Top 5 Games of 2018

 As with most of 2019, I was serving my mission for all of 2018. That means I played all of these games after August of 2019. A lot of most people would call 2018 the best year of the 8th console generation. This is in large part due to the PlayStation 4 exclusives that dropped including Spiderman and God of War. Unfortunately I have never owned a PlayStation console so I still have yet to play either of those games. They might make this list someday if I ever play them on PC, but for now these are my top 5 games of 2018.

5. Overcooked 2 (Team 17)

At first I found this game stressful and overly difficult. I played it with my wife, and every time she wanted to play it, I found myself dreading playing it. Then the game clicked. We hit a wall in which we couldn't progress, so we had to go back and do a bunch of levels over again. It was going back and playing through a decent chunk of levels that I realized how much fun this game really is. My spouse and I hit a perfect flow and we started dominating every single level we played. It isn't that the game got easier, but we got better. We communicated more clearly and performed our tasks at a better rate. This is one of the best couch co-op games I've played and it never fails to get my heartrate up.

4. Hitman 2 (IO Interactive)

I freaking love the new Hitman Trilogy. Personally, I would say the second one is the best of them. To me, it has the most interesting levels which offer the perfect playground for players to perform all kinds of assassinations. The game also features a number of 'stories' in each level that allow the player to act as their own Rube Goldberg machine in creating the perfect kill. This game is also quite beautiful, and with the next gen updates that have come out, it looks even better.

3. A Way Out (Hazelight)

I do find it a bit ironic that the last game I played before I got married was a game about a prison break. I played it in one sitting with one of my best friends, and it was quite a ride. What blows me away the most about this game is how it evolves. It starts as a simple co-op puzzle game and morphs into a 3rd person action game. The story is also good and features a great plot twist. This is the kind of game that I think any video game player should at least try, there is nothing quite like it. (Other than It Takes Two, but that game out after this game)

2. Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)

This was the first new game that I played when I got home from my mission. It was the game that everyone was talking about while I was gone and I was very pleased when I finally got to play it. It was also the perfect time for me to play it because I was single and didn't have a job. Between this game and my first semester at University, I was plenty busy. This game features some of the best graphics of all time, an incredible story, and the most realistic and fully realized version of the wild west that any movie or video game has ever put forth. My personal favorite part of the game came from the bounty hunter side missions. They are ridiculously fun. 

1. State of Decay 2 (Undead Labs)

People might think I'm lame for this, but it's my list and I love this game. It is my most played game from that generation and I still go back to it all the time. For some reason the searching and looting gameplay loop is endlessly addicting to me. I also love the world and lore that Undead Labs created with this series and despite it being very B level, I find it quite charming. The game is also pretty much completely different today (2023). Through years of constant updates I would say it is near perfect at this point. My favorite part of the game is the completely updated version of the first game's map. What a genius addition.