Prey
Xbox One l PS4 l PC
DEVELOPER: Arkane Studios
PUBLISHER: Bethesda Softworks
RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2017

In the recently released Prey from Dishonored developer Arkane Studios and The Elder Scrolls and Fallout publisher Bethesda Softworks, you play as Morgan Yu aboard the space station Talos I.

The game is a re-imagining. A game of the same name was released in 2006, and a sequel to that was in development for a long time. But eventually it was decided to start from scratch.

Little Nightmares
AVAILABLE ON: Xbox One, PS4, PC
DEVELOPER: Tarsier Studios
PUBLISHER: Bandai Namco
RELEASE DATE: April 28, 2017

We’ve seen some impressive previews of the indie horror Little Nightmares, so I was excited to dive in and try not to die. Spoiler alert: I died. Lots.

In the game, you play as a tiny little girl named Six. And when I say tiny, I do mean tiny. She looks like she weighs only a few pounds, as you can see in the images. Small and seemingly helpless, Six is also all alone in this dark, depressing little world known as The Maw. Why you’re there, how you got there in the first place, why you’re alone, where you need to go—none of these things are known. You simply start the game by getting up, and beginning to make your way through this terrible place, navigating its many dangers on your journey.

Late Shift
AVAILABLE ON: Xbox One, PS4, PC, Mac
DEVELOPER: CtrlMovie
PUBLISHER: Wales Interactive
RELEASE DATE: April 18, 2017

Another fully live-action video game/interactive story, Late Shift is a crime thriller in which your choices determine how the story will play out.

The story opens with a student named Matt (Joe Sowerbutts) heading to his night job as a security guard. While on the job, a boring evening quickly takes a drastic turn when he finds himself being kidnapped at gunpoint and being forced to fill in on a heist. That’s where the roller coaster ride begins, and it’s up to you to decide how it all plays out. Will you jump on opportunities to try to escape or foil the criminals’ plans; do you play along as best you can for fear of your own well-being; or do you, with a promise of a cut of the prize, take a detour from your boring day-to-day existence and live a little dangerously.

Knee Deep
DEVELOPER: Prologue Games
PUBLISHER: Wales Interactive
RELEASE DATE: January 31 (PS4), February 3 (Xbox One) 2017

Have a seat, ladies and gentlemen, and let me tell you about a little indie game called Knee Deep.

Part mystery, part stage play, this is one strange ride. The game follows the investigation of the suicide of a famous actor in a small town in Florida. As those investigating begin to dig, a chain of events starts to unfold and the story becomes much larger than it initially seemed. But how things play out while those events are unfolding is where you come in.

Dishonored 2
Xbox One l PS4 l PC
DEVELOPER: Arkane Studios
PUBLISHER: Bethesda Softworks
RELEASE DATE: November 11, 2016

The sequel to 2012’s Dishonored arrived last week and I, quite excitedly, got to check it out and am here to share some thoughts for those on the fence about buying it.

In Dishonored 2, once again developed by Arkane Studios, you’re able to choose between playing as Corvo Attano, who everyone who played the first game played as; and young Empress Emily Kaldwin, who was a child caught in the middle of a nasty situation during the events of the original. It also takes you away from the city of Dunwall and into the coastal city of Karnaca, the capital of Serkonos known as “The Jewel of the South at the Edge of the World.”