Upcoming Games of 2018/2019
Although the leaves will start turning soon there’s still plenty of 2018 left. So far it’s been an outstanding year for gamers with an incredible array of dazzling new games, sequels and old favorites jockeying for position on the sales charts. Far Cry 5, Call of Duty: WWII, Dragon Ball: Fighterz and scores of other titles have already touched down on the virtual landscape and there’s plenty more to come. It’s also not too early to put on our gaming glasses and take a peek around the corner into 2019 to see what’s queued up for release in the New Year. Below is our list of games that will be arriving in the waning months of 2018 as well as a couple that are just beginning to emerge over the horizon for 2019.
FIFA 19 Ultimate Edition
FIFA 19 continues the story of aspiring superstar Alex Hunter as he follows his dream to hoped-for Champions League immortality. 18 was the first iteration of the game to feature the Frostbite engine and the visual panache it added to everything from the player’s jerseys to the far reaches of the stands was a decided step in the right direction on the long road to realism in football video games. FIFA 19 is set to introduce Champions League mode that will allow you to navigate one of the world’s premier sporting tournaments from group stage through the final. Will Alex emerge triumphant? Only time will tell.
Release date: September 28
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
While Assassin’s Creed the movie barely broke even the video game continues to be a cash cow for Ubisoft with total AC universe sales topping 100 million units and showing no signs of slowing down. Odyssey, set to launch October 5, promises more of the same with players adopting the guise of Alexios or Kassandra and rising from marginal origins to become living legends in the shadow world of the assassin. ACO promises “a living world that reacts to your every decision” and epic battles with up to 300 soldiers pitted against one another in real combat. If soaring vistas, Hellenic architecture and the stoic exercise of bloodlust provide the wind for your sales your thirst will be quenched on October 5.
Release Date: October 5
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Super Mario Party
October also sees the release of the latest installment in the Super Mario series with Super Mario Party bringing the board game aesthetic to the video screen. Super Mario Party is designed for Nintendo Switch and features Joystick enabled minigames and dice blocks specific to each of the characters. Party returns to its four-player board game roots although it will also allow you to pair up with other Switch systems to add functionality.
Release date: October 5
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Call of Duty – Black Ops 4
The legendary Call of Duty returns in mid-October with Black Ops 4. BO4 will be the first entry in the series that will not feature single-player mode. Instead, Treyarch is going all-in with Multiplayer, Zombies and a kind of substitute for single player mode they’re calling “Blackout”. Blackout mode will allow players to compete against each other via locales established in earlier versions of the game. “Custom Mutations”, will also allow players to tweak zombie variables including speed, health, damage and more. If you’re getting a little too comfortable in your gaming chair it’s time to queue up for Call of Duty – Black Ops 4. It promises to be a battle royale for the ages
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One
Release date: October 12
Battlefield V
World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history and has become fertile ground for the imagination of game architects the world over. Nobody, however, does the Big Messy better than EA with their Battlefield series now set to launch its fifth iteration. With Battlefield V you’ll be able to immerse yourself up to your gaming glasses-clad eyeballs in tank warfare, hand to hand combat and even paratrooper assaults. Customize all aspects of your team as well as their vehicles and weapons then set them loose via multiplayer mode or as Combined Arms to relive and rewrite some of the epic forgotten battles from the early years of the conflict that engulfed the globe.
Release date: October 19
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 will likely overwhelm the competition when it’s finally released in late October as gamers clamor to learn the fate of Arthur Morgan of the Van der Linde gang. Another thing drawing many of those gamers to this sequel from Rockstar Games is the considerable buzz regarding the high-resolution 3D environment Rockstar has created for this tale of America’s often brutal occupation of Western lands following the Civil War. You’ll have your choice of single player or an online multiplayer environment as the protagonist and his gang try to stay one step ahead of the most hardbitten bounty hunters and federal agents in the land. You’ll want a first-class gaming monitor for RDR2 because the Old West graphics the company have teased so far look amazing.
Release date: October 26
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One
Fallout 76
As the name suggests Fallout takes place in a dystopian future where nuclear war has left the landscape and the human race in an irradiated, feral state. In this chapter of the wildly successful story, a ragged group of survivors emerges from Vault 76 in West Virginia to see if they can carve a future from the wasteland. What they find is all manner of mutants, beasts, and bands of fellow humans intent on survival at all cost standing in their way. Fallout 76 promises to be an all-inclusive bloodbath complete with near-nudity and some foul language, so parents beware.
Release Date: November 14
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!
Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu is a remake of Pokemon Yellow and incorporates elements of Pokemon Go. With Let’s Go Pikachu you can choose either Pikachu or Eevee as your companion and you have the ability to import Pokemon from the aforementioned app right into the game by way of a compatible smartphone. Share your quest to become the top Pokemon trainer by pairing with a second joystick and take your Kanto region adventures to new heights of fun and excitement.
Release date: November 16
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4 pits longtime protagonist Rico against the Black Hand, a private militia armed with the latest high tech weaponry. The action unfolds across 100 square kilometers of astonishing terrain ranging from soaring mountain peaks to lush rainforests and arid deserts. JC4 provides an evolved grapple hook that lets you personalize everything from the style of play to your preferred methods of destruction. JC4 also features a panoply of new military aircraft, supercharged roadsters and heavy construction equipment that are sure to fuel the dark side of your imagination.
Release date: December 4
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One and PC
Anthem – Legion of Dawn
The world of Anthem has been abandoned by the gods who left the human inhabitants to fend for themselves. The scale of the world presented in Legion of Dawn promises to be vast and capable of producing the kind of kinetic thrills long promised by developers but rarely delivered. EA’s Frostbite game engine is at the heart of the experience and will leave you at times wondering if you’ve slipped on a pair of VR goggles by mistake. So warm up your gaming headsets because you’re going to want to fully immerse yourself in Anthem – Legion of Dawn.
Release date: February 22, 2019
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Rage 2
The developers of Rage 2 decided that Mad Max just wasn’t mad enough. So they took many of the motifs from everyone’s favorite cinematic dystopia, tossed in a few cave trolls and mutants, shook well and dumped the whole lot into a post-asteroid-impact wasteland to see who emerges. With any luck – and a whole lot of killin’ – that will be you, Walker, the last Ranger and icon of decency and justice in a world gone mad. The car-driven mayhem is brutal, the wasteland itself unforgiving and indifferent and the minions of the Authority – determined to eliminate you – heavily armed and unpossessed by morality or emotions. Sounds like fun.
Release date: Q2 2019
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Questions for 2019
Will Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds for PS4 Happen?
When Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds was released in 2017 it became an instant sensation, racking up more than $100 million in sales in just over five months. That was twice as fast as Minecraft. By March of 2018, PUBG had racked up more than 40 million units sold and had an estimated 400 million players. While the last-man-standing narrative formula wasn’t anything new what was new was the approach. PUBG stripped away much of the artifice and reduced the proceedings to the gaming equivalent of a bare-knuckle brawl. With demand through the roof, the question then became when will PUBG become available for PS4? Unfortunately, we still don’t have an answer to that question. While the developer said he hopes to make the game available on all platforms “soon” (while also developing it for TV and movies) it seems the exclusivity deal with Microsoft will be in force for the foreseeable future.
Will Affordable Wireless Gaming Mouses Finally Arrive?
If, like a lot of people, you’ve been sitting behind your gaming desk wondering aloud when we’re going to see a wireless gaming mouse that’s affordable your wait may finally come to an end in 2019. With the Logitech G903 Lightspeed, we came painfully close. Performance-wise the G903 had few flaws and with a polling rate of 1,000 reports per second, it could handle anything current titles could throw at it. However, it was/is simply too expensive to pose any serious threat to wired mice such as the Razer Lancehead. Fear not however because like all things tech it’s only a matter of time before the price point on the G903 (or more likely its successors) comes down to earth. Whether that time is 2019 or not remains to be seen. But we’ll keep our fingers crossed.
