Happy New Year! We don't know about you, but we're pretty excited about accidentally typing "2017" every 10 minutes for the next couple of months, and that's not the only tantalizing thing on the horizon, because there are all sorts of exotic new games making landfall over the following 12 months. There are far too many to include everything - have a look at our 2018 video game release dates list if you want a comprehensive rundown - so here are 10 of the games that we're personally anticipating with breath most bated.
1. Monster Hunter World (Capcom, January 26)
Monster Hunter has built up an incredibly loyal fanbase across various installments on PlayStation Portable, Wii and 3DS, but paradoxically Capcom has always partnered with systems whose technical restraints meant players had to use their imaginations to give elaborate monster hunts the heft and gravitas they deserved. So Monster Hunter World is not only exciting in that it's another installment in a great series - it's also arguably the first time the game has appeared on systems that can do its concept justice. Judging by the recent beta with its screen-filling monsters and vast play spaces, this will be a sight to see.
2. Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft, March 27)
Having chosen Montana as the setting for its latest open-world shooter, Ubisoft has seemingly gone out of its way to avoid engaging with the political implications of Far Cry 5's fiction, which sees players enter the orbit of a doomsday cult run by a far-right religious fanatic. Perhaps this means the game hasn't much to say, but then neither did Far Cry 3 and 4, and both games were a hoot. Gameplay-wise, Ubisoft is beefing up close-quarters combat, and has a variety of systems to help you use local recruits and animals to take down enemies. Infiltrating camps and sowing chaos was always a high point of the previous games, so we're more than happy to do the same with new toys in a beautiful new setting.
3. Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream)
David Cage is a bit of an uneven storyteller, to put it gently, and recent footage of Detroit: Become Human featuring heavy-handed depictions of child abuse suggest the game will give his critics plenty more ammunition. Equally though, Cage has been doing this for a while and his games are always full of curious mechanics and ideas, even if he often loses his way, so we're interested to see how Detroit turns out. It's certainly on our list of games we want to play, although we can't decide if that's out of anticipation or just morbid curiosity.
