Best games of October 2022: best games on Switch, PC, Xbox, and PS5 - from Call of Duty to Gotham Knights

Scorn and A Plague Tale are also highlights of a busy month in gaming
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

With autumn officially here, the nights drawing in and the weather taking a considerable turn for the worse, now is the perfect time to cosy up on the sofa with some brand new video games.

Thankfully, publishers realise this too, which is why the back-end of a year is often loaded with new releases, both in terms of large-scale blockbusters and smaller, more inventive offerings.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

2022 looks to be no different, as we inch ever nearer to the Christmas shopping season, there are plenty of new games for players to get their hands on.

We’ve rounded up the best looking titles hitting stores (both digital and physical) in October, so you needn’t be stuck for something to play for the next few weeks.

Happy gaming!

Alfred Hitchcock – Vertigo

(Image: Microids)(Image: Microids)
(Image: Microids)

Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

What is it? Loosely based on the film’s of the famed director - and in particular, its namesake - Alfred Hitchcock – Vertigo tells the story of Ed Miller, a man dealing with the inexplicable aftereffects of a car accident.

Although he is uninjured, he maintains that his wife and daughter, who are both now missing, were in the car with him and, suffering with intense vertigo, he enters therapy in an attempt to learn what happened.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Gameplay wise, you’ll be controlling three characters in a 3D game world, solving puzzles and unravelling riddles connected to flashbacks to work out what happened.

When can I play it? 4 October

Dakar Desert Rally

(Image: Saber Interactive)(Image: Saber Interactive)
(Image: Saber Interactive)

PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

What is it? You pretty much know what to expect from a new racing game - in this writer’s estimation, the purest form of gaming competition - but Dakar Desert Rally looks to throw a proverbial spanner in the works.

That’s because it’s advertising itself as “the biggest open world rally racing game ever based on the world-famous Dakar Rally”, and with fully simulated seasons and weather, no two races are going to be the same.

To win, you’ll have to conquer not just your competitors, but also the elements, whether that be billowing sandstorms, blistering desert sunlight, harsh rain and snow, or deep mud.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

This one’s giving us welcome flashback’s to underrated open-world off-roader, Fuel.

When can I play it? 4 October

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars

(Image: tinyBuild)(Image: tinyBuild)
(Image: tinyBuild)

PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

What is it? This one’s reminding us heavily of Immortals Fenyx Rising - through not just its art style, but its gameplay, the exploration mechanics seen in the trailer, and its high-fantasy setting within a Greek and Roman-inspired world.

That’s no bad thing, of course. Ubisoft’s 2020 offering gave us a colourful adventure that surprised many, and with the Taiwanese developers promising “exploration inspired by ‘souls-like’ action RPGs” (though with a “lighter, more flexible approach to combat”), Asterigos could do very much the same.

Players will learn a diverse armoury of weapons as the brave young warrior Hilda, each with their own fighting style, and the cursed City of Aphes will challenge you thoroughly with dozens of different enemy types over 20 boss battles to test your mettle.

When can I play it? 11 October

The Eternal Cylinder

(Image: Good Shepherd Entertainment)(Image: Good Shepherd Entertainment)
(Image: Good Shepherd Entertainment)

PS5, Xbox Series X/S

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

What is it? First released in 2021, this well received third-person open world adventure game is getting a current-gen upgrade for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles this month.

The upgrade (free to existing owners of the game) will allow for a choice between 4K resolution on Ray Tracing on console for the first time, while the PS5 version will also benefit from the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adjustable triggers.

The game sees you control a creature known as a Trebhum, which can gather objects with its trunk, run, jump, and roll to move faster.

As the game proceeds, the Trebhum has access to a variety of mutations that are triggered by various items found in the environment, while a mysterious Narrator comments on in-game events and the game’s advancing story.

When can I play it? 13 October

The Last Oricru

(Image: Prime Matter)(Image: Prime Matter)
(Image: Prime Matter)

PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

What is it? This third-person action-RPG sees players assume control of Silver, a sardonic and somewhat cynical space traveller who awakes on the planet of Wardenia, a unique world with an aesthetic that combines rustic mediaeval imagery with futuristic sci-fi tech.

You’re quickly drawn into a fierce civil war for global dominion, with the outcome determined by your choices and actions in a dynamic world that reacts to the player choices and provides “completely different experiences on multiple playthroughs.”

The whole thing can be played cooperatively too, both through online means and in splitscreen - though of course you can take it on solo too, with difficulty settings to tailor your experience.

When can I play it? 13 October

WRC Generations

(Image: Nacon)(Image: Nacon)
(Image: Nacon)

PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

What is it? The second racing game on this month’s list is a little more constrained in scope, but still no less worth checking out.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The WRC games are the official games of the World Rally Championship, delivering an authentic virtual recreation of the motorsport the way that FIFA does for football, or the NBA 2K series does for basketball.

This year, the game will feature brand-new car models based on the Ford Puma Rally1, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 and Toyota GR Yaris Rally, with a total vehicle count of 37 cars.

When can I play it? 13 October

A Plague Tale: Requiem

(Image: Focus Entertainment)(Image: Focus Entertainment)
(Image: Focus Entertainment)

PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

What is it? The first Plague Tale game really proved that AA games can hang with their blockbuster equivalents, and while a lot more money will have been pumped into Asobo’s sequel project, increasing its scope no end, this is sure to be one of the more cinematic hits of the year.

The game is an action-adventure, with plenty of stealtheri sections, as playing as siblings Amicia and Hugo de Rune, you sneak around Southern France looking for a cure for Hugo’s blood disease.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

All the while, you’re fleeing both from soldiers of the Inquisition and hordes of rats that are spreading the black plague. Yes, those hordes of rats are back again - and looking even more skin-crawling thanks to next-gen graphics tech. Not one for musophobes.

When can I play it? 18 October

Gotham Knights

(Image: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)(Image: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
(Image: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)

What is it? It’s been nearly seven years since we got a new entry into the Arkham series of Batman video games, some of the best superhero games of modern times, and one of this writer’s all time favourite gaming franchises.

But now,we’ve got a brand new game in the series - though it’s one that follows an original story separate from those games - in Gotham Knights.

Gotham Knights follows Batman’s supporting cast, and revolves around Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, and Red Hood. They’ve been tasked with bringing justice to Gotham City amid a period of decline following Batman’s mysterious disappearance.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The game is an action role-playing game once again set in an open world Gotham City, which lets you play as any of its four playable characters, each with their own unique playstyle and abilities.

While the game may be played alone, it also has a two-person drop-in-drop-out cooperative multiplayer mode, in which a second player can join and leave at any moment without impacting the first.

When can I play it? 21 October

Scorn

(Image: Kepler Interactive)(Image: Kepler Interactive)
(Image: Kepler Interactive)

PC, Xbox Series X/S

What is it? Speaking of skin-crawling, Scorn looks so unspeakably grim and gristly that it’ll be lucky if I ever get round to playing it when it hits Xbox Game Pass.

Those who enjoy being thoroughly bummed out by the games will no doubt revel in the survival horror adventure inspired by the works of artists H. R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński, but those with a more cheery disposition may want to look away.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The player takes control of a humanoid stranded on a fictional horrific extraterrestrial world teeming with strange species and living techno-organic buildings made of machinery, flesh and bone. Yum.

In a non-linear fashion, the player will explore the game world’s interconnected regions in pursuit of answers.

When can I play it? 21 October

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

(Image: Activision)(Image: Activision)
(Image: Activision)

PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

What is it? Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is a direct sequel to the 2019 reboot of the franchise’s best-selling sub-series (the confusing naming conventions of which areexplained much better here).

The campaign promises a world-spanning adventure with missions inEurope, Asia and the Americas, and returns to the massive shootouts, skyscraper infiltrations and stealth raids that Call of Duty’s campaigns are known for, rather than the self-serious tone of 2019’s Modern Warfare.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Then there’s the famous multiplayer component, which contains all the usual returning game modes, as well as several new ones.

These include Knockout, in which two teams compete to capture a package with only a limited number of lives, and Prisoner Rescue, in which an attacking team attempts to extract a hostage while a defending team prevents them by fortifying defences.

When can I play it? 21 October

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.