Regardless of the shortage in consoles available to purchase, 2021 has been a terrific year for new video game titles. Be sure to hop over to Ben’s Bargain’s Holiday Software Gift Guide to see a brief rundown of some of the hits, which range from novel spins on open-world games and innovations in horror and sci-fi to several celebrated rejuvenations of franchises. There are three variables clogging up the last two months in the year, though, that’d understandably scare off other developers from dropping anything too big during the period: holiday shopping in an already complicated year, the approaching release of Halo in December, and of course Call of Duty.

Even with those things in mind, the months of November ad December shaped up into a diverse, packed stretch of remasters, unique new titles, and one delayed long enough to unfortunately “compete” with CoD in the same genre during November, resulting in a nice array of titles squeezed into the last months before the holidays that could end up being worthwhile gifts. Let’s take a closer look.

Call of Duty: Vanguard – November 5 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

It’s difficult to make heads or tails over whether the gaming community really feels positive or negative about a new Call of Duty title at release, as there’s always a hefty rush of impressions and opinions before and around the big date. Ultimately, this has all but stopped mattering, as the latest COD title works off the nonstop energy of its multiplayer fanbase who’ll continue to purchase the FPS juggernaut despite any iffy thoughts about the latest campaign’s tone and longevity or the multiplayer’s sameness. Despite this, the folks at Sledgehammer, Treyarch, and Infinity Ward – and Raven Software in a support role – have continued to deliver annual titles that utilize AAA polish and ambitions to keep the series immersive, versatile, and exhilarating for both campaign and online players.

Vanguard is the latest, in which the campaign takes the audience back to the World War II and shortly after, where special ops forces are tracking down the actors involved with “Project Phoenix” and a theoretical true successor to Hitler’s place in government. Alongside the interesting single-player narrative, the multiplayer hopes to shake things up with a new “Combat Pacing” function, which allows players to select the intensity, style, and team size for the upcoming match. So far, critics have received both those core aspects of Vanguard fairly well, though there seems to be some “been there, done that” attitudes towards those things and a stronger consensus that the Zombies mode is lacking this year.    

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Jurassic World Evolution 2 – November 9 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

Sequels to sim games have a different set of benchmarks to hit than other genres, and they also tend to have a bit more of a forgiving player base when it comes to delivering incrementally better versions instead of drastically new entries. While enhanced features and expanded options will always be celebrated, there’s also lots of satisfaction to be found in picking up a simulator and discovering that a lot of the gameplay aspects remain the same, kind of like having a bunch of brand-new tools and upcoming projects yet the same workbench and organization area to know where everything’s at. Jurassic World Evolution delivers on the concept of, essentially, a “dinosaur zoo simulator” with callbacks to the movies and books, but critics generally felt that the sim could use more depth.

Evolution 2 has the opportunity to improve upon its middlingly reviewed first entry by improving its big draws, by deepening the business and construction aspects and refining its dinosaur interactions. It hopes to do so by widening the workspace maps – relocated to the US for more landscape variety — and placing more unique demands upon the players, such as maintaining animal diets and catering to different visitor tastes.  Improvements in those areas seem less pertinent to game-makers Frontier Developments than enhancing the authenticity of the dinosaurs themselves, though, upping the species count to 75 and ensuring that their behaviors authentically intersect on a more frequent basis. Whether that’ll amount to enough to make Evolution 2 a worthwhile upgrade remains to be seen.

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Skyrim: Anniversary Edition – November 11 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

At this point, the multiple iterations of Skyrim across several consoles have transformed into a running joke – a meme, if you will. For the most part, all the re-releases have had their purpose for showing up when they did, from lateral ports to other consoles and virtual reality accessibility to new console upgrades that’d hopefully tide players over until Elder Scrolls 6 finally arrives. The mantra’s pretty simple, according to Bethesda’s studio head: so long as players are buying and enjoying Skyrim, they’ll keep finding ways of re-releasing and upgrading the celebrated open-world RPG. Thus, when the announcement came that the studio would release an “anniversary edition” of Skyrim designed for Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles, few if any people were surprised. So, what else could possibly be added?

In essence, the Anniversary Edition of Skyrim makes it easy for players to have an up-to-date version of the complete Special Edition game – including all official DLC — that’s also beefed up with a ton of small to moderate additions through Bethesda’s Creation Club, ranging from artifacts to activities and quests. This includes brand-new content released alongside the Anniversary Edition from the Creation Club, such as fishing, a simulator-ish survival mode, and new quests. The Anniversary Edition also touches up the visuals for next-gen consoles, though those on the Xbox Series X will likely see no appreciable difference over the already optimized version of the Special Edition. There’s a $20 digital upgrade options for those who already own the Special Edition, but there’s also a complete physical copy of the Anniversary Edition for $50.

Get ESV: Skyrim Anniversary Edition at Amazon

GTA: Definitive Trilogy – November 11 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; Switch; PC)

It’s hard to overstate how influential the sequence of Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas was to the video game landscape. GTA III brought together different aspects of free-roaming action and emergent gameplay into a singular experience, Vice City took that blueprint and gave it a distinct, violent attitude … and then San Andreas upped the attitude, narrative potency, and sheer volume and variety of things to do to such a degree that it almost felt like a simulation. The ability for players to do essentially whatever they wanted in a “sandbox”, to create whatever degree of chaos they wanted, became a blueprint for other games to follow that range from revolutionary and historical assassin sims to animated show tie-ins.   They’ve aged, but their legacy exists in the bones of countless modern titles.

One would naturally assume, then, that games with such a rich legacy would receive high-quality remasters, especially during a time when remasters are hotter than normal. The recently renamed Grove Street Games, previously known as War Drum Studios, the developers behind mobile ports of this same trilogy, have undertaken the challenge with this Definitive Edition, and they showed clear inspiration early on in how to approach the project. From what aspects to preserve full stop (such as the physics engine) to which aesthetics should be cleaned up and which ones should be amplified, it sounds like worthwhile promises. The execution, however, has been polarizing, due in large part to the underwhelming visuals and a lack of editing and refinement, alongside a hefty share of technical glitches.

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Shin Megami Tensei V – November 12 (Switch)

It took a bit of time, but Atlus has really grasped one fact about their Shin Megami Tensei series: the fanbase still really, really likes the third entry, Nocturne. Even as the spinoff Persona series mounts in popularity and creates its own hot spinoffs – like the fighting-based Arena line – there remained plenty of enthusiasm behind the prospect of a remastered iteration of the PS2-era Nocturne, which was finally released to critical acclaim earlier this year. Aside from the rerelease, the enthusiasm has also spread into the development philosophies of the long-awaited fifth entry in the primary numbered Shin Megami Tensei series, where the vague but somewhat telling description of its “profound charm” has been laced into the new entry alongside the more objective demon-raising aspects of SMT IV.

As one would expect, players gain control of a high-school student who ropes a few buddies into a demon search through underground tunnels. Shortly after entering the tunnels, the player gets transported to an alternate reality version of Tokyo embroiled in a war between angels and demons, where the existence of the high-schooler – and his friends — soon becomes linked with that of a god-like being so that the students can get directly involved with the battle. From there, the signature turn-based combat system of the Shin Megami Tensei series and the frequently challenging nature of its battles take hold, supported by a choice-and-consequence system that’ll help dictate the sort of ending you’ll receive.  It’s a manifestation of much enthusiasm that’s currently exclusive to the Switch.

Halo: Infinite – December 8 (Xbox O/S/X; PC)

Xbox turns 20 this year, and it’s hard to argue with the assertion that the most popular … well, thing, period, to ever come out of Microsoft’s console would be their exhilarating sci-fi shooter series, Halo. The first confidently labeled itself “Combat Evolved” and the distinction didn’t feel unmerited, providing an engaging campaign and multiplayer experience that handily dethroned previous competitors such as GoldenEye, escalating the popularity of LAN parties and shaping the PvP landscape as it’s known today. Its sequels would refine the positive aspects of that experience, even when the campaign’s storytelling or brevity would wobble and waver across both Bungie and 343’s installments. After half of a decade away from regular installments, Master Chief has decided to jump back into action for the 20^th anniversary of Xbox in Halo: Infinite.

With the creative energy of former Bungie writer and cinematics director Joseph Staten as the project lead of the campaign, Halo: Infinite aspires to bring the series back to its original glory in the modern era, tying familiar aesthetics and plot devices into a new story of alien invasion and world repair. Players once again control Master Chief for the entirety of the game as they zip across the landscape of Zeta Halo, opening up the gameplay for free roaming and emergent battles while also sticking to a firm campaign with its sights sets on Cortana. The multiplayer also has its heart in the right place by focusing on familiar modes such as capture the flag and slayer, while also incorporating new powers and designs to spice up the formula. More than anything, though, folks who’ve played Halo: Infinite have reaffirmed the expected: the gunplay is outstanding, and should make either campaign or multiplayer a blast.

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The end of year has a cluster of other interesting titles worth looking into, though one of them may or may not be Battlefield 2042, which has been getting dragged through the mud by the community and certainly is up against some hefty competition in the shooter genre through here. Just Dance 2022 (November 4) gets the party moving at the end of the year with a smattering of new songs and intricate choreography, while Football Manager 2022 (November 9) keeps the pace slow, familiar, yet addictive with its updated roster simulation gameplay. Similar to Far Cry: Blood Dragon, the Borderlands-themed DLC Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon’s Keep (November 9) has received a standalone release, while Frogwares has returned to the Sherlock Holmes for something of a prequel, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One (November 16), that focuses on the detective’s career in his early twenties. There’s also a space combat game called Chorus (December 3) worth keeping an eye on, as well as a futuristic platformer Solar Ash (December 2).

Notable Video Game Releases Closing Out 2021: Call of Duty, Halo, MOAR SKYRIM

This is the kind of month that Sony has needed for their PS+ subscription service for a long, long time now. While they’ve been playful with their pairings of games being offered since they discontinued freebies for legacy consoles – usually one solid, recognizable PS4 title and another lesser-known or niche one – they’ve yet to deliver a slate of free games that might really impress its subscribers.  They’re really doing so with the franchise types on offer this month, but they’ve also been smart in selecting what gaming styles that they encompass: experiences that can be enjoyed either for their campaign or, more importantly, for their ability to be played online with others as they choose to stay indoors.  These aren’t phoned-in selections of AAA titles; these are smart, satisfying decisions that show off the kind of amenities that’ll draw in new subscribers.  Let’s go over them.

Click Here to Grab a 1-Year PlayStation Plus Subscription at Amazon

PS4

Star Wars Battlefront II

Now, that doesn’t mean that these games selected aren’t without polarizing opinions or controversy, as is the case with Battlefront II, EA’s reboot sequel of the popular Star Wars battle simulator. Most in the gaming community have at least a vague grasp on the pay-to-play issues that have arisen Battlefront II, where popular playable characters had been gated behind grind-style progression or random loot-box purchases. For the most part, the microtransaction situation has been ironed out by removal of paywalls, and the game has undergone extensive updates – and damage control — since its release and subsequent backlash.  From all that, Battlefront II has now emerged with a robust community, a wealth of accessible content, and of course a polished and exhilarating sci-fi combat simulator that makes the most of the concept behind playing on either side of the big conflicts in the Star Wars universe. The campaign is regarded as reasonably engaging, but multiplayer’s where it’s at, with numerous modes and bountiful configurations for the dedicated.

Call of Duty: WWII

One of the running criticisms of the much-loved Call of Duty FPS franchise lies in how the series has continued to move closer and closer to science-fiction in its weaponry and tactics, which inherently decreases the realism while increasing the intensity. Well, Activision and developer Sledgehammer Games elected to answer that criticism by returning to the series’ roots with WWII, which drops modern shooter gameplay philosophies into the more restrictive historical context of World War II. The campaign even takes things a few steps further by removing health regeneration and requiring first aid kits for life, along with other gameplay nuts-‘n-bolts designed to ground the atmosphere in genuine wartime tension.  But, again, it’s the multiplayer that fuels enthusiasm for WWII, which has been carefully tailored so that players won’t be saddled with playing as Nazi extremists when they’re assigned to either Allied or Axis sides, and galvanized by a “division” class system that deepens the authenticity.   Then, there’s the option to take on hordes of zombies … but that’s another story.

June’s PS+ Pair of Free Games Are Out of This World

Next month marks the ramping up into the holiday video game gift season, which means it’s going to be a beast of a release schedule with plenty of heavy hitters timed just right for end-of-the-year purchases. While there’s a lot to anticipate, the month of October will be sporting what’s easily one of the most anticipated games for role-playing and sandbox aficionados out there: an experience that, if executed properly, could become one of those grand time-sinks that people think about when they’re at work or school and just might keep ‘em home from social activities for a few weeks. Aside from that, it’s a month of exhilarating expansions, remasters, remakes and ports without a lot of other heavy-hitting games.

Okay, yeah, fine, there’s a new Call of Duty as well. Let’s dive in!

Pre-Order Ghostbusters at Amazon          Pre-Order Breakpoint at Amazon

Ghostbusters: The Videogame Remastered – October 4

The times were very different when Ghostbusters: The Video Game was initially released.  In a period where no film sequels or reboots were announced and very little new content from that universe seemed in the pipes, the prospect of a proper sequel written by the creators – Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, among others – and a near-complete roster of the original cast voicing digital recreations of their characters from yesteryear was hotly anticipated.  When the game was released, it delivered on its promise, producing a serviceable third-person quasi-shooting videogame that’s far, far more interested in tapping into narrative nostalgia than innovative play mechanics or difficulty … and honestly, that was enough. For one run through it, at least, as the repetitive and unobtrusive gameplay doesn’t lend itself well to multiple playthroughs, and critics have mentioned that little of that has changed for this remastered edition.  They came, they saw, they kicked ass again … and that’s about all there is to it.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint – October 4

Ubisoft has cranked out over a dozen releases under the Ghost Recon banner, yet they’ve struggled to achieve the same sort of acclaim that the Xbox 360 version of Advanced Warfighter and GRAW 2 received at the height of last-gen’s shooter craze. After receiving moderate success with their recent online iteration, Wildlands, Ubisoft Paris is going back into the fray with Breakpoint, continuing the scaled-back futurism of prior releases and further emphasizing survival aspects in an open-world atmosphere. From selectable classes to new weaponry and the addition of an Exploration mode – which replaces direct map markers with rough estimations of where a key location is at – they’ve made crowd-pleasing advances to the framework that should draw in  a variety of players.

Pre-Order Grid at Amazon                    Pre-Order COD: Modern Warfare at Amazon

GRID – October 11

The name “GRID” will probably sound familiar to racing fans, as it was one of the better sim-like experiences to be released outside the heavy hitters in the genre a little over a decade ago. This GRID, again from Codemasters, adopts the now-commonplace practice of rebooting the franchise under the same name as its predecessors while not aiming to remake its namesake. Codemasters have become renowned for striking the right balance between realism and excitement when the player’s behind the wheel, so perhaps the most unique aspect of this version comes in what the studio has done with who you’re going to be racing against: several hundreds of different AI racers, ones that can have increased racing hostility if you’re getting to aggressive with ‘em. Combine that with reactive environments and a dedication to making the racing experience as practical or as laid-back as you want, and the mechanics are there for GRID to move back into a high position in its genre.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – October 25

Take a look at the paragraph above, and you’ll find similar sentiments to those in this paragraph about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Activision’s “soft reboot” of the iconic shooter series. Beyond the return of certain characters, details are limited about what’s going on with the plotline, though the game’s mechanics and decisions about what to depict – notably the soldier recruitment and civilian deaths of children – suggest that they’re not going to be pulling any punches with this retooled version of a campaigned powered by Captain Price. There’s no need to really discuss the myriad ways that Infinity Ward has elevated the shooter genre, and as a result there’s little cause for hesitation in what they’re aiming to deliver with the overall FPS mechanics of their latest Modern Warfare.  Whether they can overcome controversy with clearly intense, unsettling imagery is unknown at this point, but that’s unlikely to stop the multiplayer following it’ll build, especially since it’ll be cross-platform play.

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The Outer Worlds – October 25

Even when the gameplay itself misses the mark, notably the wonky controls in Alpha Protocol, Obsidian Entertainment routinely delivers on layered storytelling and role-playing versatility.  When Bethesda’s attempt with Fallout 4 left some old-school fans a little cold due to its one-sided RPG aspects – there were choices and options, but the game seemed to have its preferred pathways – they were rejuvenated by the arrival of Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas, which both borrowed the engaging sandbox/customization gameplay of that previous entry and brought back the true freedom to roleplay.  The hope is that something very similar will be crammed into the first-person experience of The Outer Worlds, only this time Obsidian has crafted its own, brand-new setting and narrative hinged on a hybrid of futuristic and wasteland aspects. In a clever take on alternate history timelines, the player navigates a science-fiction realm hinged on unfettered corporate ownership and colonization of planets, one that consistently reacts to their choices with branching narratives.  The Outer Worlds looks a lot like New Vegas mixed with a little Mass Effect and Borderlands, in all the right ways.

Other noteworthy releases in October include another expansion for Destiny 2 entitled Shadowkeep (October 4); the fourth installment in the Trine side-scrolling fantasy puzzler franchise, Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince (October 8); another side-scrolling action-RPG entitled Indivisible (October 8), which almost has an old-school Aladdin tie-in feel to the movement and designs; and a remake of the classic PlayStation title Medievil (October 25). The Switch will also be getting a slew of great ports this month, most notably the Overwatch: Legendary Edition and the complete edition of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, both out on October 15, as well as Resident Evil 5 and 6 just in time for Halloween. And yeah, don’t forget about Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville (October 18), the enjoyable family-friendly alternative to all the other shooters coming out this month.

October’s Video Game Releases Set Sights on Other Worlds, Old Favorites