Top 40 New PC Games of 2018 [Best?]

 By: Gameranx

PC Gamers have a ton to look forward to this year. This is the top 40 new PC games of 2018.

40. Far: Lone Sails

Far: Lone Sails is an exploration kinda simulation kinda just adventure game. You’re the driver of a large vehicle and you’re exploring a dried ocean after the apocalypse. And you’re searching for anything civilization oriented.

It’s side-scrolling and really the obvious emphasis is on exploration. It’s one of those games that really peaks your curiosity and I can’t wait to play it.

39. Phantom Doctrine

In 1983 the cold war was happening and this takes place in an alternate history. In which you are in control of a secret organization called the Cabal.

It’s a thriller and your whole thing is that you’re supposed to fight a global conspiracy. And given its isometric viewpoint, it seems like a really unique game.

38. Abandon Ship

Abandon Ship is kind of a tactical combat game with exploration elements that are inspired by old naval oiled paintings in its visual style. The world is procedurally generated and you’re gonna end up fighting against other ships in what looks to be a fairly interesting different take on this kind of idea.

37. UBOOT

https://youtu.be/BSHu0sJFrWQ

UBOOT is a submarine simulation game and is supposed to play a little bit like Fallout Shelter. This is a pretty interesting idea.

Knowing that in Fallout Shelter the goal is to cure a self-contained society that is underground after a nuclear apocalypse. Applying that to a German UBOOT in WW2 seems like it could work.

36. FrostPunk

Frost Punk is a city building game, set in the snow thank you very much, that sort of brings an element of survival to it. The game takes place in an alternate 1886 where ice storms basically made everything terrible.

You have to build a city around a generator and you have to make a lot of moral choices. It looks unique and it sounds unique.

35. Left Alive

https://youtu.be/fufUeHvQU0c

Left Alive is a shooter from Square Enix set in the front mission universe. We don’t know a lot more than that but Front Mission is an interesting world where these huge sort of EU style unions and their various countries are basically fighting each other.

They have huge mechs that they use in this war and I think you know where I’m going with this. We don’t know a lot about Left Alive but the world it takes place in is awesome and it should be cool.

34. Dynasty Warriors 9

Dynasty Warriors 9 is the continuation of a very long-standing franchise. It takes the game into the open world while modernizing some elements of Dynasty Warriors without feeling foreign to the franchise.

This is truly a Dynasty Warriors game.

33. Ni No Kuni 2

Ni No Kuni 2 is the sequel to the JRPG that sort of brought us an interesting dual world story with a studio Ghibli aesthetic that it retains, however, it doesn’t actually retain any ties to the studio other than the composer doing the music and the character design.

This game revamps the battle system from the first, which was fun but was a little bit basic. This one seems to go for a more melee oriented combat and it’s really interesting. Despite some minor flaws, I think this one is gonna be better than the first.

32. Industries of Titan

Industries of Titan is basically a pretty cool looking simulator, strategy, city building battle game. If you ask me that’s actually a bit muddled sounding, a really good combination of things you wanna be engaged in.

It’s a futuristic industrial world you’re existing is and I really dig its style. It’s a game I really hope is good because it looks cool as hell.

31. Dragon Ball FighterZ

It’s a fighting game kind of 2.5D, not particularly 3D. It’s hard to describe but it is a good fighting game that borrows some interesting concepts such as the team mechanics specifically from Marvel Vs. Capcom.

It also plays a lot like that game with some notable acceptions. But if you understand Marvel Vs. Capcom, you understand this game.

If you’re a fan of MVC games then this game is for you, if you’re not then it’s probably not going to be for you especially if you’re a DBZ game. It’s a fast-paced enjoyable chaotic fighter that I enjoy and really just wanna play more of.

30. Phoenix Point

Phoenix Point is a turned based strategy tactical combat game that comes by Snapshot games, which is important to note was founded by the creator of the XCOM franchise who was also the lead designer on this game.

And guess what? It’s Lovecraft inspired. We seem to be getting a lot of Lovecraftian games and I’m actually not upset with that. That’s actually a good framework to build a game in and I’m interested in that.

29. Final Fantasy 15

Now, this is not an entirely new game but the way they made it for the PC is. They’re saying it’s a generation ahead of the console version. It was literally built from the ground up for PC gamers with the intent of making it significantly nicer.

If that doesn’t make you at least interested, you probably don’t like Final Fantasy anyhow.

28. Darksiders 3

Obviously Hunt: Showdown is not the only follow up to the Darksiders series we are getting. Only this is an official one an actual in-world follow up to Darksiders 1 and 2.

Darksiders 3 is meant to take place parallel to the events of the first 2 games where you play as the sister of one of the horsemen of the apocalypse on a quest to destroy the 7 deadly sins.

27. Crackdown 3

Now, Crackdown 3 is a game that’s been mentioned a lot and honestly, I just hope that it’s released this year. With all the building and environment destruction on such a wide scale, no game as done it this large before.

26. Pathologic 2

https://youtu.be/3wiKIunht1E

If you’re interested in an open world survival horror game where the worst thing in the world is a plague in which you play as a medic, this is the game you’re looking for. It holds the idea that you can’t save everyone and the idea of the game is getting to know the plague and what it can do because it isn’t just disease.

25. Jurassic World Evolution

Jurrasic World Evolution is actually a simulation in which you run a Jurassic Park, in fact, more than one Jurassic Park. But it doesn’t just cover management and simulation area, it covers creature development which is you know obviously basically a dino maker. That’s something I think everyone who likes Jurassic Park is gonna be interested in.

24. System Shock 3

https://youtu.be/c84I7Rubz14

System Shock 3 is the sequel to the popular series and it looks like a hell of an interesting one. It picks up the story right where it left off.

If you don’t know the story the first two are being redone so you’ll get a chance to play through those. System Shock is for anyone who kind of likes the resource management stuff from Bioshock but a bit more.

System Shock is kind of like the less mainstream version of Bioshock. And it’s sci-fi instead of historical fantasy sci-fi-ish.

23. Dauntless

Dauntless is a free to play action RPG where players take the role of Slayers and you take down Behemoths. Basically Monster HuntING.

The game developers are former Riot Games developers, their team includes a bunch of people from Capcom, Bioware, and Blizzard. And is intended as kind of competition to Monster Hunter, though I imagine it’s going to bring in a lot of its own ideas.

22. Code Vein

Code Vein is an action RPG that takes place in a post-apocalyptic vampire oriented Dark Souls type game. But it is an open world anime-centric game and I think that alone is going to differentiate it enough.

I love the style, it’s a really dark anime look and everything I’ve seen so far looks really cool.

21. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is, of course, an action arcade flying dogfight combat extravaganza. If you’re familiar with the series it’s of course not intended as simulation. It’s fast pace, it’s fun as hell and other than that not much is known about it.

20. Tropico 6

Tropico 6 is basically kind of a dictator simulator. They made the contention that they want it to not be easy to please everyone in this game so that means it will be harder to maintain your dictatorship.

You rule a nation, you steal landmarks from other nations, and you can be as bad or good as you want.

19. Battlefield (New)

A new Battlefield title. Now we don’t know a lot about it, we just know that the previous Battlefield did incredibly well. There is some evidence to suggest world war 2 is the era they’re gonna occupies with it but we don’t have anything 100% certain yet.

18. The Last Night

The Last Knight is a cinematic side-scrolling platforming game that takes a cyberpunk aesthetic and let’s just say this. It is easily one of the most beautiful pixel art games of all time.

There’s not a lot to know about it yet other than it’s really pretty.

17. Metal Gear Survive

This is a game that the announcement of made look terrible. But, there is a little bit of hope cause the beta wasn’t bad.

It was really hardcore almost to the point I wouldn’t call it hardcore. It’s a survival horror game in the style of Metal Gear Solid 5 so it’s an interesting one.

16. Anno 1800

Anno 1800 is another in another in an interesting series of world building set in the industrial age. Essentially you have to choose whether or not you are gonna be good or bad during the industrial revolution as you build up your own empire.

Not physical empire but rather capital empire. It actually looks like a pretty cool game and the graphics are beautiful.

15. Pray for the Gods

Pray for the Gods is a survival game set out in the middle of the wilderness where you essentially have to take on the gods that you “Believe in” by climbing them in boss fights that also play out kind of like puzzles. It’s a really interesting game.

14. State of Decay 2

State of Decay 2 focuses the series on cooperation and teamwork making it so that there’s more of a community element to the same State of Decay survival gameplay. And I think it brings a new element to it that seems interesting and worthwhile.

If anything, it’s kind of the expression of what a lot of people tried to do when they played the State of Decay and I think it’s gonna work out well.

13. Far Cry 5

Far Cry 5 brings in some of the improvements from Far Cry Primal such as the training of animals. And drops you in an absurd modern day Far Cry story.

This one takes place in the U.S.A. We’ve got a wild religious far-right leader and you’re essentially up against his cult. Now that scenario has caused a little bit of argument but personally I am very interested in it.

12. Borderlands 3

Borderlands 3 is the sequel, the new entry in the main series of Borderlands. A comedic shooter with an interesting and compelling narrative.

We don’t know a hell of a lot other than the graphics that received a pretty favorable update like it doesn’t lose its style but it looks like a next-gen game compared to the last one.

11. Kingdom Come Deliverance

If you’re interested n The Witcher except for not the Witcher. And what I mean by that is there is no Witchery.

There are no fairy tales, no dragons, no magic it is just pure realism. And to be honest it’s what I’m here for it’s a really interesting concept for a game.

10. Vampyr

Vampyr is a game that looks really good. It’s an action RPG with some pretty cool maneuvering elements. The main character has a smoke dash that I like.

But what I’m particularly interested in is that he is a doctor and a vampire and has to balance that. That contains some element of player choice and I’m interested to see where the story goes.

9. Pillars of Eternity 2

This is the sequel to the game that pretty much saved Obsidian Entertainment. Pillars of Eternity was a really enjoyable isometric RPG that played a lot like the 90s style but with some notable improvements that I think really made it playable in a way that some of those games are lacking in.

I mean, it’s one of the finest examples of an isometric RPG period.

8. Age of Empires 4

Age of Empires 4 is, of course, the continuation of the long dead Age of Empires series. Age of Empires is one of the more intense RTS games out there.

And although we don’t specifically know exactly what’s coming in the game or when it’s coming it is a new Age of Empires that is not Age of Empires Online and that’s a good thing.

7. Hunt: Showdown

Hunt: Showdown is kind of a spiritual successor to Darksiders. And they do intend to incorporate a lot of the “old school” elements of the genre.

You’ll be doing a lot of what you did in Darksiders, hunting down monsters. But one particularly interesting thing about this is they were gonna stop making games at Crytek. And here we are 3 years later with a new IP.

It’s set in the late 19th century and it’s meant to be a slightly more accurate version of the era. Except that you’re hunting monsters.

6. Scorn

https://youtu.be/WtOcbZG5xA4

Scorn is a weird first-person shooter that looks like it may be a living Tool album cover from the 90s. It’s a location-based game where every new location contains a story, a theme, different puzzles, different characters, and everything is kind of techno-organic.

It’s uncomfortable to look at which is always cool. The guns are like living organisms and we don’t know a lot about it yet that’s the point. The whole idea is you’re searching for answers to the game’s world.

5. Agony

Agony is a survival horror game that takes place in hell. You can possess other beings in hell and roam around generally trying to use their special abilities and trying to avoid demons.

There are puzzles and in a lot of ways, this looks like the representation of hell we haven’t gotten in games. And I think it’s going to be very good but in a different way.

4. Mount and Blade 2: Banner Lords

Mount and Blade 2: Banner Lords is a medieval action RPG follow up that brings the graphics of the series into the modern era. The previous games are really enjoyable but do feel a bit dated when you play them now.

This one isn’t like suddenly perfect but if you’re looking for an analogy where you can call the Roman empire and go to battle in this is probably where you’ll wanna go this year.

3. Monster Hunter World

Monster Hunter World is an action RPG where you go up against huge monsters in a huge open world that has the benefit of incorporating a lot of newer open world style gameplay elements into an established series that already works very well.

And though it hasn’t been out a long time it is being enjoyed heavily by people. If the idea of hunting monsters in a 3rd person open world sounds even vaguely appealing to you, I think this is the game for you.

2. World of Warcraft: Battle of Azeroth

World of Warcraft: Battle of Azeroth is the expansion follow up to Legion and wasn’t even announced that long ago either. They’re raising the level cap from 110 to 120 that’s the first big thing.

The other big change is in the PvP rules. You’ll be able to toggle PvP if you wanna attack other factions but by default you can only attack NPC’s in the open world.

The plot basically continues where Legion leaves off and if you’re playing World of Warcraft obviously you have to get this.

1. Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus is a post-apocalyptic FPS  that puts you in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of what used to be Russia. And aside from shooting also puts you in a lot of stealth and survival horror situations.

It is actually a rather scary looking game but I don’t know if they’re going to lean too far into it because it does seem very action oriented as well.

The nice thing is it’s a sand box and linear levels. They wanna give you the best of both worlds and I love the setting.