2023 has already proven to be an excellent year when it comes to gaming. With tentpole releases like Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space rubbing shoulders with surprise drops like Metroid Prime Remastered and Hi-Fi Rush, there’s plenty to keep you occupied so far this year, no matter which system you’re playing on.
However, there’s more to come; 2023 is far from finished, and huge franchises like Final Fantasy and Diablo are getting new instalments this year, joining highly anticipated outings from developers like Bethesda. Before we get there, though, there’s plenty to come in the next month. Here are the best games to look forward to in May 2023.
Redfall (Xbox Series X/S, PC – May 2nd)
With Redfall, Prey and Dishonored developer Arkane is trying something a little different. Rather than the huge, immersive single-player adventures for which the studio is famous, they’re branching out and trying something with a more multiplayer focus. The goal of Redfall is to take a vampire-infested island back from its occupants district by district, using the unique powers and abilities of four vampire hunters to do so. This one looks promising, but only time will tell whether it’ll be as good as Arkane’s other works.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo Switch – May 12th)
The wait between mainline Zelda games can feel agonising at times, but ours is almost over. Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to 2017’s galvanising Breath of the Wild, which completely revamped the series and refocused its efforts towards a more open-world, more freeform gameplay style. Tears of the Kingdom looks more like a refinement than a reinvention, but with more powers to play with and a new Hyrule to explore, it looks like there will be much to love.
Amnesia: The Bunker (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox – May 16th)
Curiously, Amnesia: The Bunker appears to be skipping PS5 entirely (although PS5 owners will still be able to enjoy the game on their consoles thanks to backwards compatibility). Frictional’s brand of tense, claustrophobic horror remains intact in The Bunker, but this time around, there’s more of an emphasis on randomised content in order to keep things feeling fresh and exciting. Will you be able to escape the WWI-era bunker in which you’re trapped and in which something unknown is hunting you?
The Outlast Trials (PC – May 18th)
Coming in somewhere between Outlast and Phasmophobia, The Outlast Trials is a multiplayer-focused iteration of the now-iconic Outlast horror series. Together with your friends, you must escape and hide from your enemies as they prowl the corridors of a Cold War-era experimental facility. Although you won’t have access to weapons, you will be able to customise your operative and try to give them as much of a fighting chance as possible when it comes to escaping the facility’s many horrors.
I Am Future (PC – May 18th)
We’re not hearing anywhere near the kind of buzz for I Am Future that we’d like to, and so we’d like to do our part to rectify that. Billing itself as “cosy apocalypse survival”, I Am Future tasks you with taking care of your very own skyscraper roof in a city that has flooded. You can grow crops, play guitar, and while away the hours just doing nothing, or, if you prefer, you can set out on a journey to meet others and discover what’s happened to the city around you.
Lego 2K Drive (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch – May 19th)
Having a Lego game to play that hasn’t been developed by Travellers’ Tales is a rather exciting prospect. Of course, we don’t have anything against that venerable developer’s take on the Lego formula, but 2K and Visual Concepts are creating a sort of spiritual successor to the much-loved Lego Racers, and we’re absolutely on board for that. You’ll be able to freely explore and race around the huge open-world environment of Bricklandia, engaging in races and customising your vehicle in true Lego style.
Miasma Chronicles (PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S – May 23rd)
If you played The Bearded Ladies’ previous game, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, then you’ll know broadly what to expect from Miasma Chronicles. The game will boast a similar mixture of real-time exploration and turn-based combat, and that mixture is likely to gel surprisingly well, just like it did for Mutant Year Zero. This time around, however, the plot concerns a young man who must explore a post-apocalyptic wasteland plagued by a substance known only as Miasma.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum (PC, PlayStation, Xbox – May 25th)
Making games set in the Lord of the Rings universe seems like a no-brainer, but Gollum is potentially a trickier proposition. He doesn’t really have much combat ability, after all, and although he’s well-known for his cunning, his role is mainly to skulk around and not be seen. Of course, that makes him the ideal main character for a stealth-focused adventure, which is exactly what Daedalic’s The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is promising to offer. We’re looking forward to chasing those hobbitses.
System Shock (PC – May 30th)
1999’s excellent System Shock 2 is a paradigm-defining immersive sim, but before there was System Shock 2, there was, of course, the original System Shock. The game is getting a remake in May, courtesy of retro-focused studio Nightdive, and it’s looking pretty nice. The graphics and aesthetic evoke the pixelated style of the original while still modernising it for a newer audience, and the gameplay is strongly reminiscent of System Shock 2’s, with all the right weights and impacts.
