The arrival of fall might as well be marked in the halls of video-game publishers by the crack of starting pistols. As the days get shorter and cooler, the release schedule becomes increasingly packed with blockbuster titles entering the race toward the holidays.
This year's crop of autumnal releases includes a slew of highly anticipated sequels, including the usual annual entries to franchises such as "Battlefield" and "Call of Duty" as well a few surprise additions to long-dormant series.
These 13 titles are bound to be the ones showing up on gamers' wish lists leading up to the end of the year:
'FORZA HORIZON 3'
* Release date: Sept. 27
* Summary: Explore city streets, back roads and backcountry wilderness in Australia behind the wheel of more than 300 cars.
* Why it's hot: The open-world racing companion series to the track-based "Forza," "Horizons" drops players in massive environments, hands them the keys to hundreds of vehicles and lets them forge their own automotive experiences. "Forza Horizon 3" features the series' largest map yet, reportedly twice the size of 2014's "Horizon 2," as well as four-player online cooperative play. For the first time in the series, "Horizon 3" will appear exclusively on the Xbox One and PC, allowing for improved graphical detail over previous entries, which also were released on the less-powerful Xbox 360.
* Age rating: Rating pending
* Price: $60 PC/Xbox One
'MAFIA III'
* Release date: Oct. 7
* Summary: Vietnam veteran Lincoln Clay comes home to the New Orleans-esque city of New Bordeaux, where he joins forces with and is ultimately betrayed by the Italian Mafia. In pursuit of vengeance, he begins forging his own criminal empire.
* Why it's hot: The "Mafia" series offer a more serious-toned alternative to the occasionally zany open-world antics of games like "Saints Row" or "Grand Theft Auto." The third entry in "Mafia" takes the series into a new era - the 1960s - and unleashes players in a vast, beautifully rendered, freely explorable metropolis set in the Deep South, a region which is all but untapped by video games.
* Age rating: M for mature
* Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
'PAPER MARIO COLOR SPLASH'
* Release date: Oct. 7
* Summary: Everyone's favorite plumber-turned-hero must solve the mystery behind why Prism Island is slowly being drained of color. Along the way, he'll restore color to and rescue a group of Toad allies to help him.
* Why it's hot: Nintendo partner publisher Intelligent System's "Paper Mario" series is well-known for its humorous tone, half-2-D/half-3-D visuals and use of unusual gameplay mechanics. "Color Splash" introduces a battle-card system that allows players to summon photo-realistic, real-life objects to help Mario defeat enemies and summon allies. Players also can solve puzzles and navigate the environment by "cutting away" - literally slicing through the game's background or obstacles to clear a path.
* Age rating: Rating pending
* Price: $60 Wii U
'GEARS OF WAR 4'
* Release date: Oct. 11
* Summary: Twenty-five years after the supposed defeat of the Locust and Lambent hordes, most of humanity live within the confines of bunker-cities to survive devastating storms that plague the planet Sera. A select few, including the son of war hero Marcus Fenix, live outside the walls, and Fenix and his friends must brave the harsh wilds to deal with a new, unexpected threat.
* Why it's hot: The fourth mainline entry in Microsoft's flagship, third-person shooting franchise marks the series' first appearance on the Xbox One. The new title offers similar, if refined, cover-based shooting with new weapons, including a combat knife, a brand-new cast of characters and improved graphics that render environmental conditions such as hurricane-like wind gusts with frightening realism.
* Age rating: M for mature
* Price: $60 PC/Xbox One
'BATTLEFIELD 1'
* Release date: Oct. 21
* Summary: Electronic Arts' vaunted first-person shooting series rolls back the clock 100 years to the many fronts and most noteworthy battles of the first World War.
* Why it's hot: Despite introducing many weapons that define modern conflicts, World War I is an all-but-unexplored setting for video games. "Battlefield 1" capitalizes on the novelty of its setting while still offering the high-speed, tactical, multiplayer gaming for which the series is renowned. This time, however, up to 64 players will seek to control sprawling maps set in Europe and Africa while wielding early machine guns and bolt-action rifles, swinging swords from atop a horse or behind the controls of early tanks, biplanes and zeppelins.
* Age rating: Rating pending
* Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
'CIVILIZATION VI'
* Release date: Oct. 21
* Summary: From the deepest recesses of prehistory to the chrome-sparkled future horizon, players must shepherd members of a nomadic tribe to become one of the world's unquestioned superpowers.
* Why it's hot: The "Civilization" series is one of gaming's oldest franchises and laid the foundation for practically every turn-based strategy title to follow. The sixth entry introduces districts outside city centers that serve a specialized function, such as harbors and military encampments, and players now are able to move different unit types in tandem for strategic support. Certain computer-controlled world leaders now have specific agendas that affect their overall strategy.
* Age rating: E 10+ for ages 10 and up
* Price: $60 PC
'THE LAST GUARDIAN'
* Release date: Oct. 25
* Summary: While attempting to escape imprisonment for unknown causes, a young boy forms a deep bond of friendship with the Trico, an enormous creature that appears to be half-bird/half-mammal.
* Why it's hot: "The Last Guardian" is the long-awaited third project by Japanese developer Fumito Ueda, who created the beloved Playstation 2 classics "Ico" and "Shadow of the Colossus." Initially announced in 2007 as a Playstation 3 exclusive, "The Last Guardian" is finally being released nearly a decade later on the Playstation 4. Like Ueda's previous efforts, the game features a somber tone, beautiful - if forlorn - visuals and a story told largely without words. The game's core is built around players learning to exploit the Trico's animal-like instincts to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.
* Age rating: Rating pending
* Price: $60 Playstation 4
'TITANFALL 2'
* Release date: Oct. 25
* Summary: Man and massive, gun-toting war machines become even more thoroughly enmeshed in the sequel to 2014's "Titanfall."
* Why it's hot: The original "Titanfall" was developed by Respawn Entertainment, a studio formed by the originators of the massively popular "Call of Duty" franchise. The original title blended acrobatic shooting with the ability to unleash massive firepower by jumping into huge, surprisingly nimble war machines called Titans. The sequel features six brand-new Titans to control, a more involved single-player story, fundamental changes to the way Titans are doled out and new power-ups that give pilots more combat options on foot.
* Age rating: M for mature
* Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
'CALL OF DUTY: INFINITE WARFARE'
* Release date: Nov. 4
* Summary: After an unexpected attack by a splinter cell of off-world separatists, the forces of Earth pursue their foe into various locations throughout the solar system.
* Why it's hot: The setting of "Infinite Warfare" represents a new watermark for "Call of Duty" in the depiction of technologies bordering on pure science fiction. During the campaign, players will experience the series' traditional set-piece cinematic moments in space as well as on several planets. The game's zombie cooperative survival mode thrusts players into a cheesy, '80s horror movie setting packed with the undead and featuring celebrity voice work by Paul Reubens, Ike Barinholtz, David Hasselhoff, Jay Pharoah, Sasheer Zamata and Seth Green. During competitive online matches, players now have access to a wide range of futuristic weaponry and can choose from armored "rigs" that favor different play styles.
* Age rating: Rating pending
* Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
'DISHONORED 2'
* Release date: Nov. 11
* Summary: Fifteen years into her reign, Empress Emily Kaldwin is forced out of power and must plot her revenge with the help of her royal protector (and supernaturally gifted assassin) Corvo Attano.
* Why it's hot: When released in 2012, the original "Dishonored" was praised for its unique visuals, novel setting that blended mysticism, early industrial technology and open-ended gameplay, which let players assail levels stealthily or violently while altering the game world to reflect either approach. The sequel features the return of that flexibility and narrative reactivity while introducing a second playable character, a new city, improved artificial intelligence and a more powerful graphics engine.
* Age rating: M for mature
* Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
'WATCH DOGS 2'
* Release date: Nov. 15
* Summary: Marcus Holloway, a hacker accused of a crime he didn't commit, joins forces with a group called DedSec to topple San Francisco's advanced, all-seeing security network.
* Why it's hot: Upon its release in 2014, "Watch Dogs" was noted for its innovative multiplayer features and fully-realized urban landscape, but some claim developer Ubisoft failed to completely deliver on the features it promised. The sequel shifts the setting from the dreary urban jungle of Chicago to a game world that's twice as large and encompasses the vibrant hills in and around San Francisco. The new central character is skilled in moving fluidly through the streets using parkour, and he has access to a greater variety of tools - both physical gadgets and hacking techniques - that open up new stealthy or aggressive approaches to missions.
* Age rating: Rating pending
* Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
'POKEMON SUN' / 'POKEMON MOON'
* Release date: Nov. 18
* Summary: In the tropical islands of the Alola Region, a newly-minted pokemon trainer sets forth to catch 'em all, train 'em all and battle 'em all on a quest to be the best.
* Why it's hot: Additions to the Pokemon game series are always highly anticipated, and companion games "Sun" and "Moon" represent the first new storylines in the series since 2013's "Pokemon X/Y." Besides featuring different pokemon to capture, the game worlds of "Sun" and "Moon" are set 12 hours apart and, although their storylines will intersect, certain scenes will play out differently in each game. Also, some pokemon from previous generations look and behave differently in the tropical setting.
* Age rating: E for everyone
* Price: $40 Nintendo 3DS
'FINAL FANTASY XV'
* Release date: Nov. 29
* Summary: On the eve of his wedding, which will cement a long-awaited peace accord, the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Lucia discovers his family has been betrayed and his nation captured by its longtime enemy, the Niflheim empire. With the help of his loyal companions, he must set forth to reclaim his throne and seek revenge.
* Why it's hot: "Final Fantasy" is one of the most-beloved franchises in all of video games, but "Final Fantasy XV" has been delayed so many times since its announcement in 2006, many fans doubted it would ever be released. The title marks the series' first appearance on current-generation consoles, and it takes advantage of the new hardware's power to present a gorgeous, detailed game world that players can freely explore without running into loading screens. The game features a cinematically-told story and a real-time combat system that encourages players to move around the battlefield and react to changing conditions on the fly.
* Age rating: T for teen
* Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.