Games I’ve Played In 2018 Not From 2018
Gaming, for me, runs a wild gamut. I spend what I believe to be an immense amount of time playing games, whittling away many hours into the night finishing little side quests and collecting final bounties until I simply can’t keep my eyelids up anymore. Every Friday night a group of my best friends and I play Rocket League until the microphone silence starts to indicate we’re starting to become mentally drained and simply can no longer go on. But even still, I cannot keep up with all of the releases I want to. I, like you I’m sure, have a backlog of games that I plan to get to “eventually” that include titles that were probably once the new hotness, some that have been recommended by friends or people at work, old favorites I plan to play again. And while that back catalog haunts me at times, I still churn forward and pick up new games that come out almost monthly. Here are a handful of games that I played this year that are from that back catalog, games that I was able to pick up between new stuff, games that I could no longer pass on.
Wolfenstein II: The New Order (2017) — PS4
Amazing action, absolutely ridiculous gunplay and boss fights. This was a blast to run through, although I didn’t completely finish it. I intend to, for sure. The first game in this series is another can’t miss title. If you love first person shooters the way they used to be, along with a story that makes a true GI Joe/He-Man out of the protagonist, jump on board. This is one weird Future Americana that you’re going to want to play.
Alan Wake (2010) — Xbox 360
Played through much of this one this year while hanging with friends online while they played other games or waiting for other members to jump online to play Halo. For that reason, I missed much of the atmosphere that was ever present, but it didn’t get completely lost on me. The essence of an author being lost in a small town, having multiple realities collapse and fold in on him was very interesting, though some of the bulky characters and bloated story elements were kind of goofy. I’d played this one when the game first released, but I had a weird set up back then and didn’t have a bunch of time to play, and I remember this was one of the first games that instilled in me a sense of ‘stress’ in trying to find collectibles strewn throughout the world. I liked the way they handled the light/dark based combat, stranding you in long stretches of blackness between street lamps and flashlights and the way that they implemented that into your arsenal was very cool. I have to say, some of the moments felt like absolute blind luck that I was able to make it from Point A to Point B, never sure whether to stand and fight or run, horrified at the shadows that were chasing me. Cool concept of a game.
Red Dead Redemption (2010) — Xbox 360
In anticipation of the sequel, I wanted to play this, a game that many had considered their favorite game of all time. And I believed it. It’s Rockstar Games, after all. Their track record is flawless. Playing it now, 8 years after the fact, is definitely eye opening. I’m sure that a lot of the breakthroughs I’ve experienced in games that have come out since the release of this one have the tale of John Marston to thank. Some of it felt a little dated and I still didn’t enjoy riding a horse all the way across different areas of the frontier (that’s the reason I stopped playing this one around the four hour mark when it first released). But in terms of open world exploration, it sits with any of my favorite games in that genre, rewarding curiosity and thoroughness with world building and interesting characters to meet. The full narrative from front to back builds ever so slowly, and I went from a point where I didn’t care a lick about John and his family to being emotionally jarred in the game’s final moments. Some genius storytelling, for sure, and a unique way to expand the game outside of the realm of a ‘front to back’ story. I don’t think you can feel the same way about the ending if you haven’t spent the hours in the saddle with the character, carried out the manhunt, worked for The Man, and ultimately got betrayed in the end. They formed a connection there that is hard to replace or recreate, and one that I don’t think could be accomplished in any other brand of storytelling.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (2017) — Xbox One
I wasn’t sure whether or not to include this in my 2018 games or not, especially since it’s officially been available since 2017 on PS4 digital. I picked mine up day one physically on Xbox One and have fallen in love. There is such a great connection to this character as we navigate her through a strange afterlife or delusion and are accompanied by myriad voices, some of which are directly doubtful of your abilities, some of which are encouraging, and others enlightening. The biggest focus of the title is psychosis and on what it’s like to deal with it on many levels, both personally and the perception that others have of you. Woven in is a tale of love and love lost, and not only does it do a beautiful job of telling the tale of how you fell in love but the way that the love interest supported and encouraged Senua, the character at the forefront. Loudest of all the voices is often the ones of Senua herself as she doubts her choices, blames herself for tragedies and continues to endure pain and hardship to face them and right her wrongs. I’m so happy that I finally made my way to this game as it’s danced in front of me for about a year now, and I never pulled the trigger on it. Passionately written game with a real message at its core.
Deadly Premonition (2010) — Xbox 360
This is a weird one, one that I played simply due to the likeness of Twin Peaks that is always boasted about. I’m so pleased that it went backwards compatible on the Xbox One and that I was able to find a clean box and a clean copy. Normally I don’t care about these things, but this game became one of my all-time favorites. The soundtrack is one that I can still crisply hear mentally whenever I choose to recall it, from the hammy and chintzy town music, the “cool guy” rock music that lays it on extra thick, and the little sound effects and brief intro songs that play when new characters appear on screen. The Twin Peaks influence is thick, and it helps that I knew to expect that while playing this game, otherwise I have no clue how one could enjoy it. In many ways, it’s a bad game with bad acting and bad twists, but when you bring it into the realm of soap opera/oddity writing, it fits the bill exquisitely. I love Francis York Morgan and all of his strangeness, and found some of my favorite dialog in the game to be that found while driving around the large area of Greenvale, while he broke down favorite films, music and television. Such a fantastic game, certainly not for everyone but one that I now adore. This game also treated me to one of my favorite moments in general of 2018, as my 12 year old son walked into the room as I was building up to the final boss battle, where there are rapping dogs involved, giant farmer type people… his reaction(s) were priceless.
Assassin’s Creed: Origins (2017) — Xbox One
Without a doubt, my favorite game that I played all of this year. Among all of the other greatness that was given to us in 2018, this is one that I picked up on a whim based on alphabetical order exclusively. This would have sat in my library for years, I’m sure without even being dusted off. This is my first Assassin’s Creed game, and one that many for the past year had warned me about. It was ‘so different’ from its predecessors and had a totally different meaning. It was difficult to tell people I was starting with this one and not their beloved Ezio or Altair. I’m filled with joy as I think of this one, from the people’s hero aspect that Bayek embodied, to the grand scale of Ancient Egypt on the verge of war with Caesar. What moved me most in this game was the story of love that is diced into this game, a couple separated by differing missions and connected by the loss of their son that is the true genesis of what sends Bayek out on his quest in the first place. We’re treated to magnificent visuals, gigantic statues, amazing scale of both cities and tombs and some well mixed in mystical ether as well. I fell in love with Bayek over the course of countless hours, I believed in his cause and the battles that we chose to fight together. There was never a villain I had to take out that felt wasted or dismissive. I wanted to be part of this story as much as this story demanded to be told. I’m inspired to play other games in this series based entirely on the love I had for this game, but I worry that it might not scratch the surface of pleasure that I got while playing this one.
