2018 is here, and with it comes a year slated with many games announced at past conferences that have some concrete and others no so concrete release dates. While it was a tough choice to narrow it down, here are our picks for the 20 Most Anticipated Games of the coming year.
20) A Way Out
One of the most anticipated titles of 2018 goes to A Way Out. With the rise of coop games, A Way Out is directed by Josef Fares, the man behind Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, which told a poignant story with unique mechanics. A Way Out offers not only a mesh of Prison Break but uses split screens with different stories told individually from the point of view of each of the characters, making both experiences unique and each having their own specific personality. It promises online and local coop, which makes it even more interesting.[/nextpage]
19) Agony
Agony is a first person survival horror game developed by Madmind Studio. You play as a tormented soul in hell without any past memory. With some special abilities such as possession and control, you need to make your way through the hostile environment of the depths of hell to find an escape. Atmospheric and visually stunning, the first gameplay of agony shows off a game packed with skin-crawling horror into a brutal unknown. Agony is set for release on March 30th, 2018.[/nextpage]
18) Code Vein
Developed by Bandai Namco Studios, Code Vein blends Japanese anime with the action role-playing genre in the veins of Dark Souls to create this game set in a dark post-apocalyptic world where the Earth is infested with the ‘Lost’ and the characters you play are vampires in a time when blood is depleting. So far we’ve seen both gameplay trailers and story trailers and its looking like a promising premise with action-packed and probably very challenging battles (if its anything like Dark Souls).[/nextpage]
17) The Wolf Among Us: Season 2
Telltale Games has been conquering one pop culture franchise after the next the last few years with Batman and Guardians of the Galaxy both getting their own Telltale treatment. Everyone wonders what happened to the earlier titles like The Wolf Among Us or Tales from the Borderlands and whether they’ll get a follow-up. No doubt, the announcement of Season 2 of The Wolf Among Us has been one that many fans have been waiting for. It isn’t surprising especially since this is based on a great comic series, Fables packed with fairy tale characters with their own twist mixed into a detective suspense story. The first season had everything you’d want from action sequences to strong sequences and incredible style. Suffice to say, this long awaited follow-up is an anticipated title for a lot of Telltale fans next year.
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16) Vampyr
Dontnod Entertainment has seen a lot of success with Life is Strange and last year, even announced Season 2 of Life is Strange officially in development. With that said, 2018 sees them tackling a different genre and story with Vampyr. Set in London in the Victorian era, we play as a newly turned vampire, Dr. Jonathan Reid who struggles between trying to save lives and find a cure for the flu ravaging the city while also fulfilling the Vampyr’s need to feed. Much like their debut title, Vampyr is choice-based however, it is primarily an action role-playing game. Vampyr is set for release in early 2018.
Check out our thoughts on Life is Strange HERE.[/nextpage]
15) The Last Night
There hasn’t been a lot on this upcoming Odd Tales game since E3 2017 conference, however, everything in this game meets everything we love. Cinematic platformer? Check. Sci-fi thriller? Double check. Cyberpunk and futuristic? We’re starting to see heart icons float around our heads. The style here looks great and screenshots look appealing. We’re not only anticipating the game coming out but also hopefully some gameplay reveals to get a better idea of what The Last Night has in store. [/nextpage]
14) Fe
Every since Fe was announced in E3 2016, we’ve had our eye on this little game. Finally, there was more to show for it this year and it is still held our interest. The color palette for one is striking. Its game plays with music and nature as well as a creatively designed creature. It feels both filled with creativity and a beautiful setting. With the footage released recently, we’re not too sure about how the mechanics will feel on the long run however, we’re hoping that it’ll deliver successfully and meet our expectations.[/nextpage]
13) Florence
Mountains Games debut their studio with a promising team including the lead game designer of Monument Valley with this mobile game to launch in the App Store in 2018. Florence tells the story of a 25-year-old young lady called Florence and her love story, both ups and downs with musician Krish. Short, emotional journeys are perfect for the mobile platform and the premise of this one and where they draw their inspirations make this one seem very promising.[/nextpage]
12) Nite Team 4
Alice & Smith has built an incredible community set in an Alternate Reality Game with The Black Watchmen, which has seen 2 seasons and a few DLCs which take you into an immersive world of investigation and mystery. However, the correct term for this world they build in each of their games is PARG, a Permanent Alternate Reality Game which blurs the lines between reality and fiction as in order to solve the investigation or puzzle, you will have to research online in existing information to solve what is in this fiction story. NITE Team 4 is their latest branch of The Black Watchmen world that ventures into cyberwarfare as it dives in military hacking simulation, which is currently in their closed beta phase and even caught the eye of some investors to put into a few hundred thousand dollars to further improve it. Suffice to say, if its as immersive and engaging as their previous titles in this world, this is one that will occupy many hours of our lives in 2018.
Check out our podcast interview with Alice & Smith game designer HERE.[/nextpage]
11) Spider-Man
2018 is already shaping up to be a fantastic year for Playstation especially when we look at their exclusives, with this title alone we are predicting being the one which will see some gamers picking up the console just to play it. Certainly from the demo we saw at E3 this year it was more than enough to get us more than excited to play this when it’s released especially when its currently promising to do for Spider-Man what the Arkham games did for Batman.[/nextpage]
10) God of War
While the previous installments of the series might have focused on Kratos slaughtering his way through Greek mythology, this soft reboot for the series will see the focus shift to Norse mythology as Kratos trades in his blades of chaos for a magical battle axe known as the “Leviathan Axe” while also being joined by his son Atreus. Certainly everything we’ve seen so far has this marked out as another exciting adventure.[/nextpage]
9) Skull & Bones
Since the naval battles of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag proved such a highlight for gamers it was really only a matter of time before Ubisoft built a game around these sections, which is essentially what we get here. Players will not only have the option to customise their pirate ship as they play through the single player campaign but will also have the ability to team up with five players to either Ally or battle against for domination of the Indian ocean.[/nextpage]
8) Detroit: Become Human![]()
A highlight of the recent Playstation Experience this much anticipated release from Quantic Dream as you play a trio of androids in this neo-noir thriller set in a near future version of Detroit. Certainly everything we have seen has only added to our excitement for this release with the multi branching character arcs being shaped by the decisions made by the player.[/nextpage]
7) Metro Exodus![]()
While the Metro series might not have always received as much love from the first person shooter fans as it perhaps deserved, this third installment based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels certainly caught our attention with its mixture of exploration and shooter elements set in a post-apocalyptic Russia, not to mention the fact that it looks stunning means that this could be the breakout release for the series.[/nextpage]
6) Concrete Genie![]()
Visually breathtaking as it is inventive with its unique style of puzzle gameplay, set against the backdrop of a touching coming of age tale as players take control of a bullied young boy called Ash with the power of bringing his drawings to life. Certainly the drawing mechanics have us most interested for this title as players have the ability to sketch and bring their creations to life while using the ability to aid their progress as they collect Ash’s missing diary pages to unlock more areas of his home town. [/nextpage]
5) Soul Calibre VI![]()
Fittingly the game’s release in 2018 will tie into the 20th anniversary for the franchise and while its previous installment wasn’t a bad game, instead suffering from not being able to better the high bar set by the fantastic Soul Calibur 4. Needless to say from what we have seen so far which essentially was a fight demo as well as the tease of a new character with a double bladed sword all this plus the possibilities provided by a more powerful platform this certainly has us excited to see the return of the franchise next year.[/nextpage]
4) Darksiders 3![]()
Another series that frequently comes up when we talk about under the radar games, this third installment will once again feature a new protagonist in the form of Fury, the sister of horseman of the apocalypse War as she sets out to destroy the seven deadly sins.[/nextpage]
3) Days Gone![]()
While the zombie genre might be overworked at this point but Days Gone actually seems to be trying to do something different from the lust forest surroundings to the multiple paths Deacon can take to achieve his goals this is another title which looks set to make it a fantastic year for PlayStation.[/nextpage]
2) Far Cry 5![]()
Moving the action away from more exotic locales to Hope County, Montana this latest addition to the popular franchise will see you this time battling to liberate the rural town of Falls End from the grasp of the gun-hoarding cult at the centre of all the promotional material.[/nextpage]
1) Red Dead Redemption 2![]()
The prospect of a new game from Rockstar Games is always a tantalising prospect and certainly this is the sequel that the fans of the original game have been clamouring for. Needless to say after seeing the expansive world of GTA V combined with power of the 8th gen consoles mean that there is plenty to be excited about, especially with Rockstar promising a larger world to explore even pushing the game back from a 2017 release to the second quarter of 2018 only adding to the anticipation for the games release.
This wraps up our 2018 most anticipated game releases. Which titles are on your list?[/nextpage]