Video Games Releases: October 2012

The month of October sure is chock full with an impressive number of promising AAA titles. What’s more, this month users also get a new IP in the form of Dishonoured, which is a rarity in an age where the industry plays it safe with formulaic sequels. While plenty of franchises in vogue such as Resident Evil, Assassin’s Creed, and Forza get their periodic instalments, oldies such as XCOM will be receiving the current gen treatment too. It’s a pity that there are far too many promising games this month than most gamers have the time or money to spend on. Here are some of the notable ones from the lot.

Disappointing

Resident Evil 6
Released on: 2nd October
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360

After a great showing with Resident Evil 4, the long-running franchise seems to have dropped the ball with subsequent instalments. Gamers had hoped for a richer, back-to-the-roots Survival-Horror experience with RE 6, after the debacle that was Operation Raccoon City. However, Capcom ultimately exacerbated the series’ problem by adding even more gratuitous set pieces and banal action sequences. The game was universally panned by critics and gamers alike, who couldn’t stomach its vapid Michael Bay-esque action marked with frustrating, repetitive and predictable boss fights. Don’t forget to check out the review to know exactly what makes the game so infuriatingly incompetent.

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Steampunk, stealth and open-ended gameplay—or a recipe for greatness

Dishonoured
Releasing on: 12th October
Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

This has to be the most exciting launches for this month. This is not just because it’s a brand new IP, which is a rarity these days, but because it’s a stealth FPS game in the vein of the sublime Thief series garnished with a smattering of RPG elements. The awesomeness continues with its 17th century setting incorporating a distinctive steam punk look, and a brand of gameplay that’s heavily influenced by magic and obscura. The game mechanics are reminiscent of Deus Ex with an emphasis on mission goals bearing multiple solutions, where the player can choose between using brute force, stealth, or a pacifist approach. If you enjoyed Thief and Deus Ex, and who didn’t, you might want to keep a close eye on Dishonoured.

A promising reboot to a classic franchise

XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Releasing on: 12th October
Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Firaxis is all set to come back with a bang, thanks to a remake of one of its finest Turn-Based Strategy games. Like the original XCOM, you play the role of a commander of an elite military team tasked with neutralising an advanced alien threat. The original was known for its eerie atmospheric feel and an excellent turn-based tactical approach to strategy. The remake leverages modern technology to update the traditional fixed isometric view with dynamic camera angles and a new Third-Person viewport. The original’s winning formula will be updated with a new-fangled cover system, class specialisation for XCOM units that dictate perks and abilities, in addition to tactics such as suppressive fire, cloaking and more. It will be interesting to see how the old-school classic holds up in its new avatar.

Expect gameplay to be optimised for Kinect

Fable: The Journey
Releasing on: 12th October
Platform: Xbox 360

Microsoft’s Kinect motion controller has largely been relegated to casual titles on the X360, with an odd exception involving token motion controlled gimmicks shoehorned in the rare AAA title (here’s looking at you Forza Motorsport 4). Fable: The Journey will be one of the few big-budget titles to incorporate the motion controller on a fundamental level. It’s a first-person game that does away with a gamepad and instead makes you wave your hands around to cast spells, craft items, and interact with the game world. Motion games in general tend to be a hit and miss affair, so Fable: The Journey, will have to bring its A-game to keep things from going wrong with a radically new control scheme.

Will second time be a charm?

Medal of Honor: Warfighter
Releasing on: 23rd October
Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Critics didn’t hold EA’s modern reboot of its long running World War shooter franchise Medal of Honor. However, that hasn’t stopped it from spawning a sequel that takes up from where the last game left off. Medal of Honor: Warfighter now includes a class-based gameplay incorporating Assault, Sniper, Demolitions, Point Man, Heavy Gunner, and Spec Ops disciplines to spice up the formula, which had turned out to be quite banal in its last outing. Combat is focussed around a two-man fire team, with a greater emphasis on tighter cooperation in the heat of battle. Let’s hope these changes manage to make this instalment more engaging than the last one.

When in doubt, go open world

Forza Horizon
Releasing on: 26th October
Platform: Xbox 360

Forza racing games are known for their simulation leanings, and have carved out a niche for themselves as the premier racing franchise on the X360. Forza Horizon isn’t considered a proper Forza game, but as an open world spin-off that borrows a leaf from Test Drive Unlimited. The game won’t be developed by the traditional team, but by Playground Games, which i comprised of members that have worked on various quasi-simulation, arcade, and open world racing games such as Project Gotham Racing, Driver, and Burnout. Although Horizon promises to incorporate Forza’s brand of impressive vehicle selection and realistic physics, one can’t help but wonder if the new development team will instead deliver an arcade romp through a sprawling city. At any rate, that still sounds like a lot of fun.

This time the action comes to a colonial America

Assassin’s Creed III
Releasing on: 31st October
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360

Considering its popularity and the sheer amount of buzz the brand generates, the Assassin’s Creed franchise has become the open world equivalent of Call of Duty. With this sort of brand loyalty and thirst for content, Ubisoft has steadily released sequel after sequel—each reimagining different historical events with a dash of sci-fi thrown in for good measure. This time around, you play Connor Kenway—an unwilling participant in the American Revolution. The action will be interspersed with a corresponding story arc that gives more play time to the series protagonist Desmond Miles, as he saves the present-day Earth from the 2012 apocalypse.

The temporally twisted plot will be backed up with a brand new game engine that will introduce naval combat to the series. Needless to say, irrespective of how the game eventually turns out, enough fans will have bought it to ensure commercial success. That’s how big the Assassin’s Creed brand has become. However, being the insufferable, money-grubbing control freak we all know it to be, Ubisoft has delayed the PC version till November.