By Nelson Schneider - 04/30/16 at 01:59 PM CT
Time for another painful look into the not-so-distant future! May signals the end of Spring and the beginning of the long, dry months of the Summer Game Drought. Before things wither away completely, devs and publishers are gracing us with one last diarrheal splatter of moisture before clamping shut until Holiday 2016.
Shovelware is back from its hiatus. In May, we’re getting a new ‘One Piece’ game based on the hideously-drawn anime/manga, and a new ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ game based on Chris’ favorite series of action figures from the mid 1990s… but more likely based on the recent series of Megan Fox movies.
Ports and remasters are still showing no signs of going away, or even slowing down. In May, every platform that ‘matters’ is getting a compilation remaster of the ‘Dead Island’ games (Chris would love that… if he hadn’t already played all of them), while the PS4 is living up to the title ‘PortStation’ with a remaster of the ‘Adam’s Venture’ series of Adventure games and a remaster of the excellent 7th Gen TRPG, “Valkyria Chronicles” (not that it needed a remaster…). The PS4 is also getting a port of “Dungeons 2” from PC, the XBONE is getting a port of “Tropico 5” from PC, and the WiiU is getting a port of “The Book of Unwritten Tales 2” from PC. PC is also giving up “Battle Worlds: Kronos” to the PS4 and XBONE. PC is so generous!
In the realm of legit multi-platform releases, we’re experiencing a similar strange confluence to the one we experienced in October, 2011 with the near-simultaneous release of “Dungeon Defenders” and “Orcs Must Die!” – two games that featured the same novel gimmick that were developed independently of each other. May, 2016’s conjoined twins will be “Battleborn” and “Overwatch,” two games that combine the core mechanics of FPSes and MOBAs. The MJ crew is currently undecided whether or not this genre mashup will result in anything worth spending time on. Aside from the FPS/MOBA twins, May is bringing… MOAR FPSes! A sequel in the ‘Homefront’ series and a reboot of the original horrible FPS, “DOOM” are both looming on the horizon. For gamers who aren’t interested in generic, crappy shooters, the spiritual successor to the ‘Mega Man’ franchise, “Mighty No. 9” is supposed to release this month, but the rumblings from the rumor mill are telling me we shouldn’t hold our collective breath.
After several quantity-laden months, May is looking rather more dismal for exclusives. PC (as far as we know, as there are always surprises) is getting a Cold War sim, “Soviet Monsters: Ekranoplans” (which sounds familiar, so might be a delayed title) and a Warhammer Fantasy flavored version of Sega’s ‘Total War’ RTS series. PS4 is getting “Uncharted 4,” the latest in their series of ‘cinematic’ ‘Tomb Raider’ rip-offs, while Vita is getting the (delayed) loli+zombie Chris temptation, “MegaTagmension Blanc.” Finally the 3DS is getting “Disney Art Academy,” so kids can learn to draw Mickey©®™ Mouse©®™. It is mind boggling that the XBONE and WiiU aren’t getting ANYTHING this month… well, not really.
Another month, another steaming load of crap. I’ll be picking up “Mighty No. 9” on Steam when it goes on sale for 75% off, and we might collectively play “Battleborn” OR “Overwatch” if they get cheap before going completely offline.
Backlog Embiggened: +1.5
Comments
Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/03/16 at 07:43 PM CT
As no surprise Mighty No. 9 was indeed pushed back but, hopefully, its new June release date will finally stick. No word on when handheld systems are getting this oft-delayed gem, though.
