2017 is finally over, and 2018 is bursting with anticipation of all the new games it's carrying. You've probably still got many of the best games of 2017 still piled up in your backlog, but that doesn't mean you can't find a way to be hyped for what's coming up this year. With that in mind, these are the hottest games on the near horizon, from big-name AAA sequels to inventive indies and everything in between. Many of these games will be here before you know it - but we've also taken the liberty of including titles that likely await in 2019 or beyond, because we can't not think about them. Let the eager anticipation commence!
Shadow of the Colossus
Platform(s): PS4
Release date: February 6, 2018
Spruced-up remasters are commonplace these days, but Shadow of the Colossus on PS4 stands out for the sheer significance the original game. Often ranked highly among the best games ever made, this sweeping action adventure follows the lonely quest of Wander and his trusty steed Agro as they take down gargantuan stone beings who roam the land. The gameplay is largely the same, albeit with the option to use a new control scheme, but the visuals are (if you'll pardon the pun) a colossal improvement, with completely redone textures and character models replacing the now-muddy-looking textures of the PS2 original. Hopefully this PS4 remaster will retain all the magic of the original and modernize this masterpiece for anyone who missed it the first time.
steed Agro as they take down gargantuan stone beings who roam the land. The gameplay is largely the same, albeit with the option to use a new control scheme, but the visuals are (if you'll pardon the pun) a colossal improvement, with completely redone textures and character models replacing the now-muddy-looking textures of the PS2 original. Hopefully this PS4 remaster will retain all the magic of the original and modernize this masterpiece for anyone who missed it the first time.
Dynasty Warriors 9
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: February 13, 2018
If you're like me, you loved the mindless beat-'em-up action of the early Dynasty Warriors games, then slowly lost interest over time as sequel after sequel seemed to rehash the same well-trodden Three Kingdoms ground. But Dynasty Warriors 9 looks like a great reason for lapsed fans to pay attention and relive those one-warrior-army glory days. The biggest innovation here is the shift to free-roaming in a fully open world, where your soldier of choice seeks out enemy forces across an expansive virtual China. You can also opt to sneak up on troops for a stealthy approach rather than charging at them head-on. Those changes and more - like day-night and weather cycles that affect the AI’s vision - could make Dynasty Warriors 9 a potential series reinvention on the same level as something like Metal Gear Solid 5.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: February 13, 2018
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is like a historically accurate Skyrim - this large-scale, first-person medieval RPG takes place in a massive open-world devoted to the real-world history of Bohemia (no Rhapsody here). In some ways, it's even more hardcore, stripping away the HUD indicators and minimap markers you've probably come to expect from giant RPGs. And amazingly, quests and world events will carry on with or without you, adding a real sense of urgency to your hero's actions; stopping to chit-chat with every NPC could mean missing out on the melee battle of a lifetime. Kingdom Come's refusal to hold the player's hand sounds like a refreshing change of pace, and if the finished product can pull off the kind of grandiose living world suggested by our preview, it should be something special indeed.
Metal Gear Survive
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: February 20, 2018
Hideo Kojima's got absolutely nothing to do with this Metal Gear game, besides its reuse of assets built for Metal Gear Solid 5's Fox Engine - but there's reason to have an ounce of cautious optimism for Metal Gear Survive. This is a third-person multiplayer survival game, taking place in a strange alternate dimension(?) in which the many supporting soldiers on Mother Base suddenly find themselves swarmed by crystal-covered zombies. The production values and core gameplay are nowhere near the pedigree you'd expect from a Metal Gear game, but it's hard to go too wrong with co-op horde modes (complete with crafting and the ability to construct fortifications). At the very least, it'll probably be preferable to a tangentially branded pachislot machine from Konami.
Moss
Platform(s): PS4
Release date: February 2018
Rare is the VR game that ranks among our most anticipated games, but Moss and its adorable mouse protagonist are just that enchanting. Our story follows Quill, who must travel dense woodlands and ancient ruins to save her uncle from an evil presence - but you aren't controlling her alone across this action adventure. Your physical VR presence also acts as its own character: a guiding spirit that can solve puzzles and open up new pathways for Quill using magic abilities. If you loved reading the rodent heroics of the Redwall books growing up, playing Moss should feel positively magical.
Sea of Thieves
Platform(s): Xbox One, PC
Release date: March 20, 2018
Who doesn’t love pirates? The swashbuckling, the loot, the rum, the fabulous hats - most of us have at one time or another wished we could leave our world all behind and run away to sea. The time has come to live out that dream and to bring friends along for the ride. Sea of Thieves is Rare's latest, with first-person pirating (the fun, family-friendly kind) full of cooperative crewmates collaborating in the pursuit of treasure. Competitive types can also try to rule the seas by battling (and ideally sinking) other players' ships.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Platform(s): PS4
Release date: March 20, 2018
Sega's irreverent, thoroughly Japanese answer to the open-world criminal hijinks of GTA has quite the cult following, and the fanbase has ballooned in recent years with Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is just another instance of Westerners getting the latest in the series long after Japan, but no matter - if you're a Kazuma Kiryu devotee, then any wait is worth it. As always, the dramatic story of Kiryu's escapades amid Japan's criminal underbelly is just part of the picture, because you can spend dozens of hours messing around with the many ridiculous and/or deep minigames available on the side. Play baseball, sing karaoke, make friends at a hostess club, go spearfishing, take loving care of babies and cats - there's so much more to the virtual life of this former gang member than just bare-knuckle brawling.
A Way Out
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: March 23, 2018
Now you can experience your very own Shawshank Redemption courtesy of A Way Out, a co-op only jailbreak story written and directed by the mind behind the affecting puzzle adventure Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Whether you're playing with a partner on the couch or online, A Way Out is always played in splitscreen co-op, as inmates Leo and Vincent begrudgingly work together to bust out of prison and reclaim their freedom. The persistent splitscreen presentation creates some intriguing opportunities for teamwork; for instance, one player might be locked in a cutscene, while the other can freely move about, planning the duo's next move or viewing critical story scenes from a different perspective.
Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom
Platform(s): PS4, PC
Release date: March 23, 2018
With its beautiful, Studio Ghibli-inspired art direction, Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom is unmistakable, and it looks like the sequel iterates on the original's gameplay in all the right ways. Ni no Kuni 2's RPG action is more Pikmin than Pokemon: instead of controlling individually collected Familiars from the sidelines, your party members Evan, Roland, and Tani are always in the thick of each real-time fight, assisted by a horde of cutesy elemental creatures called Higgledies. Though the events once again takes place in the parallel realm of Ni no Kuni, this story has a much grander scope than the first, as the deposed young king Evan endeavors to reclaim his kingdom of Ding Dong Dell after a hostile takeover.
Far Cry 5
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: March 27, 2018
Far Cry 5 won't take place in some exotic far-off region like Far Cry 4's Kyrat, or an ancient history setting as in Far Cry Primal - it'll be bringing its first-person mayhem to the US of A. The fictional region of Hope County, Montana is thrown into disarray by a cult known as the Project at Eden's Gate, led by the charismatic Father Joseph who advocates religious fanaticism and militia-style stockpiles of high-powered firearms. As Hope County's newest deputy sheriff, you'll have to band with the unturned townsfolk to take down Eden's Gate in the most chaotic ways possible - including aerial dogfights and bombing runs in a pilotable plane, or vicious takedowns using pitchforks, sledgehammers, or trusty animal companions, to name a few options.
Agony
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: March 30, 2018
There's a pretty easy way to figure out if the first-person horror of Agony is for you: can you stomach the sight of virtual babies being smashed into bloody stumps? If you answered 'yes', then you're just twisted enough to enjoy this harrowing trip through Hell itself. You're a tortured soul seeking out the Red Goddess, the so-called ruler of the underworld, in a desperate bid to escape eternal suffering. To do so, you'll need to fearfully sneak past demons in your meek human form as a feeble Martyr - though later on, you can possess them and use their terrible powers to your own ends.
God of War
Platform(s): PS4
Release date: April 20, 2018
Having torn the Greek pantheon asunder, Kratos (now sporting a scruffy beard) has set his sights on a new mythology to conquer: Norse. The fourth main entry in the legendarily brutal PlayStation series - God of War - drops the numbering and looks like it'll force Kratos to control his endless rage, as he raises his young son Atreus to become a hardened warrior. Don't worry, you'll still slay plenty of fantastical creatures along the way, using Kratos' new lightning axe main weapon - but expect a lot more character development and quieter moments in between all the carnage.
Nintendo Labo
Platform(s): Switch
Release date: April 20, 2018
Nintendo has always excelled at innovation, but this is the kind of inspired design that no one saw coming. Part cardboard construction kit, part peripheral-centric gaming made possible by the advanced sensors in the Switch's Joy-Con controllers, Nintendo Labo has you building your own peripherals (called Toy-Cons) to play a variety of unique games designed for your newly made device. It's a simple-but-brilliant concept, evoking fond memories of putting together Lego sets, and is sure to delight any aspiring engineers in your life. While the prices to pre-order Nintendo Labo do seem a bit steep, building the means of play is part of the fun - and it looks like we won't have to worry about the kind of limited supply issues that plagued amiibo and NES Classic stocks in the past.
Wargroove
Platform(s): Switch, Xbox One, PC
Release date: Early 2018
It seems Nintendo isn't about to revive Advance Wars any time soon; thank goodness developer Chucklefish stepped up to the plate to bring back turn-based strategy featuring delightful GBA-style sprites. The overworld map and battle animations perfectly mimic the charming aesthetic of the Advance Wars series, set in a high fantasy world full of knights, dragons, skeleton dogs, and witches. As one of 12 unique commanders, you'll wage war over land, sea, and air to establish dominance over the map, one little square space at a time. With online and local multiplayer for up to four players, custom map creation, and loads of adorable unit types, Wargroove's got everything an Advance Wars fan could ask for.
Days Gone
Platform(s): PS4
Release date: Early 2018
If you think zombies have been done to death, well... you're right, but that isn't stopping the PS4-exclusive Days Gone. The enemies in this open-world post-apocalypse aren't technically undead - the so-called 'Freakers' are actually infected humans who have gone feral and seem eager to devour our hero Deacon (voiced by and modeled after Sam Witwer, who you might recognize as Starkiller from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed). What really sets the Freaker horde apart is just how many can be chasing you at once; there are times when they're practically flooding out of the environment, and all you can do to survive is simply run.
Crackdown 3
Platform(s): Xbox One, PC
Release date: Spring 2018
In Crackdown 3 you’re a super-cop in an open-world city, using your powers to fight crime and smash the whole place up in the process. While there’s still a story campaign to tackle, the online co-op for up to four players is where it's at, letting you and your Agency buddies tear up this futuristic metropolis in chaotic style. You'll be leaping between buildings using your jumpjets in one moment, then raining down high-tech bazooka missiles onto any poor criminals the next. The addition of Terry Crews as a playable character is the perfect cherry atop this city-obliterating sundae.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One
Release date: Spring 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.
Detroit: Become Human
Platform(s): PS4
Release date: Spring 2018
As is the trend nowadays, Detroit: Become Human is a choice-driven adventure revolving around androids achieving sentience. Remember the Kara tech demo Sony showed off years ago? She's back as one of three playable androids in a futuristic Detroit, along with detective 'bot Connor and the aspiring revolutionary Marcus. It’s a game of staggering ambition - it took David Cage two years to write the script, and hundreds of actors have done mo-cap work for it.
Vampyr
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release date: Spring 2018
The last great vampire-centric game was Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines, and that cult classic debuted way back in 2004 - but soon enough, Vampyr should sate our bloodlust and fill that vampiric void. Made the eclectic studio Dontnod, developers of Remember Me and Life is Strange, Vampyr casts you as the recently fanged Jonathan Reid in the Victorian-style streets of 1918 London. You have the option of roleplaying Reid as London's savior, using the doctor's powers of healing to find a cure for a deadly flu epidemic, or a sinner, hunting human prey under cover of night and serving only your eternal thirst. Hopefully, Vampyr will play like a Dishonored game starring Dracula.
State of Decay 2
Platform(s): Xbox One, PC
Release date: Spring 2018
If The Walking Dead has taught us anything, it's that forging bonds between survivors and building up a community is essential to surviving the zombie apocalypse. State of Decay 2 takes those values to heart with co-op for up to four players, provided you all agree to work together instead of backstabbing one another for precious supplies. To build up your customizable encampment, you'll need to scavenge on foot or four wheels, splattering the skulls of countless undead along the way. And if someone's unfortunate enough to get bitten, their allies will have the tough choice between curing them with a limited supply of medicine, or ending their impending suffering with a bullet to the brain.
