#1 Red Dead Redemption II
The long awaited third entry in the Red Dead series frankly blows the mind when it comes to developer craftsmanship. Immersive, engrossing and an impressively tangible world.
#2 Remothered: Tormented Fathers
While the indie resurgence of survival horror has ended up in a rut of first person drawer opening sims and hamfisted PS1 throwbacks, Stormind Games strives to be far different and a lot classier. With hints of titles such as Haunting Ground and the sprawling environment of the original Resident Evil, the game has atmosphere, tension and just the right sprinkling of smart gameplay loop to make sure you don’t tire of memorising the rooms and hallways. Great stuff.
#3 Dead Cells
In a time where everyone and their mother is throwing their hat into the MetroidVania ring, Dead Cells manages to effortlessly pop its head above the crowd and stand out as one of the best examples of the genre from any era. Colourful, lively, creative and engaging.
#4 Monster Hunter World
As a longtime fan of the series, it’s great to see this franchise finally break out and be embraced widely.
#5 Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
Sure, Street Fighter seems like an odd choice for a best of 2018 list, but this really is a stellar set. 12 SF titles, including the rarely ported original game and III, all in one polished package… what’s not to love?
#6 Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon
While we patiently wait for Igarishi to add the finishing touches to Bloodstained Ritual Of The Night, his collaboration with Inti Creates feels like anything but a stopgap quickie to tide the fans over. Gleefully sticking to the NES 8-bit Castlevania vibe of old, this is an excellent throwback blast.
#7 Fist Of The North Star: Lost Paradise
THIS wacky thing. Sega’s take on the manga and anime borrows from its Yakuza series as a template, and leaves us with a ludicrous, infectious slice of beat ’em up RPG where the only thing odder than curing blindness with a tap on the forehead is the minigame where you use your apocalyptic fists to become the finest bartender in town.
#8 Strange Brigade
Rebellion’s utterly infectious Left 4 Dead style shooter, with a bizarre early 20th century boys own adventure movie style. It’s the most outrageously British thing you’ll ever play.
#9 Forza Horizon 4
Although Horizon 4 didn’t reinvent the driving game genre, it managed to do its thing in such a smooth, free flowing way that it’s hard not to get swept up in roaming across the English countryside with near free reign. A joy to coast around in.
#10 Vampyr
This one split players completely down the middle on release, but for me this just worked. Set in turn of the century London, it’s an RPG with combat elements and has you as the protagonist choose whether your time there is spent being malevolent or benevolent. The combat to be fair is functional rather than exceptional, but the real meat of the game is the surprisingly robust NPC interactions that, once you start interacting with the city folk, really open the game up more than I anticipated. Add to that the well realised depiction of fog drenched old London, this is one that just spoke to me despite niggles.
