Autumn’s arrival brings with it many things, like chilly weather, fall foliage, pumpkin spice everything — and major game releases. October already saw a few big titles drop, like Metroid Dread, Far Cry 6, and Guardians of the Galaxy. November will be no different as publishers look to release some of their biggest games in time for the holidays.
Let’s check out what video games are hitting stores this week.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Happy Home Paradise DLC (11/5)
This week is a big one for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game is receiving a free update on Friday that includes returning features from past Animal Crossing games, such as Brewster’s coffee shop The Roost and obtainable Gyroid fragments. New characters and features include the frog Kapp’n who will take you to you a hidden island via his boat, recipe collecting and cooking, and Ordinances, which allow you to select when your neighbors will be out and about.
The Happy Home Paradise expansion is due out the same day for $24.99. The DLC adds an archipelago resort where players will be tasked with designing dream vacation homes for their neighbors. As the Paradise Planning coordinator, players will interview other characters to learn what they want in a home and then design it via placing furniture, adding lighting, slapping on wallpaper, planting trees, constructing fences, and overall building a fun personality for the home. This expansion, combined with the free major updates is sure to bring plenty of gamers back to their favorite quarantine play.
Just Dance 2022 (11/4)
Move over The Division 2, Watch Dogs: Legion, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, and Far Cry 6 — Ubisoft’s biggest of the 2020s so far is dropping this week: Just Dance 2022. (I kid). In all seriousness, however, the Just Dance series must be a steady money maker for Ubisoft as the franchise has seen a new entry every year since 2009 and this fall is no different. The newest game features the same motion-based gameplay, via motion controllers or a phone app, as past games. Its soundtrack includes some of the biggest recent hits in pop music, like Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U.”
Call of Duty: Vanguard (11/5)
The 264th iteration of Activision’s Call of Duty arrives this November. Developed by Sledgehammer games, Vanguard takes the series to World War II again. The campaign will focus on four fronts: the Eastern Front, the Western Front, the Pacific Theater, and the North African campaign. But I know you’re not playing COD for the campaign — you’re getting this for the online multiplayer.
Vanguard‘s claim to fame is Champion Hill, its multiplayer mode new to the COD franchise. Champion Hill is round robin-style tournament featuring 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3 deathmatches with limited respawns. Your traditional COD game modes will return (Kill Confirmed, Search and Destroy, Domination, etc.) as does a Zombie mode, developed in collaboration by Treyarch and Sledgehammer. During the alpha, I found Vanguard to be much of the same gaming experience as the Call of Duties I played a decade ago in high school, but your mileage may vary, both for Vanguard and the series as a whole.
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