Behind orange eyes

We're right in the thick of the busy Christmas releases period now, with Call of Duty: Black Ops III no doubt consuming plenty of attention this weekend – and Fallout 4 now mere days away. As always, we've invited a gaggle of enthusiastic staffers to share their weekend gaming plans – but we want to know what you're up to, too.

Sammy Barker, Editor

I've got the Need for Speed – or something. In truth, I've not been all that impressed with Ghosts Games' reboot, and you'll be able to read why in my review, which should be with you very soon. I do like the cutscenes, though, bruh.

Kell Andersen, Senior Writer

Fallout 4 is coming out a day before my last exam in what has been a cataclysmically busy uni year, so I'll be spending my weekend training up my endurance in order to not play it while studying. My regime consists of finding every chest in Assassin's Creed Syndicate.

Alex Stinton, Reviewer

This weekend, I'm planning on playing a fair bit of Call of Duty: Black Ops III. I've only managed to scratch the surface of this new release so far, mainly due to falling asleep during the first mission of the campaign. I'm really hoping this "incident" had more to do with the case of Fallout beer I was working through, rather than the quality of the game.

Graham Banas, Reviewer

Halo 5 has been surprisingly fun given how much I loathe Halo 4 – I just can't get away from it. And I still have a The Witcher III expansion that I've been neglecting. I need to fix that!

Jade Sayers, Reviewer

This weekend I'm playing an otome visual novel called Code: Realise - Guardian of Rebirth. It's a really interesting take on the genre; all the male characters are based on existing fictional characters – currently I'm playing through the Victor Frankenstein route. So far the game has provided lots of plot twists and excitement, so hopefully there's more to come as I head into the final chapters!

Jamie O'Neill, Reviewer

Peter Cullen is commanding me assertively in a robotic voice to play more of Transformers: Devastation, so while Batman: Arkham Knight is my current favourite game of 2015, Transformers: Devastation has bulldozed and brawled its way into my choice of second best for the year – a bit like the Constructicon Bonecrusher, actually.

Joey Thurmond, Reviewer

It's all about MLG skills, Doritos, and Mountain Dew this weekend, since I've gotten together with three friends to play zombies and the entire campaign of Call of Duty: Black Ops III. So far I'm disappointed by the latter to my great surprise, but I hope that it picks up as the missions go on. I'll also be dipping into Nidhogg and TowerFall Ascension among other titles with them as we game on.

Matt Adcock, Reviewer

This weekend it's going to be mucho gunplay and bloodshed with Call of Duty: Black Ops III which is fun so far, with a side order of super-refined Japanese strategy in Disgaea 5. Plus, I've still got to finish the extra tough Dragon Quest Heroes additional quests now that the main campaign is done.

Nathan Michalik, Reviewer

My friends and I decided to revisit Toukiden Kiwami to attempt the last few Trophies that we're missing. Finishing all of the missions and collecting all the weapons is going to be a daunting task, but Toukiden turned out to be one of my favourite games this year. Regardless, my fingers could use a break from playing the drums on Rock Band 4.

Sam Brooke, Reviewer

This weekend I'll be playing plenty of Call of Duty: Black Ops III, running through the campaign and trying out the zombies mode. If I've got time, I'll try to finish The Witcher III – yes, I haven't yet – because I really ought to before Just Cause 3 comes out.

Stephen Tailby, Reviewer

I'll be busy, busy this weekend, hopping through the parallax planes of Poncho. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for my imminent review, especially if you're a fan of little robots, platformers, or attire of Native American descent (thanks Wikipedia).

Victor Nowogurski, Moderator

By some miracle, I actually have a full weekend off from work, so hopefully that means a lot of gaming for me this weekend. As such, it looks like some more classic Genesis gaming for me. First up will be Mega Man 3 in Mega Man the Wily Wars, and after that I will finally answer for myself which version of Aladdin is the best when I play the Genesis version for the first time ever. Also, I might squeeze in some Diablo III on the PS4 somewhere in there.

Will you be blasting your way through the latest Call of Duty like the rest of our team, or have you got another game in mind this weekend? Fire off in the comments section below.