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New video games, including "Uncharted," "Doom" and "Dark Souls," top the list of must-have spring video games.
With the hills echoing to the chorus of birdsong and new leaves painting the landscape in neon spring green, gamers worth their salt know now is the ideal time to retreat indoors and grab a controller.
Besides the lack of pollen and the improbability of getting a sunburn from a TV screen, video publishers are preparing to unleash a slew of high-profile titles that will make it harder than ever to force gamers into the harsh light of day.
Here are 11 releases that video game fans are bound to be salivating over in the lead-up to summer.
"Quantum Break"
Release date: Tuesday, April 5
Summary: After a university experiment catastrophically fails, reality begins to fray at the seams with moments in time skipping erratically backward and forward. Into this confused maelstrom, a man gifted with the ability to control time must figure out how to reset the cosmic clock while avoiding pursuit from an evil corporation.
Why it's hot: "Quantum Break" is a cinematic third-person shooter created by Remedy Entertainment, the makers of narratively dense action games "Max Payne" and "Alan Wake." The game's combat and puzzle-solving center on players creatively speeding up and slowing down time. The story is delivered in episodic format with live-action scenes bookending the action and featuring "junction points," critical moments when the player's decision can dramatically change how events play out. The all-star voice cast includes Shawn Ashmore ("X-Men") and Aidan Gillen ("Game of Thrones").
Age rating: M for mature
Price: $60 PC/Xbox One
"Ratchet and Clank"
Release date: Tuesday, April 12
Summary: Ratchet, the lone survivor of the Lombax race, must join forces with his robotic sidekick Clank on a quest to save the galaxy for the first time (again) in this "game, based on the movie, based on the game."
Why it's hot: Releasing just before the animated movie of the same name, "Ratchet and Clank" is a modern reboot of the first entry (circa 2002) in one of Sony's most beloved gaming franchises. In addition to graphics that achieve near-Pixar levels of detail, the game updates the gameplay with more intuitive aiming, new weapons and levels and over an hour of cinematics that include footage from the film, which is releasing April 29.
Age rating: E 10+ for ages 10 and up
Price: $40 Playstation 4
"Dark Souls III"
Release date: Tuesday, April 12
Summary: As the light of the world dwindles, the apocalypse is imminent. Do you have what it takes to survive the end while exploring a darkening land full of nightmarish horrors and untold dangers?
Why it's hot: Since the release of 2009's "Demon's Souls," From Software's "Souls" series of games has made a name for itself through beautifully Gothic visuals, creative multiplayer, immersive world-building and unforgiving difficulty. The third "Dark Souls" is the first official "Souls" title to release on the Xbox One and Playstation 4 and refines the series' tight gameplay with deeper attack options, more fluid movement and graphics that take advantage of the horsepower of the new systems.
Age rating: M for mature
Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
"Star Fox Zero"
Release date: Friday, April 22
Summary: Legendary space pilot Fox McCloud joins forces yet again with squad mates Falco, Peppy and Slippy as they attempt to save a planetary system from the clutches of an evil empire.
Why it's hot: For more than 20 years, the "Star Fox" series of space shooters has been one of Nintendo's flagship franchises. "Zero" offers a mix of the guided sequences from earlier titles with free-roaming missions courtesy of transforming vehicles that offer a mix of in-air and on-ground combat. Players can also see the game through an all-new cockpit perspective displayed on the Wii U's GamePad.
Age rating: E 10+ for ages 10 and up
Price: $60 Wii U
"Adr1ft"
Release date: Tuesday, April 26
Summary: Waking up in a suit leaking oxygen and with no memory of what transpired, an astronaut must navigate the wreckage of a destroyed space station, discover what went wrong, struggle to survive in the vacuum of space and, eventually, return home.
Why it's hot: Billed as a "first person experience," players witness the events in "Adr1ft" from the perspective of its marooned astronaut with only the interior of the suit's helmet and a pair of grasping hands to obscure the view. The tension is kept high through the need to solve puzzles and seek out clues while looking for floating containers to refill a constantly dwindling supply of oxygen. The intimidating vastness of space and the detailed wreckage are rendered in stunning detail with the Unreal 4 graphics engine. For early virtual-reality adopters, the game was designed to offer even greater immersion through devices such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Age rating: T for teen
Price: $20 PC (scheduled for release on Playstation 4/Xbox One by end of the year)
"Battleborn"
Release date: Tuesday, May 3
Summary: A collective of heroes of every description must join forces to save Solus, the last star in existence, from an evil that has snuffed out every other light in the universe.
Why it's hot: "Battleborn" is a first-person shooter with stylized, cartoonish graphics and a roster of two dozen playable characters of every description, from cyborg hawkmen to millennia-old barbarian warriors to sociopathic steampunk butlers. Developed by Gearbox, the makers of the popular "Borderlands" games, "Battleborn" fuses the team-based gameplay of a multiplayer online battle arena with a single player story mode that can be played solo. Experience points carry over between both modes and can be used to upgrade each hero.
Age rating: T for teen
Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
"Uncharted 4: A Thief's End"
Release date: Tuesday, May 10
Summary: Globe-trotting, roguish adventurer and ne'er-do-well Nathan Drake is called out of retirement by his long-lost brother, who asks him to take on one last quest in which the stakes are higher and more personal than ever before.
Why it's hot: Ever since 2007's "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" helped showcase the then-new Playstation 3, the "Uncharted" series has been one of the shining jewels in Sony's exclusivity crown. The series' finely tuned gameplay balances tactical, cover-based shooting, puzzle solving and cinematic storytelling. The fourth mainline entry in the series is the first on Playstation 4 and features stunningly rendered levels that include controllable vehicles and more freedom to explore than previous entries.
Age rating: T for teen
Price: $60 Playstation 4
"Doom"
Release date: Friday, May 13
Summary: Pop in a new clip and step into the boots of a space marine as he fights demons from the sterile confines of a Martian research facility to the shores of hell in this modern reboot of the series that popularized the first-person-shooter craze.
Why it's hot: Despite its lavish visuals, "Doom" is a shooter that takes its cues from the earliest entries in the genre it helped start. There are no regenerating health bars; no cover to hide behind. The gameplay is fast, fluid, unforgiving and gruesome, particularly the stomach-churning melee kills. After annihilating demonic hordes in single-player mode, gamers can jump online for multiplayer that is equally nostalgic to those who recall the quick pace and acrobatic movement of games such as "Quake III: Arena" and "Unreal Tournament." Players can also create their own maps using the intuitive SnapMap level creator.
Age rating: M for mature
Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
"Homefront: The Revolution"
Release date: Tuesday, May 17
Summary: Four years after the Korean military invaded the United States, they have lost control of the Western states but have refocused their hold on the Eastern Seaboard. In Philadelphia, the occupying force's new headquarters, the population is downtrodden and heavily policed, but an underground resistance is growing in strength.
Why it's hot: When it released in 2011, the original "Homefront" was praised for its atmosphere and storyline but panned for its short campaign. "The Revolution" offers a much less-constrained take on the original's guerrilla warfare by opening up the environments for exploration and letting players wander through the living, breathing urban landscape of occupied Philadelphia. Players must build their forces through recruitment, base building and by customizing improvised and captured weapons.
Age rating: M for mature
Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
"Mirror's Edge Catalyst"
Release date: Tuesday, May 24
Summary: Navigate the pristine white metropolis and oppressive police state of the city of Glass as Faith Connors, a member of an underground courier network pushing back against a Big Brother-like entity.
Why it's hot: 2008's "Mirror's Edge" was one of gaming's finest examples of first-person navigation, letting players run, jump and climb fluidly, using a movement style known as parkour, to traverse a beautiful, if austere, urban environment. The sequel focuses on the origin story of the first title's protagonist while opening up the city to player exploration - made easier through the use of various tools - and offering a deeper unarmed combat system.
Age rating: Rating pending
Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
"Overwatch"
Release date: Tuesday, May 24
Summary: Once considered to be humanity's saviours, the members of the Overwatch international task force lost their influence and eventually disbanded. A recent attack, however, suggests there may be need for humanity's protectors to lock and load yet again.
Why it's hot: Like "Battleborn," "Overwatch" is a team-based multiplayer game with stylized visuals and a deep cast of 21 heroes with wildly varying weaponry and abilities, from a robot-piloting waif to a cyborg ninja to a hotshot gunfighter. The latest project from the creative minds at "Diablo" and "World of Warcraft" developer Blizzard Entertainment, "Overwatch" emphasizes cooperation during matches. Heroes are classified into four broad roles - offense, defense, tank and support - and players can switch between them to suit the changing demands of 12-player battlefields featuring a variety of objectives.
Age rating: T for teen
Price: $60 PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.