The Best Video Games of 2018

A console goes through growing pains when it launches. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One both debuted in November 2013. For the longest time, their biggest hits were remasterings of the prior generation’s best games, developed for the PS4 and the PS3, or for the Xbox One and the XBox 360. It felt as if they were holding themselves back from their true potential.

Yes, we've had PS4 exclusives and Xbox One exclusives since then, but 2018 will be remembered as the year that the PS4 and the Xbox One truly came into their own—when we experienced games that were really next-level, completely removed from the prior generation. We all remember that unreal Spider-Man trailer at E3 2017; many speculated that the footage was somehow doctored or enhanced. When we finally got to play the game, it lived up to its promise. There’s a similar story for Red Dead Redemption 2, which exceeded the hype around it.

And as for Nintendo? They’re doing just fine. The Switch has already established itself as one of the most successful consoles in gaming history. Forget third-party support; players buy Nintendo systems to play Nintendo games. And with the recent release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo has created a sprawling game that will keep their fans entertained for years.

Enough with the talk, though; let’s pick up the sticks: Here are the best video games of 2018.

Platform: PlayStation 4

Tetris is simple, yet addictive. Differently shaped, four-block puzzle pieces rain down from the sky, and you have to arrange them to form solid, horizontal lines. This game has been ported, rebooted, and reimagined on every platform imaginable, from the NES to graphing calculators to smartphones. But it’s never been reimagined quite like Tetris Effect.

There are multiple customizable modes to this game: Journey Mode takes you through 27 differently themed “levels” and is the closest thing Tetris Effect has to a single-player campaign. All Clear Mode asks you to use predetermined blocks to clear lines, jigsaw puzzle-style. There’s even a Relax option in Effect Mode, which dials the tension down with soothing music and background visuals.

The game’s main attraction is its beautiful visuals. Tetris is a game of the mind; Tetris Effect turns the sights of the game up a notch, giving you an exciting new experience.

Platform(s): Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the final game in a Lara Croft reboot trilogy, which began with Tomb Raider (2013) and continued with Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015). The first game was combat-heavy, which many Tomb Raider fans felt was antithetical to the puzzle-heavy franchise. Rise of the Tomb Raider was an even-handed split between puzzles and combat, and Shadow is the final step in Lara’s character arc. Combat is sparing and can almost always be done via stealth. The puzzles—ancient tombs laden with weights, counterbalances, pulleys, and booby traps—finally take center stage.

The reboot trilogy’s entire aim was to show the audience how Lara Croft became the woman (and the legend) we know her as. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, we finally see a mature, reflective Lara who acknowledges and takes responsibility for the danger she puts herself in. And now that Lara has her trademark cool exterior, a full-scale remake of Tomb Raider (1996) should be next on the to-do list.

Platform(s): Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC

When it comes to Call of Duty games, there are three groups of people. The first group complains that Activision is re-releasing the same game every year. The second group bemoans any change the developers make to a long-established franchise. And the third group? They’re too busy shooting each other with virtual rocket launchers to care what the other two groups think.

It’s hard to argue with 15 years of consistent, unprecedented success. The latest entry in the series, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, is also the first entry with no single-player campaign. Aside from a few contextual solo missions, the entire focus is on multiplayer. All the standard stipulations, like Team Deathmatch, are there, and there’s a brand new battle royale mode, Blackout, in which 100 players fight to the death until a sole survivor remains. It’s not going to dethrone Fortnite, but it’s a necessary addition to keep the franchise relevant to today’s players.

Platform(s): Xbox One, PC

A game with style to spare, Forza Horizon 4 celebrates the rush and thrill of driving—over a bumpy dirt road, through a dense, green forest, and across the English countryside. The single-player campaign takes you through all four seasons, with the cars gripping the road and drifting accordingly, in sun, rain, and snow.

You can also switch to manual driving and teach yourself to shift up and shift down for extra control, but most players will likely opt for automatic. This is a game where you’re supposed to chill; the developers went for feeling and an adrenaline rush, rather than heavy authenticity. You can even free roam, if you want to slow down, cruise, and explore your surroundings. You just might find you enjoy it as much as actually racing.

Platform(s): Playstation 4, PC, Nintendo Switch

Guacamelee! 2, like the original Guacamelee!, is what gamers refer to as a “Metroidvania” game. If you’re an old-school gamer who loved Super Metroid or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for their emphasis on exploration, upgrading, and backtracking, then you’ll love this.

DrinkBox Studios puts a Mexican spin on a classic side-scroller formula. You play as Juan, a luchador with the ability to switch from the land of the living to the land of the dead. With its tricky platforming, touching storyline, and self-referential humor—at one point, Juan destroys a car near a shipping dock, similar to the bonus round in Street Fighter II—Guacamelee! 2 is a hardcore platformer. It is not an easy game, but you get unlimited chances to get things right.

Platform(s): Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac

In retro-visual platformer Celeste, you climb a mountain by progressing through a number of single-screen puzzle levels. This is harder than it sounds; the game introduces new mechanics wordlessly, and you’ll have to use trial and error to figure out how they work. By the time you reach Chapter 4, and the wind is blowing you into the nearest pit or wall of spikes, à la Ninja Gaiden II, you’ll be ready to pull your hair out.

Lots of modern games are akin to interactive movies; they aspire to be Hollywood narratives, and they sort of play themselves, so long as you steer them in the right direction. Celeste, however, is a “game” in the purest sense of the word and tells its story through play instead of cut-scenes.

Platform(s): Playstation 4

Who knew that a change of scenery could revive a stale character to this extent? God of War (2018) is a soft reboot of Kratos. He’s no longer the Ancient Greek, turned-up-to-11 rage monster that we remember from the seven prior games. This is a more subdued, reflective, Norse-inspired Kratos who wants to teach his young son right from wrong.

It would have been easy for the developers to simply take the hack-and-slash conventions and mechanics of the previous games and have us fight trolls instead of Titans. But they went all in and revamped the entire look and feel of things. It’s open world, rather than “on the rails.” Instead of using a freewheeling, cinematic camera that swoops and zooms, this game fixes a static camera right behind Kratos’ shoulder. The Blades of Chaos have been replaced by a more appropriate battle ax, and Kratos’ son, Atreus (voiced by mid90s star Sunny Suljic), accompanies and fights alongside him.

Kratos has something to lose this time, and he has motivations beyond revenge. He grows and matures more in this game than in all the prior games combined, giving the player much more of an investment in this franchise than ever before.

Platform(s): Playstation 4

Spider-Man lives and dies by its swinging mechanics. Without them, there’s no point in having a video game about our friendly neighborhood web-slinger. For close to 20 years, ever since we saw Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man film in theaters, we’ve wanted a game that could recreate that freewheeling tone—that sense of weightlessness as Spidey swings from one building to the next, runs up walls, and makes impossible jumps through traffic.

This game delivers on that promise. You’re given a massive, open-world map of Manhattan, and you’re set loose to defeat Dr. Octopus, Rhino, Vulture, and other classic Spidey villains. Along the way, you can beat up small-time crooks and take photos of famous New York landmarks. You can also solve DNA matching puzzles on the smart pads in Peter Parker’s lab. Never have side activities been so simultaneously addictive and inessential; whether you do them or not is entirely your choice.

The aforementioned web swinging deserves special mention; it’s in a class by itself. Whether soaring above the rooftops of Manhattan, perching on the peak of the Empire State Building, or running up the Freedom Tower, you feel like a superhero. It's a power trip; as amazing as the rest of the game is, this one aspect is enough to keep you entertained for hours.

Platform(s): Nintendo Switch

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was made with confidence—with a cool bravado that says, “We know this formula works. We're building on it.” Ultimate is Smash rules, with Smash mechanics and Smash strategy. It’s also the best game in the franchise to date. Nothing prior has had this level of polish.

The new, main mechanics to know about are Spirits, which are collectibles that you acquire in World of Light, Ultimate’s single-player campaign. Spirits are collectible pictures of minor video game characters like Dan Hibiki (Street Fighter), Thwomp (Mario), and Bald Bull (Punch-Out!!). There are 1297 of them, and they provide buffs and immunity abilities to your fighter. You can also combine them to get a perfect storm of abilities and custom match them to counter your opponent.

The sheer amount of content is overwhelming. There are 74 playable characters (76 if you include the Pokémon Trainer’s different Pokemon), 103 stages, and over 800 songs. With the upcoming DLC, there’s more of everything on the way.

Nintendo has set an impossibly high bar and precedent for itself; any future Smash game will have to do everything Ultimate did, plus more. The game is so thorough, in fact, that it conjures a feeling of finality. Why make another Smash game, ever? Just continue adding to this one forever.

Platform(s): Playstation 4, Xbox One

There is no other game that deserves to sit in the top spot. With Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games has created an 1899 America that is intimidatingly detailed. It contains neither the cynical satire of Grand Theft Auto V nor its amoral mayhem. Red Dead Redemption 2 is its own animal: an unblinking, tragic tale of doomed men and women leading doomed lives, and a damning deconstruction of the Wild West mythology. What does it mean to be free? What does it mean to be part of a family? And what does it mean to be a man in a world that seems like it’s passing you by?

In retrospect, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the thematic opposite of Spider-Man. This is no vicarious power fantasy where you soar, unfettered, over the map like a miniature god. Instead, Arthur Morgan’s life is a series of dark-humored, karmic humiliations, one after the other. You’ll get kicked into the mud by an irritable horse. Muggers steal your money. People you trust betray you and put your life at risk. And no crime you commit ever goes well; you’ll have to shoot your way out, sometimes with little to show for it.

After finishing the storyline, things loosen up a bit. You can hunt down a vampire or search for Bigfoot. You can go into a house, find blood smeared all over everything, and piece together a murder mystery. You can search the night sky for UFOs. You can track down bounties, and bring your perps in dead or alive. And that’s not even including Red Dead Online, which recently launched its beta.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar’s first game built exclusively for the current generation of consoles, and it shows. The developers have given us a world to not only play in but to live in. And chop wood in. And tame horses in. And rob carriages in. And play blackjack in. And bathe in. The list goes on and on.