{"id":38652,"date":"2020-05-07T14:36:13","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T21:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/?p=38652"},"modified":"2020-05-07T14:36:13","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T21:36:13","slug":"mays-new-video-games-sink-teeth-open-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/features\/mays-new-video-games-sink-teeth-open-worlds\/","title":{"rendered":"May’s New Video Games Sink Teeth Into Open Worlds, Ports"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Regardless of the current state of the global stay-at-home orders\/recommendations due to the virus, May never was going to be a big month for video games. The summer months are coming, and with them the prospect of a few more noteworthy games to look forward to, but until then we\u2019re in the middle of that patch where school\u2019s ending and summer planning begins \u2026 and that\u2019s under normal circumstances. Therefore, May has been filled with ports, addons, and a few spinoffs that aren\u2019t substantive enough to be large blips on the radar, though there\u2019s still a few bits of fresh, unique, or fond enjoyment to glean from the release schedule.\u00a0 Let\u2019s dig deeper.<\/p>\n

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\"john<\/p>\n

Get Resident Evil 3 at PS Store<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Get Void Bastards at PS Store<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

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John Wick Hex (PS4) — May 5<\/h4>\n

One of the most absorbing things about Keanu Reeves\u2019 John Wick franchise can be found in how the 50-something actor \u2013 with minimal help from doubles \u2013 flows along at a calculated, but brisk momentum between the guys he\u2019s attacking. That quick-paced energy has become a signature aspect of all the trilogy\u2019s movies, something that could easily translate to the video game spectrum; an even mix of Sleeping Dogs<\/em> and Grand Theft Auto<\/em> tweaked to Wick\u2019s style would be interesting.\u00a0 Instead, what\u2019s been delivered is a \u2026 turn-based strategy game, entitled\u00a0John Wick Hex<\/em>. Decisions are made along a grid-like system of what John\u2019s going to do at a given time, almost like a tabletop adaptation of the movie series. The PC version has already been released to mixed responses from critics and players, citing the awkward translation of the concept to this gameplay style and the lack of focus on John Wick himself, but now the PS4 gets its shot.<\/p>\n

Void Bastards (PS4, Switch) — May 7<\/h4>\n

While it may have drawn inspiration from past shooters like System Shock<\/em>, few modern gamers can forget the first time they played through the original BioShock <\/em>and the depths of Rapture.\u00a0<\/em>The twist might play a significant part in that, but the biggest reasons for this can be found in the colorful, gleefully hazardous (underwater) atmosphere and the tweaking of bizarre, borderline-cartoonish guns and magic abilities. Void Bastards<\/em> aims to capture a similar feel to the environment and artillery in its first-person shooter design, but filters it through a cel-shaded, almost comic-book style to the artwork, along with a procedurally-generated design system that almost begs for players to view it as a roguelike game. Developers Blue Manchu have discussed the reasons why it isn\u2019t of that subgenre, but that hasn\u2019t stopped critics and players from attributing that label to their game \u2026 along with some robust impressions for the Xbox and PC versions already released.\u00a0 \u00a0Now, folks on PS4 and PC can jump in.<\/p>\n

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\"maneater<\/p>\n

Get SMB3 3 at Microsoft<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Order Maneater at Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

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Super Mega Baseball 3 — May 13<\/h4>\n

As we\u2019ve mentioned several times before, the PlayStation has \u2013 up until recently \u2013 held most of the baseball simulator market by owning exclusive rights to The Show.<\/em> One of the few competitors that have kept up with it in the standings is\u00a0Super Mega Baseball<\/em>, and much like, say, the Hot Shots series of golf games on previous consoles, what lies underneath the cartoonish character models is a reputable, highly enjoyable simulator that\u2019s also accessible for more casual sports fans. Since the first iteration, the bobbleheads have grown smaller and the authenticity has ticked up, resulting in an experience for Super Mega Baseball 3<\/em> that\u2019s surprisingly close to the border separating it from a \u201creal-life\u201d representation of the game. \u00a0New teams, new players, and robust roster\/franchise alterations have added quite a bit to its already impressive foundation, while also continuing to improve upon its impressive aesthetic.<\/p>\n

Maneater — May 13<\/h4>\n

Considering the popularity of Goat Simulator<\/em> and Untitled Goose Game<\/em>, it\u2019s probably safe to say that we\u2019re as close to an \u201canimal simulator\u201d renaissance as we\u2019re going to get. Gamers just typically prefer to pilot humanoid and anthropomorphic characters, with games like Ecco the Dolphin<\/em> being few and far between prior to this small crop of successes.\u00a0 Developers Tripwire Interactive are going for the jugular in 2020, though: they\u2019re delivering A SHARK RPG. More than a few people would consider that to be the apex of the animal-simulator premise, as one can explore and hunt from the perspective of one of the most formidable \u2013 and misunderstood \u2013 animals out there, adapting to new places and hunting down other apex nautical animals in the region. The shark in Maneater<\/em> doesn\u2019t just want to peacefully live its life, though, as the player gains control of a pissed-off juvenile bull shark (seriously, check them out and size them up against great whites) out for revenge for the murder of its mother by way of shark hunters.<\/p>\n

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\"elder<\/p>\n

Order Saints Row 3 at Amazon<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Order ES: Greymoor Physical at Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

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Saints Row: The Third \u2013 Remastered — May 22<\/h4>\n

Some franchises have a natural evolution of their premise that can be tracked throughout entries in their games, but that isn\u2019t exactly the case for Saints Row. What was once a more lighthearted \u201cclone\u201d of Grand Theft Auto<\/em> in the urban sandbox subgenre abruptly jumped into the realm of outlandish parody in Saints Row: The Third, <\/em>and for the better: it switched locations and gang factions to include lucha libre wrestlers and hackers, gave the player absurd character creation toys, allowed them to perform wrestling melee attacks, granted them weapons like mind-controlling octopuses and a giant purple dildo, and massively increased the explosiveness factor. The shift is so strong than it\u2019s not unreasonable to assume that people who aren\u2019t really into GTA or its copycats can find enjoyment in how Saints Row: The Third<\/em> makes a mockery of the concept \u2026 while still sticking to the open-world freedom and mission structure. It\u2019s a lot of fun, and it\u2019s been remastered for PS4, Xbox One and PC.<\/p>\n

Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor — May 26<\/h4>\n

Despite a brief announcement trailer and a handful of unverified leaks, no single-player Elder Scrolls game is in sight; nor is there a new Fallout game visibly in the works, for that matter. However, like clockwork over the past half-decade, Bethesda and the publishers at Zenimax Studios have produced significant yearly add-ons to their Elder Scrolls Online MMO platform, with the year\u2019s installment taking players back to the realm of Skyrim with Greymoor. The heat\u2019s been on Bethesda since they dropped the ball with their online attempt at Fallout, and their answer seems to be staying the course and continue with this massive-multiplayer paradigm. Greymoor revisits a\u00a0popular location, ignites a new storyline involving vampires,\u00a0 and introduces a new Antiquities system \u2026 as well as a new grid-based minigame called \u201cscrying\u201d that leads to excavations of gears across the existing map.\u00a0 There will be a pretty sweet limited physical edition of Greymoor<\/em> out there, one recommended as a potential pickup in our 2020 Limited Edition Video Game Guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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As one can expect, we’ve also got a slew of Switch ports ready to go in May: Bioshock<\/strong> <\/em>and Borderlands<\/em><\/strong> have collections arriving on May 29, along with XCOM<\/strong><\/em> and Xenoblade Chronicles<\/strong><\/em>; Star Wars: Episode 1 — Racer<\/strong><\/em> jets onto the Switch and PS4 on May 12, and Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee<\/strong><\/em> creeps in on May 14. Minecraft<\/strong><\/em> gets an addon, Dungeons<\/strong><\/em>, on May 26, as does Mortal Kombat 11<\/strong><\/em> with the anticipated Aftermath<\/em> expansion on the same day … which includes RoboCop as a playable fighter, because why not.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>And, as a reminder, Stadia is still releasing games here and there, bringing Zombie Army 4: Dead War to the platform on May 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Regardless of the current state of the global stay-at-home orders\/recommendations due to the virus, May never was going to be a big month for video games. The summer months are coming, and with them the prospect of a few more noteworthy games to look forward to, but until then we\u2019re in the middle of that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":38656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2217,2247,401,2246,2245,1040,25,378],"class_list":["post-38652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-elder-scrolls","tag-john-wick","tag-ps4","tag-row","tag-saints","tag-shark","tag-video-games","tag-xbox-one"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38652"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38659,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38652\/revisions\/38659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}