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Is 2017 ready to give us a quiet month for video game releases?
Not bloody likely. The year has already served up hits like Resident Evil VIIand Horizon: Zero Dawn, not to mention a sensational new piece of hardware from Nintendo -- the Switch -- and two must-own games: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildand Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
May isn't brimming with obvious blockbusters the way some of the earlier 2017 months were, but what it lacks in marquee names it makes up for in sheer volume. There's a lot of stuff coming over the next 31 days that should be noteworthy to a lot of people.
Prey (May 5)
Preyhas been described as a spiritual successor to System Shock, the classic PC game that finds you trapped on a space ship with a homicidal rogue AI. As with the earlier game (and the BioShockgames it inspired), Preydeposits you in a deadly sandbox with a wide array of powers and weapons to play with as you wish.
Available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Farpoint (May 16)
Will Farpointbe PlayStation VR's much-needed first killer app? The science fiction adventure game deposits you on the surface of a distant alien world with a gun and an army of alien threats to point it at. First-person shooters are a questionable choice for VR games, but the buzz on Farpointhas been quite positive so far.
Available for PlayStation VR.
Injustice 2 (May 16)
NetherRealm Studios -- the Chicago-based team behind the present-day iteration of the Mortal Kombatseries -- is back with the sequel to its top-tier DC Comics fighting game. Injustice 2looks like it carries forward everything that worked about the previous game -- namely, the engrossing story and finely tuned combat -- and adds to it a new collection of gear drops that let you tweak the look (and performance) of your preferred heroes and villains.
Available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
The Surge (May 16)
The Surgehas a real Dark Soulsvibe, save for the fact that it features 100 percent more robots, exoskeletons, and powered armor. Electricity in general, really. The sci-fi story focuses on a distant future Earth where all of humanity's precious resources have been exhausted. Between the highly technical, close-quarters combat and what looks like a sticky loot system, there's a lot to get excited about here.
Available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Friday the 13th (May 26)
Who knows if we'll ever see another Friday the 13thmovie? Really: who cares, when a game like this comes along to scratch that itch? Friday the 13th: The Gameis a multiplayer horror game that pits four camp counselors against one marauding murder demon in a hockey mask. It's one of a newer breed of "asymmetrical" multiplayer games in which a super-powered, unkillable team of one takes on a weaker, opposing team of four that just needs to escape.
Available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Get Even (May 26)
I'm going to level with you, reader: I don't actually know much about Get Even. The Bandai Namco-published game from Polish developer The Farm 51 certainly has a pretty-yet-creepy vibe in its crumbling, graffiti-scrawled urban setting. It's a first-person... shooter? Combat doesn't appear to be this game's raison d'etre, but it definitely plays a role. I'll be keeping an eye on this one as the month draws to a close.
Available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Rime (May 26)
Rimehas been kicking around since 2013. It's a third-person adventure game fueled by puzzles, tower defense challenges, and the most beautiful art style. The game is coming from Tequila Works, which made its promising-yet-flawed debut with the also-gorgeous Deadlight. This is the studio's third game; The Sexy Brutale, released earlier in 2017, is #2 and also quite good.
Available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Coming later to Nintendo Switch.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew (May 30)
If you've got access to virtual reality, Star Trek: Bridge Crewis super cool. It's a cooperative game in which four players take on four different crew roles aboard a Federation starship. If you've ever played Artemis: Spaceship Bridge Simulator, this game is basically that, except with more Star Trekand in VR. It's been delayed a few times, but this May 30 launch should stick and -- based on a recent preview session -- it's feeling very good.
Available for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and PlayStation VR,
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