Johnnysworld

Alright. I promise I’m not going to be a Top 5 only blog, but after the list I made for 2017, I started thinking about what’s coming out next year. Needless to say, this might actually be the year I never leave my house.

1. Spider-Man

I’m a devoted Spider-Man fan. It feels like it’s been forever since Spider-Man 2 blessed the video game world in 2004 and was known as one of the greatest super hero games to date (at least to me).

After watching Batman catapult to video game success, I’ve been praying to the video game gods for a good a$% Spider-Man game. When I heard Insomniac Games is rising to the challenge, I cried. “A developer I can trust is going to show Spidey the love he deserves“.

Insomniac Games showcased footage of their upcoming title at E3 2017, and I cried some more. Clearly, you can see the similarity between the Arkham series and this title, but my counter argument is that Rocksteady clearly took elements from Spider-Man 2 with the Arkham series.

It just looks so freakin’ good *insert crying emoji*. The interesting part is there is no connection to the movie, so it’ll be cool to see what Insomniac does with the story. Insomniac also said that the world will be several times larger than that of Sunset Overdrive. Couple that with the promising web slinging mechanics, I might just buy the game and swing all the over the city instead of actually beating it.

Insomniac don’t be afraid to send me a demo or some way I can help test it out. Thanks ahead of time!

Spider-Man is expected to release in Q1/Q2 of 2018.

2. God of War

I’ve played every God of War game until my fingers have fallen off (they haven’t really). I played Chains of Olympus on the PSP so much you would’ve thought that it was the only game I owned. Kratos is one of my favorite “anti-heroes”. (Disclaimer: Spider-Man took the top spot because it’s been so long since a good Spider-Man game came out.)

When the trailer for the new God of War dropped at E3 2016, I got goosebumps. “Dang it’s been so long”, I thought to myself. Then they showed us gameplay, and it was a bit different than what we were used to. With influences from The Last of Us, Kratos is now “Dad of War”, and the game is now third person with a controllable camera. It still has everything that makes God of War so great; the violence, gory combat, stunning visuals. It just looks different.

I’m okay with the changes. The one that probably stings the most is the replacement of Kratos’ old voice actor (TC Carson) from the previous entries, but the new guy (Christopher Judge) sounds like a good enough replacement. The story is what really intrigues me as fans are uncertain if it’s a sequel or a reboot. This year’s E3 trailer contained elements of Kratos’ previous life so it might just be a flat out sequel.

God of War is scheduled to release sometime in 2018.

3. Far Cry 5

I’ve actually been a hardcore fan of the Far Cry series, but Far Cry Primal definitely did not hold me over. Far Cry 5 looks to itch that scratch, and bring the series to a modern day American locale with some classic crazy American warfare.

Part of what made me like Far Cry so much is the gameplay. Yes it’s hard to explain how your modern day guy can turn into Rambo when he wants to, but it’s so fun and easy to get into. So far, nothing we’ve seen looks new to the series; you still have your typical gun fights, sneaking around and assassinating bad dudes. It’s the typical Far Cry formula. One new feature introduced is the “Guns or Fangs for hire”, in which you can recruit people or animals to help you fight the bad guys.

What I do hope is that Ubisoft can give this formula new life, since fans are honestly quite sick of these vast open Ubisoft worlds containing “nothing” to do. The story looks like it may have a vibe similar to Far Cry 3, but only time will tell. Don’t screw this up Ubisoft.

Far Cry 5 is set to release February 27, 2018 on PS4, Xbox, and PC.

4. A Way Out

This list was almost an all PS4 games list (minus Far Cry 5), but I knew that wouldn’t be fair to you, the reader, so I found a couple of titles that are cross platform. When I saw this debut at E3 2017, I wasn’t exactly sure what to think. The game looks good, but what’s it about?

A Way Out tells the story of Leo and Vincent; two convicted criminals trying to break out of prison. The game is specifically made for split-screen or online co-op. Now, I don’t know how I feel about that, but what we were shown looks good. You must work with your partner to escape prison, and each scenario you find yourself in can be approached differently. One player can be stuck in a cutscene while the other moves about freely, one can distract the guard while the other takes him out or looks for tools, there’s a whole lot of approaches to help these guys bust out of jail.

There also seems to be more story to it, as each guy clearly has their own motives for breaking out of jail. If done right, this game could be a sleeper hit in 2018.

A Way Out releases early 2018 on PS4, Xbox and PC.

5. Red Dead Redemption 2

To be honest, this should’ve been higher up of my list. However, it’s been so long since I played Red Dead Redemption, it got bumped down. It’s also because there’s been rumors of a remaster, but with nothing concrete and the lack of backwards compatibility on PS4, I’m a little sour. Let me take a minute to get over it.

All right, now that I’m over it, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game I always used to tease my friend about. I’d always text him saying it’s coming out soon. The text I got from him when it finally came true was hysterical because we never thought it would actually happen. Kudos to Rockstar Games for making it a reality.

In my humble opinion, RDR is the best game Rockstar ever made. There are no details, as of now, about the game’s setting or gameplay, but it’s Rockstar. Have they ever done us wrong? (insert your personal answer here). Personally, I feel like they might delay it again. However, I’m intrigued about whether they continue the story of John Marston’s son or a completely new character.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is releasing in Q2 2018 for PS4, Xbox, and PC.

There’s my top 5 so far. This doesn’t even include the avalanche of titles that always seem to release around the end of the year. What are your top 5 for 2018? Let me know in the comments below.