FIFA 22

Available to play on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X from Friday 1 October

Everyone’s favourite big ballin’ franchise is back with a bang, boasting cutting-edge motion-capture technology and hyperintelligent AI that combine to serve up “organic football realism”. Delicious.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania

Available to play on PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X from Tuesday 5 October

OK, so there’s TWO favourite big ballin’ franchises out in the gamersphere. Tilt the stage your little monkey friend is on to reach the finish line – without falling off the edge. If you’ve never played the physics-based puzzle series before, this remaster of the first three console games is the perfect place to start.

Far Cry 6

Available to play on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X from Thursday 7 October

Players of past games in the series have survived dangerous jungles, disease-ridden bugs and religious fanatics, among a litany of other murderous flora and fauna. But Breaking Bad bad guy Giancarlo Esposito’s bloodthirsty dictator? Yeah, we’ll get off here, thanks. Expect the same huge map, enigmatic villains and precision shooting you know and love, plus improved gameplay and a (rumoured) much darker story…

Moonglow Bay

Available to play on PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X from Thursday 7 October

“CUTE ALERT. REPEAT. CUTE ALERT. THIS IS NOT A BRILL.” Well… it might well be depending on what you catch in this beyond charming fish-em-up. With a low-res pixel art style not unlike Minecraft, you’ll acquire skills from your interactions with friends and family, and work to restore a quaint seaside town to its former glory. Think 98% Harvest Moon (albeit set at sea) and 2% Sega Bass Fishing (minus the bro-core). Heaven.

Knockout Home Fitness

Available on Nintendo Switch from Friday 8 October

Fitness/sports games have a marvellous heritage on Nintendo consoles. Our hands got hench with 1987’s Track & Field, then we went full-body with the advent of motion controls. Now we’re using all that knowledge to get martial up in your living room. That’s right, do your best Johnny from Cobra Kai impression, with none of the actual injuries, and none of Danny’s inane car washing/fence painting. Win-win.

Metroid Dread

Available to play on Nintendo Switch from Friday 8 October

You’ve read this far. You’re clearly a gamer. So you’re au fait with the illustrious Metroid series. Go you. While this might seem like classic Metroid fare at first glance, under the hood there’s an intricate stealth system that offers totally new ways to play beyond, you know, a ton of rockets to the FACE.

Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles

Available to play on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X from Friday 15 October

You may have caught this anime extravaganza on Netflix, you may have not. Regardless, as a gamer, slicing and dicing up demons comes with the territory (unless you’re old and still playing Dungeon Keeper), so you’ll find much to love here. Make no bones about it, this here action adventure/brawler mash-up is the closest thing to playing a living, breathing cartoon since Looney Tunes on the Game Boy. Yep, we went there.

Into The Pit

Available to play on PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X from Tuesday 19 October

Not gonna lie, this here treat is a personal pick. After dissipating the demons of Doom, quelling the Lovecraftian hordes of Quake and whacking Wolfenstein upside the head, where does one go for a throwback shooty delight? Into the flippin’ pit that’s where! This classic FPS-inspired delight has the grisliness of Doom, the speed of Quake and the spells of Hexen. Ergo, it’s good.

Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy

Available to play on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch from Tuesday 26 October 

The titular Guardians just can’t catch a break can they? Thankfully, with you at the helm controlling Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, they might just have a chance of fixing a potentially cataclysmic accident (of their own making – typical). Similar to 2020’s Marvel’s Avengers in look and feel, this third-person action adventure ups the quirkiness, with features such as “Team Huddle”, through which you deliver a motivational speech mid-battle to boost your compadres’ abilities.
 

Age Of Empires 4

Available to play on PC from Thursday 28 October

Warmongers played Red Alert. Fantasy kids had Myth. And history buffs revelled in the ridonkulously ambitious Age Of Empires – a real-time strategy series that appoints you overseer of civilisations across time. The latest entry grants a whopping eight to contend with, including the Abbasid Caliphate, China, the Delhi Sultanate, England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, the Mongol Empire and the Rus’ people.

Fatal Frame: Maiden Of Black Water

Available to play on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch from Thursday 28 October

When there’s malignant spirits, rampant overacting and tank controls in your neighbourhood, who you gonna call? Snappy Snaps, apparently. The fifth entry in the bizarre but brilliant Fatal Frame franchise is basically survival horror Pokémon Snap. Nay guns, nay swords, nay way of vanquishing the horrors hunting you down but a magical camera and that year of Film Studies you did a few years back. Knew it’d come in handy!

Mario Party Superstars

Available to play on Nintendo Switch from Friday 29 October

There ain’t no party like a Mario Part-ayyyyyy, hoooooo, shake ya Bowser from side to side. With this being the twelfth entry in the party game/friendship-ruining franchise, we’re pretty confident in our assertion. Appropriately “Wahooed” into the modern age with Peach-perfect graphics, Superstars collates classic Mario Party boards and games from titles gone by into one slick package. Our only advice? Pick resident speedster and all-round fun-ghi Toad before your mates do.

Stray

Available to play on PC, PS4 and PS5 from October

“Stalking the alleyways and backstreets of a dystopic cityscape?” We’re listening… “Conversing with robots via a chipper drone companion?” Colour us intrigued… “You play a cat.” TAKE OUR MONEY. In addition to platforming and exploring your way through the city’s rich environments, live your best cat life by knocking stuff over, destroying furniture and licking – yes, licking – your own bum.