Best Games of 2018

I'm back. I didn't play a ton of new games in 2018, partly because some of the ones I did play were pretty long. These are the ones I liked the most.

Best of 2018

8. Donut County (Multi)


In Donut County, you control a hole in the ground that can move around and grows whenever an object falls into it. Your goal is to get every object, plant, animal, and even building in the level to fall into the hole. Then you go to the next location and do it again. Sometimes there are some simple puzzles involving using something that falls into the hole to cause something else to happen in the level. It's simple stuff, but it works because its story that moves from a raccoon dropping stuff down a hole because he feels like it to an anti-capitalist mission statement is a lot of fun, and there's a simple pleasure to be gained from watching a bunch of stuff fall down an ever expanding hole.

7. Red Dead Redemption II (Multi)


Rockstar started the trend of open world games many years ago, and it's interesting to see how they ignore the conventions that have grown into place since then as they continue to pursue their own vision of what games can be. Red Dead II is both incredibly vast in it scale and amazing impressive in its minute details. Its story rarely draws outside the lines of what you've seen in Westerns before, but it also is an effective tale about the decline of the natural world and the futility of vengeance. I just wish I had a bit more fun playing it. The gunplay in functional but rarely exciting, and there are tons of complex systems and minigames to engage in but little apparent reason to do so. If the game was shorter I would be more favorable toward it, but after dozens of missions entailing little more than riding a horse somewhere to shoot some guys, it was over long after I was ready for it to be. It's easier to admire Red Dead II than to enjoy it.

6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)


Ultimate is the most I've played a Smash Bros. game since the Gamecube iteration, due to both the smart decision to bring back every playable character the series has ever seen along with a fun collection of newcomers, and the entertaining (and quite long) story mode. It involves hundreds of little battles against characters from all across Nintendo's history, with each one having its rules tweaked to invoke what those characters are known for. Winning a battle unlocks a "spirit" of that character, which you can equip to boost your stats or give you an extra ability or item in the next battle. The multiplayer also has a lot of fun options to keep it fresh, and the core fighting gameplay is rock solid. This really is the ultimate Smash game, at least until the next one.

5. Hitman 2 (Multi)


Hitman 2 keeps what worked about 2016's series refresh and expands on it. It wasn't episodic, but they kept the same structure, with each map being playable in any order and accessible for multiple different missions. You can even play the last game's levels if you have them as long as you are on the same platform. The main draws of course are the five new maps (really six, but the first is an underdeveloped tutorial), which are as huge, complex, and multi-faceted as anything they've ever done before. Each one is a small sandbox packed with entertaining, challenging, and occasionally surprising stealth gameplay. I hope the intended additional maps are just as good.

4. Into the Breach (Multi)


Into the Breach is a unique strategy game, one where you can't save and reload to test ideas, one where you can't lean on building up your units so they can always survive a dangerous situation. You control three mechs which are trying to protect buildings from gigantic invading insects. If buildings are damaged, the power grid weakens, and if it goes down you fail. Your mechs can't take a lot of punishment either, and if all three are destroyed, you fail. Failure means sending a single pilot (if one is alive) back in time to start the fight again from the beginning (though the missions and maps change each time). Your one advantage is that you know each enemy's move before they make it, giving you a chance to figure out the best way to counter it. Sometimes that means pushing an enemy so its attack does nothing instead of trying to kill it, or intentionally taking a hit on a mech to protect a more sensitive target. The better you play, the more you are rewarded, but starting over all the time means your best tools are your own knowledge of how the game works and how to respond to a given situation. I've only played enough to see the ending once, but I hope to play more and see more of what it has to offer.

3. Celeste (Multi)


Celeste is a very hard platformer about a young woman trying to climb a mountain that is both imposing in size and littered with interesting features, from an abandoned city to mysterious caves. Each level increases the challenge as it introduces its own unique features. You have to jump, dash, climb walls, avoid pits, spikes, and other hazards, and stretch your ability to juggle multiple concepts at once. The game is very fair with saving your progress, but demands high skill to finish. If you find it easy, there are unlockable levels that are even more challenging, and if you find it too hard, there are options to make it more manageable. It has slick pixel graphics, a great synth-heavy soundtrack, and a story that uses supernatural elements to explore depression, anxiety, and mental health in general. Opinions vary on how effective that part is, but I thought it mostly worked. Celeste can be tough, but getting to the end of a challenge is always satisfying.

2. Spider-Man (PS4)


Almost any superhero who's known for patrolling a neighborhood would work as a video game that copies the Batman: Arkham series' general structure, but Spider-Man is a particularly good fit, and also my favorite superhero, so it's not a surprise that I really liked this. Like the Arkham games, it depicts a Spider-Man several years into his career, who has already established his place in the city's culture, and has several friends willing to help him as well as several adversaries locked up in prison. I really liked the story, which does a good job of developing familiar characters in new but believable ways and balances multiple subplots and villainous encounters in the way a good long term arc in a comic book would. Swinging around Manhattan never gets old, and the combat is mostly exciting though a bit cluttered at times. The DLC chapters weren't great, but I'm looking forward to a full sequel as much as any game that's likely to come out in the future.

1. God of War (PS4)


I enjoyed the last couple God of War games more than a lot of people, but I definitely agreed that the series could use a shakeup. We got that and more with this quasi-reboot, which keeps Kratos' history but changes the setting and style of the gameplay dramatically. He has left mythological Greece for mythological Norse lands, raising a son named Atreus on his own after the boy's mother dies, as they go on a journey to scatter her ashes from a mountaintop. What seems simple quickly becomes complicated as they are attacked by strange monsters and pursued by gods native to the area. The early God of War games used a dead wife and daughter as easy character development, but the new game does more to earn the connection, with the story being about Kratos' difficult relationship with Atreus as much as anything. Bad parents are definitely a big theme in the game. The visuals are stunning, the music sets the mood well, and the game itself is as rock solid as anything released in years. Kratos' axe is both a well developed combat tool and puzzle solver, and the way the world slowly expands as you progress through the story and and pursue optional objectives is brilliantly done. On a fundamental level, this is the ideal of what a game studio can do with a huge budget.

Delayed Entry

This is the best game that wasn't released in 2018 but I didn't play until then.

Quadrilateral Cowboy (PC)

I really like Blendo's experimental first-person games, so seeing that style expanded into a full, satisfying experience is a treat. You go on heists with your trusty laptop, using it to control objects in the environment or your own gadgets to pull off scores without getting caught. You have to learn some simple coding to do it, but the experience is all the more satisfying because you have to do a little work. You often can't bring the laptop into certain areas, so you will have to think several steps ahead and time out commands to pull off some really clever tricks. For example, you have a sniper rifle that can push buttons from afar, and you can program it to shoot a button to let you through a door, wait until you reach the next one, then adjust its aim and shoot another button. I have rarely felt as cool playing a game as I did coming up with a plan and executing it in Quadrilateral Cowboy.

Game Update 17: DLC Round-Up 4

Surprised it's been over a year since I've done this. But I guess that happens when you don't buy any new games for almost a year.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood: The Da Vinci Disappearance

Review at Player Affinity

Costume Quest: Grubbins on Ice


This add-on to Costume Quest was roughly one third the length of the original game at one third of the price, which made it a nice way to extend the experience a little for fans. It takes place after the original and has a winter theme, though the gameplay is pretty much the same - you trick or treat until the area is clear, fight simple turn-based battles, find some collectible costumes and upgrades, and find stuff for people. The boss fight at the end was the most challenging encounter they've made so far, although it still wasn't terribly difficult. The ending teases more content on the way, though I suspect at this point it will be another stand-alone game rather than a small five dollar chunk.

Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing/The Sacrifice


Originally, the intention was to release The Passing for L4D2 and then The Sacrifice for L4D1, tying the two games together and killing off one of the original characters. The Sacrifice ended up also being released for L4D2 though, which allowed players of that game to play with the old characters using the equipment and enemy upgrades from the sequel, as well as starting the release of all the old content in the same way. So while the two campaigns are kind of short and don't add a whole terrible lot in terms of new twists on the series, they're still pretty fun and helped Valve experiment with new ways to roll stuff out to players. The online comic that preceded The Sacrifice's release was interesting as well.

Mass Effect 2: Arrival

Review at Player Affinity

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare


Pretty darn meaty for ten bucks, Undead Nightmare completely changes Red Dead from a western-themed shooter to a game all about scraping by against a horde of zombies. Ammo is limited, enemies charge at you in groups and only go down easily from headshots, and there isn't a lot of help to be found. You'll usually divide your time between doing missions to advance the lengthy and surprisingly funny story and rescuing and defending outposts from invasions, which is more fun than it sounds. Most DLC doesn't come close to changing the game as much as this one, and it's a lot of fun. There are a bunch of other supernatural extras like side jobs involving horses of the apocalypse and sasquatches. One of the best DLC packs for the money I've ever played.

Characters of 2010

People seemed to like my list of my favorite characters of the decade last year, so I thought it would be fun to keep it going with the best ones from 2010. Obviously, I don't have the perspective on these people that I did for most of the ones on the decade list, so I can't say for sure how many of them will really stand the test of time. All I can say is that these are the figures that had me most glued to the screen when they were involved, and when it comes to the ones that are still parts of ongoing series, I can't wait to see more of them. Again, these are in chronological order of their first appearance this year. And again, these are all men... but I blame this more on the number of strong female characters in male-focused entertainment than myself.

Abed Nadir
Danny Pudi - Community


"That's sort of my gimmick, but we did lean on that pretty hard last week. I can lay low for an episode."

Abed established himself early as Community's most entertaining character, although it wasn't until this year that I was sure it was more than just a gimmick. He sees himself as a supporting character on a TV show rather than a student at a community college, and while on one hand it makes him a strange and troubled man, on the other it makes him the only character who really knows what's going on. The way they play with that side of him provides some of the show's best comedic moments, but while he has some personality issues, he also has helped provide some of the series' best emotional content to date. The show would still be great without him, but it wouldn't be the same.

Harry S. Plinkett
Mike Stoklasa - RedLetterMedia


"Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is the worst thing ever made by a human."

Like Abed, the Plinkett character was created before 2010, and first came into the public eye near the end of 2009 with his review of the first Star Wars prequel. But 2010 was really the year of Plinkett, as he came out with new looks at the other prequels, Avatar, Star Trek, and even Baby's Day Out, establishing himself as the preeminent humorous pop culture critic on the Internet. The content of the reviews themselves are always great, but it's the addition of Plinkett's weird homicidal tendencies and unique way of phrasing things that puts them over the top.

The Eleventh Doctor
Matt Smith - Doctor Who


"Bow ties are cool."

I wondered how well the youngest Doctor ever would fit the role so well handled by David Tennant for the last four years, but I was sold by the end of his first scene in the season premiere. Smith's Doctor has a bit more range than the other two since the show came back, perhaps the wackiest version yet but also possessing a certain angry conviction when it's called for. He helped prop up a season that was solid but lacked any truly transcendent episodes.

Creighton Bernette
John Goodman - Treme


"This is Creighton Bernette from New Orleans. Yeah, we're still here. I just want to say something to all y'all trying to figure out what to do about our city: blow me."

John Goodman was never officially a part of Treme's main cast, but his character was key to its first season. Creighton is something of a mouthpiece for the creators to speak their minds about how Katrina was handled, but it's easy to look past that with how entertaining the performance is. And on top of that, the end of his character arc helped provide a real sense of weight to the end of the season that it had mostly lacked. I think he was essential to my perception of the show being as positive as it was.

Big Daddy
Nicolas Cage - Kick-Ass


"Oh, child. You always knock me for a loop!"

Hit Girl got all the attention because it's so crazy to see a young girl swear and kill people, but I honestly found her father to be a much more interesting character. Nic Cage basically plays Big Daddy like Adam West played Batman, and while his career is starting to feel like some sort of Andy Kaufman-level genius joke, I really enjoyed his work in this movie. His one big action scene was probably the highlight of the movie for me, and his odd personality both with and without the secret identity was a lot of fun.

John Marston
Rob Wiethoff - Red Dead Redemption


"I left the gang after the gang left me."

Red Dead Redemption had my favorite story in a game this year, and its protagonist was a big reason why. John is a complicated man, with a generally good heart, but prone to a lot of poor decisions that put him and his family in a tough place. He's a killer, but he's also a family man who cares deeply about his wife and son. He's a guy you'd always want on your side if the guns ever came out. And his easy charisma when dealing with anyone new helped keep things interesting. He could also be a real son of a bitch if you wanted him to.

Kale Ingram
Arliss Howard - Rubicon


"The way you live is disgusting."

The villainous Truxton Spangler became the focus as Rubicon's only season came to a pretty solid end, but Kale was the guy who kept the show afloat when it was still trying to figure out what it wanted to be. Even to the end you never really knew what side he was on, but he was a big help to protagonist Will while he was trying to navigate the treacherous waters he found himself in. There's just a cold badassness to him that you wouldn't expect from a calm intelligence analyst. And the show played his homosexuality like it was just a simple part of his home life, which I liked.

Louie
Louis C.K. - Louie


"You don't like rape? You don't? That's really weird because you know that you wouldn't even exist if your mom hadn't raped that homeless Chinese guy."

It's hard to say where Louis C.K. the actor ends and where his character on his self titled TV show begins, and I'm not even sure if that's a distinction worth making. Either way, Louis is possibly the funniest stand-up comedian alive, who also happens to be really great at portraying the simple reality of being a middle aged, divorced father of two in New York. Plus the occasionally journeys into his youth or psyche are usually fascinating and informative.

Eames
Tom Hardy - Inception


"You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."

The whole cast of this movie was excellent, but I don't think there's much argument that Tom Hardy was the breakout star, playing the team's "forger", which mostly meant he disguised himself as other people to manipulate the target. He had an enjoyable humorous banter with all the other characters and Joseph Gordon Levitt's Arthur in particular, and was also possibly the best action hero, basically single-handedly keeping the team alive when they got deeper into the nesting dreams-within-dreams they found themselves in. Definitely looking forward to more of his work.

Sherlock Holmes
Benedict Cumberbatch - Sherlock

"I'm not a psychopath, I'm a highly functioning sociopath. Do your research."

I almost don't want to watch or read any of the period Holmes stuff now, because the writing and performance of this modern day Sherlock was so good that it just seems like canon now. There's something very off-putting about Cumberbatch's know-it-all-ness and dismissal of anyone intellectually inferior to him (read: everyone), but he's just flawed enough that you love him anyway. Really looking forward to seeing how they expand on this interpretation of the character.

Richard Harrow
Jack Huston - Boardwalk Empire


"And then they'll tell us if we're normal or not. They're interested in what's in our heads so next time, we'll fight better."

There are a lot of interesting figures on this show, both historical and otherwise. But none were as immediately interesting and disturbing as the war veteran-turned-gun for hire with half a face played by Jack Huston. He grunts a lot and talks with a gravelly voice, and you hang on every word because you know he'll only say them if there's a good reason. We only got a few scenes with him in season one, but he figures to play a bigger part in 2011.

Rooster Cogburn
Jeff Bridges - True Grit


"I do not know this man."

I reject Cogburn as the film's main character, but not as its most fascinating one. It's again a mix of writing and performance, as the Coens used the novel to create a unique take on the grizzled old lawman archetype and Bridges breathed full life into it. Rooster drinks too much and he doesn't always follow the law exactly and he's probably killed more than a few men in cold blood. But he's still a force for good at his core, and what he goes through to see Mattie's job through the end is above and beyond the call of duty. An appropriate hero for a somewhat atypical western.

Best Games of 2010

2010 was almost a lost year when it comes to these lists, because for about two thirds of it I didn't have much spending money to actually check out new stuff. I ended up with some lists I'm happy with though, even if I would have liked to have some more candidates available to get on. This list of games is pretty heavy on the first part of the year when I was actually getting paid, but it was a strong enough period that I'm comfortable saying these are all definitely worth playing.

Best of 2010

8. Shantae: Risky's Revenge (DSi)


The download-only sequel to the Game Boy Color cult hit seemed to get into a lot more hands, if only because it was on a system people were actually still using. The game's not perfect - I wish it had been just a tad meatier in terms of truly compelling stuff to do, but the dungeons that are there are fun, the platforming is solid, and the art and dialogue are completely charming. A fun, quick adventure.

7. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Multi)


I don't know if Call of Duty purists will ever allow Treyarch to think they made a game better than what Infinity Ward could do, but they managed their strongest effort to date with Black Ops. The campaign managed to avoid most of the series' traditional pitfalls and had an enjoyable if completely over the top story leading you from gun fight to gun fight. And judging by the fact that my brother is still playing the online almost nightly, I'd say they did a good job with that part as well.

6. Costume Quest (Multi)


Much like Shantae, Costume Quest is a game that could have probably used more content but was still pretty delightful while it lasted. The combat was simple but rewarding, and the adventure elements were clever without being obtuse. Add Double Fine's continuing excellence in the field of funny dialogue that actually amuses, and it's certainly worth a download.

5. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Multi)


If this year was any indication, DICE is going to have a hard time ever making a game that really surpasses Call of Duty's stranglehold on the hardcore modern shooter market. But those who played it liked it a lot, both for the multiplayer which nicely translates the grand experience from the PC to a slightly smaller scale, and the campaign, which while a bit sloppy, is also in some ways a lot more interesting than the chain of scripted events that has come to define the genre.

4. Heavy Rain (PS3)


Heavy Rain is a very polarizing game, and for good reasons. If you don't like quick time events you'll never get into it, and the plot really goes off the rails by the end. But it's also amazingly well presented, the kind of thing that designers with respect for actual story structure could do a lot with. Heavy Rain provided some of the most tense and thrilling sequences I played through all year, and I didn't have to kill hundreds of people to do it. If nothing else, it's a very interesting game.

3. Darksiders (Multi)


Darksiders is a game I wish we saw more of, something that came out of a true place of creative inspiration (even if it was a silly one) rather than a board room meeting trying to figure out what the kids are into these days, while still having the look and polish of a large budget title. The combat was imperfect but enjoyable, and the puzzle-filled dungeons were some of my favorites in a game in years. There, you see? You can write about Darksiders without mentioning Zelda.

2. God of War III (PS3)


I was surprised to see a number of people recently express disappointment at how this game turned out. God of War has always been about pairing bloody, over-the-top hack and slash action with light puzzle solving and platforming in a pretty game engine, and this game's PS3-backed visuals and new twists on the old ideas meant that it did them better than ever before. What were they expecting? God of War III is awesome.

1. Red Dead Redemption (Multi)


Grand Theft Auto IV was acclaimed upon its release but then seemed to leave a lot of bad will behind afterward, which is why it was impressive seeing how many people said that Red Dead made up for it. It has the best shooting in a Rockstar game to date, and the setting is one of their best realized as well. Add a truly likable protagonist at the center of maybe their best story, and Redemption has a real case as the company's best game ever. Add the best ending all year, and it's a heck of a product.

Notable Exception

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Multi)

I started playing this last week, and while it sort of feels like just more of the second game, that game was also sort of awesome, so I'm having a pretty good time. I haven't played nearly enough of it to put it on the list, but the campaign's potential along with how interesting the multiplayer looks makes me pretty sure it would have made it if I had. I just hope they don't keep pumping these out and make it tiring.

Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption is sort of like the Bully of this console generation. It does the open world thing Grand Theft Auto does, and while the setting may be more niche than that series, there are some things it ends up doing better. It doesn't really have much to do with Red Dead Revolver, taking place decades later and sharing none of the characters. It's the story of John Marston, a former criminal-turned-farmer who's forced to track down his old gang members after the government takes his family hostage. It's possibly the best story I've seen in a Rockstar game, though it's not without its faults, mostly in how it sort of sags at a certain point when John's just letting a series of employers string him along in the hope that one of them will eventually help him find his targets. Really, the whole game is sort of about John being jerked around, but it works thanks to some really good characters, well produced cut scenes, and strong, memorable moments. The ending is one of the best I've seen in a game in a while, both emotionally resonant and interesting from a gameplay perspective. I like it whenever a developer manages to integrate an important event into the actual game somehow, providing a spin on the mechanics to provoke a reaction, and Redemption definitely does that.

The game's strongest suit is definitely its presentation. The voice acting is consistently good, with no real big names but plenty of competent people doing the work, and while not every drawn out conversation on the trail is a captivating one, they at least help sell the setting quite well. The music is excellent, both the sparse instrumental stuff that marks the normal flow of the game and the four real songs either written or rerecorded for the game specifically that mark integral points in the flow of the plot. And it's hard to oversell the way the game looks. For the most part, the people are only pretty good, not the best I've seen but distinct and not a problem. The animals are pretty impressive, especially the horses, which they clearly spent a lot of time working on the animation for and come out looking great. But really, it's the environments. Whether it's a swampy forest, a rocky desert, a windswept plain, or a mountain trail past a flowing river, the world you inhabit just looks fantastic. Any time of day too, and no matter the weather, with a perfect sunset looking just as impressive as a prairie thunderstorm.

And the game's plenty of fun too, for the most part. It takes a while for things to really get going in the story, as you spend a fair amount of time just getting used to the controls by doing things like hunting rabbits and herding cattle. But before you get too bored, it will be time to get to what the game definitely focuses on; riding your horse around and shooting lots of guys. And there sure is a lot of that going on. It's probably the best shooting Rockstar's had, with solid aiming controls and a generous auto-aim that's most helpful when you have to fend off bandits while riding at breakneck speed. There's a surprising variety of firearms, though my standbys definitely tended to be whatever the best revolver and repeater I had were. There's also shotguns and rifles and pistols and explosives, plus the lasso, which you can use to break horses, tie up lawbreakers, or just be a dick to people. At a certain point I pined for a bit more variety in the missions, because as you go on the focus becomes more and more on just killing a lot of guys, and while that was fun, I still like a break once in a while. They do a decent job of mixing it up at certain points, just not quite enough.

Of course, you can do things besides the main story if you really want variety. There's a ton of optional stuff in the game, most of which is worth checking out. The Stranger quests have you meeting random people in the world who give you things to do for them, and they're basically self-contained short stories that generally see you doing things a bit less violently. There's also challenges you unlock by simply doing things like going hunting or finding an herb, and are a decent distraction from the amount of time it takes to get around. I spent a lot of time actually working on unlocking various outfits (despite being mostly in love with the duster coat), which has you doing all sorts of things. And the various parlor games are totally functional and actually pretty fun, especially liar's dice and Texas hold 'em. I haven't really tried the multiplayer, though I'm not sure if it's really that interesting because I'm not sure the gunplay would hold up in a match against other players and I don't much see the point in tackling the gang hideouts without a story giving me a reason. In any case, Redemption is a nice meaty experience that should last you over twenty hours, and another contender for the best game released this year.