What are you playing this weekend?

October has arrived in full. There’s a slight crispness to the air, leaves are starting to turn color, moms are planting mums in pots, and every restaurant or coffee shop is putting pumpkin spice flavoring in everything. I mean, everything, FFS.

Despite the lovely fall weather we are having, instead of being outside and enjoying a day without sweating in our favorite shirt, we’re going to be inside playing games.

Some of us are trying out improved console offerings, trying not to be left for dead, reveling in the latest iteration of their favorite series, or playing something entirely new - at least to their console of choice. That said, a couple of us are too busy this weekend to play anything, which is a bit of a bummer, but there’s always next weekend. There are four in a month, after all. Sometimes there are five, but October isn’t a lucky month.

Here’s what we’re playing this weekend.

Dorrani Williams, Video Producer - Metroid Dread

All of a sudden. I seem to have loads of games to play because this weekend I'm spoiled for choice.

There’s the latest Samus adventure Metroid Dread, Turtle Rock’s Back 4 Blood, a new villain to vanquish in Far Cry 6, and then there’s that new MMORPG New World - surely you have heard of it.

Honestly though, I think the focus this weekend will be on Metroid Dread as it’s the game I was looking forward to the most in October. Hopefully, choice paralysis doesn't take over and I get to test out all the games.

James Billcliffe, Guides Editor - Alan Wake Remastered

The time is nigh. After starting and playing through the pedestrian intro three times, this weekend will finally be the time I play Alan Wake.

I always had PlayStation consoles growing up, so Alan Wake was one of those games I looked at jealously over the fence. Then when I tried to play it years after the fact on PC, there were just so many newer things out there.

With the release of the remastered version I can finally live my best Twin Peaks X Files life and get in the spoopy Halloween mood.

Sherif Saed, Staff Writer - Back 4 Blood (PC)

Back 4 Blood is finally here. Well, it is for those who forked out for the very expensive edition, and a few lucky members of the press and influencers. I am of the latter group, and I’ve been playing since I got access.

I already knew I am going to like Back 4 Blood. It scratches all the right boxes for me: solid shooting, good level design, exciting combat encounters, plenty of opportunities for team play, and some really intense moments that leave you barely alive.

The beta turned me around on one of the game’s most controversial aspects: its card system. I started out ignoring it to get to the zombie shooting, and ended up exchanging deck ideas with buddies over Discord by the end of the beta.

I can already see that the full game has plenty more content than we had access to during the beta, and I am incredibly excited to see it all. I also want to meet the new characters, and I am especially looking forward to late-game decks and really crafting unique play styles using them.

Tom Orry, Editor-in-Chief - Switch OLED

As others have said already, the Switch OLED is an extremely nice bit of kit. It's amazing what that new screen has done to the overall desirability of the hybrid console. Pushing the display to just a few millimetres from the edge of the unit gives the device a high-end phone look, and the white model helps sell the idea that this is a bit of a luxury item.

My only issue now is figuring out if it's possible to play my son's collection of digital games that are tied to his Nintendo account. Of course, I'll easily manage to borrow his physical game collection (I fancy a bit of Luigi’s Mansion 3), although I definitely made a mistake in buying Metroid Dread for his upcoming birthday rather than just getting it for myself.

So, that's what we are up to over the weekend. What are your plans? Do you plan in getting out an enjoying the weather, decorating your place for Halloween, lay around the entire time, or going on some fun little excursion? Or, do you plan on playing a game this weekend? We're nosey, and want to know.