20 Best Video Games Of 2018

15. Dead Cells

Few titles nail their gameplay loops with such ferocity as Dead Cells. Touted as carrying forward the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night torch, there are similarities in level design and the idea of items gating off chunks of progression, but at its core, Dead Cells is a side-scrolling roguelike hack n' slasher.

Controlling an anonymous escaped prisoner who's possessed by a globule of space goop (because video games), you set about carving your name through the enemy hordes using a randomly-generated amount of loot.

You can remix and alter said gear by completing runs and banking XP in different meters, but the main reason Dead Cells absolutely bangs comes from sublime combat. Quickfire ranged weapons, blades, axes, traps that include turrets and ground-spikes - it all contributes to you flying around the screen in a blur of death and pyrotechnic death.

Annoyingly, Dead Cells' is that little too unforgiving when it comes to respecting your time across multiple runs, but it's easily one of the tightest 2D games of all time, hands down.