Top Five Games of 2018

A lot of fantastic games have come out in the year of 2018! The gods of gaming truly smiled upon us with all of the great releases on every single platform! We wanted to take a moment to chat about five of the best games to come out this year!

God of War

Many years have passed since Kratos took his vengeance against the Olympian gods, and he now lives with his young son Atreus in ancient Norway, in the realm of Midgard. The game opens following the death of Kratos’ second wife and Atreus’ mother, Faye, whose last wish was for her ashes to be spread at the highest peak of the nine realms. Before starting their journey, Kratos is confronted by a mysterious man with godlike powers. After seemingly killing him, Kratos and Atreus begin their journey.

God of War is the game that caused so many gamers to refer to each other as “BOY” for months! Armed with a dope beard and sweet axe, Kratos once again is forced to go on a killing spree through a new pantheon, this time it’s Norse mythology. He’s also forced to make this trek alongside his son, which Kratos seems to constantly forget is his son and not just some subordinate. Many gamers praised the gods because of how incredible it was for not only its game play, but also story line, and character development. This game was so good, in fact, it won game of the year at The Game Awards, this year, in addition to 2 other awards, and 5 other nominations. Watching this hardened killer showcase his affection for his son, in his own dysfunctional way, was sweet. Also, I was thoroughly impressed by the attention to detail and accuracy put into the Norse mythology. We can’t stress this next point enough: this is a game worth buying an entire console for. Right, did we mention this game is exclusive to PlayStation? Don’t worry, it’s not the only award winning exclusive to that console, as you’ll see later on in this article.

Red Dead Redemption 2

After a botched ferry heist in 1899 results in the deaths of several members, the Van der Linde gang flees Blackwater, forced to leave behind their substantial money stash. Realizing that the progress of civilization is ending the time of outlaws, the gang decides to gain enough money to escape the law and retire. They rob a train owned by Leviticus Cornwall, who responds by hiring Pinkerton Agents led by Andrew Milton to apprehend them. The gang perform numerous jobs and heists, as Dutch continually promises that the next heist will be their last.

Do you like indiscriminately murdering and stealing from people, all while only having to shell over a couple measly dollar bills as penance? If so, then Red Dead Redemption 2 is the game for you! If you answered, “No; murder is wrong,” please move onto the next game in this list about a pleasant local arachnid person. This is a game that let’s you “do it all.” It’s hard for someone of my play style to get through a main story line when I’m given near infinite options. So, I can’t attest to the main plot all that much, but the exposition is more then enough to hook you, and the random encounters and side missions are so well written. It’s a game that knows what it’s doing and how to keep you immersed. This game has also blown up enough to be part of some of the new South Park episodes. It’s just as addicting as Skyrim was when it first came out. Good luck balancing placing this game while sufficiently maintaining any other facet of your life.

Marvel’s Spider-Man

Peter is in his eighth year of crime-fighting under his super heroic alter ego of Spider-Man, who has become highly experienced at this point, but struggles to balance his superhero and personal lives. Marvel’s Spider-Man is an open world action-adventure title that allows the player to control Spider-Man throughout Manhattan, New York City. Spider-Man fights enemies with his brawler moveset and a wide array of web gadgets. At key points in the story, the player also controls Peter Parker (outside of his Spider-Man identity), Mary Jane Watson, and Miles Morales.

Marvel’s Spider-Man is one of the strongest competitors on this list. It’s everyone’s favorite wall crawler with just a pinch of newness that we needed. The traversal system in this game is solid enough to make Assassin’s Creed free running look like QWOP. And the story is a fantastic balance of seriousness with the levity we’re used to when Spider-Man is involved. One aspect that everyone seems to be really digging in this installment, is the fact that you can change up the suit of your friendly neighborhood spider. At the time of writing this, there are 37 different suits you can choose to slip into, most of which come with unique suit powers. Our very own Tony and Rob are currently working on “Platinuming” this game. This game being another PlayStation exclusive helped Sony have an amazing year.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Smash is good.

Smash is life.

Detroit: Become Human

A spiritual successor to the studio’s 2010 game Heavy Rain, Detroit puts players in the role of three separate protagonists as their stories, which can have numerous branching paths and multiple endings, intertwine into one overall narrative. Along with third-person exploration of their character’s surroundings, players converse with timed dialogue trees and use specific button/joystick/tilt prompts for actions.The story is set in near-future 2038, taking place in Detroit, Michigan (which has become the central hub for the development of realistic androids by the Cyberlife Corporation). As the subservient androids are mysteriously becoming fully sentient, players control three androids as they become involved in an android rebellion.

Detroit: Become Human is the latest installment of stories from David Cage. This means the game is graphically stunning, with a compelling story, that is sometimes heavy handed with its satire. Nevertheless, if you want a game that gives you your money’s worth, few games compare to Detroit. The massively branching choice/consequences trees make this a game you actually want to play again to see all the different options available to you. It’s also worth noting that this is the third game (of the five total games in this article) that’s a PlayStation exclusive. 2018 has absolutely been Sony’s year.