October - The Scariest Month... for Your Wallet • Codec Moments

It comes around so quickly each year, and always seems to take us by surprise especially after the typical summer drought, but here we are again in gaming’s ramp up to the holiday periods. Like most years, October 2021 is filled with new releases all vying for your wallet’s attention, and even a few high profile movements (Battlefield 2042 we’re looking at you), and the annual Assassin’s Creed break, it’s not like there isn’t loads that could tempt you. Here’s our rundown of what’s coming out this month that can help you build your pile of shame, and if there’s anything in particular we’ve got our eyes on.

FIFA 22 – 1st October – pretty much all platforms… except the Switch

The latest update to EAs money spinner lands on the first day of the month and aims to be a more technical and harder game to play than last year and be a more authentic experience vs. the arcade goal fest some thought the last one was. There’s the intriguing and not-at-all-marketing-gimmicky HyperMotion to make it look extra sparkly on next gen too. Whatever it turns out to be, you can bet everything that there’ll be some prize mechanic shenanigans going on somewhere under the hood.

Alan Wake: Remastered – 5th October – pretty much all platforms… except the Switch

Having only experienced a small portion of the Alan Wake story via the exquisite DLC in Control, this one is high up on the radar. There’s a nagging feeling though that the aging title might not live up to the expectation of hype for those that have listened to friends bang on about it for 10 years. Not long before we can make our own minds up though.

BPM – 5th October – PS4/Xbox One

We played this back on PC and loved the premise of mixing movement, music and bullet mayhem, but found if very hard. Will a transition to console make that any easier to swallow, especially after a bit of time to fine tune and patch it?

Hell Let Loose – 5th October – PS5/Series X|S

Just announced as October’s PS Plus offering, this massive WW2 online shooter has been getting a lot of hype since the early access version parachuted on to the PC, and we’re interested in seeing what it can offer with 100 players in different skirmishes on the same map. It’s only issue is that Battlefield 2042 is coming a month afterwards and might see the player base decamp… or was this the reason EA moved their release? Of course it wasn’t, but there’s definitely something new to try here for FPS fans.

Jett: The Far Shore – 5th October – PS5/PS4/PC

Is this really coming out next week? It’s been something we’ve been interested in since a glimpse of it during the June 2020 PS showcase, and it feels like it’s arriving with little fanfare. There’s no doubt we’ll be picking this up and skimming across an alien ocean world with glee. It’s also got a nice discount on PS Plus at launch if you want to plump for it early.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania – 5th October – pretty much all platforms… including the Switch

A remake and a not-remake at the same time of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, you know what to expect from this game. Anyone who enjoys rolling monkeys in balls through mazes is probably going to be picking this up, if they’ve not spent all their cash on the other games coming out on the same day.

Art of Rally – 6th October – PS4/PS5

Phew! You’ve made it through the 5th and are looking for some respite, then whipping around a corner comes the gorgeous Art of Rally. Save some pennies for this one as any racing fan is likely to fall in love with this as it makes its PlayStation debut.

Far Cry 6 – 7th October – pretty much all platforms… except the Switch, but on (gasp! it’s still a thing) Stadia

The big one for the month as far as we’re concerned, the blueprint for open world action and story telling returns with the latest Far Cry adventure. Pick your gender for Dani Rojas (no, not the one from Ted Lasso), and head off into the island of Yara to start a rebellion with your sausage dog… maybe. Ubisoft have been good at adding twists and turns in this series, and we’d expect nothing less here. It’s going to be loud, brash and chaotic when we get to visit, and of course we can’t not mention Giancarlo Esposito perfectly cast as the island’s dictator. He might even give Vas a run for his money in the insanity stakes.

Nintendo Switch (OLED Model) – 8th October – err, only on the Switch

It’s a hardware revision for the best selling handheld of the last 3 years. Go get one if you don’t have one already. There are a few games to go with it too:

Metroid Dread – grab a game with your new handheld console, or just buy it for the name. Be aware, it’s not a full blown Metroid title, but is shaping up to be a decent adventure.
Knockout Home Fitness – boxing we presume with the wee paddles.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes – an oldie in some respects, but great on-the-go fodder.
Tetris Effect: Connected – yet another way to experience the best game to come out of Russia.

Back 4 Blood – 12th October – pretty much all platforms… except the Switch

We’ve played the ~~beta~~ demo, we enjoyed it a lot, but can the full game keep us engrossed? There’s some debate amongst the team as we’ve enjoyed Aliens: Fireteam Elite a bit too much, so our co-op survival shooter quota may be full right now.

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut – 12th October – Series X|S/Xbox One/Switch

The critical darling just can’t stay away from the spotlight, can it? Another chance to pick up the acclaimed RPG, with additional content added, comes this month.

Crysis Remastered Trilogy – 15th October – pretty much all platforms… except the Switch

This is an odd one to understand as we’ve already had Crysis Remastered on consoles, and the performance and dated gameplay left a lot to be desired. However, the sequels were more tightly scripted and arguably better player experiences, so we’re keen to see what the passage of time has done to them.

The Good Life – 15th October – PC/PS4/Xbox One/Switch

Swery’s village murder investigation where you play as small animals? Yep, it’s weird and that makes it interesting.

Dying Light: Platinum Edition – 19th October – Switch

Yes, you read that right. Techland have got Dying Light working on the Switch and it’s coming out this month. When you’ve finished this, it’ll be just in time to play Dying Light 2: Stay Human on the Switch via the cloud.

Resident Evil 4 VR – 21st October – Oculus VR

The best Resi game of all time… in VR? This could work, and not in the pants wettingly terrifying way Resi 7 did it. Very interested to see how this works and maps on one of the tightest designed games ever.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes – 22nd October – pretty much all platforms… except the Switch

The first was good, the second was broken, we really want Supermassive to pull this around so we can have a truly exceptional anthology series to play through. This looks much more modern and action/horror focused and might just be the title to draw us back into their curated world. It’s also about the only game coming out that’s suitable for Halloween.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – 26th October – pretty much all platforms… including the Switch

What do we say here? The idea behind the game is sound, and the team elements refreshing… it’s just that nothing we’ve seen from the gameplay elevates this above mediocre. We really hope we’re wrong here and that there’s a very playable game coming towards the end of the month.

Riders Republic – 28th October – pretty much all platforms… except the Switch, but on (gasp! it’s still a thing) Stadia

Ubisoft appears again with its Steep inspired online sports game that combines mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, wingsuit flying, and rocket wingsuiting, whilst letting up to 50 players race (on next gen consoles at least). It feels like it’s losing out in the promo battle with everything else coming this month, but could be quite a bit of fun. Maybe we’ll give this a shot before heading into November.

Mario Party Superstars – 29th October – Switch

Not just a cynical rehash of the previous Mario Party games… well, maybe it is, but if that’s working for them we shouldn’t argue. Here the USP is you can play party games in handheld mode. Woohoo!

There are more coming over the coming 31 days (about 29 by our count to go with the 17 here), what have we missed that’s got you interested? Whatever you want to play though, it feels like there’s nearly every genre covered with a release at some point, and some gems to be found amongst the big boys too.