Clearly, 2018 was a revolutionary year for video games and the way they are played. A large variety have been released and others have been announced for the future, and fans have not been disappointed.

With the year beginning at the prime of the “Battle Royale” genre’s popularity, the tone was set for certain. This year’s most popular game, Fortnite, took the world by storm, literally. The game’s objective is to be the last player or team standing at the end of the game, with the “storm” progressively decreasing the map’s size.

The theme of “Battle Royale” games has continued through most of the year. With Fortnite growing more popular than ever, more games and playable modes of the sort have also gained mass attention.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, or PUBG, has drawn a lot of attention. The game’s purpose is to kill other players, and, again, be the last player or team standing at the end of the game.

Additionally, with Treyarch’s announcement of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in May, they also teased their brand new “Battle Royale” mode, Blackout, which includes familiar Call of Duty mechanics, but in a traditional “Battle Royale” style.

Black Ops 4’s October release lived up to the hype, with $500 million made in the first week of launch. However, it wasn’t only “Battle Royale” that appealed to fans, as their classic Zombies mode and online head-to-head Multiplayer returned.

Treyarch did an excellent job with Black Ops 4, offering a plethora of ways to have fun either as a solo player or with friends. With a complete elimination of “advanced” movement, such as jetpacks and wallrunning, which had disappointed Call of Duty fans for years, Black Ops 4 did not fail to please.

The past year also offered stellar single-player games, such as Sony’s April fan-favorite, God of War, and Insomniac’s September standout, Spider-Man. Both games dominated sales for their respective release months. Also, in a year in which multiplayer games were seemingly unbeatable, these games proved that a well made game, no matter what, reels fans in.

Of course, sports games did well this year. With NBA2K19, Madden 19, FIFA19, NHL19, sports fans had a lot to choose from.

However, all of these games, especially NBA2K19, have unfortunately grown increasingly repetitive over the years. That’s in addition to their multitude of money-grabbing, in-game microtransactions, which can wind up costing more than the game itself did.

Lastly, possibly 2018’s best game was Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2, a sequel to a classic old Western game. It includes a fun and immersive single-player campaign, and a stellar online multiplayer mode, so fans can experience horse-riding, lasso-slinging, and sharpshooting solo or with friends.

In addition, the graphics enhance the game’s experience in the best possible way. As Rockstar’s first game specifically made and tailored for next-gen consoles, which are the PlayStation 4 and XBOX One, the scenery is brought out and contributes to the game’s mood with ground-breaking graphics.

Generally, 2018 has been the best year for video games in a very long time. Virtually any game could be played and be thoroughly enjoyed by a solo player or with friends. Hopefully, 2019 can follow up and compete with this amazing year in video games.