8 Most Anticipated Games of November 2015

November is here in full force, and as the weather across SA begins to heat up, so does the holiday season gaming release calender. There are some big-name franchise sequels heading your way, as well as some new IPs entering the fray.

Here are the 8 most anticipated games releasing in November 2015:

Need for Speed

Release date: 3 November (Xbox One, PS4, PC) – Buy on Raru.co.za

The original street racer is back, as Need for Speed gets an injection of rejuvenation for the latest instalment in the franchise, simply titled, Need for Speed.

Recent games in the series have been impressive, but this entry marks a full reboot for the series allowing for a fresh take and new ideas. The game has five styles for players to try out as they race around Ventura Bay. Whether favouring an Outlaw approach with a habit of out running the cops, drifting with Style, constantly tweaking your car to perfect with a Build approach, favouring tops speeds and pushing the limits with Speed, or riding with others in the Crew method; there are playstyles for however you want to tackle the game.

The customisation is back in a big way and will play a massive role in the way your car drives and handles the city of Ventura Bay.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III

Release date: 6 November (Xbox One, PS4, PC, PS3, Xbox 360) – Buy on Raru.co.za

Arguably gaming’s biggest franchise also returns this month. Set in 2065, 40 years after the events of Black Op II, warfare has changed due to air defences rendering air assaults useless. Covert operations are the way countries settle conflict now. Technology has run amok creating high-tech weaponry for soldiers and soldiers with extraordinary abilities. Cyborgism is becoming a rapid issue and people fear a robotic takeover. You take on the role of a supersoldier to resolve the problems of a divided world.

The campaign can be tackled solo or with three friends in four player co-op, and will feature the over-the-top action, massive set-pieces, and jaw-dropping moments we’ve come to expect from the series.

Multiplayer for Black Ops III features some new improvements like the new chained-movement system allowing for more fluidity in combat (ability to wall jump and continually sprint without a perk), and full weapon customisation. The biggest change is the Specialist system, which gives players the option of playing a one of nine supersoldier with unique looks, weapons and abilities. It may change how player level up and play competitively. Zombies also makes a return with two full storylines and multiplayer for players to sink their teeth into.

Anno 2205

Release date: 6 November 2015 (PC) – Buy on Raru.co.za

Anno 2205 follows directly on from the previous Anno, 2070, a futuristic city-builder. from Ubisoft’s newest studio, BlueByte Mainz – however, BlueByte Mainz is also Related Designs, an old studio that’s worked on the Anno games since 1995.

The setting is again the future, but another leap forward, with the moon once again within mankind’s grasp. The game has you as a corporate leader managing cities on both Earth and the moon.

Notably, Anno 2205 is focused on being ‘multi-session’ so players will gradually build cities all over the Earth and head to the moon to build outposts. All your resources—whether moon or Earth-based—can be traded between your cities, allowing for specialisation, like the new SimCity once promised.

Fallout 4

Release date: 10 November 2015 (Xbox One, PS4, PC) – Buy on Raru.co.za

Fallout 4 is undoubtedly one of the first games on everyone’s list when talking about November’s releases. The post-apocalyptic franchise is taking things to new heights, with Bethesda claiming they are out to reinvent the open world genre.

More weapons, refined gameplay mechanics, greater quests, and a more detailed world to discover, Fallout 4 is looking to take the franchise to new levels.

The colossal map in the game will be around 48 square kilometres, allegedly, which is double that of Skyrim’s 23.5 square kilometres, and with a new engine under the hood, there’s going to be a lot more open terrain to explore, as opposed to some blocked-off areas. This is going to be a biggie.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Release date: 10 November 2015 (Xbox One, Xbox 360) – Buy on Raru.co.za

Eidos Montreal got the green light to develop the sequel to 2013’s Tomb Raider after its initial success of properly modernising the historic franchise. Gone are the days of pixel-perfect two and a half-step jumps and cheat codes for RPGs to blow up pesky velociraptors.

The Tomb Raider reboot was a refreshing take on the life and antics of a young Lara Croft, and injected some new blood into a somewhat dying franchise. We saw Lara go from scared 20-something to becoming an artifact-hunting heroine in the first game, and Rise of the Tomb Raider will continue that journey. Lara must now explore the most treacherous and remote regions of Siberia to find the secret of immortality before a ruthless organisation known as Trinity. There’s a host of new survival skills, weapons, abilities, and things to explore, as Lara embraces her destiny to become the Tomb Raider.

MX vs ATV: Supercross Encore

Release date: 13 November 2015 (PS4, PC) – Buy on Raru.co.za

Marking the revival of the best-selling MX vs. ATV racing series, MX vs. ATV Supercross Encore is centred around the high-flying, mud-churning Supercross sport.

The game features more than 30 tracks, 60 official riders, and an abundance of bikes or ATVs to choose from, along with multiple game modes including Career, Single races, Free Ride, and online multiplayer events with up to 12 players.

Customisation options for your rider and bikes are available too, and with the jump to current-gen consoles, this should be one of the most feature-rich MX vs ATV games to date.

Star Wars Battlefront

Release date: 20 November 2015 (Xbox One, PS4, PC) – Buy on Raru.co.za

The next FPS epic from EA DICE is around the corner, and Star Wars: Battlefront showcases quite a few reasons for people to be excited. In 2005, the cult classic was released, and this year we’re getting a reboot that DICE will hope reaches the heights of its predecessor.

Battlefront is full of the usual multiplayer game modes, some more interesting variations, and a co-op Horde mode, which, as you could guess from the name, requires players need to survive successive waves of enemies (much like that of Call of Duty‘s Zombies mode) while possibly fulfilling additional objectives, like protecting an objective or destroying an AT-ST. The environments look great and feel authentic, and so do the weapons.

There are a lot of promising signs from this title that suggest it could be a fantastic investment for FPS and multiplayer aficionados.

Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends

Release date: 20 November 2015 (Xbox One, PS4) – Buy on Raru.co.za

If you’ve been in some desperate need of some martial art animal action, Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends should scratch that itch.

While this game is based upon the Kung Fu Panda movie characters, it doesn’t follow the action-adventure formula you’d expect from past Kung Fu Panda games – this is a 2.5D brawler in the vein of Super Smash Bros.

Up to four players brawl in iconic locations throughout the Valley of Peace and other locales from the films, and each character has a unique fighting style – with original special attacks, unique moves and an Awesome Attack.

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