Games you can play this week – boarders and ballers

The weather is beginning to heat up across SA, and as September comes to an end and October rolls in, we get some big-name game releases in the sports, RPG and adventure genres.

Here are our picks for the biggest games launching this week:

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 – September 29

(PS4, Xbox One)

The last few Tony Hawk games have been a bit of an experimental detour for the franchise, but Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is back with a focus on delivering the familiar Pro Skater gameplay we fell in love with years ago, with needed updates and tweaks to make it fresh for the current-generation of consoles.

Collecting SKATE, finding hidden areas, smashing out long combos, completing objectives and, of course, racking up massive scores are all part of the core gameplay this time around, which should please veteran fans.

Players can also play offline by themselves or enjoy drop-in and drop-out online multiplayer.

Whether players work together to complete missions or challenge each other, 20 players can play in a single session together.

The game features eighty missions over nine environments with opportunities to unlock new content and level up their skaters.

Returning to the series is the ability to build and share skateparks with the game’s park creation tool set. Either create your own skater or play as one of the top skaters in the world.

NBA 2K16 – September 29

(PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

The juggernaut of NBA simulators is back this week, and if you thought things were getting a little stale, NBA 2K16 aims to do something new with the series.

Outside of graphics and gameplay tweaks and improvements, the game has a redoubled focus on the MyCareer mode. In a sentence you don’t hear often with sports games, NBA 2K16 aims to tell an interesting story.

How do you achieve a sophisticated storytelling in a sports game? You get Spike Lee involved. MyCareer in NBA 2K16 is going to be a Spike Lee joint venture.

The director of Malcolm X had a heavy involvement in the game’s development.

As you play through MyCareer, you will follow a top high school player going through the roller coaster of emotions as he makes decisions toward his pro career.