Chris Jecks
Saints Row – August 23
Kickstarting the peak season for video games releases is Deep Silver’s upcoming Saints Row. The reboot will take players out of the densely-populated states of the series’ past and throw them out into the vast expanses of the lonely desert city of Santo Ileso in the American Southwest. Don’t let that fool you, though. Saints Row will have all of the usual chaotic and off-the-wall antics that the series is renowned for. As you and your team of fellow youngsters rise your way to the rank of ‘Self-Made’ you’ll get embroiled in plenty of criminal activity, heists-gone-wrong, and you can bet your bottom dollar you’ll have your hands on an eccentric arsenal of weaponry to help you on your way, too.
Deliver Us Mars – Sept. 27
Deliver Us Mars is an atmospheric sci-fi adventure that sees you embarking on a mission exploring Mars in order to recover the ARK colony ships stolen by the mysterious Outward. As fans of anything and everything space and sci-fi, the premise of uncovering the secrets of the big red planet has our interests nicely piqued. When it comes to gameplay, Deliver Us Mars looks like it’ll combine some puzzles with light combat or just general exploration. There’s no official confirmation on what’s included, as even the official site keeps things a little vague, but from what we’ve seen of the gameplay trailer so far, Deliver Us Mars is shaping up nicely.
Overwatch 2 – Oct. 4
Overwatch 2 is the successor to the incredibly popular, PvP, team-based multiplayer shooter from 2016. This time around, the game packs in a PvE single-player campaign alongside the usual PvP multiplayer madness, which itself has seen a handful of new maps and characters to bolster the existing roster. Its beta has already given players a taste of what’s to come, with new characters Junker Queen and Sojourn both available to play. Blizzard has also been using the beta to finetune the balance of Heroes’ various abilities so the final experience on launch day is just right. Combine the fact that Overwatch 2’s multiplayer mode is free-to-play, cross-play and cross-progression confirmed, too, which means you can play with your friends regardless of which platforms you’re playing on, and all of your progress will carry over from platform-to-platform.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns – Oct. 7
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a turn-based strategy game featuring iconic Marvel characters from Midnight Sons, Avengers, X-Men, and Runaways which will see you band together an unlikely group of superheroes to take on the demonic Lilith and her fearsome horde of possessed minions, including the Hulk. You play as the Hunter, the forsaken child of Lilith and the only one known to have defeated her in the past. In this role, you’ll control your band of superheroes in tactical turn-based battles to defeat Lilith’s hordes of enemies and prevent her from fulfilling her prophecy before it’s too late. What’s got us particularly hyped about Midnight Suns is it comes from developer Firaxis Games, best known for its work on the ’Civilization’ and ’XCOM’ series. Given how these are two of the biggest and best turn-based strategy series out there, the combination of this gameplay with the iconic characters of the Marvel universe sounds like a match made in heaven.
A Plague Tale: Requiem – Oct. 18
A Plague Tale: Innocence was a smash-hit when it released in 2019, combining an enthralling narrative with some unique gameplay as you guide Hugo and Amicia through a world overridden with plagues of rats. It’s a supernatural take on the 14th century, and one that worked surprisingly well, even if its gameplay began to get a little stale by the end. A Plague Tale: Requiem follows on from Innocence’s narrative, seeing Hugo and Amicia venturing across the regions to the south in order to save Hugo from the curse that plagued him in the original title. While we don’t know each and every story beat just yet, hands-on previews and glimpses of gameplay thus far have suggested that Requiem makes major advances in terms of providing a deeper and more engaging combat and stealth system that should help round out the experience nicely, addressing the weaker areas of the prequel. With stunning visuals and what looks set to be another epic narrative-driven adventure, A Plague Tale: Requiem has us eagerly counting down the days to its release.
Persona 5 Royal – Oct. 21
After what feels like an eternity, it’s finally happening. Persona 5 is coming to Xbox consoles in its ‘Royal’ version, which packs in a ton of additional content including characters, palaces, story content, cutscenes and a whole lot more. If you’ve been looking for a way to burn through 100+ hours or so this winter, well, you’ve just found it. Combining compelling school-life sim gameplay and turn-based RPG combat in its palaces, Persona 5 offers a feast of JRPG gameplay that’s sure to sink its hooks into you. Work a part-time job, take tests in school, befriend different pupils and tackle the corrupt hearts of your targets in an unforgettable adventure with the Phantom Thieves. Oh, and it has an absolute banger of a soundtrack, which is just the cherry on top of the lavishly-iced cake. You can read our full Persona 5 Royal review here.
Gotham Knights – Oct. 25
If you’re a superhero fan, we’ve got some good news for you, as it’s not just Marvel that’s getting in on the video game action this year, but DC too, in the form of Gotham Knights. An action-RPG, Gotham Knights sees the Batman Family — Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin — step into the shoes of the fallen caped crusader in order to put an end to a criminal uprising on the streets of Gotham. You’ll be solving mysteries, defeating iconic Gotham villains, leveling up your characters and exploring and saving the five districts of Gotham’s open-world in what’s set to be a spiritual successor of sorts to the Batman Arkham series. Toss in the fact that the whole campaign is playable in two-player co-op, and Gotham Knights is easily one of the most exciting Xbox games still to come in 2022.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Oct. 28
It wouldn’t be a year in the games industry if there wasn’t a new Call of Duty releasing and this time Infinity Ward is bringing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to the table. No, not a remaster of the 2009 title, it’s a new entry, but just with the same name as a game from 13 years ago. Confused? We don’t blame you. All you need to know is MW2 will feature the return of the iconic operators of Task Force 141 in a brand-new single-player campaign, alongside the usual multiplayer shenanigans and the return of Special Ops missions for co-op play. It’ll also usher in a new era for Call of Duty’s ever-popular Battle Royale game, Warzone, with a brand-new play space and sandbox mode. New weapons will join the arsenal and a bunch of other gameplay features will likely get spruced up to get things suitably… Modern Warfare-y? If you’ve been itching for more Modern Warfare after 2019’s excellent reboot of Infinity Ward’s series, then the long wait is nearly, finally over.
Skull & Bones – Nov. 8
You know what the games industry doesn’t have enough of? Pirate games. I — and I’m saying millions of others because I am obviously correct here — just want to sail the seas, down a load of rum, dig up buried treasure and shout “avast ye scurvy dogs” at random passers by, as my Galleon elegantly surfs over the rough waves of the sea. While Sea of Thieves has been solely filling that niche in the market, it’s about to have some competition in Skull and Bones. Your task here is to grow your infamy on the high seas, and to do that you’ll complete contracts from vendors, local factions and kingpins in the pirate world in order to gain more resources and further upgrade your ship and crew. All of this comes to a head when you cross paths with an enemy ship where you’ll unload your cannons in epic naval combat. Play solo or with your friends as you become the best and baddest pirate the Indian Ocean has ever seen.
The Callisto Protocol – Dec. 2
Because the promise of Dead Space next year wasn’t enough, The Callisto Protocol has arrived to bring another sci-fi horror game set in the dark depths of space this December. Directed by Glen Schofield, who previously co-created the aforementioned Dead Space series, The Callisto Protocol’s third-person action looks tense, incredibly atmospheric, and all kinds of gory. The story sees you navigating the labyrinthine-esque interior of the Black Iron Prison on Jupiter’s moon Callisto in the year 2320, but as you might have guessed from the various trailers, this isn’t your ordinary prison. There’s tons of terrifying creatures and secrets lurking inside just waiting to meet you. You’ll be blasting bits of aliens off their bodies, and if they get their hands on you, they’ll literally tear your head into pieces… seriously, we aren’t kidding, just check out the Schofield Cut trailer. If you’re looking for something dark and gritty to sink your teeth into during the cold winter nights of December, then The Callisto Protocol is certainly one to have on your radar.
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