Do you like guns? Do you like shooting people with guns? Well, you’re either in luck or super bummed, because that’s like 80% of your choices this week.

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint (PC – Epic Games Store/PS4/Xbox One) – Releases Oct. 4^th (Ultimate Edition on Oct. 1^st)

Jon Bernthal is the most recent famous person to lend their face to a AAA shooter, following in the footsteps of actors like Kit Harrington and, um, Kevin Spacey. The Ghost Recon franchise has been one of the Tom Clancy staples since 2001, and in 2017’s Wildlands the series ditched the old multiple map format and entered the open world genre, making it yet another in a long line of Ubisoft games that have embraced this way of playing. Breakpoint takes this even further, requiring the player to be connected to the internet at all times where they can play alone or with friends, similar to what you’d find in Destiny. It should come as no surprise then that this game is a narrative sequel to Wildlands, taking place four years after the events of that title, in which you play a “Ghost” hunting a rogue “Ghost” named Cole D. Walker…wait, ghosts are dead so they’re cold, Cole D. Walker can be shorted to Cold Walker…White Walker…Walking Dead…Jon Bernthal…oh my gosh…Half-Life 3 confirmed!

YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World (PC/PS4/Switch) – Releases Oct. 1^st

Did you just love AI: The Somnium Files and now need something new to play, eh, eh? Shinigami Apple Merchant, I’m looking in your direction. Good news, Spike Chunsoft is back with a remake of a 1996 NEC PC/Sega Saturn title with what might win dumbest name in the annual Tuesdayies (Copyright 2019, don’t steal this please), YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World. You play the role of young protagonist Takuya Arima as he deals with the death of his parents; his mother died when he was a child and his father has passed away three days ago. Crazy shit is going down folks, and I’m looking forward to hearing all about it in a 700 word write-up in the October 10th Weekly Games Thread #2 comments section…IF YOU KNOW WHO DOES WHAT THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO!

Warsaw (PC) – Releases Oct. 2^nd

Well, clearly they missed that Sep. 4^th release date promised in the trailer. Set during WWII, you will control a party of characters made up of both soldiers and civilians, as they try and overthrown the German occupation of their city. Unlike other titles this week, you don’t really pull the trigger yourself, so to speak, as this is a tactical RPG in which you give commands to your party.

Neo Cab (PC/Switch) – Releases Oct. 3^rd

After a pretty stunning reveal in one of the recent Nintendo Direct presentations, this title was the second of two games about cab drivers (the other being July’s Night Call). In Neo Cab, people rely on autonomous robot cars to take them everywhere, but one young woman, Lina, only knows one thing…driving. As one of the last humans in the drive-for-hire industry, Lina doesn’t get much real human contact, so when her best friend goes missing she must do everything she can to find her, as long as that everything is driving a cab, because that’s what you do the entire game.

Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory (PC – Epic Games Store) – Releases Oct. 3^rd

Based on a 1984 pen & paper RPG of the same name, Paranoia is an isometric RPG similar to the original Fallout or maybe X-Com. Set in a distant future, this cyberpunk, sci-fi game game you (again) control a party of characters, but instead of trying to overthrown Nazis you are instead tasked by the almighty Friend Computer to root out the dissidents, and shoot them dead. How fun!! You can probably ignore those orders too.

 

Ports and Re-releases:

Sniper Elite 3: Ultimate Edition (Switch) – Releases Oct. 1^st

Speaking of shooting Nazis, have you ever wanted to make their nutsack’s explode? Well now you can in this remaster of the third Sniper Elite game for the Nintendo Switch. It’s also something for Switch owners to play while all the cool kids on the PS4 and the XBone are playing the new Ghost Recon.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game – Remastered (PC – Epic Games Store/PS4/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases Oct. 4^th

From a game about people who call themselves “Ghosts” to a game about actual ghosts and the men that bust them. After the hullabaloo over the 2016 Ghostbusters film reboot it feels a bit, odd, icky, I don’t know, maybe not, but I just can’t push out the voices of all those man-baby dickheads when I think about Ghostbusters anymore. It’s sad, because I love that movie, and I actually really like this game, which is a much better sequel than the second film, but again, those fucking guys and their “ruined childhoods” have, well, ruined my enjoyment of this franchise.

 

Expansions:

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep & New Light (PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Releases Oct. 1^st

Destiny 2 has two very exciting things coming up; the first is a brand new expansion with tons of new content and loot for you to experience, but the second is a *drum roll* a free to play version of the game! Wow, I never thought it would happen to Destiny, but here we are, the game is now free. Featuring all content from the base game, as well as some content from the Forsaken expansion, what is actually really exciting about this mode of the game is how it welcome’s new players. If you’ve never played Destiny 2 before the game will actually start you off at the beginning of the first Destiny, then plopping you on the tower which (spoiler) is destroyed at the beginning of Destiny 2. After doing a few small things that basically introduce you to all of the game’s systems, you can take a quest that leads you to the beginning of Destiny 2, allowing you to experience that full game, once again, FOR FREE. What do you have to lose, besides free time?

 

Everything else:

Call of Duty: Mobile (Android/iOS) – Releases Oct. 1^st

MEANWHILE, AT ACTIVISION BLIZZARD HEADQUARTERS…
Systems Analyst 1: Sir, sir! I have some important news you need to hear.
Senior Project Manager 1: This better be important systems analyst 1, I was in the middle of tinkering with our loot box system to never pay out the rarest items. What is it!
Systems Analyst 1: Sir, remember Bungie…
Senior Project Manager 1: Bungie?! I told you to never speak that name in Activision headquarters again, you worm!
He strikes systems analyst 1
Systems Analyst 1: *Whimpering* b b b, but sir, I have some intel about their latest move for Destiny. It appears they’re making the game free to play.
Senior Project Manager 1: *Visibly shaken* Dear God, those animals. What are they thinking!? HOW DARE THEY! I’ll take this to Grand Master Kotick right away; you’re dismissed.
Senior Project Manager 1 stands in front of a large, cathedral-esque door with wood carvings of Pitfall Harry, Tracer from Overwatch, and a non-descript U.S. soldier all in sensual embrace. He lowers his head…
Senior Project Manager 1: *Chanting* Et peccatum tuum portas dilata est delectatio. Simum Nunc hora est.
The doors begin to open and reveal Activision CEO Bobby Kotick standing over an alter, the body of a fresh sacrifice lies decapitated on top of it. He holds up the head as it “watches” his scene from Moneyball being played on a continuous loop.
Senior Project Manager 1: Grand Master Kotick, I have some troubling news.
Grand Master Kotick: Yes, Senior Project Manager 1, I know. The old one told me of this ‘free to play Destiny’ release that that heathens at Bungie are releasing.
He turns around and the severed head’s eyes are open.
Severed Head: Senior Project Manager 1, we can not let this atrocity stand. The Bungie team must pay a price for their insolence; we have no choice, make a new Call of Duty Game.
Senior Project Manager 1: Nefarious master, we already have a Call of Duty game coming out, surely you don’t intend to make that free to play?
Severed Head: Foolish mortal, of course not, there is too much money to be made. No, instead you must enter the most wretched of hellscapes and put a brand new, free to play Call of Duty game on it.
Senior Project Manager 1: My Lord, you don’t mean…
Severed Head: Yes; mobile devices! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Notable Releases from 10, 20 and 30 years ago:

The beginning of October wasn’t always about guns and shit, no way, it used to be about demon slaying, snowboarding, and civil engineering.

Demon’s Souls (PS3) – Released Oct. 6^th, 2009: Wiki Link

It may come as a surprise to some players out there, but Dark Souls was not From Software’s first crack at the super difficult action RPG genre. Nope, in fact you can trace that all the way back to the original PlayStation and the game King’s Field, however, the modern iteration was born on the PlayStation 3 in 2009 with the release of the first Souls game, Demon’s Souls. Initially seen as somewhat of a failure in Japan, Sony declined to publish the title in the U.S., leaving Atlus to pick up the pieces; I’m sure they’re glad that they did. The game was a huge success for From Software, selling over 250,000 copies in just five months, and eventually reach sales of over 500,000. As with Dark Souls, you take on the role of an unnamed warrior, picking the various stats that will define what kind of character you’ll play as and the weapons and armor you’re proficient with. You eventually find yourself in a hub world in which you can increase your stats using the souls you’ve collected from each world as currency. You have the option of entering and leaving worlds as you please, and through repetition, memorization, and tons of trial and error, you will eventually meet the boss monster of each world. Defeat these bosses and you’ll be able to enter the Old One, and face his servant who is just a big blob of goo. Despite its success, the game still feels like a bit of a cult classic, maybe that’s because Dark Souls was a cultural phenomenon unlike the gaming world had seen before. If you somehow overlooked this title and are a fan of the Souls games then I implore you to seek this out; you’ll thank you at the same time you’re cursing me.

MTV Sports: Snowboarding (PlayStation) – Released Sep. 30^th, 1999 or Dec.1^st, 1999: Wiki Link

Continuing our discussion of the radical extreme sports games of 1999, I’m either talking about this title a week late or two months early, depending on what sources you believe. In any case, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater launched skateboarding, extreme sports, and ska/punk music into the stratosphere of the mainstream. Suddenly that jock who would always push you around in gym class for having spikey hair was now pushing you around the mosh pit, with his frosted tips and wallet chain. MTV Sports: Snowboarding, unfortunately, suffers from coming out just around the same time as THPS, so it still has the backwards thinking of the original extreme sports games, and that’s to basically make a linear course you can’t change directions on, with various obstacles you can use to score points. This wasn’t necessarily a bad game, but in light of the masterpiece that was THPS, the game came across as dull and behind the times. Despite that, the game still boasted the proper soundtrack, featuring songs by Blink-182, Lagwagon, H2O, Pulley, Face To Face, Ten Foot Pole, and Voodoo Glow Skulls.  I’m honestly more excited for this soundtrack than I am the game, and would have likely kept that CD in my Sony Discman longer than I would have kept the game in my Sony PlayStation.

SimCity (PC) – Released Oct. 3rd-ish, 1989: Wiki Link

What could I possibly say about SimCity that hasn’t already been said before? Sometimes a game is so huge that I don’t really need to discuss its history or fun facts, because we likely already know all of them! Well, for those who are uninformed, here’s the abridged version. Originally released for the Macintosh and Amiga in February of 1989, SimCity made its way to IBM PCs (and clones) around October 3rd, 1989. The game was created by Will Wright, a pioneer and visionary who took the gaming world by storm when he decided to let us all do that thing we love to do most; build and destroy. With a simple to learn, hard to master, suite of tools, would be city planners could build the world’s biggest metropolis, or the most sparsely populated garden utopia of their dreams…then watch it all burn to the ground when they got bored. The initial idea for the game came when Wright was creating maps for an action game called Raid on Bungeling Bay, and while it was a decent enough title, Wright found himself having a lot more fun building the little islands than he did paying the actual game. Wright put together a working prototype of the game, letting you build your city and work your way around the various problems that occur such as traffic jams and lack of power and water. Broderbund, who published Raid on Bungeling Bay, passed on SimCity thinking it would be too esoteric for the PC gaming community. After shopping the game around he eventually found success with a small company called Maxis and the rest, as they say, is history. SimCity was an overnight success, and would sell over 1 million copies by the end of 1992. The game was a smash with both critics and players, and won roughly 24 awards for various things (mostly PC game of the year). The game has been used by universities to teach students about governing and planning, and was even part of a political stunt in which the candidates for mayor in Providence, Rhode Island were tasked with playing the game (on a map that resembled Providence) to see how well they did; funny enough the eventual winner of  mayoral race, Buddy Cianci, did the best in the game. With the success of SimCity, Maxis and Wright were able to produce several spin-off titles including SimFarm, SimAnt, SimEarth and, of course, The Sims. With SimCity being a smash hit, and Peter Molyneux’s Populous also making big waves in the PC gaming industry, the simulated god game genre was in full effect, and they would soon be met by another great simulation obsessed mind, sort of like when Theodore Roosevelt meets Ghandi, but that’s a story for another day…roughly 700 to be exact.