Has it really been six months? 2018 is passing in a blur of frozen architects, drug-pushing prophets and accordion duets. Hell, six months ago the RPS Video Department was but a glint in Graham s eye. You may also recall a gathering of the most exciting games of 2018, a rundown of the year as it looked back in January. With E3 done there s a clearer picture of what the rest of 2018 looks like. Many games have slipped to February 2019 – the stampeding bandits of Red Dead Redemption 2 have them running for the hills – but we ve rustled up 15 of the remaining games that fellow video person Noa and I are looking forward to.

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When Eidos Montreal say that Shadow Of The Tomb Raider takes us through the journey where Lara Croft “becomes the Tomb Raider that she’s destined to be”, I think they mean becoming a stone-cold mass murderer. They blasted a few minutes of gameplay footage during Square Enix’s E3 press conference today, and it shows Lara’s stealthy murdermoves from camouflaging herself in mud to firing rope arrows into mercs so she can swing down as the counterweight hauling them up and hanging them from branches. Goodness me. I reckon she’s a real fan of Predator. See the vid below. (more…)

Microsoft had a lot of games to announce at E3 2018, but it’s a little murkier this year to find out what was relevant for PC users. Some games were coming to both, others only to their Xbox One consoles. You could of course watch the entire conference right here, but for some there just isn’t enough time to wade through the entire show.

Not to worry though, here are all the trailers and news for you in one place. There’s a surprising amount of variety in the announced titles: from an old favourite making a return, much celebrated developers showing off their new series, to even a completely free game launching very soon. The games below aren’t in any particular order but you’re in for a long ride.

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In the course of 45 minutes with Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft gatecrashes a fiesta, scales a cliff, wrestles an eel, levels a temple, steals a magic dagger, murders a bunch of dudes in Mariachi skullpaint and drowns a city after triggering the apocalypse. That’s quite the evening’s work, especially if you factor in all the times I accidentally impaled her on rebars, but I’m already struggling to remember the details. The first Tomb Raider game with Eidos Montreal at the helm, Shadow is so far exactly the blend of handholdy exploration, uneven combat, wilderness stealth, gauntlet runs and grisly snuff footage we’ve come to expect from the series under Square Enix. Two games on from the 2013 reboot, that could be a problem. I realise it’s old hat to moan about major franchise sequels lacking originality, but even by blockbuster standards this game is surprisingly unsurprising.

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Lara Croft will be sticking her toffee nose into the Mayans’ business to prevent their apocalypse in Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, Square Enix confirmed today as they started showing more of the game. Typical colonial invaders: thinking they know best, that they can and should solve everything. Hey, pal, that’s not your apocalypse. Butt out. And don’t think I didn’t notice you slip that crypt jewellery into your little backpack.

Ahhh to heck with it. Here, watch Lara fighting dirty in the fancy new cinematic trailer: (more…)