The next four weeks or so are going to be huge for PC gamers. Not least because the next Steam Sale is going to be the Halloween Sale, usually dropping around the end of October. This sale will likely follow the Steam Next Fest. The game release schedule for October is going to be exciting no matter what genre you are into, with some very familiar names as well as some new indie development teams getting in on the Autumn action.
Granted, it’s an eclectic mix – there’s excavator driving, airport renovating, aquarium building, saving the universe, commanding armies, killing aliens, massive multiplayer action, overthrowing dictatorships and loads more in store for you this month.
We’re going to highlight a few of these releases, and you can also find all of the PC games we could find that are confirmed as coming this October!
October Highlights
With the stack of games coming your way, we thought it would be a good idea to spotlight a few of the games that caught our eye at E3 and in the news over the last few months.
Ubisoft
7th October 2021
£49.99 - £91.99
The latest instalment of the Far Cry franchise takes us to the island of to Yara, “a tropical paradise frozen in time”. Players find themselves deep in the throes of a modern-day guerrilla revolution. Anton Castillo, the dictator overseeing control of Yara is intent on building a country by his own design along with his son, Diego, who follows in his father’s bloody footsteps. Only you can rescue Yara from its desperately bleak fate. Liberate Yara this October!
Warner Bros. Games
12th October 2021
£49.99 - £89.99
Get ready to strap your favourite zombie killing weaponry back on with the latest game from Turtle Rock in the Left 4 Dead franchise. A frantic, co-op shoot-em-up FPS in the same vein as its predecessors, Back 4 Blood offers players another chance to splatter The Ridden, but this time there’s even more to get excited about. Expect a Tank/Boomer combo, a “roguelike” card mechanic, and a director system to change up maps to your heart’s content.
EXOR Studios
14th October 2021
TBD / Demo
The Riftbreaker is a base-building survival game that also includes action RPG elements. Players control an elite scientist/commando wearing an advanced Mecha-Suit which has the ability to traverse dimensional rifts. You will be hacking and slashing through innumerable enemies, building and upgrading your base, and collecting vital samples to research inventions. Explore Galatea 37, an unknown planet located in the Milky Way, construct outposts, and survive the harsh conditions in your mission to build a rift back to Earth.
Asmodee Digital
20th October 2021
£19.49
Hugely anticipated, Gloomhaven shot to critical acclaim as a tactical combat board game by Isaac Childres, and has now had a digital adaptation thanks to the developers at Flaming Fowl Studios and publishers, Asmodee Digital. With a massive amount of praise in Early Access, Gloomhaven is set to be a dominating title in the tactical combat RPG and dungeon crawl genre, with beautiful graphics and intuitive mechanics bringing the world to life. While mostly inspired by the original board game, fans of board and keyboard are overwhelmingly happy with it.
Kalypso Media
21st October 2021
£31.49 - £41.39 / Free Demo
Disciples: Liberation is a PEGI 12, dark fantasy strategy RPG with intrinsic turn-based combat. Your quest is to liberate the land of Nevendaar to uncover endless fables hidden away within a highly detailed world where your each and every decision will decide your fate. Explore the overworld and align yourself with various factions, assembling a team of your own to take on the monsters that lurk in the darkness of this richly designed universe.
Chashu Entertainment
21st October 2021 (Early Access)
TBD
The beautiful Sands of Aura is an open-world action adventure set in a delicious fantasy realm; Aura is a world that is buried below a sea of sand. You will sail across the sandseas to rejuvenate and return life to Aura. Described by the developers as “an unforgettable experience that is equal parts engaging story and unrelenting, souls-like combat”.
Accelerate Games
21st October 2021
TBD
We recently found out about the announcement of a later release date for Toy Soldiers HD, and there’s an upcoming article on CCL about this amazing little game. A remake of the classic XBLA and PC game, Toy Soldiers HD is a strategy action game that sees players controlling their own little WW1 army, defending their toy box from invading armies by commanding artillery, soldiers and aircraft in various campaigns of increasing difficulty. Players can seamlessly take over the action, shooting heavy weaponry, flying Sopwith Camels in dogfights and more. This is definitely one to watch for a casual or hardcore pick-up-and-play, with a side order of tasty nostalgia to boot.
Bandai Namco
22nd October 2021
£24.99 - £49.99
The Dark Pictures Anthology is a series of standalone, cinematic horror games where all player decisions affect the story and outcome. House of Ashes is the third game in the series, following the success of Man of Medan and Little Hope.
As the Iraq War draws to a close, Special Forces hunting for chemical weapons uncover something deadlier and more terrifying than they expected. You will navigate a subterranean labyrinth, attempting to escape the starving creatures that now see you as their prey. Online co-operative play with a friend is the order of business with House of Ashes, or you can play with up to 5 friends offline. This unique cinematic experience will leave you wondering if you have made the right decisions as you work your way through an incredibly well put together game, with branching story and the possibility of any of the cast dying throughout.
Square Enix
26th October 2021
£49.99 - £59.99
Few games have been judged so closely, but Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is certainly one of them. With a hungry fanbase, Square Enix have had to get everything right in order to please not only gamers, but Marvel fans who will spot even the tiniest detail out of place.
For most (including this author) they have done a great job of adapting this title into a game, with a focus on faithful GotG humour, a deeply pleasing soundtrack and of course graphic novel aesthetic. As Star-Lord, you will blast your way through a third-person action-adventure with your plucky crew of unlikely heroes - Rocket, Gamora, Groot, and Drax. With beautiful yet dangerous worlds to explore, a rich storyline and endless fun to be had with the banging mixtape OST, you will find yourself laughing your way through an adrenaline rush wondering what all the fuss was about in the first place.
Microsoft
28th October 2021
£49.99 - £69.99
Back with an eagerly anticipated game in the huge AoE franchise, fifteen years into the series, Relic Entertainment & World’s Edge are yet again looking to immerse fans in highly detailed strategy game that is so beloved to millions of gamers.
Adam Isgreen, creative director at World’s Edge is calling this the “spiritual successor” to Age of Empires 2 – a game that is now truly the definitive version of the developers’ vision, and fans’ expectations. “We’ve had a tremendous number of discussions over the years,” Isgreen told RockPaperShotgun “looking to define exactly what makes Age Of Empires… Age Of Empires.”
This real-time strategy game allows players to journey through time and command notable leaders, with eight civilisations featured at launch: English, Mongols, Chinese, Delhi Sultanate, Abbasid Dynasty, French, Holy Roman Empire, and Rus. Age of Empires 4 will have four campaigns at launch, which include a total of 35 missions. The four campaigns are: Norman Conquest (English civilisation), 100 Years War, Mongols and The Rise of Moscow.
Rather than focusing on the life experience of a single historical figure, Age of Empires?IV campaigns will now span generations, involving multiple influential historical people, serving the historical narrative in what looks to be a documentary-style format.
Ubisoft
28th October 2021
£49.99 - £91.99
While the landing page for Riders Republic looks like an advertisement for an upcoming extreme sports event, the sheer volume of positive reviews coming in for the beta of this game tell a much better story. Described as being potentially the “best extreme sports game in an age” by Eurogamer, and “Forza Horizon for extreme sports” by GamesRadar, you start to get the picture.
Players can bike, ski, snowboard or even wingsuit their way through massive multiplayer sandbox environments, racing against 20+ players, avoiding obstacles and throwing yourself into extreme stunts of epic proportions.
