Summer is almost here, which means that we have one more month of good video game releases before the drought starts. Luckily, May 2016 is shaping up to be a great month for the gaming world, with plenty of fantastic titles being released on all three major platforms. There are definitely some duds in the mix (looking at you, Homefront), but if you stick with the titles that we preview below, you should have no shortage of both single player and multiplayer games to play for the days where it’s just way too hot to go outside.
In order of release date, we have:
Battleborn
(PC, PS4, Xbox One)- May 3
League of Legends meets Borderlands in this upcoming shooter from Gearbox, and it’s shaping up to be one incredible game. While Battleborn features a campaign and co-op gameplay, the main attraction is the competitive multiplayer, which clearly draws a ton of inspiration from the current MOBA genre. The biggest multiplayer mode, Meltdown, has you pick from one of 25 totally unique characters and help escort your team’s minions across the battlefield while simultaneously trying stop your opponents from doing the same thing… it’s fast-paced and frantic, but there’s a ton of strategy and tactical thinking involved.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)- May 10
The final chapter in the epic Sony exclusive franchise hits the PS4 this May, and you should definitely be checking it out. By combining the tried and true Uncharted gameplay with updated mechanics from The Last of Us and adding plenty of new material (grappling hook yasss), it’s looking like developer Naughty Dog is about to knock yet another game out of the park. This will be the last Uncharted game that Naughty Dog makes, and it’s sure to be a bittersweet finale. Luckily, we’ll also have a handful fantastic multiplayer modes to keep us in Uncharted territory for a long time to come.
DOOM (PC, PS4, Xbox One)- May 13
The iconic old school FPS returns in beautiful HD on all three major gaming platforms, and the controversy has started once again, bringing some of us older gamers back to 1993 (when the original DOOM was criticized for its violence and satanic imagery). This series is brutal, gory, terrifying, and action packed all at the same time, and we’re finally going to get to experience it on next-gen level hardware. Thanks to chainsaws and curbstomps galore, we should be having one hell of a time come May 13.
Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst (PC, PS4, Xbox One)- May 24
Open world parkour is the true name of the game in Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, which looks to improve upon the already-spectacular first title in almost every way. This is a very good thing, as nobody really expected developer DICE to pull off first-person parkour as well as they did, so a series like this is in really good hands. The fact that we’ll be able to explore the city in free roam is going to add so much depth to this action title, but the best part is that if you pick it up for PS4, you’re going to be able to experience the whole thing via PSVR… hopefully you don’t have vertigo.
Total War: Warhammer (PC)- May 24
One of the biggest video game strategy franchises of all time meets the biggest tabletop strategy franchise of all time in Total War: Warhammer, and my only complaint is with the fact that they didn’t just call it Total Warhammer. At launch, you’ll be able to control one of four factions- the Empire, the Dwarfs, the Greenskins, or the Vampire Counts, and each one features a unique play style. There will be flying units, magic, and a corruption system, and the environments will be pulled straight from the Warhammer lore. Gameplay such as city building and diplomacy will remain mostly unchanged from past Total War titles, but that’s not a bad thing at all, is it? Most importantly- there will be Waaaagh!
Overwatch (PC, PS4, Xbox One)- May 24
Blizzard has finally made a first person shooter that’s not Starcraft: Ghost, which is enough to get a lot of people very excited. Overwatch is a competitive, squad-based multiplayer experience where two teams battle it out in a variety of modes and maps. There’s a Rush/Search and Destroy mode, an Escort/Safeguard mode and a KOTH mode, and maps are based off of real-world locations. The roster of characters is huge, and each either fills an offense, defense, support or tank role- and players are encouraged to switch them out mid-match. Beta players and previewers have praised the title from the instant they got their hands on it, so it looks to be a good contender for surviving the summer gaming drought.
