New Xbox games this week: Planet Zoo 2, Valor Mortis, Boltgun 2 and Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse. Dates, prices and what to play first.
The new Xbox games this week run from October 12 to 16, and four of them are worth clearing your evenings for. Planet Zoo 2 and Valor Mortis, these two are coming on October 13, if you like these kinds of games then the wait is over. Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 launching on October 14, and Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse lands October 15.
Valor Mortis is the first-person soulslike about an undead Napoleonic soldier from the Ghostrunner studio, and it slid from September 24 to dodge a crowded month. It also hits Game Pass on day one. Boltgun 2 is the retro shooter for anyone who wants a fast, loud 1990s-style fix, and Belmont’s Curse puts a new Belmont, Rose, at the centre of a 2D Castlevania.
| Game | Release | Price (US) | Worth knowing |
| Planet Zoo 2 | Oct 13 | 49.99(64.99 Deluxe) | Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC |
| Valor Mortis | Oct 13 | 39.99(59.99 Deluxe) | Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, day one |
| Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 | Oct 14 | 24.99 | Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC |
| Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse | Oct 15 | 29.99(39.99 Midnight) | Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC; Switch later in 2026 |
Microsoft’s own list for the week runs to about 40 releases. Tales of Eternia Remastered (October 16), The Jackbox Party Pack 12 (October 15) and the Game Pass addition Deep Dish Dungeon (October 13) are the other names worth a glance.
Valor Mortis ran away from a fight, and it was the right call. The game was dated for September 24, then moved to October 13. Publisher Lyrical Games’ Blake Rochkind has said the September date looked clear when they picked it, before the summer showcases packed the calendar.
The studio then cut the price. Valor Mortis was originally pegged at $49.99 and now sits at $39.99, with a $59.99 Deluxe Edition that adds story DLC. There are no pre-orders. One More Level wants you to buy it after the reviews are out, and that’s a confident move.
It follows a military action story where a Grande Armée soldier died for Napoleon and was resurrected by him. The voice of Napoleon will guide you while you battle former comrades now turned into plague-ridden undead. The fight not only depends on the voice but relies on stamina, with dodges, blocks and parries, and the levels loop back on themselves the way good soulslikes do.
The supernatural powers makes this game more interesting as it unlocks shortcuts and also the pistol that arrives in the second zone, allowing it to switch blade swings for gunshots.
If you played Ghostrunner, picture that momentum bolted onto Dark Souls-style discipline. The studio says the story runs about 20 hours. A Napoleonic setting is rare in games, and Game Pass makes this the lowest-risk pick of the week.
It’s been nearly seven years since the original Planet Zoo arrived in November 2019. Frontier’s sequel finally adds the two things players kept asking for: aquariums and aviaries.
The aquatic side includes black-tipped reef sharks and hawksbill turtles. The flying side includes the toco toucan and the secretarybird, a long-legged raptor that stomps its prey. Aviaries let birds actually fly, with custom barriers and support poles. Building one that doesn’t feel like a glorified cage will be the real test of the engineering.
The other big change is conservation. Beyond your zoo, you can restore wildlife reserves and release animals into them. Career, Franchise and Sandbox modes are all confirmed. The Deluxe Edition adds six more species.
If the first game was your comfort sim, buy this on day one. If you want quick wins, skip it. Frontier’s games reward patience, not impulse.
Auroch Digital’s sequel arrives October 14. Microsoft’s description calls it a fast-paced retro first-person shooter with a branching single-player campaign. That’s most of what’s officially confirmed.
The 2023 original cast you as Malum Caedo, a Space Marine hunting a power-source shard on the heretic-infested forge world Graia. It played like a pixel-art Doom with a heavy-metal attitude. The price is $24.99 published on Steam and it also gives a 10% discount when you buy it, so check the store page before you buy.
Doom (2016) fans will know what they’re getting. It’s the shortest-lead-time pick of the week, and the one most likely to be gone from your mind in two weeks.
This is the release with the most history behind it. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is set in 1499, 23 years after Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. Trevor Belmont is the hero who beat Dracula, and now his daughter Rose carries the Vampire Killer whip into a burning Paris.
Konami is publishing, with Evil Empire and Motion Twin, the studio behind Dead Cells, doing the development. That pedigree matters. Dead Cells has some of the tightest combat of the last decade, and that’s the bar here.
Bosses you defeat are sealed into Rose’s tarot cards as Arcana, which you can use as spells and special moves. You can also use the whip to swing through vertical spaces. The map covers Paris streets, sewers and catacombs, plus Dracula’s castle. Weapons come in seven categories, with Relics for offensive and defensive effects.
It’s a 2D action-exploration game, the style often called a metroidvania: a connected map where new abilities open old doors. Evil Empire’s director Emmanuel Nouaille has said the team doesn’t want the label, because Castlevania already works as its own genre. Fair enough.
It costs $29.99, or $39.99 for the Midnight Edition with extra costumes and a bonus Relic. It lands October 15 on Xbox, PS5 and PC. Steam appears to get it a day earlier, a Switch version follows later in 2026.
If you loved Symphony of the Night’s wandering, or Dead Cells’ combat, this is where you start.
The new Xbox games this week bring lots of fun and stories so you could free your evenings. There is a long-list of games which are going to be released in October but these four are worth playing for.
Overall, Valor Mortis is the first game to watch if its reviews deliver, especially if you have Game Pass. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse looks like the safer choice for fans of 2D action, while Planet Zoo 2 makes more sense for players who enjoy building and managing their own world. As for Boltgun 2, it’s worth waiting for the price and Game Pass details before making a decision.
Discover Gears of War: E-Day, the brutal origin story of Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago, set during the devastating Emergence Day.
When the announcement for Gears of War: E-Day dropped, I got actual chills. We’ve spent years chainsawing our way through Locust hordes, exploring the aftermath of a broken world, and passing the torch to a new generation. But for those of us who have been revving Lancers since 2006, the story always felt like it started exactly one second after the most important event in Sera’s history.
Now, we’re finally going back to Emergence Day.
Seeing a young Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago side-by-side again hits differently. They aren’t the hardened, cynical veterans we met in the original trilogy. Marcus doesn’t have the heavy weight of a treason charge and a prison sentence on his shoulders yet, and Dom hasn’t lost Maria or his kids. They’re just two brothers-in-arms who think they’ve finally seen the end of the Pendulum Wars, only to watch the crust of their planet shatter and spill out a nightmare nobody even knew existed.
What excites most players isn’t just the massive visual leap—though seeing Locust drones look terrifying and visceral is a huge win. It’s the shift in tone. The original Gears was basically a survival-horror shooter disguised as an action game. The Locust weren’t just cannon fodder; they were actual monsters lurking in the dark. Over time, the series naturally evolved into a massive sci-fi blockbuster, but E-Day promises to drag us back into the claustrophobic, desperate terror of day one.
Think about the sheer panic of that lore. The Locust didn’t just invade; they erupted from underneath cities, homes, and streets. There were no designated battlefields or front lines. For Marcus and Dom, every corner turned and every shadow cast is going to be a fight for pure survival. We are finally going to experience the chaotic, brutal reality of a military force completely blindsided by an enemy from below. They don’t know how to fight them yet. The weapons and tactics we take for granted as players are going to have to be invented on the fly in the middle of a slaughter.
For a long-time fans, this feels like a love letter to the absolute core of the franchise. It’s not about saving the world anymore—it’s about surviving the afternoon. Getting to experience the forging of Marcus and Dom’s legendary bond in the crucible of Emergence Day is exactly the kind of gritty, heart-wrenching storytelling this series was built on.
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Gears of War: E-Day launches on October 6, 2026, players get early access on October 1 with Premium Edition. E-Day is a prequel which takes place fourteen years before the original Gears of War and follows Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago on the day the Locust Horde first erupts from underground. It’s the starting point of the whole timeline, so you can skip the earlier games and still follow it.
The platform picture is where people get tripped up. E-Day is coming to Xbox Series X and Series S, to Windows PC through Steam, and to Xbox Game Pass on day one. It is not coming to PlayStation 5. Microsoft canceled the PS5 version and made it an Xbox console exclusive, even though the franchise reached PlayStation with last year’s remaster of the first game. An Xbox One version isn’t happening either, since the game is built for current hardware. If you’re on PS5, there is no workaround. If you’re on PC or Game Pass, you’re covered.
The number most players care about is how long the campaign runs. The Coalition’s creative director, Matt Searcy, told IGN it’s the longest campaign the studio has built, at over 14 hours, with more collectibles than any previous Gears game. Earlier entries mostly land between 9 and 11.5 hours, so that’s a real jump. It is the studio’s own estimate, though, and independent playtime numbers won’t exist until players finish it.
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Gears of War: E-Day brings Marcus and Dom back to Emergence Day which creates a chance for all the gamers to experience the event that shaped everything that came after, while the darker survival-horror tone should make the Locust feel dangerous again.
The 14 hours is a gamble for a series known for tight, punchy campaigns. Longer Gears can feel richer or just feel stretched, and the answer depends on pacing. Launch week reviews will show which one this is.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is here! Enjoy Unreal Engine 5 upgrades, Hero Mode for beginners, and intense battles.
The remake is out now and offers a new look at the classic side-scrolling action game, with new features while remaining still the spirit of the original. One notable feature is “Hero Mode,” which makes the game’s brutal difficulty a little easier for newcomers. Difficulty Ninja Gaiden is still famous for being difficult. But they now include easy modes for beginners in their recent ports/re-releases.
This remake is a masterpiece of Ninja Gaiden gameplay which received a high amount of feedback. It almost satisfies every gamer for the experience of action adventure.
Team Ninja developed Ninja Gaiden 2 Black for the fans. They needed to extend Ryu Hayabusa’s story and make the gameplay better. The developers aspired to tell fans that the series was still around and changing.
The use of the word “Black” in the title indicates that it is the definitive edition. Like Ninja Gaiden Black, it combines older elements while introducing new gameplay and the trademark difficulty.
The game utilizes Unreal Engine 5 to create incredible graphics. The models for characters, environments and lighting all have more detail and are more immersive. The remaster adds redesigned blood effects and dismemberment to the action scenes, making them more intense.
It also features new game styles such as “HERO PLAY STYLE”. This style opens the game up for newbies.
The play style of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black revolves up to the fast pace and the powerful attacks. You play as Ryu Hayabusa, an elite ninja. He dismembers foes with all manner of weapons. The system facilitates limb severing and graphic violence which adds a visceral aspect to brawling. You need to keep an eye on Ryu’s ‘Ki’ energy for special attacks and defense. This produces a violent and reactive combat system.
Enemies can lose limbs in battle. This debilitates them and allows you to perform devastating finisher moves. These savage attacks bring fun and tactics to the table. Vanquished foes drop “essence” orbs. Ryu takes these to heal himself and regain Ki. This system promotes an offensive playstyle to maintain Ryu’s power at its peak. Ryu can perform a Ki Pulse to counter enemy attacks. This punch opens the way to powerful blows.
You can swap weapon types such as the katana, kunai, and tonfa. Every weapon offers unique styles and combos, providing additional layers of depth in fights. Killstreaks Techniques Enable you to Kill Diminished foes. These finishing moves are graphic and satisfying. The pace is fast and smooth, movement is fast and fluid. Ryu can jump, dash, and wall-run to traverse areas and evade attacks. The game is hard and requires timing. It’s a test of reflexes and know-how in its combat mechanics.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black follows the path of Ryu Hayabusa, a ninja master. He uses the legendary Dragon Sword to fight a powerful foe. The game features a compelling narrative of action, treachery and otherworldly powers.
The story begins one year after Ninja Gaiden Black. Ryu encounters CIA agent Sonia, who alerts him to a new menace. The Black Spider Ninja Clan has abducted Sonia and stolen the Demon Statue. This statuette holds a lot of power. Ryu is raced against time to rescue Sonia and recover the statue or face mayhem.
The game deals with themes of honor, revenge and light and shadow. Ryu’s journey is about more than combat. He must learn what it means to be a guardian and confront his fate.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black delivers exhilarating action and an engaging story. Players now follow Ryu’s fight to maintain his bloodline against the enemies.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Edition provides enhanced visuals and sound. These enhancements make the old classic up to date.
Audio design has also been enhanced to the new visual standards. Combat and environmental audio sound more impactful and immersive. The game has its~original voice cast. Additional lines and upgrades may add more depth to the characters and story.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Edition (2008) is how you should play one of the most ruthless action games ever. The remaster blends the brutal, skill-driven combat the series is known for with gorgeous modern visuals running on Unreal Engine 5, refined gameplay, and options to make the difficulty a bit more friendly to newcomers, such as Hero Mode. Ryu Hayabusa’s journey is rawer than ever, with fluid pacing, tactical severing, and a grim, hyperactive plot that never lets up.
If you’re revisiting the title for nostalgia’s sake, or if this is your first journey into the world of Ninja Gaiden, then Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Edition demonstrates why this series is still a legendary place in action gaming — and why it remains a must-play title for anyone who is hungry for challenge, precision, and adrenaline-jammed combat.
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