Some of the heaviest hitters of the year, like Borderlands 3 and Gears 5, are already live and being eagerly dissected by their respective fanbases. Others, like Doom Eternal, are being pushed back into next year due to last minute delays. But even though there are only a scant few months left to go, the end of 2019 is still coming in remarkably hot for the gaming industry.
Indeed, if you're still wanting to walk away with 2019's biggest and best, you'd better prepare your wallet for a thorough beating. Because from October until the very tail end of December, the calendar is still densely studded with some of the year's most highly anticipated releases. Keep scrolling to join us as we count off ten of the year's most hyped titles that are yet to come.
10 Need For Speed Heat (11/8) (PS4, XB1, PC)
Most people know what to expect with a Need For Speed title. The graphics are going to be gorgeous, the driving is going to be absurdly smooth, and the story's going to be a ridiculous pile of nonsensical plot devices. Although the last few titles in the franchise were less than warmly received, Heat's looking like a potential game changer.
This open-world street racer packs in a lot of promise, especially in terms of multiplayer. Although there will be paid DLC, it's looking as if developer Ghost Games will be ditching the microtransaction focus this time around, which is always a good sign.
9 Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition (12/6) (Switch, PS4, XB1)
Sure, classical masterpiece Neverwinter Nights has been around for a long while, and the Enhanced Edition launched on Steam earlier in 2018. But December will see this timeless, Dungeons & Dragons-derived RPG brought to consoles for the first time, in all of its remastered glory.
Truly a fantasy epic that hinges on a remarkably faithful rendering of Dungeons & Dragons rules, Neverwinter Nights is a total must-have for any hardcore RPG aficionado, and a totally welcome addition to living room console libraries. If you're a fan of Divinity: Original Sin, then you owe it to yourself to experience one of the titles that inspired it.
8 Shenmue III (11/19) (PS4, PC)
The third chapter of Sega's cult classic martial arts adventure has been more than a decade in the making, and will finally see the light of day in mid November. Considering its 2015 Kickstarter campaign set records as one of the most quickly funded projects in the company's history, it's safe to describe fans as "eager."
The game will be picking up right where the saga left off, with protagonist Ryo Hazuki tracking down his father's killer in 1980's China. It's worth noting that Shenmue III has already seen a few release delays up to this point, but it's looking as if the current date will stick as it creeps ever closer.
7 Luigi's Mansion 3 (10/31) (Switch)
Mario's getting spooky just in time for Halloween. Or, well, Luigi is, anyway. Following in the established tread of the series, players will guide Mario's lankier sibling as he busts ghosts and ghouls with a souped up vacuum cleaner to save his friends.
Packed to the gills with that distinct Mario universe charm, Luigi's Mansion 3 is targeting a more open gaming experience than the comparative linearity of its predecessors. It will also feature a multiplayer component boasting eight participants, both locally and online.
6 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (11/15) (PC, PS4, XB1)
The Star Wars universe has been in a bit of a gaming slump over the past few years, but Fallen Order is really shaping up to be the title that brings it back home, especially with Respawn Entertainment at the helm.
Fallen Order is a straightforward, single player action-adventure title following the story of Jedi Cal Kestis, made a refugee by the enactment of Order 66. The combat system as demonstrated at E3 2019 looks fantastically in-depth, especially when it comes to lightsaber duels. And really, isn't that all we ever wanted?
5 Pokemon: Sword & Shield (11/15) (Switch)
It's doubtful that we'll ever see a reality in which the release of a new mainline Pokemon game is not an insanely big deal. But frankly, that really isn't something we should be complaining about to begin with, is it?
These iterations of the Pokemon franchise are so feature dense that it's difficult to isolate the talking points. We get new Pokemon, a new region, multiplayer raid battles, automated "surprise" trades, and even the equivalent of a Pokemon temp agency to put your Pokemon to work. Sword & Shield will be absolutely massive, in a nutshell.
4 Death Stranding (11/8) (PS4)
Hideo Kojima's departure from the Metal Gear franchise definitely left it on a thoroughly divisive note, but his legendary status and ability to attract stars like Norman Reedus to this new project make disappointment a pretty remote possibility. That said, this definitely has to be one of the most mysteriously abstract titles on the immediate horizon.
All at once aesthetically and conceptually stunning, Death Stranding promises to be an unforgettably surreal action-adventure title hinging quite thoroughly on its unconventional narrative, weaving a tale that stresses the importance of "forging connections with others," as Kojima himself puts it. Also, there are weird pod babies. It's definitely a Kojima game.
3 MediEvil (10/25) (PS4)
Though a bit understated compared to the litany of bigger titles hitting towards the end of 2019, this modern reboot of the original 1998 hack-and-slash classic isn't something to be slept on, if the cult status of the original is any indication.
If you're not familiar, just imagine Tim Burton getting his hands on Dark Souls and you'll wind up somewhere in the neighborhood of what to expect with MediEvil, complete with the adorably gothic aesthetic and whimsical plot.
2 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (10/25) (PC, PS4, XB1)
Another year, another Call of Duty release. While that's barely passing for big news with the franchise's current state and legacy, this one is definitely special. Channeling the branding the made Call of Duty a household name, the ominous lack of numbering in the title seems to imply that this will be the climactic Modern Warfare experience.
The game's E3 2019 debut generated a divisive cloud of controversy concerning the levels of realism depicted in the game's campaign, which will actively provide players with moral quandaries concerning civilians and collateral damage. But it definitely hasn't discouraged fans from hopping into the multiplayer beta runs to get a taste.
1 The Outer Worlds (10/25) (PC, PS4, XB1)
Developed by the industry veterans and RPG gurus at Obsidian Entertainment, The Outer Worlds promises to deliver an open-world, first-person RPG experience that'll contend with the likes of Fallout. Which shouldn't be hard, considering the benchmark set by Fallout 76 most recently.
Featuring truly reactive dialogue, branching plot lines, and progression systems galore, it definitely looks like Obsidian has been taking notes concerning what RPG fans really want. What's more is that it'll be releasing directly on the Xbox Game Pass, so subscribers will be able to pick it up and play on day one.