.
Which should I buy?
If you’re a football fan we can safely assume Fifa is either on pre-order or on your Xmas list (unless you’re waiting for increasingly competent rival, Pro Evo 15, which is out in November). Hyrule Warriors is the second best game you’ll get for the Wii U this winter, so you may as well. Wasteland 2 looks unashamedly old-school and unmissable to fans of merciless post-human environments filled with shotgun-wielding mutants. Everything else is a maybe.
Any dark horses?
Well, Train Simulator 2015 from Dovetail Games is out on 19 September, promising the opportunity to drive some of the world’s most powerful trains on three iconic routes. Not quite Euro Truck Simulator but definitely something to geek out on through those dark winter nights.
October
The key releases
- Forza Horizon 2 (Microsoft, Xbox One) – 3/10
- Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Warner Bros, multiple formats) – 3/10
- Super Smash Bros (Nintendo, 3DS) – 3/10
- Alien: Isolation (Sega, multiple formats) – 7/10
- DriveClub (Sony, PS4) – 10/10
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (EA, multiple formats) – 10/10
- Skylanders: Trap Team (Activision, multiple formats) – 10/10
- Project Spark (Microsoft, Xbox One) – 10/10
- The Evil Within (Bethesda, multiple formats) – 14/10
- F1 2014 (Codemasters, multiple formats) – 17/10
- Bayonetta 2 (Nintendo, Wii U) – 24/10
- Just Dance 2014 (Ubisoft, multiple formats) – 24/10
- Assassin’s Creed Unity (Ubisoft, multiple formats) – 28/10
- Sunset Overdrive (Microsoft, Xbox One) – 31/10
What are they?
Argh, so many games! Well first up, you’ve got the Xbox One exclusives, including open-world racer Forza Horizon 2, day-glo shootfest Sunset Overdrive and creative role-playing game, Project Spark. Against them stands Sony’s big free-roaming racer, DriveClub, which got six months of bonus development time and the extra layer of graphical Turtle Wax has done it the world of good.
But in the big league too are the pant-spoiling horror of Alien: Isolation (set 15 years after Ridley Scott’s movie), the latest historical stealth adventure in the Assassin’s Creed series, and the cult sword-swirling action ballet, Bayonetta 2.
What should I buy?
If Alien: Isolation is as gripping and terrifying as it looks, it’s going to be the most interesting game on this list. Playing Ellen Ripley’s daughter as she’s stalked by a single xenomorph could be a superlative horror gaming experience.
The hardcore brawler Bayonetta was one of the great unsung masterpieces of the last decade, so its sequel is going to be worth a look, even if it doesn’t match the impact of its predecessor – and it’s going to be the best game on Wii U this winter. The Evil Within is the new horror opus from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, so buy this with Alien and you can spend the whole of October checking under your bed. Finally, Just Dance 2014 is always going to be fun for the family Xmas or as an ill-advised climax to a seasonal office party (it has Careless Whisper and I Kissed a Girl on the tracklist so frankly anything could happen).
Any dark horses?
Simulation fanatics and frustrated power-hungry astronauts will want to check out Civilization: Beyond Earth (2K Games, PC/Mac), the latest title in the legendary series of world-domination sims, this time based around establishing colonies on other planets.
November
The key releases
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Activision, multiple formats) – 4/11
- Halo: Master Chief Collection (Microsoft, Xbox One) – 11/11
- The Crew (Ubisoft, multiple formats) – 14/11
- Lego Batman 3 (Warner, so many formats) – 14/11
- Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar, PS4/Xbox One) – 18/11
- Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft, multiple formats) – 18/11
- LittleBigPlanet 3 (Sony, PS3/PS4) – 21/11
- Project Cars (Namco, multiple formats) – 21/11
- Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire – 21/11
What are they?
OK, so the latest Call of Duty looms over this month like a brightly painted battle chopper, promising a fresh take on the military shooter mega-series. There are also two big re-releases: Halo Master Chief Collection stuffs the four previous Halo games into one vast package, while Grand Theft Auto V is bringing its satirical hyper-violence to PS4 and Xbox One, complete with visual updates and more.
Then Ubisoft has a double whammy of co-op racing newcomer The Crew and Himalayan sandbox shooter Far Cry 4. Namco’s Project Cars, meanwhile, is a super authentic motorsports sim with quite a silly name. Lego Batman 3 is... Lego Batman again, but in space.
What should I buy?
You’ve probably already made up your mind on Pokemon and on Call of Duty, though if you’ve grown tired of the series, the futuristic Advanced Warfare adds exoskeletons and new perks and systems to the online multiplayer which are really fun. Far Cry 4 has angry elephants that can knock over jeeps so that’s a shoe-in.
But if I can absolutely, positively only afford one game a month?
Ooh, tricky. Alright, Fifa 15 or Hyrule Warriors depending on whether you prefer sport or attacking fantasy characters with gigantic swords (or maybe Wasteland 2, oh wow this is hard). Then Alien: Isolation because it’s such an intriguing use of the Alien property, then Far Cry 4 because it’s going to be a huge adventure with drop-in and drop-out co-op, and, you know, elephants. If you’re feeling cerebral, maybe Civilization. And there’s always Train Simulator.
