Games Watch: the 5 best new games coming out in November 2019
Here are the console and PC games that have us talking this month
Even during the slowest months of the year, you’ll find the release list stocked with literally hundreds of games across consoles, PC, and mobile. It’s madness.
Given that, it can be easy to overlook some magnificent game releases amidst the stack, but worry not: we’re here to help. Our Games Watch column points out the five biggest and brightest games on the immediate horizon, and outlines why each seems like it’ll be well worth your time and money.
With that in mind, here’s your monthly compendium of the five most scintillating new releases coming before December rolls around. You can thank us later.
Pistol Whip – 7 November
Pistol Whip is one of the most exciting VR games we’ve seen all year, blending elements of Superhot and Beat Saber for what looks like a fast-paced, almost John Wick-esque frenetic blasting experience.
There’s a rhythmic quality to the way you shoot, dodge, and smack foes with your pistol as you’re automatically guided through the world. Pistol Whip seems to streamline the controls as much as possible to empower the action film-like fantasy, and the results look splendid. And it’ll be available all over, too, with Oculus Quest joining Rift and Vive on PC, and a PlayStation VR port coming at some point soon.
Platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive (PSVR TBD)
Price: TBA
Death Stranding – 8 November
What is Death Stranding? Uhh… did you not watch the trailer above? Just kidding, it really is as insane and seemingly unintelligible as it looks. And yes, it’s the latest original creation from Metal Gear maker Hideo Kojima.
Surely the strangest big-budget game of 2019, Death Stranding features Norman Reedus as Sam, a man who is tasked with reuniting the United States once terrifying spectral attackers appear. You’ll connect to the other side by plugging into a baby inside a container, apparently… and there’s a lot of traversal, and carrying boxes, and occasionally fighting.
It’s tough to pin down, really. Death Stranding seems to have many of the things we love about Hideo Kojima games, and many of the things that we find completely baffling about his creations. The critical reception has been expectedly divisive, with some calling the game genius and others saying it’s clumsy and tedious.
Platforms: PS4 (PC in Summer 2020)
Price: £50
Also Read › The 30 most anticipated games of 2019
Need for Speed Heat – 8 November
We wouldn’t say that Need for Speed has crashed and burned in recent years, but it definitely hasn’t been on the most successful road of late. Here’s hoping Need for Speed Heat can reverse that trend and bring back the old flash and flair of the racing franchise.
EA’s latest is still all about open-road street racing, but now there are distinctive day and night cycles with different kinds of events for each – and cops set on chasing you down. Police pursuits were some of the best parts of past games, so we’re optimistic… but it’s been a while since we truly cared about Need for Speed.
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Price: £50
Pokémon Sword and Shield – 15 November
Finally! Last year’s Pokémon: Let’s Go games were fun remakes of the classic Game Boy experience, but Pokémon Sword and Shield are proper, brand new Pokémon games for Switch, complete with a new world, new monsters, and new mechanics onboard.
Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield take place in the more modern-feeling Galar region, which provides different terrain than we’ve seen before, plus new starters Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble offer a fun taste of what to expect from the incoming additions. Add in the super-sized Dynamax and Gigantamax, and we’re excited to see how this fresh brew all comes together.
Platforms: Switch
Price: £45 (Each)
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – 15 November
EA’s run at the helm of the Star Wars license has been divisive, to say the least, but there’s a fresh round of hype bubbling around Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
It’s a fully single-player campaign developed by one of EA’s top studios, Respawn Entertainment – the folks behind Titanfall and Apex Legends – with God of War III‘s director onboard. And this third-person action game looks like it’ll fulfil our Jedi power fantasies, as you swing your ‘saber while also exploring the terrain and soaking up the story.
Hands-on reactions have been pretty strong, with some critics saying that the game is much larger and more ambitious than it might’ve seemed at first glance, with even some Metroid-like progression mechanics in the mix. Let’s hope they pull this one off.
Platforms: PS4, XB1, PC
Price: £55
Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
