It’s that time again, when folks who are very fond of games batten down the hatches and spend a whole lot of time in the comfiest chair they can find. While never, ever leaving the house for anything. Usually game releases peak at the end of October but this year’s release lists are packed from start to finish — it’s no wonder everyone has started early.
The hardest part of this jam-packed October 2018 was picking just five games that we absolutely have to play. We reckon we’ve made the right choices across the board though, with any one of these games providing enough entertainment to keep you going to the end of 2018 and beyond, in most cases. Here are the five titles you can’t miss this month.
Forza Horizon 4 (2 October)
Cool cars going fast, through some gorgeous settings. That’s basically the idea behind Forza Horizon 4, a game which, technically, is out already — if you picked up the Ultimate Edition for the princely sum of just R1,600. If you didn’t, then the game will only be out on 2 October, which (if you’re reading this on 1 October) isn’t far away at all.
Early reviews for Forza Horizon 4 are looking very, very positive indeed, with there being talk that this is the best game in the series, if not one of the best racing games ever made. Bold claims both, but we’ll have to wait and see. If we finish the download and don’t surface for several days, send someone with bottled water and snacks.
Platform/s: PC, Xbox One
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (5 October)
This. Is. Sparta! As made by Ubisoft. Which means it probably glosses over various…er… bits and smoothes other edges that might have made for less fun gameplay. But you do get to muck around with the Spear of Leonidas, a Piece of Eden that has come into the hands of either Alexios or Kassandra (the choice is yours) as you wander around ancient Greece being stabby.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is the first game in the series that has gone full RPG, so expect to experience dialogue options, romantic sub-quests, crafting, and loot. So, so much loot… Odyssey drops on 5 October but if you paid extra for the special edition you’ll get access from 2 October. We’re noticing a trend here…
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (12 October)
For some people the end of the year is all about game releases. For others, year-end is about a single game — the only game, really. The new Call of Duty drops in October for a change, and it brings with it a whole new gameplay mode — Activision’s crack at the battle royale genre, Blackout. And then there are time-travelling zombies and the whole conventional online game side of things to get to grips with.
What’s not here this time around is the campaign, which has been chucked out because… reasons. Never mind, we’re sure that Treyarch has spend the cash saved on voice actors on the rest of the game. Are we going to see Fortnite‘s user numbers take a knock come 12 October when Blops IV: Blackout launches, or will Call of Duty‘s TDM lobbies be emptied instead? Guess we’ll see in a couple of weeks.
Platform/s: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Soulcalibur VI (19 October)
If you’ve held a PlayStation controller any time between 1996 and today, odds are you’ve run across the Soulcalibur series (though it used to be known as Soul Edge, way back when polygons ruled the Earth). A widely successful and surprisingly technical fighter, Soulcalibur VI is dropping this month.
The game should please fans who know how to counter and side-step and annoy those who can’t seem to get out of the way of those forward thrust kicks in time to prevent a ring-out. We’re especially keen because we want to get in another few rounds of swordplay with The Witcher‘s Geralt of Rivia — this year’s guest appearance in the blade-focused brawler. Kaer Morhen is also one of the playable stages. We just have one question: What happens when the Witcher gets his hands on a blade that corrupts everything it touches?
Platform/s: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Red Dead Redemption 2 (26 October)
Games like Red Dead Redemption are the reason folks play games, and Red Dead Redemption 2 looks like an even better reason to do the same thing. Spawned from the overachieving minds over at Rockstar Games, RDR2 is shaping up to be the cowboy simulator we didn’t even know we wanted.
Like, we want it. A lot. But we suspect that Rockstar is going to exceed expectations this time around, by giving us details that we weren’t expecting to get (and won’t be able to live without afterwards). And that’s before the life-extending online mode lands to keep this one going about as long as GTA Online has kept Grand Theft Auto V on our radars. How is anything the rest of the year can throw at us going to top this? If RDR2 manages to dethrone God of War, we don’t think anyone else has a chance. Watch the 6-minute gameplay trailer above (again). And then get your pre-order in.
Platform/s: PS4, Xbox One