Games First, Homework Later

Stop playing Fortnite and get ready for more games to hit shelves this year. We’ve already got memorable releases like Far Cry 5 and A Way Out, but even more original concepts and old favorites are coming soon to make 2018 another year to remember for video games.

Detroit: Become Human

(May 25, 2018 for PlayStation 4)

Let’s be real here: the cover art for this game is terrible. It’s too moody and doesn’t provide anything memorable to remember the game by, but that doesn’t mean the content of the game itself is bad. The story takes place in Detroit in a very technology-heavy world, where androids are almost indistinguishable from humans, except for a small metallic circle on the right temple. The game explores the modern day debate concerning AI: at what point are androids considered human? The androids, who have emotions, are fed up with having to do the dirty work and start toeing the line between being a piece of software and being human.

Players do not seem to have much control of the action, but are instead encouraged to be observant and make the right choices as they alternate between androids Connor, Kara, and Markus. The characters themselves have different abilities, choices, and stories that sometimes converge with each other. The androids also have unique soundtracks, created by three different composers, that further add to each android’s personality.

With the ability to rewind time and reconstruct events that occurred using clues, hopefully this entirely choice-based and story-driven action-adventure game, which has been in the works since as early as 2012, will be as good as its several awards and nominations hint.

Vampyr

(June 5, 2018 for PlayStation 4, XBox One, PC)

This game features Doctor Jonathan Reid, a vampire living during the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic. In a constantly dark London environment that reeks of danger, Reid is forced to choose between his Hippocratic Oath, a pledge that all doctors take to never do harm, and his overwhelming need for blood. Though players have the option of not killing anyone in the game, Reid boasts many vampiric abilities, including mind control, turning into a mysterious black mist, and temporarily gaining wolflike powers and superspeed.

So far, Reid seems to be in search for the people who turned him into a vampire, while also fighting a war against vampire hunters and navigating the complex hierarchy of the supernatural world.

Spider-Man

(September 7, 2018 for PlayStation 4)

Simply titled after its main character, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is back! Though the game’s storyline remains to be seen, Bryan Intihar, the creative director of this project, has mentioned that the events in the game take place eight years after Peter Parker first became New York City’s protector, and there will be some scenes where we see Parker when he isn’t being Spider-Man. And if E3 footage is any indication, then this game is bound to be explosive. The game takes place in our very own New York City, in a vast, crisp, open-world environment where you travel via parkour. And there seems to be quite a bit of that, with gameplay showing that Spider-Man will have plenty of web-slinging and butt-kicking, with much freer movement available than older Spider-Man games and a heavier emphasis on stealth and quick action.

Overkill’s The Walking Dead

(Fall 2018 for Playstation 4, XBox One, PC)

This game was originally set for release in 2016, but after over four years of production, Overkill Software’s take on The Walking Dead Universe is finally arriving. The first-person co-op shooter is set in a post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., where players take control of one of four characters, each with different story arcs, skill trees, special abilities, squad roles, and play styles. As trailers have shown, the game is dark and gritty, having already introduced two characters, Maya and Aidan, who reminisce on life before zombies before warily returning to reality.

Word has it that the game also strives to be brutally realistic. Much like in Sony’s Last of Us, players have to deal with real-time weapons maintenance and crafting. Add-ons are scarcity of supplies and negotiations with NPC human factions, including some that can be reasoned with and others that will become rivals. Even the missions can be difficult because once players achieve the objective, they still have to safely make it back to the extraction point. With such intricate little features, Overkill’s The Walking Dead promises a thrilling challenge.

Last of Us Part II

(Late 2018/Early 2019 for Playstation 4)

The adventure-horror sequel to the post-apocalyptic Last of Us won Most Anticipated Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards and The Game Awards, so hopefully it’ll live up to the fame of the first installment. The ongoing adventure takes place five years after the first game, and the trailer centers around the theme of hatred. With the return of an older, wearier Ellie and her guardian, Joel, comes familiar gameplay stemming from the original. The game’s trailer reveals little about the story, but it instead features Ellie singing “Through the Valley,” a dark, brooding song originally sang by Shawn James. It hit number one on the Spotify Viral chart and is a reminder of the game’s deathly serious tone and the return of Gustavo Santaolalla, whose previously airy acoustics in the first game are bound to take a dark turn.