14 best new Xbox and Game Pass games you should be playing on your Xbox in October 2023

Nonetheless enjoying Starfield? In fact, why wouldn’t you be? All that we ask is that you just put the controller down for a second – only a wee one – and see what could be competing for its consideration within the coming weeks. We’ve narrowed it right down to a cool 14 of the most effective new Xbox and Recreation Cross video games for October 2023.

It being October, with the shadow of Christmas looming over the horizon, you’ll be able to anticipate some relatively tempting rivals to your affections. Maybe Forza Motorsport will cease you exploring planets? Murderer’s Creed: Mirage? Or possibly Alan Wake II? It’s going to be more and more laborious to remain Starfield-monogamous, because the silly-season of releases rolls in.

NHL 24

We empathise with a characteristic inside NHL 24. It’s referred to as the Exhaust Engine, and it’s been particularly created to convey emotions of fatigue in your gamers. We really feel you, NHL 24. We most undoubtedly have an Exhaust Engine.

Oh, there are different options packed in there after all. EA’s penchant for funkily named mechanics pays off with Imaginative and prescient Passing, which lets you pull off trailer-worthy passes with a easy mixture button-press, whereas Complete Management Ability Strikes permits you to pull off cocky manoeuvres. 

With cross-play (so long as you each have the identical technology of consoles), NHL 24 might have you ever joyriding your zamboni into the sundown.

Forza Motorsport

The confusingly titled Forza Motorsport (the place’d these numbers go after Forza Motorsport 7?) arrives on Xbox in October, and there’s going to be a lot sulking and gnashing of enamel if our resident Forza fan Paul Renshaw doesn’t get it for assessment. You thought Metro and Eurogamer obtained petulant when Starfield didn’t flip up? He’s in his pram, and he’s obtained toys able to throw out of it. 

We will type of see why he’s excited. Forza’s extra stuffed than a turducken. There’s 500 vehicles and 20 tracks for starters, in addition to a brand new Builders’ Cup Profession Mode. Energy gamers who identical to profitable get adjudicated multiplayer matches, whereas there’s a nifty record of fixes together with innovative AI, superior physics, tire and gasoline technique, plus driver and security rankings. 

Lords of the Fallen

Talking of confusingly titled video games, 2014’s Lords of the Fallen will get a 2023 sequel named, um, Lords of the Fallen. What subsequent? Gears of Struggle releasing a sequel to Gears of Struggle 5 named Gears of Struggle 3? 

Anybody who performed the ramshackle however satisfying Lords of the Fallen Half One will likely be rubbing their fingers with glee. It is a massive finances step up for the sequence, happening in a map that’s 5 occasions the dimensions of the unique sport. The earnings from the primary sport have clearly been funnelled into the artwork, as that is as fairly a third-person RPG as you’re prone to see. 

Will it handle to scratch the Baldur’s Gate itch earlier than it comes out on Xbox? That’s a tricky ask, however we’re keen to offer a verdict. 

Sonic Superstars

The widely accepted rule of thumb for Sonic is the less dimensions he’s working in, the higher the Sonic sport. Sonic Mania was arguably the final time that Sonic was really nice, and that was a triumphant return to 2 dimensions. 

Whereas Sonic Superstars doesn’t embrace the 16-bit, MIDI soundtrack and pixel art work of authentic Sonic – not less than not as a lot as Sonic Mania did – it definitely shares the same love for its forebears. It is a 2D sport with little 3D touches that carry it into the trendy period. 

Maybe essentially the most thrilling inclusion is full four-player co-op, which permits Amy, Knuckles and Tails to collaborate with Sonic on some fiendish Eggman-controlled ranges. Collectively, you’ll be able to rush up waterfalls, snaffle Chaos Emeralds, and bonk Eggman on the nostril. 

Ah, we are able to hear the Inexperienced Hill soundtrack already.

Countless Dungeon

Amplitude Studios is without doubt one of the most underrated studios in gaming, and they’re none extra underrated than on Xbox. That’s as a result of their clever, procedurally generated RPGs hardly ever come to the massive black field, excluding Dungeons of the Countless. However now we’re getting a simultaneous, cross-platform launch of their subsequent title and we couldn’t be happier. 

Countless Dungeon is a roguelite tactical motion sport that may be performed solo or with two associates in tow. It thrusts you into an deserted area station with a crystal bot to guard. This little dude is your key to harvesting the Core on the centre of the station, however it’s additionally weaker than my nan’s tea. 

Every run turns into essentially the most epic of escort missions, as you defend the bot in opposition to hordes of relentless monsters. They explode into loot, so that you’re attempting to remain forward of the curve so that you just don’t die. 

This being Amplitude, you’ll die. Heaps. However it’s the circle of life, and you’ll solely come again stronger. 

Sizzling Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged

You haven’t felt ache till you’ve stepped on a Sizzling Wheels automotive. If you happen to HAVE felt that ache, maybe it’s time to maneuver from bodily to digital. Field up the vehicles for the charity store and decide up Sizzling Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged.

There are an eye-watering 150 vehicles in Sizzling Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged, with the roster being bolstered by ATVs and motorbikes. They are often upgraded up the wazoo with a brand new RPG-like system that permits you to max out the stats that you just favor. You’ll want them to guard your self out of your opponents, as new strikes together with a lateral sprint and single and double-jump make all of them the extra threatening. 

With 5 new areas to race round in, that is extra enjoyable than you possibly can presumably get from a shoebox stuffed with rusty vehicles.

Cities: Skylines II 

Obtained any of that free time left? Maybe you’d wish to spend all of it on Cities: Skylines II, the sequel to celebrated Sim Metropolis-beater Cities: Skylines.

Loads of video games will attempt to dazzle you with new options and fancily named mechanics. Just a few of them are on this Up Subsequent. However all Cities: Skylines II presents is larger depth than ever earlier than. If, someway, you felt that Cities: Skylines was a bit shallow, then be ready to combat gentrification, stability budgets, and create infallible infrastructure. 

Every part has been opened as much as permit you to actually get in there and tinker with issues your self, and we don’t know whether or not to be daunted or excited. 

Edit: Cities: Skylines II has obtained a final minute delay on Xbox and PlayStation. It’ll nonetheless be releasing on PC and into PC Recreation Cross in October, however the console model has been pushed again to Spring 2024.

The Steel Gear Strong video games have dallied with the Xbox, however hardly ever have they dedicated so wholeheartedly than Steel Gear Strong: Grasp Assortment Vol 1. 

Within the field (we think about Snake leaping inside and hiding) is Steel Gear Strong, Steel Gear Strong 2: Sons of Liberty, Steel Gear Strong 3: Snake Eater and – as a wee bonus – the 16-bit classics of Steel Gear Strong and Steel Gear Strong 2: Strong Snake. 

In a world of remakes, it may be laborious to know precisely what you’re getting. A Resident Evil 2-style glow-up, or a Grand Theft Auto Trilogy dropping of the pants? Effectively, the Steel Gears within the assortment are the originals you realize and love, tweaked to 60fps and optimised for Sequence X|S. 

Frankly, we’re simply comfortable to play these on our favorite console, and the specter of a Quantity 2 solely makes us happier. 

Ghostrunner 2

A little bit of a favorite within the workplace is ol’ Ghostrunner. Slick as oil, it made us really feel like ninja-assassins transferring at full pelt. The expertise solely improved over the DLC, as you bought the impression that builders One Extra Degree had been mastering their Ghostrunner artwork. 

Sooner than we anticipated or hoped comes Ghostrunner 2. Set one yr after the occasions of the primary sport, it widens the lens to absorb one thing like an open world. Bike sequences are prolonged, boss fights are extra interactive, and customarily you’re given extra of a leash to interact your opponents the way you wish to interact them. 

Plus there’s the fireplace soundtrack, which reels in Daniel Deluxe, We Are Magonia, Gost, Dan Terminus, and Arek Reikowski for extra electronica-infused killing.

Alan Wake 2

We had been satisfied that Alan Wake 2 was a subsequent yr sport, however right here we’re, writing an Up Subsequent article about it. Oh, what a beautiful shock. 

Alan would have needed it to return out sooner. He’s been locked within the Darkish Place for the previous 13 years, racking his mind for a method out. The answer comes within the type of a online game that he creates: starring FBI agent Sage Anderson, it’s a parallel narrative so that you can play by as you attempt to drag each her and Alan out of the Darkish Place and again into the Treatment-verse that Treatment kicked off with Management. 

As a plot, it’s as meta and twisted as you’ll anticipate from Alan Wake, and we are able to’t wait to play this sport inside a sport.

EA Sports activities UFC 5

We’re undecided ‘extra realism’ is what we wish from a sport like EA Sports activities UFC 5, however that’s precisely what we get with this, the fifth iteration of the title. Most of that extra blood, sweat and BO comes from the Frostbite engine, which has been employed to dial the leg-breaks all the best way up.

So, we get all-new injury techniques, permitting you to open your opponents’ pores and skin in new and imaginative methods. Physician stoppages interrupt the motion in an genuine style, whereas cinematic KO showcases permit you to replay your greatest kills time and again till your mate tells you to effing cease it and get on with the following match. 

With a calendar that updates with the matches within the real-world, UFC has by no means been this true to life. 

Jusant

Jusant has a transparent pitch. Video games are so fascinated with going ahead; however what in the event that they had been extra involved with wanting up? From Don’t Nod, the minds behind Life is Unusual and Vampyr, comes a climb-a-thon the place progress is over your head.

Together with your little buddy Ballast, you’ll be scaling an enormous, mysterious tower situated in the course of a desert. You begin with barebones expertise and instruments, however as you attain the totally different tiers of the tower, your expertise enhance, permitting you to hoist your self up even additional. By transferring aloft, the secrets and techniques of the tower will unlock for you, revealing how on earth the tower was constructed within the first place. 

We’re betting on ants. The clue’s within the title. 

Gangs of Sherwood

Choosing up Robin Hood and inserting him firmly sooner or later is Gangs of Sherwood. 

It’s a hack-and-slasher for as much as four-players without delay, as you every take a unique character from the Merry Males after which carry out missions which have you ever stealing from the wealthy and giving to the poor. 

Other than wanting relatively spiffing, we’re fascinated with Gangs of Sherwood for the sheer carnage of the four-player cooperative possibility, in addition to the floating castles and sky-cannons of its premise. 

We will’t recall a Robin Hood property being so unfastened with its supply materials, which is one thing the over-used property desperately wanted. 

Shotgun Little John once we play it in October.

Murderer’s Creed: Mirage

Whisper it, however Murderer’s Creed is again. We all know that it’s by no means actually gone away – Murderer’s Creed Valhalla has been pumping out DLC for the previous couple of years – however Murderer’s Creed: Mirage is a return of a unique type. It’s again to fundamentals, as we ditch vikings for stealth, quiet kills and clambering over rooftops. 

Mirage takes us to ninth Century Baghdad, the place issues are very totally different from the previous decade of Creeds. Gone are the sprawling maps, and we’re as a substitute returning to the confined areas of Unity and Syndicate. That’s as a result of Mirage is extra of a black-box stealther: you realize what it’s important to do, however the puzzle is discovering the most effective (or solely) method of doing it. You may’t simply cost by the gates and thunk an axe right into a mark’s head; it’s important to plan it out. 

Even the runtime is down. It’s been confirmed that Mirage is a extra compact, targeted fifteen hours lengthy.

However there’s extra

The Vacation Season wouldn’t be the Vacation Season and not using a truckload of video games that’s unimaginable for any working particular person to play. And so it goes with November, which is seeking to be each bit pretty much as good as October. 

Begin a spreadsheet and see when you can match Soccer Supervisor 2024, Name of Responsibility: Fashionable Warfare III and Persona 5 Tactica into your life. 

Till then, all the most effective, and look out for unending articles on Forza Motorsport. Blame Paul Renshaw – we are able to’t cease the mad lad. We predict he could be a tad obsessed.