In every great game, there are moments that stand out as shocking, awe-inspiring and utterly unforgettable, and try as we might, we’ll never be able to forget them. Among the moments we had from this year’s titles, these were the top 10 gaming moments that blew us away in 2018.
*Warning: Spoilers Ahead. Due to the nature of this article, we’ll be discussing some major plot point in some of 2018’s biggest games, like God of War and Celeste. If there’s anything you want to avoid, this is your warning.*
Top 10 Gaming Moments That Blew Us Away in 2018
Taking Down Your First Large Monster (Monster Hunter World)
When you stepped into Monster Hunter World for the first time, you probably didn’t think you’d ever get to this point.
Starting off with sub-par equipment, you had next to no knowledge on how to best approach the world’s different breeds and beasts. Your item loadout was lacking, and you were torn to shreds multiple times as they learn the ropes in a trial by fire.
And yet, you stuck with it. You learned the game’s mechanics and upgraded your equipment, hunting bigger and badder prey as you went.
Then, the time comes to take on the hunt for one of the game’s larger beasts.
After tracking it down, you attack it with everything you had. You know where you need to be and when in order to deal maximum damage, and have enough items to keep your health and stamina up to pursue it across the map.
When the beast finally falls and the spoils of the hunt lie before you, one thing is clear: You aren’t the helpless beginner who first started playing this game and you’re finally ready to play it in earnest.
Top 10 Gaming Moments That Blew Us Away in 2018
It Came From Outer Space (Fortnite)
After weeks of wonder and speculation, players still couldn’t help but be drawn in by the impact of Fortnite’s comet.
Starting as a small glimmer in the sky, the comet grew larger and larger as it drew closer to its impact with Fortnite’s planet. Players speculated as to what it was and what it would do, predicting its impact zone as well as what it meant for the game.
Developer Epic Games offered scant details as time went on, but only enough to stoke the flames of the fortnight community’s excitement.
When the time finally came for it to collide with the game world, most were sure that it would collide with the Tilted Towers, annihilating the area in the process… only for it to destroy the Dusty Depot instead, a new arena left in its wake.
It was shocking; it was mesmerizing; and above all, it showed that anything could happen in the world of Fortnite.
Top 10 Gaming Moments That Blew Us Away in 2018
Getting the Blades of Chaos (God of War)
In the latest entry in the God of War series, Kratos is a changed man.
Once an angry killing machine fueled by vengeance, he now wants nothing more than to enjoy a peaceful existence with his son Atreus.
Even as the Norse gods pursued them on their journey to spread his wife’s ashes, he’d hoped to leave his past buried along with his sins.
As the journey progresses though, Atreus’ health fails him, and the only way to save him is with a material obtained from the icy plains of hell.
The only thing that can get him to there and back again safely are weapons that burn with an endless fury, and that he’d hoped to keep buried.
With his son on the brink of death, Kratos doesn’t falter. Returning to his home with ghosts of his past whispering in his ear, he digs his once iconic weapons out of the cellar, wrapping their chains around his once hidden scars.
Though he is still hesitant to use them again, he is determined not to let them be a symbol of his pride and arrogance ever again.
And with that, the Ghost of Sparta returns.
Top 10 Gaming Moments That Blew Us Away in 2018
Climbing Out of Hell (Detroit: Become Human)
After a misunderstanding leaves the newly self-aware android Marcus deactivated in a scrap heap, he awakens to find he hasn’t given up the ghost just yet. As he regains his vision, however, he probably wishes he had.
All around him are the fractured remnants of androids, weathered or torn apart during their time here. The ones who are still functional cry out for help, while others lie in pieces around him.
Not far from shutting down for good himself, Marcus must dig through this wreckage and salvage what he can for repairs. He tears the components from the corpses of his brethren, some still functional enough to beg him not to.
The further into the heap he travels, the more horrifying the sights he sees are. As he regains each of his senses, they only reveal the place to be all the more horrible.
After what seems like an eternity, Marcus manages to crawl out, given a new chance at life and host to choices that will undoubtedly be shaped by what he experienced in this pit.
Top 10 Gaming Moments That Blew Us Away in 2018
The Perfect Run (Dead Cells)
Dead Cells can be crushingly difficult no matter how long you play it, but every so often, something glorious happens.
The RNG is in the player’s favor, with powerful weapon drops that synergize perfectly with one another. Just enough gold drops to keep them in prime health, and they always know exactly when to dodge each enemy’s attack.
When they reach each boss, things go just as well, with the attacks that once ground them into paste now whining past them while they chip away at their health bar.
By the time they reach the end, breezing through what had been so difficult for so many hours, it’s understandable that the first thought to go through their heads would be “Wow, that was one hell of a run.”
Top 10 Gaming Moments That Blew Us Away in 2018
Acceptance (Celeste)
At the beginning of Madeline’s journey, players expect to play a game about climbing a mountain. By the time they reach the top, however, they’ve done so much more than that.
In addition to the slew of hazards and traps presented by the mountain itself, her own self-doubt stood in her way, made manifest by the mountain along her journey. Attempts to get rid of it only made things worse, and even hampered her progress.
With time and patience though, each obstacle both physical and emotional was overcome thanks to a simple realization: Madeline didn’t need to push away her flaws, and instead should accept them as a part of herself.
It all culminates in one, seamless climb up to Celeste Mountain’s peak, with Madeline finally at peace with who she is and who she can be as a result.
Top 10 Gaming Moments That Blew Us Away in 2018
Brother Against Brother (A Way Out)
Few things can cut a person to the bone like betrayal.
After helping each other break out of prison, reuniting with their families and nearly finding they freedom they’d both supposedly sought, Vincent Moretti and Leo Caruso must face an unfortunate truth: Vincent was an undercover cop all along.
The brother of a cop killed in the deal that landed Leo in prison, Vincent had tracked down Leo and manipulated him to reclaim a stolen gem and take out the crime lord behind his brother’s death.
Furious, Leo makes a break for it with Vincent and the cops hot on his tail. He does his best to evade them, but before long Vincent corners him in a portside warehouse.
As the two exchange bullets, it becomes clear only one will walk away alive from their encounter, the other shot dead by someone they once trusted with their life.
Top 10 Gaming Moments That Blew Us Away in 2018
Aunt May’s Death (Spider-Man)
With great power comes great responsibility.
It’s a maxim that Peter Parker, as both himself and Spider-Man, has lived by to the letter. He strives to use his superhuman abilities to help the world at large, and always put the needs of the many above his own.
It’s because of this that when Aunt May lays dying from a virus unleashed on the city, and Peter has the last dose of a potential antiserum in his hand, he is torn by an impossible choice: Let the woman who acted as his parent die to save the city, or save her while so many others perish.
As the two exchange what could be their final words, the choice tears Peter apart until, anguished, he chooses his responsibility to the city.
His cries echoed out into the night, and someone he valued above all else is gone forever.
Top 10 Gaming Moments That Blew Us Away in 2018
Master Hand Enters the Fray (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)
Throughout the Smash Bros. series, the Master Hand has stood as a constant opponent to players. It has slapped, punched and blasted them countless times, and in the game’s early hours it is presented as the minion for an even greater threat.
And yet, that’s exactly what makes it so gratifying when players are given control of the disembodied destroyer.
As they reach the World of Light’s penultimate level, the Master Hand and crazy hand create a rift which the former dives into. Players are then tasked with fighting off 50 dark and light copies of the game’s roster, using every move at the Hand’s disposal.
Swatting characters away, flattening them with aerial blows or blowing them away with finger cannons is instantly gratifying, and only becomes better as each new character enters the fray.
By the time the last copy falls, players will undoubtedly want more and have a new character added to their Smash roster wish list.
Top 10 Gaming Moments That Blew Us Away in 2018
Raiding the Braithwaite Manor (Red Dead Redemption 2)
While the Van der Linde gang may not be the most righteous of groups, they consider each other family. To mess with one is to mess with all of them, and will, in-turn, illicit vengeance from the whole as a result.
As such, when the Braithwaite family kidnaps John Marston’s son Jack, the gang’s retaliation is swift and brutal. The property’s guards are torn apart in a hail of gunfire, the manor residents bowled over in a siege of desperado fury.
As they make their way into the house, Dutch, Arthur and the most trusted members of the gang move systematically through its halls, killing the sons of the family before finding and interrogating their mother, Catherine Braithwaite, for Jack’s location. Once they have it, they set the ancient building ablaze.
As the gang rides off back to camp, the Braithwaite matriarch left to watch all she had burn to the ground as one final act of vengeance, there’s little room left for doubt that they would take on the world for one another.
Published: Dec 31, 2018 01:29 pm