New Game Releases: Battlefield 4, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, WWE 2K14, And More

Yes, “Batman: Arkham Origins” just came out a few days ago, but there’s no rest. No rest for your wallet, that is.

Whether you like shooters, action-adventure games, or sports titles, there’s a decent chance something is coming out over the next few days that’s going to have you shelling out some dough. And if your tastes cross over into more thanone of those genres, you might be getting out the cash or credit card more than once.

But that’s the glass half empty way of looking at it. We’re more glass half full people here at GameSided, so we’d much rather think about the good problem that is having more new stuff than hours in the day to play it all.

To wit, here’s what has our attention and our bank accounts on red alert over the coming week:

“Battlefield 4” (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) – October 29

If you’re a regular reader here (and thanks if you are!), you may already know that I don’t really go for shooters, mostly because I’m possibly the worst player in the world when floundering around in that genre. That being said, the “Seige of Shanghai” map and “Angry Sea” mission blew me away when I saw them at E3. I mean, holy crap.

DICE looks like it’s really got something sweet on its hands with the Frostbite 3 engine, and one can only imagine how impressive “Battlefield 4” will be on the next-gen consoles. In the meantime, plenty of people are going to be digging it on PC and current gen systems as well. I’d be shocked if the multiplayer isn’t a big success.

“Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U) – October 29

I’m sure I’m not alone in sensing that some “Assassin’s Creed” fatigue had set in among a sizable portion of the gaming community when the last installment came out. You know what can fix that though? Pirates! Or at least Ubisoft is betting that’s the case, and smart money says that is a safe wager.

What we’re being promised is a game that opens up earlier than “AC III,” has plenty more nautical battles and locales to explore, and is generally full of piratey goodness. Oh, and you’ll be able to encounter real life figures from the Golden Age of Piracy like that Blackbeard fellow. All this and new non-combat levels set in the present. That fatigue I mentioned? It’s starting to fade, no?

“WWE 2K14” (PS3, Xbox 360) – October 29

THQ did right by the WWE license more often than not over the years. Still, fans got excited when 2K got its hands on the rights to WWE video games, and “WWE 2K14” is the first time in a while they’ll get to see how a different studio approaches things. It appears that the framework from THQ’s last effort is still in place, but there’s some intriguing new stuff laid over top of it.

The highlight should be the 30 Years of WrestleMania Mode, allowing you to step into the boots of wrestlers in some of the most famous matches of all times. Unlock a ton of stuff like more wrestlers, entrance attire, title belts, managers, and more, but only if you can recreate history. If you have even the slightest interest in WWE history, this should be the very best kind of walk down memory lane.

“Football Manager 2014” (PC) – October 31

Lots of games have passionate fans. The “Football Manager 2014” series inspires the kind of devotion that is more akin to a religion. Seriously, this is the rare sports game that becomes an all-consuming time sink, and while much of that is due to the worldwide popularity of soccer (sorry, I’m an American) itself, a lot of credit has to be given to Sports Interactive for going back to the well every year and working on new features for this sim.

Look for improvements in the transfer system, interactions between players, managers, and the media, and the match engine. SI always manages to sneak in some surprise enhancements too. Happily, the way things have been going so far this year, I can take Arsenal to the Premier League title in the game and it won’t even come off as unrealistic!