Nothing seems to elicit more reaction from gamers than putting Call of Duty on our cover. But love it or hate it, there’s no denying that the franchise is still the king of the FPS hill. This time, our senior editor Scott Butterworth sat down with the Call of Duty: Black Ops II devs for a deep dive into the myriad of changes they’ve incorporated into the game’s online multiplayer. It’s difficult to predict how the laundry list of revisions will affect the overall experience, but it seems the COD battlefield has fundamentally changed.

Elsewhere, we delve into the forthcoming Resident Evil 6 by chronicling the first two chapters of each of the game’s three major campaigns. We also take a look at the opposite end of the gaming spectrum with a feature on the next wave of indie games coming to PSN. These big little games may not have the huge budgets or development teams of a Call of Duty, but they make up for it with imagination, ingenuity, and artistry.

New game announces and previews include looks at superhero actioner Deadpool, eye-catching fighter Dead or Alive 5, and TV-show-intertwined-with-MMO Defiance. We’ve also got hands-on updates of highly anticipated titles Assassin’s Creed III and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and the animation invasion continues as Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse joins South Park: The Stick of Truth for cameos in the issue.

The open-world crime saga Sleeping Dogs leads off our reviews section with an impressive showing, while Darksiders II proves that God of War isn’t the end-all when it comes to action games. And don’t miss our final verdicts on the affecting Papo & Yo, psychedelic shooter Dyad, and fan-service fighter Persona 4 Arena. No doubt, there’s a lot of great gaming out there right now.

Get it all in PTOM’s October issue, hitting newsstands on Tuesday, August 28th. (Or just subscribe here.)