Shacknews Top 10 Games of the Year 2018

Another amazing year in video games is coming to a close, which means it is time for Shacknews to count down our Top 10 Games of the Year 2018. Each staff member submitted their top ten games and we are including the collective list from our Chatty community as another ballot in our vote. These votes were made outside of all of our other awards this year. This was a year full of all sorts of games that appealed to players, and our vote definitely reflected that. Nearly 50 games were nominated across all of the votes, but we have narrowed it down to the Top 10 Games of the Year 2018. Please take a look at our video, or read along underneath the video embed.

Want to read the list? Hit next page to see our text version of the Shacknews Top 10 Games of 2018.

#10 Game of the Year 2018 - Dragon Ball FighterZ

On the front end of 2018, Arc System Works delivered a massive adrenaline shot into the fighting genre with Dragon Ball FighterZ. In a game that could have survived entirely off of the incredible production values, the studio also delivered a fresh experience that allowed players of every skill level the opportunity to show off some flashy moves.

Finding the sweet spot of “easy to learn but tough to master” is key for fighting games, especially those completely new to the scene. Tekken, Soul Calibur, Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros., and Mortal Kombat have firmly established their places at the top of the gaming genre, with some quality series like Guilty Gear and King of Fighters below, but many new and original fighters come and go without leaving much of an impression.

Dragon Ball FighterZ not only arrived on the scene with a big splash, it became the talk of the town in the FGC (fighting game community) with an record-setting showing at EVO 2018. A resurgence of love for the Dragon Ball series due to Dragon Ball Super and a few new films made 2018 perfect timing for DBFZ. Well designed combat along with regular new and exciting roster additions will keep this game in the conversation well beyond.

-Charles Singletary

#9 Game of the Year 2018 - Sea of Thieves

Rare set to the high seas with their latest game and pirates rejoiced as they set sail in one of the finest games of 2018. Sea of Thieves hit some rough waves early on in its life, but the game has continued to improve over the year. The team at Rare has created a great canvas that they can now add to over the years. This game saw added life from its inclusion in the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, and it would only make sense that development on the game will continue on in the game-as-a-service model. If this game shipped with fishing, it most likely would have placed higher on this list, but either way Sea of Thieves in one of the best games of 2018.

-Asif Khan

#8 Game of the Year 2018 - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

There are few taller tasks in gaming than creating an "Ultimate" version of the Super Smash Bros. franchise. But series director Masahiro Sakurai tackled this head-on and came away with a game that lives up to its billing. It would have been so easy to slap old fighters onto an existing port of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and call it a day, but Super Smash Bros. Ultimate went so far beyond that.

Ultimate is a refined version of the Smash Bros. formula, finding a sweet balance between the methodical style of the previous Smash Bros. game and the breakneck speed of Super Smash Bros. Melee. It gives new life to its roster of over 70 characters. Yes, over 70 characters, all of who have their own distinct characteristics and personalities. Add in one of the most surprising single-player adventures I've seen come along all year and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is indeed the best version of this series so far. It's a true celebration of everything great about Nintendo and gaming as a whole.

-Ozzie Mejia

#7 Game of the Year 2018 - Monster Hunter: World

Monster Hunter: World is not the first entry in the series, but it is easily the most successful entry. The Monster Hunter franchise has always had a cult following, but MHW brought it mainstream success selling over 8 million units worldwide and breathed new life into the proverbial lungs of its publisher, Capcom. World tweaked the game’s formula in a way that made it more accessible to a mainstream audience like a revamped crafting system and a new objective guidance system.

It didn’t hurt that Monster Hunter: World is also drop-dead gorgeous. Sprawling jungles full of swamps and vines, rocky mountains covered in rich mining resources, and an ecosystem full of majestic creatures both big and small made it feel like there was a living, breathing world within the game. If all that wasn’t enough there’s also the cat-like Palicos that function as AI partners for hunters and a pig named Poogie that you can pick up and pet. It should be no surprise to anyone that Monster Hunter World made the Shacknews Top 10 Games of 2018 list.

-Blake Morse

#6 Game of the Year 2018 - Tetris Effect

Tetris Effect is one of the best versions of Tetris you'll ever play. Period. There's simply nothing else like it, unless you could the rest of Enhance Games/Tetsuya Mizuguchi's cadre, and even then no one has been capable of taking a classic puzzle game like this and flipping on its head so fantastically. It's not just the same, tired "fit puzzle blocks together" and repeat ad nauseam.

It's a meditative, transcendent experience rife with gorgeous music, soaring melodies, and the visuals to accompany them. You don't so much sit down to play Tetris as you let it wash over you in waves. From the opening moments of the first stage through the extended ecstasy of the final song as the last few notes float out into the atmosphere, you know you're on to something. This is gaming distilled to its purest form, and it's one of the best PlayStation 4 experiences you'll have all year. Period.

-Brittany Vincent

#5 Game of the Year 2018 - Red Dead Redemption 2

At Shacknews, we have a wide range of writers who are into many kinds of games, and the biggest aren’t always regarded as the best around here. You’re as likely to see a masterful indie game climb our lists as you are something from the biggest publishers.

That being said, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a wonderful game. Some liked the story and journey of Arthur Morgan, and some were happier to wander aimlessly watching eagles pluck Salmon out of rivers and fly away with them. Some people were equally in awe whether wandering or grinding through the narrative, and almost everyone agrees that it’s a great looking game, especially considering it’s only out on console. In the end, Rockstar managed to do it again, giving players a world that they could get lost in and raising the bar in terms of what open-world experiences can offer. It didn’t get our Game of the Year, but the five spot at Shacknews is nothing to lose your cowboy hat over.

-Bill Lavoy

#4 Game of the Year 2018 - Dead Cells

Dead Cells one part side-scrolling action and one part rogue-like. It is a combination that has been done to death over the last few years of the indie game resurgence, but Dead Cells simply does it better than all the rest. From its rock-solid controls to its surprisingly deep itemization, the game manages to take what is objectively a short experience and expand it into countless hours of joy. It has a pixel art style, but runs and looks as smooth as the best 3D games. Enemy designs are as unique as the selection of tools you have to dispose of them. Dead Cells allows players to inch along, carefully working their way to the final confrontation, while simultaneously offering incentive to speed run the levels. It rewards all types of approaches and ways to progress, resulting in one of the most rewarding gaming experiences of 2018.

-Chris Jarrard

#3 Game of the Year 2018 - Celeste

Celeste is the platformer I never knew I wanted: One that blends an airtight control scheme, challenges rooted in Prince of Persia-esque physical navigation, and a story. Yeah, I know. Narratives! In platformers! But Celeste's story works on several levels. Climbing a mountain and facing peril at every step is an apt metaphor for depression. Celeste communicates this through brief interludes that drive home the story you tell and that you experience as you play. It's a phenomenal game, and deserves to stand (and run, and jump, and double-jump) with the best of 2018.

-David Craddock

#2 Game of the Year 2018 - God of War

It isn't easy to take an established franchise with well-loved but rough-around-the-edges protagonists like Kratos and retool them for a series reboot. Santa Monica Studio managed to do just this with the excellent God of War, reintroducing the stoic and revenge-focused Kratos as a wizened older man with a son of his own in the form of young Atreus. We see a different side to the former God of War, now on his second wife and living a life totally opposite to what we saw of his younger days.

Everything about this vision of God of War has been reworked in a way that opens it up to a more expansive audience, catering to both players who preferred the classic franchise entries for its violence and previous Kratos' personality and those looking for a heartfelt tale about a man and his son. It's simultaneously action-packed, heartrending, and occasionally funny, and it's a joy to watch Kratos and Atreus interact. It's certainly a triumph for the series, and one that we hope to see more of in the very near future.

-Brittany Vincent

#1 Game of the Year 2018 - Marvel's Spider-Man

There were a lot of great video games in the running for Shacknews' Game of the Year 2018 award, but none garnered quite as much acclaim as Marvel's Spider-Man. It's not hard to understand why; after all, Insomniac has a long history of putting out polished experiences with a focus on all the things that make video games fun. Spidey's latest adventure is the perfect example of this development approach, giving players a wide open city to explore, loads of quests to complete, and the simple, silky-smooth joy of slinging around Manhattan at breakneck speeds.

From the action-packed battles to the quieter moments walking the streets of New York, Marvel's Spider-Man is the ultimate example of what a superhero game can be. Not only that, it manages to tell a story that serves to entertain longtime series fans without alienating those who may not be familiar with the comics. Given its family-friendly approach, that counts for a lot, especially when put up against other M-rated GOTY contenders like God of War or Red Dead Redemption 2.

Besides giving players a taste of the superhero lifestyle, Marvel's Spider-Man deserves special recognition for just getting everything right. The city is vast and believable, the combat has excellent pacing and weight, and the plot feels like it was pulled right out of the silver screen. It's an experience that can and should be enjoyed by anyone with even a casual interest in video games, and it's our pick for the best game of 2018.

-Kevin Tucker

That's the Shacknews Top 10 Games of the Year 2018. Which games did you feel we left off or should have ranked higher? Let us know in the comments section. Be sure to check out all of The Shacknews Awards 2018. Congratulations to all of the games that made our list this year!