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November is usually gaming’s biggest month, as major studios have made it a tradition to ship their biggest games right before Hanukkah, Christmas, and other holidays. But that hasn’t necessarily proven true in the past two years, with the pandemic spreading release dates to the wind like a tornado hitting a calendar factory.
In 2022 we have a proper November, with a clear stretch of big things. And it starts right now. Here’s my chronological overview of what’s to come over the next few weeks, with added commentary from PC Gamer editors who have played or observed these games.
A proper World of Warcraft expansion that, so far, seems good
When: Pre-launch patch deployed on Tuesday night, before the expansion fully releases on November 28
Tyler Colp, Associate Editor: World of Warcraft vessels always make some sort of promise about returning to the way it all began, but Dragonflight is the first that seems to actually deliver on that. WoW players wanted to explore the Dragon Isles because they were dumped map geometry in the game’s files, and they’ve been asking for years to be able to play as dragons too. The Dragonflight preview introduces the highly customizable Drachthyr race and a taste of what’s to come later this month in the expansion, which is set to send the MMO into a bright, adventurous future.
The return of Warzone
When: Wednesday
Morgan Park, staff writer: The launch of Warzone 2 marks the beginning of a new era for Call of Duty. Old Warzone is dead (at least temporarily), and in its place is a refreshed battle royale series with a new map, AI fighters, and a decidedly non-combat side mode that might be the coolest part of the package: DMZ. The “sandbox extraction” inspired by Escape From Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown digs the circleallowing players to set their own objectives, loot whatever they can carry, and get out before time runs out.
Wait, Crysis is back?
When: Thursday
Evan Lahti, Global Editor-in-Chief: In case you missed them on the Epic Games Store last year, Crysis 2 Remastered and Crysis 3 Remastered are hitting Steam tomorrow. Crytek’s sequels are great popcorn shooters with inspired enemy design, a great vision of an alien-infested NYC, and moments of sandbox creativity. Worth a look if you missed them in 2011 or 2013.
Livestream almost 2023 in PC gaming
When: Thursday, November 17 at 10 a.m. Eastern
Evan Lahti, Global Editor-in-Chief: Excuse the act of self-promotion: we will do a big show tomorrow! Next year is already looking like an avalanche of interesting games, and if you’ve got about 75 minutes tomorrow, join us at twitch.tv/pcgamer or youtube.com/pcgamer for the reveal of some never-before-seen games and an overview of what’s to come, including our six most wanted games of 2023.
The latest beloved PlayStation port
When: Friday
Evan Lahti, Global Editor-in-Chief: A few years after its release on PlayStation 5, Miles Morales is the latest PlayStation “exclusive” to creep onto PC. Critics loved the spin-off, collectively awarding an 85 Metacritic rating. Our friends at GamesRadar did warn that it’s a bit smaller than they’d hoped, saying “It plays like great DLC” in their Review of Miles Morales.
The Steam Fall Sale
When: Nov. 22-29
Evan Lahti, Global Editor-in-Chief: As temperatures drop in many parts of the world, so do Steam prices. Valve will be running another week-long sale during the Black Friday period, which reminds me…
Black Friday, aka “You can buy graphics cards now”
When: Nov 25-28 (but also now, basically)
Evan Lahti, Global Editor-in-Chief: Our deals at PC Gamer hardware team have already been hard at work tracking down the best Black Friday deals for PC games, which looked good in the pre-BF period. Mainly it’s just nice to see some real GPUs ($260 for Radeon RX 6650 XT (opens in a new tab); $450 for a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (opens in a new tab)) sitting on digital shelves as the memory of component shortages in ’20 and ’21 continues to fade.
Another game from a talented Polish FPS studio
When: November 22
Evan Lahti, Global Editor-in-Chief: Do not confuse it with Weird West, Hard Westor Hunt: Confrontation—evil Western is the latest in the line of supernatural cowboy action games. It promises a “story-driven campaign to save America” for $50, and is notably made by Flying Wild Hog, the people behind the stylish Shadow Warrior 3, Hard Reset, and Trek to Yomi.
The biggest Warhammer 40K game ever
When: November 28th, but if you pre-ordered it: tomorrow
Wesley Fenlon, Editor-in-Chief: It is almost 50 Warhammer 40K games, and according to resident series expert Jody Macgregor, most of them aren’t very good. The best ones tend to be strategy games, which is cool and all, but I know I’m not the only one who craves a big-budget, ground-level view of the wild 40K universe. Darktide it’s that game.
I had a “give it to me now” reaction to Darktide when it was announced in mid-2020, and when I finally got my hands on it this summer, it did not disappoint. Vermintide was a surprisingly good Left 4 Dead knock-off, but Vermintide 2 showed that Fatshark knows how to go big with time and budget on its side. The sublimely heavy melee of that game is still in Darktide, but it also has lasguns now. Say it with me now: Skulls for the skull throne.
A bona fide action-horror blockbuster
When: December 2nd
Evan Lahti, Global Editor-in-Chief: Our own Tyler Wilde played The Callisto Protocol three weeks ago and called it an “advanced creepy space prison simulator,” noting that it moves slower than Dead Space (which is getting a remake itself in January) but is a worthy follow-up to its approach to sci-fi horror. .
The biggest Marvel PC game ever?
When: December 2nd
Evan Lahti, Global Editor-in-Chief: From the people who made XCOM, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is arguably the most expansive depiction of the Marvel universe on PC. I’ve told our team that this game is going to be a lot more like Mass Effect than I think most expect—the terrain of the pocket-sized Midnight Suns lair is laid out like the Normandy, a mid-mission hub where you can. improve your relationships with teammates (from Ghost Rider to Wolverine, Magik and Spider-Man), customize your character’s room, move research tasks and search for creative resources that are spent at stations.
Our 2021 GOTY teases something new
When: 🤷
Christopher Livingston, Features Producer: Okay, we don’t know when it’s happening, but Valheim fans have been waiting a long time for the mysterious new biome of the open world Viking survival game, the Mistlands. Developer Iron Gate Studio has yet to set a date or show us much beyond a few recent tantalizing teases. on Twitter, but we’re crossing all the fingers we have that the Mistlands update will arrive before the end of the year. What has been teased so far—giant bugs, new fish to catch, stone ruinscreepy dungeons, new building materials, and a few glimpses of the rocky, misty biome itself—looks pretty good.
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