作者彙整: Game Informer Staff

Every year, many of the best and brightest minds in video games converge in San Francisco to attend the Game Developers Conference. Many of them bring along brand new games ready for their moment in the spotlight. From the large GDC Play area and the Indie Megabooth to specially curated showcases hosted by Nintendo and Microsoft, there is no shortage of exciting titles.

Here is an evolving list of the coolest and most interesting indie games the Game Informer crew saw at the conference. Come back each day, as we plan to continually update this list with more promising titles throughout the show.

Games are listed alphabetically.

Afterparty

Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Developer: Night School Studio
Release: 2019

Night School Studio, the creators of Oxenfree, has a knack for creating unique premises and interesting dialogue. Afterparty is no exception, placing you right in hell. Your only way out? Outdrink satan himself. Apparently, hell is all about alcohol and what you drink impacts your personality, such as making you more aggressive or flirty. This gives you different dialogue options and opens up various paths to completing your objective. 

Our demo had us trying to get into a VIP room. While there are a few different ways to do this, we chose to impress our way in with our beer pong skills. The intense match had us taunting our opponent to get them to fumble and trying our best to aim the ball to reach the cup. All the bars you visit have their own theme, one plays off the bustling Tokyo’s bustling Shibuya, while another puts you in a Nebraska wasteland. The game obviously takes a more comical tone, but also explores the nature of friendship by having your swap between BFFs Milo and Lola, who just graduated from college and end up in hell due to an accident.  Thankfully, you’ll have your chance to drink with the devil and discover more soon enough as Afterparty launches later this year. –Kimberley Wallace

Airborne Kingdom

Platform: PC
Developer: The Wandering Band
Release: 2020

Take a city builder like SimCity and put it in the sky and you have a bit of an idea what Airborne Kingdom is like. In this creative sim from The Wandering Band, you manage and build a massive airship that slowly grows into a city. I started with a small town hall and only a dozen people, but as I built new houses, gathered food, and satisfied the needs of my population, I attracted more people to my utopia in the sky. However, you need to maintain balance; if you build too much on one side of the city, the whole thing can actually tip over. After building sky oars, I was able to move my city through the atmosphere, so I could meet other land-based nations. Some of these cities give you quests – like building specific districts or reaching new population limits – and when you complete these small tasks you earn new building blueprints and other technology. Airborne Kingdom is still in the early stages, but I’m already planning my own version of Columbia. –Ben Reeves

Barotrauma

Platform: PC, Mac, Linux
Developer: FakeFish, Undertow Games
Release: Spring

We’ve encountered hundreds of different types of games since Game Informer was formed in 1991, but we’ve never played a 2D cooperative online drowning simulator in space before. That’s the descriptor developers FakeFish and Undertow use to explain Barotrauma. In this game, a team of up to 16 players works together to navigate the treacherous waters under the frozen surface of Jupiter’s Europa moon. Each person takes assumes a particular role aboard the ship, from the captain and security officer to the electrical engineers and mechanics needed to keep the sub running. Along the journey, anything that can go wrong will. Monsters attack the ship, forcing players to man the turrets and repair hull breaches before the flooding disrupts vital operations. Crew members get sick, systems fail, fires break out, and when these hazards pop off simultaneously it makes for some frantic play sessions. –Matt Bertz 

Dead End Job

Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Developer: Ant Workshop
Release: 2019

With a great sense humor, a cool Ren and Stimpy-inspired art style, and an engaging gameplay loop of working your way up the ranks, Dead End Job is a game to keep your eye on. You may be an “everyday Joe” who cleans up after others, but instead of clearing areas of trash you’re actually a ghostbuster, working at Ghoul-B-Gone. As the name implies, you eliminate various apparitions by blasting and vacuuming them up. You start at the bottom of the totem pole as an intern, but the better you get, the more glamorous your job title becomes. Your score rises with every baddie you defeat and citizen you rescue, allowing you to rack up the bill for your clients.

The game has procedurally generated areas that take place in offices, restaurants, parks, and more. Each stage has power-ups and health items that pop up as you defeat baddies and complete simple objectives, like find and rescue a certain amount of people. Ant Workshop wanted to find humor in the mundane, and I enjoyed what I played, giggling at every promotion title and ridiculous-looking enemy. Dead End Job will also have couch drop in/drop out co-op, so you can bring a friend along for this crazy journey.  –Kimberley Wallace

Katana Zero 

Platform: Switch, PC
Developer: Askiisoft
Release: April 18

Imagine the perfect run through any one screen in a game: not a single wasted movement, kicking open doors to knock one enemy into another, hitting enemy bullets back at them, generally laying waste to whatever stands in your way in seconds. That is the idea behind Katana Zero, a fantastic 2D action game coming soon to Switch and PC. Players make their way room-by-room through hordes of enemies in a Hotline Miami-style single run. The rooms get longer and longer as you proceed and one mistake means starting the whole room over. Katana Zero also has an interesting dialogue choice system where jumping the gun can save your life or ruin your mission, so you have to think carefully before acting. –Imran Khan

Metamorphosis

Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Developer: Ovid Works
Release: Fall 

Polish studio Ovid Works is using the absurdist classic Franz Kafka short story as inspiration for a brand new puzzle platformer. You take the role of salesman Gregor Samsa, who awakens surprised to find himself transformed into a bug. You must traverse through both mundane and fantastical settings while Samsa wrestles with his existential crisis. The game focuses deliberately on the humor and absurdity of the situation, and the gorgeous, hand-drawn textures make it a treat to explore this microcosmos. Should you get stuck, you can pull up a handy overview camera that changes your perspective and reveals new paths. This five-to-six hour experience drops later this year.  –Matt Bertz

Neo Cab 

Platform: Switch, PC
Developer: Chance Agency
Release: 2019

A narrative-driven game set in the near future, you play as the last human driver for a rideshare service in a world that revolves around automation. As Lina, you must pick up customers, keep your emotions in check, and do whatever you can to keep your five-star rating. Challenges also include making sure you have enough money coming in to keep your gas tank full and cover the occasional mishap, such as a parking ticket.

Balancing your own needs is just as difficult. Do you sleep to improve your physical state, or take on more rides for extra cash? Do you compromise your own feelings and opinions for the sake of pleasing a customer? These are just some of the choices in your hands and your emotional state can change the options before you. For instance, if you’re depressed, you won’t be able to choose the flirty option for customer conversations.

Besides making cash and pleasing your clientele, Lina also is new in town, learning more about the corrupt technologically advanced world around her, but things take a worse turn when her friend and only lifeline mysteriously disappears. Releasing at some point this year, Neo Cab explores the issues that may arise in an A.I.-controlled world and the importance of our humanity. –Kimberley Wallace

 

Overland

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Developer: Finji
Release: 2019

From the creators of Canabalt comes this new squad-based strategy game that challenges players to survive a journey across a post-apocalyptic United States. Each level is procedurally generated, so every journey is completely new. Unlike a lot of turn-based strategy games, combat in Overland is generally the last resort. Instead, you try to avoid enemy movement as you scavenge for supplies. The early levels I played featured a big focus on siphoning gas out of cars so I could fuel my car and reach my next destination. Along the way, you meet other survivors who can join your party. At night, you use flares to light your way or power generators to light up larger areas. However, generators make a lot of noise and will attract unwanted attention from flesh-hungry monsters. I was intrigued by my first hands-on with Overland and I’m eager to play more as we get closer to its launch later this year. –Ben Reeves

The Siege and the Sandfox

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Developer: Cardboard Sword
Release: TBD

These days, there is no shortage of games inspired by Metroid and Castlevania, but Cardboard Sword’s The Siege and the Sandfox puts a unique spin on the genre by adding stealth mechanics. You are a notorious assassin who has been falsely accused of murdering a king and then thrown into a labyrinthine network of dungeons beneath the city. You must escape your prison and find a way to clear your name, but you are clearly outmatched and need to sneak through these lushly-detailed pixel environments. As you parkour through the environment and avoid traps, you make noise, which can attract a variety of dangerous guards. This level of noise is represented by visually onscreen, so you know how much chaos you’re creating. But, if you manage to sneak through dangerous areas, you can knock out guards from behind. Cardboard Sword hasn’t announced a projected release (the team was originally hoping for 2018), but The Siege and the Sandfox looks like it should appeal to fans of games like Mark of the Ninja. –Ben Reeves

Sloppy Forgeries 

Platform: PC, Mac, iOS
Developer: Playful Systems
Release: Summer

Fans of Drawful and Draw Something have a new party game to look forward to in Sloppy Forgeries. This two-player competitive local multiplayer pits wannabe artists against one another to try and recreate famous paintings like the Mona Lisa, Starry Night, The Scream, La Danse, and The Whistler’s Mother using a mouse or touchpad. Their forgeries are made all the more hilarious considering they must work under the constraints of a timer to replicate the masterpieces. Watching players rush to mimic these works of art is hilarious, and the game uses a pixel comparison to see who gets closest.  –Matt Bertz

The Sojourn 

Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Steam
Developer: Shifting Tides
Release: 2019

Described by its developers as a cross between games like Portal and Journey, The Sojourn is a first-person puzzler that puts players in a series of instanced puzzle rooms that play with time and space to bend your mind in ways that only magic can. In puzzle rooms, a dark magic portal gives you abilities like reassembling broken bridges or exchanging places with a statue, but the magic runs out as you take steps. So to cross a bridge, you have to take the most efficient path. To put a statue in the correct place, you have to do a lot of clever warping and inching to the correct place. The art in The Sojourn is absolutely lovely and seeing the ruins assemble from strewn about bricks in the environment is a wonder to behold. It will be interesting to see if the game keeps up its creativity throughout the entire game when it releases later this year. –Imran Khan

Star Renegades

Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Developer: Massive Damage, Inc.
Release: 2020

Pixel games are almost ubiquitous with indie gaming, so it takes a lot for one 16-bit inspired game to stand out these days. Star Renegades is one of those gems. Not only does Massive Damage’s stunning pixel work stand out on a crowded floor, the tactical rogue-lite RPG looks to offer a rewarding challenge. You lead a ragtag squad of rebels on a quest to push back against an imperious empire. Combat plays out in a series of turn-based RPG battles. At the bottom of the screen, you always have a clear view of the enemy’s next attack and how much damage they will deliver, so you can better plan your teams counter attacks and combos and know when to defend yourself. Each run is procedurally generated, but players unlock dozens of new characters during their playthroughs, which will better augment your team’s survival strategy. The developer says that they were inspired by games like Dead Cells and Into The Breach, so we’ll see if Star Renegades lives up to that high-quality bar when it releases early next year. –Ben Reeves

Supermarket Shriek

Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Developer: Billy Goat Entertainment Ltd
Release: 2019

After a hapless shopper runs into a goat on a shopping cart, the odd duo is thrust into a series of oddball races and obstacle challenges. Navigating these challenges is easier said than done, however. If it wasn’t obvious, Supermarket Shriek is a goofy game; your shopping cart is actually propelled by the screams of the goat and the man inside it. This odd propulsion system is also a little unwieldy because Supermarket Shriek features traditional tank controls, so when players hold down the right bumper they will turn right and when they hold down the left bumper they turn left. Naturally, holding down both buttons pushes you forward. Billy Goat Entertainment intentionally designed Supermarket Shriek’s controls to be a little loose, which is where the game’s challenge comes from. Obstacles within each supermarket include fire pits, swinging axes, and giant towers of baked beans. Supermarket Shriek can be played single player, but it plays better as a party game where two players each control either the right or left side of the cart. An alternative mode allows players to scream into microphones in order to control the direction of the cart, but either way you play you’ll probably be screaming at your friends. –Ben Reeves

The Wild At Heart

Platform: Xbox One, PC
Developer: Moonlight Kids
Release: 2020

The Wild At Heart immediately catches your eye due to its beautiful, vibrant art style that is reminiscent of Studio Ghibli and Saloon films (Song of the Sea, The Secret of Kells). The game has you playing as a boy named Wake, who has a troubled home life and ends up discovering a fantastical place with magical creatures when exploring the woods. It’s up to you to discover the truth of this forgotten world and its inhabitants. To help the critters and survive, Wake has his trusty Gutbuster to vacuum up objects for crafting, which lets you create everything from costumes to new tools. Similar to Pikmin, the magical beings also help him through the journey. You can chuck them at enemies, send them to collect resources, or have them break down barriers to get further into the forest. There’s a childlike wonder to discovering this world and befriending its strange creatures, and we can’t wait to step in it when it launches next year. –Kimberley Wallace

Wintermoor Tactics Club

Platform: PC
Developer: EVC
Release: 2019

Inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics and Steven Universe, Wintermoor Tactics Club is a lighthearted turn-based tactics game set in an elite boarding school during the 1980s. Players control a group of friends who form a tabletop gaming club at the Wintermoor Academy. However, the survival of their group is threatened when every association at the school is challenged to a giant snowball tournament. These nerdy nobodies are transformed into magical heroes in a series of grid-based snowball battles. EVC is looking to deliver an experience that is very approachable bit still offers some depth for strategy fans. Each hero has only two attacks, but many of their skills combo well with others, which encourages teamwork. For example, Alicia is a warrior mage who unleashes area attack spells and can set the ground on fire, and this works really well with her teammates who can push and pull enemies into the blaze. The snowball tournament kicks off later this year when Wintermoor Tactics Club releases on PC. –Ben Reeves

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Metro Exodus takes Artyom and company out of inhospitable Moscow subway tunnels and into the…inhospitible Russian countryside. Between the dangerous levels of radiation waiting to suck the life out of you in certain zones and the fearsome cast of mutant predators, you need to keep your gas mask at the ready and your head on a swivel. With roving gangs of cannibals, slavers, and religious fanatics thrown into the mix, Artyom has his work cut out to make it across the continent.

To help ease your burden, you can learn from our mistakes with these valuable tips for getting the most out of the game. 

Turn On The Russian Voiceover

One of Metro Exodus’ biggest shortcoming is the wooden acting that robs emotional scenes of any weight. Do yourself a favor when you boot up the game and head into the options to turn on the Russian voiceover and English subtitles. Trust us, it’s worth it. 

Turn Up The Difficulty For The Classic Metro Experience

Are you one of the Metro fans who enjoyed the tension that resource scarcity adds to the experience? Then I recommend turning up the difficulty. On the normal setting, we did a fair bit of scavenging in each region and almost always felt flush with ammo and resources. This should suit the run and gun crowd, but others may miss the stress attrition creates. 

Always Be Scavenging

Artyom and gang aren’t exactly flush with ammo and supplies, which means you have to gather them yourself. If you see an abandoned building, broken down vehicle, or other structure on your way to the next objective, it pays to search the area for the vital resources, new weapon attachments, and gear upgrades. Don’t forget to scavenge off the bodies of your fallen enemies as well.

Grab Those Glowy Shrooms

Those glowing mushrooms in dark spaces aren’t just handy for illuminating your way forward, they also double as the liquid resource you can use to craft supplies. Given their abundance, staying stocked up on shrooms is a good way to make sure you are never too low on that critical resource.

Resupply On The Fly

You can’t craft bullets for your main and secondary weapons while you are out on a mission, but by deploying your backpack you can still re-up on vital supplies like medkits, gas mask filters, and the bearing balls for the Tihar pneumatic air rifle. Before you head into a hot zone, make sure you are well supplied to deal with whatever may be waiting for you.

Follow This Workbench Checklist

Every time you find a safe house, you gain access to a new workbench where you can craft ammo, swap out weapons, and make the more dramatic alterations to your equipment. Each time you access a workbench, we recommend you:

1. Clean your rifles. They lose effectiveness and are prone to jamming when their condition deteriorates, so polishing them up every time you visit a workbench is a wise time investment.

2. Restock your ammo. Check which ammo types your guns use, and make sure you are flush before heading out the door. You never know when your next chance to craft ammo is going to come. 

3. Repair your gas mask. The more damage you take, the worse off your gas mask is going to be. Tab over to the equipment menu and repair the gas mask just like you would clean a weapon.

4. Install gear upgrades. While you are exploring you may come across a new flak jacket that holds more ammo, improved gasmask less prone to taking damage, a new attachment for your bracer, etc. Make sure you check to see if you have any new items to install each time you make a pit stop. 

Change Out Attachments On The Fly

The parameters of combat encounters should dictate what type of attachments you have equipped on your weapon. If you’re in a wide-open space, it’s smart to equip long-range scopes and long barrels to improve stability. Before moving into close-quarters spaces, swap out the 4X scope for a more accommodating red dot sight. Making tweaks like this can maximize your efficiency. 

Your Mask Is Your Friend

The second you hear crackling sounds emanating from the Geiger counter on your wrist bracer, hold down on the d-pad and equip your gas mask. This prevents you from taking unnecessary damage and lengthens Artyom’s life expectancy. When you hear a beeping sound, that means you need to replace your filter on the gas mask. Tap down on the d-pad and Artyom will take care of it (provided you have a replacement to spare).

Keep Your Batteries Charged

Nothing is worse than beginning an enemy encounter in a darkened area only to have your flashlight or night vision goggles turn off due to low batteries. If you’re exploring an area where you use these items extensively, make sure you occasionally hold down left on the d-pad to bring out the battery charger. 

Don’t Always Shoot First

Not every group of humans you come across will treat you antagonistically. You can often sneak up and listen to their dialogue to see what they think of the outsiders who rolled into the region on the steam locomotive. This is a great way of determining whether they will be hostile upon seeing you approach. If they don’t seem threatened, holstering your weapon and walking up to them may trigger some valuable dialogue that reveals new destinations on the map. 

Stealth Saves Supplies

Sure, you can go into any enemy encounter guns blazing. But the smarter course of action is often staying in the shadows and diminishing the enemy numbers with stealth takedowns. This lets you preserve ammo and medkits for when you really need them.

Sometimes Running Is Better Than Fighting

No matter how handy you are with a rifle, sometimes the odds stack up against you. When mutated spiders or humaninals start to overwhelm, it’s smart to hightail it out of there. Mutants don’t drop resources when they die, so killing them isn’t worth it a lot of times, and if you stay for the fireworks you may find yourself with empty clips and no more medkits.

Manners Make The Man

Maybe don’t murder every faction you come across. You have a knock out option in combat and stealth for a reason, after all. Know that your actions toward each faction affect how the rest of that region sees you and interacts with you. How you act may end up determining whether a compatriot lives or dies in the long run.

Hang Around The Aurora

When you transition from a mission to a train sequence, don’t rush over to the map and activate the next scenario. Take time to explore the train. The radio allows you to listen in to chatter from bands of survivors. Walking up to your compatriots often triggers longer conversations where you can get to know their personalities and motivations. These moments are vital to fleshing out the story and making you care more about your crew.

Be The Errand Boy

Artyom’s compatriots sometimes lament they have lost a valuable heirloom or wish to hear the soothing strumming of a guitar again. While you’re exploring the regions, keep your eye out for these things. Bring back those desired items and they will trigger some new interactions. 

For more on Metro Exodus, check out our review here.

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We here at Game Infarmer are obsessed with Farm Together. Our Call of Duty and Overwatch clans have taken breaks from matches to grow crops and build sprawling fields. It’s our current go-to game when we just need to relax.

The beautiful thing about Farm Together is you always make progress. Every dollar you spend brings more back. While you can’t fail, farm growth can go slowly if you don’t know how to bring in the big bucks. Below is a selection of tips that will get you moving in the right direction. Within a matter of hours, you should be swimming in cash, diamonds, ribbons, and more.

Always be questing

Enter the pause menu and select the quest log to tackle as many requests as you can for people. You’ll earn plenty of ribbons and experience points if you stay on top of quests.

Group things together

Plant trees together, put animals in pens together, and place fish in a large pond together. While the farm will look nicer when things are separated into their own fenced in areas, the larger fields and pens allow for the tractor to be used more effectively. Make sure the fields keep the tractor’s 3×3 capabilities in mind. Having an extra row on the side just slows you down. This is one tip that will expand the size of your wallet quickly.

Build your house early

When you reach the level that the house unlocks, build it as soon as you can. Construction will take 4 full days, and cost a sizable sum, but brings new gameplay opportunities and allows you to earn tickets.

Upgrade the gas station 

Gas is a precious commodity and you’ll likely find yourself running to the station more than you care to as you tend to your fields. The upgraded gas stations costs a whopping 25 ribbons but greatly increases the time you can use your tractor.

Customizations 

If you are just starting out some of the unlockable content cannot be found mid-game. You’ll need to back out of your farm to the title screen to access the customization options, which give you a cat or dog, allow you to design your own tractor, outfit, and more.

Okay, how do I make more money?

If you want to have enough cash to dive through like Scrooge McDuck, plant as many sunflowers, strawberries, watermelons, and grapes as you can. Yes, they take time to grow, but deliver sizable returns. Beets are also a good go-to since they are available each season and harvest regularly, when watered. Adding sprinklers to these money making fields can speed up the process.

How do I earn more diamonds?

Plant money trees (yes, they exist in this game) and regularly check your various stands to get the diamond payouts. Don’t be afraid to invest in numerous stands of the same variety if you are harvesting a lot of the same thing.

Money trees can only be farmed in winter and many other diamond solutions are available. Try honey! Block off an entire section of the farm for honeycomb, which costs a mere 10 diamonds each – make a lot of these. Like 100. While it takes some time to harvest them all, they provide 5 diamonds and experience every day, and the honey can be turned in at the honey stand for merit badges. It adds up quick and you can feed the badges back into the diamond cycle by creating special plants like mustard that cost badges to make, but give diamonds every harvest.

How do I earn ribbons?

Quests. Don’t bother selling fruit or milk, instead invest all your milk in dairy (to make cheese) and fruit in fruit presses (to make jam). Sell cheese and jam at their stands for ribbon payouts.

How do I earn tickets?

Perform activities in your house: cooking, making music, and doing art. You can eventually have 4 houses to generate a ridiculous number of tickets.

Events

Odds are we’ll see plenty of timed events like the Lovely Harvest festival, which allows players to plant cotton candy to add unicorns and other limited-time decorations to their farms. You’ll want to invest heavily in these timed crops to earn all of the unlocks, which can be viewed in the quest log.

Be social

Visit other farms, don’t be shy. There isn’t much of a reward for doing this, but seeing what other players are doing to make money can help you with your farm.

I just want total world domination

If you really want to see the money fly in, make your map mostly fishing and use a farmhand to harvest. Plant money trees for diamonds where you can. Build 4 houses and use each kitchen to make sushi, which gives you plenty of tickets for paying your farmhands.

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Apex Legends’ combination of character-driven shooter and battle royale has players scrambling to find the best combinations in their squads to become champion. You’re probably here because you’re one of those people. Have no worries, friends. Several of us at the Game Informer office have lucked earned our way to victory with smooth tactics and tips that will help you do the same. It’s true that a lot of succeeding in Apex Legends comes down to whose aim is truer or who’s craftier in the moment, but proper character builds can do wonders and even turn the game around.

Here are a number of our favorite builds that might just help you become a champion.

Tyrants and Tricksters

Build: Bloodhound, Caustic, Mirage

Big and nasty with a side of illusionist and a tracker. What’s not to love? Caustic’s toxic traps are great for ambushes. You can use Bloodhound’s special to detect when foes are around and then, using Mirage’s decoy, lead them into one of those traps. While they’re choking about, descend on them and finish them off.

The Suicide Squad

Build: Bloodhound, Gibraltar, Wraith

Put the boom boom into their heart. Track your foes with Bloodhound, draw them into a firefight and catch them off guard with Gibraltar’s dome shield. While they’re focused on trying to bypass that thing, flank behind them as Wraith, drop some grenades behind them, then zip away with her special. A risky play, but the rewards are rich.

The Valkyrie Vanguards

Build: Wraith, Bangalore,  Lifeline

Wraith is the great, speedy bait to draw foes in. While she does, Bangalore can fire one of her smoke bombs at approaching foes so she (and Wraith) can dance around them, peppering them with bullets. Lifeline is on standby for emergency healing duties.

Tinker, Tailor, Tracker

Build: Pathfinder, Bloodhound, Mirage

This build is more about avoiding foes for as long as possible while scrounging up supplies. Using Pathfinder’s passive ability, pinpoint where the circle will be closing and stay away from foes by using Bloodhound’s ability to detect them. If they see you, try and use Mirage’s decoy ultimate to confuse them until you and your squad beat a fast retreat. Hopefully, by the time the center closes and you’re forced to fight, the gear loadout will be in your favor.

Click here to watch embedded media

Hunter-Killers

Bloodhound, Bangalore, Wraith

Having Bangalore as the main offensive lineup is always a good idea, especially when you combine her rolling thunder with Bloodhound’s ability to know where foes are. Wraith’s portals help you zip across landscapes to escape enclosing circles or firefights with poor odds, while Bangalore’s smoke will buy you some time to revive friends.

The Brute Squad

Build: Gibraltar, Wraith, Lifeline

You don’t have time for fancy tricks. You’re all about muscle and bullets, baby. If you love to run headlong into battle, Gibraltar stands a little longer than most folks thanks to his useful ability to raise an arm shield while in iron sights. If he falls, Lifeline can raise him up while Wraith distracts foes from behind.

The Grifters

Build: Lifeline, Caustic, Wraith

Lifeline’s ultimate is to drop a care package containing defensive items onto the map. This is useful for obvious reasons but also acts a dinner bell for nearby players. Why not use that to your advantage by having Caustic trap the package and/or Wraith leave a portal to it so you and your team can zip back to the package and ambush them?

Tank-Gankers

Build: Gibraltar, Lifeline, Wraith

On a similar note to The Long Con, you can call in Lifeline’s care package and then shield yourselves with Gibraltar’s dome. Lifeline’s ultimate fills pretty quickly so this is a decent way to constantly grab good defensive gear throughout the whole match.

For more on Apex Legends, check out our impressions, other tips, and our interview with Respawn about making the game.

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Over the past two decades, Rockstar Games has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the games industry. Rising up from quirky Scotland-based developers with a taste for pulp and crime fiction, Rockstar evolved radically, shifting into innovators and provocateurs, creating some of the industry’s most influential and blockbuster titles. In the lead up to the eagerly anticipated Red Dead Redemption 2, we came together as a staff to rank every single game that Rockstar developed (this means we excluded published titles like L.A. Noire and Smuggler’s Run). From the humble top-down beginnings of Grand Theft Auto to the blood-soaked streets of Manhunt and the beautiful jaw-dropping vistas of Red Dead Redemption, you’ll find every single title put in its proper place in terms of influence, importance of innovation, and just plain fun.

With all that in mind, let’s steal a ride and roar down this road to hell.

Update (02/4/19): Now that Red Dead Redemption II has been out for a few months and we’ve had time to analyze and discuss its achievements, we’ve added it to the rankings below. Read more…

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<p><img src=”https://s3.amazonaws.com/prod-media.gameinformer.com/styles/body_default/s3/2019/01/15/754e1eb5/mostanticipated2019_5_horror_v2.jpg” width=”800″ height=”450″ alt=”” typeof=”foaf:Image” class=”image-style-body-default” /></p>

<p>The horror genre went into hiding in 2018, but is poised to return in a big way this year, beginning with the release of Resident Evil 2 on January 25. The year ahead is chock-full of new intellectual properties that are delivering suspense and gore through unconventional narrative directions. From ancient Nordic horrors to disappearances in Roswell, gamers have plenty of interesting scares coming their way. In assembling this anticipated list, we looked at over 40 horror games slated for 2019, and narrowed it to the nine that we believe look the most promising.</p>

<p><em>Note: Entries are listed in alphabetical order.</em></p>

<p></p><a target=”_blank” allow=”autoplay” allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0″ height=”” href=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/dDIwU6jVYeU” width=””>Click here to watch embedded video</a>

<h2>Apsulov: End of Gods</h2>

<p>Release: 2019<br />
Platform: PC</p>

<p>Whenever you dig up an artifact that defies logic, you have to ask yourself why it was buried in the first place. In Apsulov: End of Gods, a horror game from Angry Demon Studio, you uncover something a device that aims to bring destruction to Midgard (the human realm). Described as a “future viking horror game,” Apsulov blends Nordic mythology with science fiction, and pushes the player to prevent an ancient horror from destroying the world and perhaps reawakening the Nordic Gods.</p>

<p></p><a target=”_blank” allow=”autoplay” allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0″ height=”” href=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/M0Y1o6nlQjs” width=””>Click here to watch embedded video</a>

<h2>The Beast Inside</h2>

<p>Release: 2019<br />
Platform: PC</p>

<p>A cryptanalyst discovered a clue from a murder that occurred more than 100 years ago, and now finds himself hunted by what appears to be the same killer. He must piece together this murder from the Civil War era to end the current threat. To do this, players will control two characters, one set in the past and one in the present, within a small open world where every item is interactive. Given one of the character’s professions, solving puzzles and deciphering codes is a huge part of the game, but you’ll also have a gun that can deal with the threats that emerge. The Beast Inside is currently just listed as “coming soon” from developer Illusion Ray Studio.</p>

<p></p><a target=”_blank” allow=”autoplay” allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0″ height=”” href=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/1M8wgoflQBg” width=””>Click here to watch embedded video</a>

<h2>The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan</h2>

<p>Release: 2019<br />
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC</p>

<p>Supermassive Games, the studio behind the excellent choice-driven slasher game Until Dawn, has numerous horror stories to tell and plans to release them as an anthology. The first story, which looks to be designed similarly to Until Dawn from a gameplay perspective, is called Man of Medan. Set in the South Pacific, a group of four young Americans and their boat’s captain stumble upon a World War II vessel and decide to investigate it. They don’t like what they find, but end up being trapped on the vessel due to a storm. They need to figure out how to escape before the boat’s occupants cut them down.</p>

<p></p><a target=”_blank” allow=”autoplay” allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0″ height=”” href=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/UeMtj6CuXPE” width=””>Click here to watch embedded video</a>

<h2>Layers of Fear 2</h2>

<p>Release: 2019<br />
Platform: TBA</p>

<p>Drawing inspiration from the works of Alfred Hitchcock, Bloober Team’s Layers of Fear sequel will have more of a classic film quality to it, but will still focus on art and making players second guess what they are seeing. Narrated by Tony Todd, who was Candyman in <em>Candyman</em>, Layers of Fear 2 doesn’t have a release window other than 2019, nor platform listings yet, although it’s a safe bet it will be on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Those answers may come tomorrow at the game’s PAX South panel.</p>

<p></p><a target=”_blank” allow=”autoplay” allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0″ height=”” href=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/ezz0mCM7DY8″ width=””>Click here to watch embedded video</a>

<h2>Pathologic 2</h2>

<p>Release: 2019<br />
Platform: PC</p>

<p>The original Pathologic assumed immediate cult-classic status when it released in 2005. The game was buggy and ugly to look at but its ambitions, casting you as a group of characters trying to prevent a plague from decimating a small town, were astonishing for the time. Its village had NPCs who went about their own schedules, timed quests, a ridiculous amount of branching paths, and an unspeakably bleak and horrific atmosphere. With Pathologic 2, which is a remake of the original game, perhaps developer Ice-Pick Lodge will deliver on the bold innovations of the first game with a needed facelift to creep out a whole new generation of gamers.</p>

<p>A standalone prequel is available as a demo that you can download <a href=”https://store.steampowered.com/app/505230/Pathologic_2/”>here</a>.</p>

<p></p><a target=”_blank” allow=”autoplay” allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0″ height=”” href=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/vXv5n9K5prw” width=””>Click here to watch embedded video</a>

<h2>The Peterson Case</h2>

<p>Release: 2019<br />
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC</p>

<p>A family has gone missing near Roswell, New Mexico, and you are a detective who has been called in to figure out what happened to them. Investigating their house may sound like a great place to start, but it could spell your end. The house is crawling with unnatural things, including ghosts, living symbols on the walls, and perhaps even proof that we are not along in this universe. The good news: You have a pretty good idea of what happened to the family, which also happens to be one of the greatest discoveries of our time. The bad news: You’re probably going to die or disappear in this house, just like the family.</p>

<p></p><a target=”_blank” allow=”autoplay” allowfullscreen=”true” href=”https://players.brightcove.net/694940074001/rydylbNsz_default/index.html?videoId=5969069817001 “>Click here to watch embedded video</a>

<h2>Resident Evil 2</h2>

<p>Release: January 25<br />
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC</p>

<p>A remake of the 1998 PlayStation game, Resident Evil 2 reunites gamers with Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who find themselves trapped in Raccoon City at the height of a zombie outbreak. While much of the story and locations players visit will seem familiar, the gameplay and puzzles have been completely reworked, including a much-needed over-the-shoulder targeting system. After spending <a href=”https://www.gameinformer.com/preview/2018/12/04/revitalizing-a-classic”>hours playing it</a>, <em>Game Informer</em>’s Imran Khan says, “I went into the Resident Evil 2 remake looking to recapture that same feeling, but found that Capcom wasn’t trying to recreate a moment-in-time with the horror revival as much as they were trying to recontextualize it.”</p>

<p></p><a target=”_blank” allow=”autoplay” allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0″ height=”” href=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/zEy2rUEC1gM” width=””>Click here to watch embedded video</a>

<h2>The Sinking City</h2>

<p>Release: March 21<br />
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC</p>

<p>Developer Frogwares has a long history of making Sherlock Holmes investigation games, but is now turning its gaze to the works of H.P. Lovecraft for the studio’s next game, The Sinking City. Set in Oakmont, Massachusetts, in the 1920s, and seen through the eyes of investigator Charles W. Reed, players must figure out why the entire city is going mad. We all know the answer has something to do with Cthulhu, but Reed doesn’t, and you’re going to need to help him keep his sanity as he explores an open world that is flooding. Much like the Sherlock Holmes games, you’ll be interrogating people and studying the environment to find clues. The game also features combat and action sequences.</p>

<p></p><a target=”_blank” allow=”autoplay” allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0″ height=”” href=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/erVPt_T_u7M” width=””>Click here to watch embedded video</a>

<h2>Unholy</h2>

<p>Release: 2019<br />
Platform: PC</p>

<p>Described as first-person stealth/horror, Unholy takes a mother named Saidah through the last city of a dying planet to locate her missing daughter. Players will have to determine how they approach each scenario, either with stealth or taking out the guards that stand in your way. Developer Duality Games says that each play style has its own consequences. We don’t know what this means yet, but it could tie into the need to keep Saidah’s physical and mental health in check. She could go insane if you play your cards wrong.</p> 閱讀全文 →

Third- and first-person shooter fans can always rely on a steady stream of reinforcements coming to their preferred genre, and 2018 was no different. Many of the familiar franchises we expect to see on an annual or bi-annual basis returned, but the most welcome trend of the year was the diversity of experiences these games offered. With tactical skirmishes, cooperative sci-fi stand-offs, modern-day open worlds, historical settings, nostalgia-driven shotgun fests, and an explosion of battle royale games among the ranks, you could argue that 2018 was one of the most eclectic years in recent history. 

From this embarrassment of riches, we had the tough task of isolating the peak performers for our 2018 Shooter Awards. Here are the winners:

Best Campaign: Destiny 2: Forsaken

Cayde-6’s series of unfortunate events may have grabbed all the headlines, but the Forsaken campaign is successful for more than just story reasons. The open-ended structure allows guardians to hunt down the Barons any way they see fit, the missions have more craftsmanship on display than previous entries, and the story delivers memorable set pieces. Best of all, the campaign bleeds perfectly into Forsaken’s enhanced endgame. 

Best Setting: Far Cry 5

Far Cry typically takes us on globe-hopping journeys to exotic locales, but the fifth entry doesn’t suffer for staying home. Rural Montana is packed with curious people to meet, but the real star is the picturesque landscape begging to be explored. Pulling out your binoculars to survey the peaks and valleys around you, Hope County beckons you to soak in your surroundings. Enjoy these moments of peace and reflection while you can, because no matter how far off the beaten path you may be, we guarantee a white peggie pickup truck is right around the corner ready to bring the fight to you.

Best Character: Ashe – Overwatch

This jack-of-all-trades gun-for-hire comes to the fight with instant pedigree. As the head of the Deadlock Gang, Ashe was once McCree’s boss. Her rifle is effective in both mid- and long-range firefights, but her sidekick B.O.B. is the real attention grabber. When Ashe activates her ultimate, this A.I.-controlled butler/bodyguard effortlessly locks down control points, smoking anyone who dares walk into the area. Rival players know to proceed with caution when she yells, ”B.O.B., do something!”

Best Graphics: Battlefield V

You can always count on the technical wizards at DICE’s Stockholm headquarters when it comes to gorgeous visuals, and Battlefield V is no exception. DICE may have gone back to the past with the World War II setting, but its eyes were locked on the future when it comes to graphics. As the first game to release supporting DXR ray tracing, the implementation comes with some obvious framerate costs, but the visual fidelity of real-time light reflections on water, mirrors, and windows looks quite impressive. This feature isn’t worth the performance cost in competitive multiplayer, but turn it on in War Stories and enjoy the cutting-edge graphics.  

Best Sound Design: Insurgency: Sandstorm

Battlefield has dominated this category for years, but this year we have a newcomer on the frontlines. Insurgency: Sandstorm takes a page from the old-school Battlefield playbook to create a riveting war experience. Hearing the footsteps of approaching enemies as you hunker down at a control point waiting to open fire builds an extraordinary amount of tension, and the satisfying THWACK of gunfire really drives home the point that one shot from these deadly modern-day weapons will end your life.  

Best Soundtrack: Battlefield V

Composers Johan Söderqvist and Patrik Andrén delivered a memorable score for Battlefield 1, but this new composition is their best work yet. Equal parts somber and uplifting, the score works well whether you are playing the more serious-minded War Stories or jumping into the multiplayer mayhem. If you want to hear a sample, check out the remarkable “Flute Theme.”

Best Weaponry: Destiny 2: Forsaken 

Destiny’s sci-fi setting affords Bungie’s designers the opportunity to create some amazing weaponry. With death bringers like the Wish-Ender and One Thousand Voices, the Forsaken expansion continues in this tradition. The best exotics in the game may be a pain to earn, but their prowess makes the journey worth it.

Best Gunplay: Destiny 2: Forsaken

At this point, we should just rename this category The Destiny Award, because it’s been years since a rival studio has seriously competed with the satisfying feel of Bungie’s varied and powerful arsenal. Whether you are pulling off devastating sniper shots from afar or melting foes with a penetrating fusion rifle, nearly every gun begs you to pull the trigger to see what happens. 

Best Service: Fortnite

When Fortnite’s battle royale started taking off, Epic Games saw an opportunity to do something special and grow the community to unprecedented levels. To help fuel its ambitions, the company made the tough call to cancel projects like Unreal Tournament and Paragon so the entire studio could focus on delivering a steady stream of new content for its blockbuster hit. We saw the fruits of that decision play out in 2018, as no other game could keep pace with the frequency and quality of the Fortnite content drops. 

Best Skins: Overwatch

Many shooters have interesting hero cosmetics that lighten the mood and let players showcase their personalities, but no one does it better than the Blizzard artists working on Overwatch. The studio delivered new and interesting looks for its incredibly deep roster all year round. The Halloween skins, in particular, won over the Game Informer offices in 2018.  

Best Progression: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Whether you are playing zombies mode, competing online in traditional multiplayer, or fighting to be the last person standing in Blackout, developer Treyarch keeps you engaged with well-designed progression systems. The Black Market system found in Blackout and PvP was particularly interesting, giving players quests to earn access to the attractive cosmetics, gestures, and emblem stickers available in each season’s supply steam.

Best Map: Fortnite 

Rather than create a series of new battlefields over the course of the year like most multiplayer games, Epic went another route with Fortnite, adding interesting new locales into the pre-existing map. This organic approach to content development kept the experience feeling new throughout the year, and delivered several memorable moments where a location like the meteor crash or Loot Lake became the centerpiece of conversation. 

Best Cooperative Multiplayer: Destiny 2: Forsaken

Destiny always leans heavily into cooperative gameplay with its missions and raids, but Forsaken amplifies this approach with the new “PvEvP” Gambit mode. This hybrid space finds the sweet spot between the classic PvE and the more punishing competitiveness found in Crucible. Surviving invasions from rival guardians in this mode requires your squad work closely together. In addition, Bungie developed two raids – Last Wish and Scourge of the Past – to test high-end teams. 

Best Battle Royale Mode: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

This may be a controversial pick for those who spend dozens of hours a week with PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds or Fortnite, but no battle royale mode delighted the Game Informer staff more in 2018 than Call of Duty’s Blackout. The excellent pacing cuts down the foraging and amps up the action, and the gambit of whether or not to venture into the zombie zone for the better gear creates an interesting risk-reward scenario. The fun gadgets and deadly vehicles further add intrigue to tense play, making it hard to stop saying, “just one more round.”

Best Competitive Multiplayer: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

You could spend hundreds of hours in Blackout mode alone – the praises of which we just sang. On top of that phenomenal experience, Black Ops 4 also has a compelling playlist of core modes like Domination, Control, and Kill Confirmed if you need a palette cleanser. These modes clearly take a back seat to battle royale, but they are still a great place for experimenting with weapons, trying operator mods, and enjoying classic run-and-gun play. Combined with the battle royale centerpiece, Black Ops 4 offers the most compelling competitive multiplayer suite on the market today. 

Best Innovation: Fortnite’s Map Evolution

Of all the innovations we expect to see mimicked by future shooters, the Fortnite map evolution stands on the top of the list. This map is always changing, never stagnant; Epic Games did a phenomenal job of keeping its battle royale fresh with map alterations throughout the year. Some were purely cosmetic, like Moisty Mire adding a film set, but others like the Desert added to the Fortnite lore and created new gameplay centerpieces for season content. We’d love to see developers of other shooters think actively how they can improve (or merely freshen up) their own maps on a regular basis. 

Best Nostalgia Ride: Dusk

Sometimes you want to take a bloody stroll down memory lane and eviscerate enemies with shotgun blasts in a 486-era blocky corridor. New Blood Interactive’s Dusk scratches that primordial itch for those of us who grew up playing Doom, Duke Nukem, and Quake. Forget narratives, leveling, and set-piece moments – this game is all about the glorious shooting.

Biggest Disappointment: Overkill’s The Walking Dead

Landing a license the pedigree of The Walking Dead, we expected Starbreeze and Overkill to build on the success of Payday 1 and 2 and deliver a compelling and addictive cooperative shooter. What we did not expect, however, was a regressive disasterpiece that can’t even stand up to the level of its predecessors. This game is a flaming dumpster fire on all levels, which unfortunately makes us very skeptical about the prospects of Payday 3. 

Shooter of the Year: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Yes, it sucks that Treyarch walked away from single-player campaigns. We hope they return in future Call of Duty games, because no one does set pieces like the collection of Activision studios working on this franchise. But when you tally up the increased depth of zombies mode, the addictiveness of Blackout mode, and steadiness of the competitive multiplayer experience, we still think you get more than your money’s worth with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. In a year packed with interesting shooters, this one stole our hearts and became our favorite of the bunch. 

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