The Best Upcoming Games of 2018
Forza Horizon 4
Platform(s): Xbox One, PC
Release date: October 2, 2018
Release date: October 2, 2018
Forza Horizon 4 looks to deliver
the same fun, open-world, photorealistic racing you've come to expect from
Playground Games, now with a heavy emphasis on the changing of the seasons. As
you cruise around the UK in all kinds of high-end rides, the roads and environment
will reflect seasonal conditions: icy pavement in winter, fall foliage in
autumn, light drizzles in spring, and so on. And in a first for the series,
Forza Horizon 4 is primarily a shared-world racing game, so the roads will be
constantly be populated by your fellow drivers. You're free to befriend,
challenge, or ignore them as you see fit, but there's definitely a push to make
Forza Horizon 4 a more social racing experience.
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
Platform(s): PS4
Release date: October 2, 2018
Release date: October 2, 2018
Even if
aren't familiar with the classic manga and anime Hokuto no Ken / Fist of the
North Star, you've surely heard one of its best lines: "Omae wa mou
shindeiru," or "You are already dead." It's the death knell for
any bandit thug who dares to cross Kenshiro, a martial arts master roaming a
post-apocalyptic wasteland in search of his lover. Ryu ga Gotoku Studio, the
folks behind Sega's fan favorite Yakuza series, are turning an alternate-canon
version of Kenshiro's journey into a very Yakuza-looking brawler - which is
practically a guarantee that it's going to be amazing whether or not you're a
longtime fan. Along with the option for full English or Japanese voiceovers,
our version in the West gets extra gore that was deemed too much for the Japanese
market, so you can really appreciate people's heads exploding like nitro-filled
watermelons after Kenshiro hits all their pressure points with a classic "ATATATATATA"
barrage.
Code
Vein
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: September 27, 2018
Release date: September 27, 2018
You'd be
hard-pressed to find a game that blends anime vampires, gothic horror, and grim
depictions of a metropolitan apocalypse than Code Vein, an intriguing new
action RPG from Bandai Namco. You and your AI-controlled partner will roam the
thorny, defiled wastes, slaying monsters and sucking up blood wherever you can
as you slice up enemies in familiar 'dodge, attack, disengage, repeat' fashion.
The enemy designs are Anime Bloodborne to a tee, with slime waifus and knights
clad in impossibly bulky armor, and it looks like there will be plenty of
cutscenes to help establish a sweeping story amidst all the action.
Assassin's
Creed Odyssey
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: October 5, 2018
Release date: October 5, 2018
If the
classic "This. Is. SPARTA!" kick didn't make it clear enough,
Assassin's Creed Odyssey takes the series to Ancient Greece circa 431 BC.
No matter which protagonist you choose - female Kassandra or male Alexios -
your story in Odyssey will be one of redemption after you're cast out of Sparta
as a child. There's a bigger focus on RPG elements this time around, with
collectible gear, dialogue options during cutscenes, ample combat abilities to
choose from, and multiple endings based on your choices. Naval exploration and
warfare also make a comeback, and you can now take part in massive
150-versus-150 battles in Conquest skirmishes.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox
One, PC
Release date: October 12, 2018
Release date: October 12, 2018
Treyarch is back with Call of
Duty: Black Ops 4, dropping you into near-future warfare rife with heavy
ordinance and intense shootouts (but without all the jetpack jumps and
wallrunning). A huge change for the series this time around is the total lack
of a single-player story campaign; in its place, Black Ops 4 will feature a
battle royale mode called Blackout (no doubt in response to the massive
popularity of Fortnite and the like). Multiplayer brings back the
unique characters and abilities of Black Op 3's Specialists, featuring a mix of
soldiers old and new, while the Zombies mode chronicles three time-traveling
adventures (now with AI-controlled bots if you want to play solo). Ditching the
traditional campaign is quite a gamble, so we're interested to see if Blackout
mode pays off or the dedicated COD playerbase prickles at the idea of lost
value. Black Ops 4 is also following in the footsteps of Overwatch and Destiny
2, as it'll be part of Blizzard's Battle.net platform on PC.
Battlefield 5
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox
One, PC
Release date: October 19, 2018
Release date: October 19, 2018
Battlefield 5 is taking the
series back to its World War 2 roots, with infantry, tanks, and aircraft
aplenty locked in combat across massive multiplayer skirmishes. Choose your
preferred class between Assault, Medic, Recon, and Support, then master your
role to turn the tide of battle one spawn location at a time. Veterans should
be aware of a few key tweaks this time around: now any class can revive downed
allies, so no more ignoring cries for help when you're getting your snipe on.
The classic spotting mechanic now highlights general areas rather than
individuals, encouraging you to seek out enemies yourself without immediately
flagging a target for death. And there's a strong focus on Squad play in
Battlefield 5, which rewards you for sticking with a designated group of men
and women (including your very own customizable soldier). As in Battlefield 1,
War Stories provide some single-player action, while the multiplayer does away
with the traditional Season Pass in favor of Tides of War, a system modelled
around Fortnite's Battle Pass featuring limited-time events.
Red
Dead Redemption 2
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One
Release date: October 26, 2018
Release date: October 26, 2018
Red Dead
Redemption 2 has a lot to live up to, so it's reasonable that Rockstar
Games wanted a generous amount of time to get this open-world, Wild West sequel
just right. Set before the first RDR, you're filling the cowboy boots of Arthur
Morgan, an outlaw in the employ of familiar villain Dutch van der Linde. Morgan
seems to be a rougher, thornier character compared to the stoic John Marston -
but we'll surely get to know him better across dozens of hours spent moseying
across quaint plains, hunting for wild animals (now with a new bow and arrow
combo!) in verdant mountain regions, and carrying out many a high-stakes train
heist.
Hitman
2
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: November 13, 2018
Release date: November 13, 2018
Hitman 2 sees
the return of expert assassin Agent 47, and though the series has switched
publishers from Square Enix to WB Games, it's still being developed by the
dedicated folks at IO Interactive. As always, there will be plenty of exotic
locales to explore, hilarious disguises to don, and high-value targets to
eliminate through ingeniously crafty or violently direct means. You simply
haven't lived until you've knocked out a guard with a coconut while wearing a
flamingo mascot outfit.
Fallout
76
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: November 14, 2018
Release date: November 14, 2018
First
things first: though Fallout 76 takes place in the same '50s-esque,
post-apocalyptic setting the series is known for, this isn't a new
single-player-focused story from the folks at Bethesda. Instead, Fallout 76 is
a shared-world survival game set in in the irradiated expanses of West
Virginia, 25 years after the conclusion of the Great War. You don't
necessarily have to play with
others, but they'll be out there, gathering resources, killing mutated beasts,
building their own encampments, and possibly even launching nukes from silos
found all around the map. Fallout 76 is reportedly four times bigger than
Fallout 4's map, and it'll be fascinating to see how players interact in a
Fallout that doesn't revolve around a single wasteland hero.
Just Cause 4
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox
One, PC
Release date: December 4, 2018
Release date: December 4, 2018
Rico Rodriguez returns to wreak more
open-world, physics-based havoc, this time in the South American wilderness of
the fictional Solis. Just Cause 4 still has the frenetic third-person
action you know and love, grappling hook and all, but the biggest addition this
time around is an extreme weather system that tears up the environment as often
as you do. Giant twisters and severe storms cause even more chaos in a
firefight, and you'll also get the chance to run wild in arid and snowy biomes
in addition to the South American jungle.
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