Coming up in Gaming – November
‘Coming up in Gaming’ is a brand new regular feature at PopGeeks that will go live at the end of every month. It will aim to provide you with information about all the latest games, events and promotions that will be running throughout the upcoming four weeks so that you can keep up to date with everything that is going in the industry and ensure that you never miss a new release. Please feel free to leave any feedback about the article in the comments below about anything you think should also be included, as we look to improve it for future editions.
Big Releases
November is seeing a huge number of AAA releases hit store shelves in time for Christmas, including the likes of Call of Duty, Halo, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Dragon Age.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is a new direction for the hit first-person shooter series. It is more story driven that previous entries in the franchise and even features a core role for TV and film star Kevin Spacey. The eleventh game in the series is set in the year 2054 and sees some changes to gameplay, like the lack of a traditional HUD, but keeps many of the staples run-and-gun mechanics that have made Call of Duty such a popular series. The game will release worldwide on 4 November for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, so you should be able to pick it up on whatever console your favor.
Another high-profile title is Dragon Age: Inquisition. The role-playing game is the third game in the Dragon Age series and marks a return to the gameplay associated with the first title rather than its sequel that was heavily criticized. Developed by BioWare, Dragon Age: Inquisition has a much larger game world that its predecessors that gives players more chances to explore as well as the trademark large number of races and choices available to users. Player actions and choices also have a stronger effect on the game and how the story progresses. It is due to launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC on 18 November in North America and 21 November in Europe.
November also sees two new Assassin’s Creed games go to retail. Assassin’s Creed Unity launches 11 November for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Set right before the French Revolution, it sees players take on the role of Arno Dorian who is searching to uncover the secret powers orchestrating the revolution. As a next-generation release, the combat in the game has been reworked while other aspects, such as the number of AI on screen and the visual quality, have been greatly improved. A major addition comes in the form of co-operative online multiplayer. Previous generation consoles will see the release of Assassin’s Creed Rogue, a sequel to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. It is also available from 11 November.
Ubisoft’s latest Far Cry game, Far Cry 4, is also out this month with a launch date of 18 November in North America and 20 November in Europe. Unlike the previous entries in the series, Far Cry 4 will look to incorporate the open-world aspects of the title more closely with the plot, so that the two complement each other more appropriate than in its predecessors. Ubisoft has also built a new feature into the game that allows players to send invites to their friends who do not own the game, allowing those friends to download a special trial version to play.
Another big release is the enhanced version of Grand Theft Auto V that is due to launch on 18 November for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 with the PC version delayed until January. The upgraded title includes a far greater draw distances and more detail in graphics and textures as well as new in-game content such as additional songs and a replay feature. Players will be able to transfer their progress from previous generation versions of the game.
Microsoft’s big exclusive title for November comes in the form of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The bundle contains completely remastered versions of Halo: CE and Halo 2, similar to the way Halo: Anniversary worked, along with upgraded versions of Halo 3 and Halo 4 running at 60 frames per second and at full 1080p resolution. Uniquely, the collection will allow players to play each title over Xbox Live in their original game engines so that the experience is the same at when they first launched. The Master Chief Collection also contains every single map ever made in the series along with reworked versions of favorites, meaning that there are over 100 multiplayer maps to available to choose from.
On the other hand, Sony are lining up LittleBigPlanet 3 as a potential hit. The game is set to be available on 18 November in North America and 26 November in Europe and has been developed for both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. The game introduces a number of new characters and power-ups and allows players to use any user-created level that was made in LittleBigPlanet or LittleBigPlanet 2.
Meanwhile, Nintendo also have a number of big guns set to launch. Super Smash Bros. Wii U is the latest instalment in the immensely popular fighting series. The 3DS version of the game has been available since September but the Wii U version will arrive 21 November in North America and 28 November in Europe. The title includes 49 characters in total, with 15 of those being completely new to the franchise, including Rosalina, bowser Jr. Dark Pit from Kid Icarus: Uprising and Mega Man and Pac-Man.
The same dates in North America and Europe will also see the release of Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby. The 3DS games are remakes of the generation III games Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire and will include new features that were introduced in Pokemon X and Y such as Mega Evolutions.
Others
4 November
- Rocksmith 2014 Edition (EU 7 November) – PlayStation 4 / Xbox One
- The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth – PC / PlayStation 4 / PS Vita
11 November
- Digimon All-Star Rumble – PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360
- Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (EU 14 November) – Xbox One / Xbox 360 / PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 3 / PS Vita / PC / Wii U / iOS
- Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (EU 21 November) – Wii U
- Tales of Hearts R – PS Vita
- Ultimate Tetris – 3DS
- Toybox Turbos – PC / Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3
- Tropico 5 – Xbox 360
- Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms – Book One: Devourer of Souls – PC
- Shape Up (EU 13 November) – Xbox One
13 November
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 – PC / Xbox One / Xbox 360 / PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 3
- World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor – PC
18 November
- Never Alone – PC / Xbox One / PlayStation 4
- Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd (EU 21 November) – PlayStation 3 / PS Vita
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor –(EU 21 November) – Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3
- WWE 2K15 (EU 21 November ) – Xbox One / PlayStation 4
- Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom – PC / Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 / PS Vita / 3DS
- Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault – PC
- Escape Dead island (EU 21 November) – PC / Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3
25 November
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (EU 28 November) – 3DS
- Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions – PC / Xbox 360 / Xbox One / PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 4
- Thomas Was Alone – PlayStation 4
27 November
- Raven’s Cry – PC / Xbox 360 / Xbox One / PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 4
Free Games
If you aren’t interested in any of the new releases in November or you don’t want to dip into your pocket then there are still plenty of opportunities for you to grab a few free titles from a variety of different outlets. Sony and Microsoft provide downloadable titles at no additional cost through their PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold memberships.
Games With Gold – Xbox One users will be able to get their hands on the side-scrolling action game Volgarr the Viking from Crazy Viking Studios throughout the entire month. Meanwhile Xbox 360 users will be able to download Rare’s Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise from 1 November until it is removed on the 16 November to make room for the 2009 third-person shooter Red Faction: Guerrilla, which will be available until the end of the month.
PlayStation Plus – PlayStation4 users will be able to download the brand new game The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth for free. The retro inspired action-adventure dungeon crawler is a remake of the flash game the Edmund McMillian released in 2011 for PC and Mac. The next generation console will also have another free game in the form of the mining platformer SteamWorld Dig.
Subscribers to PlayStation Plus on the PlayStation 3 will get access to the strategy game Frozen Synapse Prime and an arcade shooter from Vlambeer called Luftrausers. Meanwhile the PS Vita will offer puzzler The Hungry Horde and the 2012 puzzle game Escape Plan.
Humble Bundle – Humble Bundle are currently offering a variety of bundles that run into November. The Humble Indie Bundle 13 runs until 11 November and includes OlliOlli, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Tower of Guns, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Jazzpunk and Risk of Rain along with a $12 tier that includes Shadowrun Returns. There is also a Mobile Bundle available that includes a number of Halloween themed Android games and a Weekly Bundle that contains a variety of spooky games in a pay-what-you-want level and a special set-price tier.
Humble Bundle have also started offering a selection of free games along with their usual collections. You can get Teleglitch: Die More Edition for Steam from the Humble Indie Bundle 13 as well as The Sppokening, Organ Trail and Zombies, Run! 5k Training for Android from the Mobile Bundle.