The 10 Most Technically Impressive Games of 2018
As the new year begins to sink in, let’s pump the brakes, and highlight a few standout games from 2018. We were pleasantly surprised to have yet another year squeezed full of sensational games, so trimming down the list to 10 technically impressive games was a true challenge.
We’ve done this style of list in years past, but it’s always worth having a refresher here for new readers. This list isn’t primarily focused on the use of raw GPU horsepower or the most innovative mechanics – it’s a celebration of technical achievement in every conceivable way.
Flashy AAA releases will definitely get their due here, but we purposefully keep the criteria for this list as broad as possible so we can call out impressive releases at any size. After all, the industry has so much more to offer than just high-end shaders and ever-rising resolutions.
Unfortunately, the 10-slot limitation means that some truly wonderful games aren’t mentioned here. If another title from 2018 struck you as particularly impressive, please take a moment to shout it out in the comment section.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey Open world games are a dime a dozen this generation, and Ubisoft has something of a franchise saturation issue, so it'd be easy to shrug off Odyssey as an also-ran. That, however, would be a mistake. With this latest release, Ubisoft Quebec has married the foundational elements of the existing series with a full-fledged modern interpretation of a western RPG. The world of ancient Greece is ridiculously large, and it's full of worthwhile quests and characters. We haven't been bowled over like this by an RPG's scope in years, so don't sleep on this game if that's up your alley. (Buy on Humble Store)
Forza Horizon 4 Horizon 4 isn't just a set of new roads to drive upon – the addition of seasons is a big deal. The cycling weather conditions provide some much-needed visual variety, and this additional system alters the feel of driving in a major way. Taking the same curves in winter and summer are entirely different experiences that aim to keep you on your toes. And with both 1080p60 and 2160p30 modes available on the Xbox One X, this installment is clearly the most ambitious Horizon game so far. (Buy on Amazon)
Return of the Obra Dinn Lucas Pope garnered significant attention when he released the extremely clever Papers, Please early in the decade. After that success, he announced Obra Dinn, and showed off a significant portion of it as it was coming together. All these years later, this adventure game brilliantly marries the monochrome crosshatching of a classic Mac game with a first-person 3D world, voice acting, and some modern game design sensibilities. And since most of the heavy lifting was done by a single person, this superb release is an even larger achievement. (Buy on Humble Store)
Red Dead Redemption 2 RDR2 lets us live out our fantasies of ropin' and ridin' in the wild west with a level of fidelity and scale that's difficult to fathom. Gunslinging, shopping, racing, fishing, and even menial labor are brought to life in this seamless world, and the loving attention to detail leaves us with a dopey smile... as long as we aren't thinking about the heartbreak of the story. Of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that many of the business practices used to create this gargantuan game are worth pushing back on. Crunch isn't just a Rockstar problem, but this release served as a flashpoint for us to discuss fair compensation and work conditions industrywide. We love massive games like Red Dead, but the people who make them matter much more. (Buy on Amazon)
Spider-Man With the superb platform-exclusives Sunset Overdrive and Ratchet & Clank already under their belt, Insomniac Games has officially made it a hat trick this generation with Spider-Man on the PS4. Thanks to an implementation of the temporal injection method from R&C, it looks stunning on a 4K set. And while you might assume the 30fps cap could degrade the experience of swinging across Manhattan, the top-notch motion blur on offer here makes it feel silky smooth in spite of the limitation. This is a fluid, vibrant, and fast-paced take on everyone's favorite arachnid hero, and reason enough for Marvel fans to pick up a PS4. (Buy on Amazon)
Battlefield V If you're interested at all in high-end graphics, you likely have one thing on your mind: Ray tracing. This year's Battlefield is among the earliest major releases to showcase this radical technique, and the result is gobsmacking. It's not an unqualified success, but anyone who has bought into the RTX 20xx series will want to snag this game to show off their fancy hardware. (Buy on Amazon)
God of War Upon release, God of War was widely hailed as one of the prettiest games ever. The dynamic lighting, performance capture, GPU-accelerated particles, and overall image quality come together to make a game that simply cannot be ignored on a list like this. And since the camera doesn't cut away, it's exceedingly difficult for Sony Santa Monica hide the game's visual flaws. Thankfully, the hours of warts-and-all gawking leaves us impressed with how few issues we end up finding. (Buy on Amazon)
Astro Bot Rescue Mission Things looked a bit bleak for virtual reality in 2017, but the following year proved to be perfect for the PlayStation VR. Not only was the hardware discounted significantly over the holiday, but a handful of striking titles like Astro Bot made the platform much more lively. This surprisingly long game has attracted comparisons to some of the most beloved platformers of yore, and the VR implementation is vital to its success. The physicality of the head-tracking plays into many of the puzzles, the positional audio helps you find hidden friends, and the added depth perception allows for some very tricky layouts. (Buy on Amazon)
Hitman 2 While this sequel is heavily based on the previous game, the technical underpinnings have been improved in just about every way. The functional mirrors make stealth more difficult, the crowd density makes for more believable city settings, and the performance is solid even on the stock consoles. Hitman 2 didn't receive nearly as much attention as it deserved, so take some time in the new year to ogle this lovely follow-up. (Buy on Amazon)
Tetris Effect Tetsuya Mizuguchi has built his career on delivering games, like Rez and Lumines, that have a certain synesthetic quality. To date, Tetris Effect is the most successful execution of that idea. It pairs a much-loved classic with mesmerizing visuals and a beat that just won't quit. Spinning tetrominos and clearing lines will impact the soundtrack, and that helps players quickly transition into "the zone." Add in the optional VR support, and the sensory experience is almost too much to bear. (Buy on Amazon)
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