In looking to the near future of gaming (namely, the behemoth that is May’s gaming lineup), I am headed back to the past. In this case, I will be booting up the PS3 for the first time in a while to take on two heavy hitters: Half-Life 2, and the Doom 3 BFG Edition.

I have a bit of a gaming confession to make: I’ve never played a Doom game, and I’ve never played a Half-Life. I’ve seen the first Half-Life played all the way through (thank you Super Replay!), but I’ve always been super curious about the second one.

I am more and more excited for Doom next month and, to prepare, I thought I’d try out the BFG Edition, as I already own it for PS3. I’d like to have my Doom legs underneath me so I don’t go in completely unprepared.

I’m a bit behind for my games completed overall for the year (for anyone who doesn’t know, I’m aiming to complete 52 games this year, the equivalent of one per week). I’m only behind by one, as I’m sitting at 11 games completed so far in 2016. With all the smaller indie titles on my list for the month, I feel pretty good that I can get caught up.

Some of the games on that list are as follows:

Kholat (I will admit, this is at the top of my list)
Bedlam
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Tales From the Borderlands
Layers of Fear
Knock Knock
Far Cry Primal
Doki Doki Universe
Unravel

There are so many more, but those are the first batch that come to mind.

I currently find myself in an odd position of trying out various new things, and I’m hoping I can extend that to the games I play as well. I always love it when I try out a game I’m not sure I’m going to like, and then I end up loving it. I love when I can surprise myself.

Last month’s game challenge wrapped up nicely, albeit one game behind. I finished Saturday Morning RPG last week, and while it certainly made me smile here and there, it suffered a bit from repetition and lengthy amounts of backtracking. I did love all my options in battle being relics of the ’80s, though. I couldn’t not be amused by sending out brightly colored ponies from my fruit stripe gum, and of course I gained extra defense while putting on my karate headband. I just wish it had queued up “You’re the Best.”

Hey, you can’t have everything.

I’m also always grateful to get some use out of my PS Vita and the Cross Buy feature on the PS4.

Do you have a game challenge planned for April? If so, what’s on your radar? Are there any new releases this month that you are especially excited for? Or are you saving all your gaming dollars up for the onslaught of games coming in May?

Without any spoilers, do you have memories of playing Doom 3 or Half-Life 2? Any tips or pointers for me going in? I’d love to be as ready as I can.

Cheers, friends!