Top 5 Game Announcements from the Game Awards

By: Ryan Ramakrishnan

The 2018 Game Awards concluded with many exciting world premieres, trailers and release date confirmations behind it. While there were more than few reveals worth talking about, for me some stood above the rest. These are my personal top 5 announcements from the show.


5. Crash Team Racing
After the success of “Crash Bandicoot: The N. Sane Trilogy,” came “Spyro Reignited Trilogy.” And those two amazing remasters lead many to hope for “Crash Team Racing” to get its time in the limelight on current generation hardware. And then there was a tease the other day. Now, we know fans will experience the delightful kart-racer next year.

“Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled” looks wonderful with its graphical fidelity seen last year in the original trilogy jump to the PlayStation 4. The title will feature everything from the PlayStation original with new online functionality to boot as well.

I am super excited to try this game out, as I never played it in its original form. “Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled” will be out on all consoles, that includes Switch, on June 21. I will likely play it on PS4; however, more and more I think about it on Switch as the perfect multiplayer game for the platform and it has me all the more stoked.

4. Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
Former “Assassin’s Creed” developers are at work on an all-new open world survival game set in Africa millions of years ago. This is “Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey.” It is unique, ambitious and has my full interest.

This survival themed open world game looks to do something different and for that, I applaud it. “Ancestors” explores humanity’s evolution starting in Africa in our roots. The different stages of our evolution, how they interact with the world and other species around them and the dynamics of the open world being crafted should prove to be super interesting.

For as impressive as new sequels, remasters or remakes of games are, I have a soft spot for new I.P. I think that the interesting premise and a presumably lengthy story in a dynamic world should come together to make an awesome new experience in the upcoming “Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey.”

3. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
Possibly the biggest surprise for me was the reveal of “Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order.” More shocking than the existence of this upcoming action game is its platform exclusivity to the Nintendo Switch. The game is a followup to the much beloved “Marvel Ultimate Alliance” series and scheduled for a release next year.

As a huge Marvel fan, I was disappointed in no coverage of Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’ Avengers game; however, this looks like its own awesome entity. The game being exclusive to Switch is crazy but I am glad to see that, as I’m sure there will be a great attention to portable gameplay benefits.

“Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3” featured many characters, including Wolverine. The X-Men weren’t in “Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite” so it is nice to see the mutants will get their representation once more. It is also developed by Team Ninja so I am looking forward to their action-packed take on the series.

2. Mortal Kombat 11
I’ve never been a fan of a majority of fighting games on the market, save for “Super Smash Bros.” I did however test the waters with NetherRealm Studios’ glorious “Mortal Kombat” in 2011 and ever since, I have loved their work. “Mortal Kombat 11” has me extremely excited to dive back into the violent and intense fighter.

The second I heard Ed Boon was coming on stage, I was excited. I felt the hype as I saw him, thinking it was time for an announcement. “Mortal Kombat 11’s” reveal trailer begins playing after he said he was introducing and revealing an award for best sports/racing game. And the second the logo was shown, I screamed in joy.

2019 was always going to be a release year for the next “Mortal Kombat” game based on NetherRealm Studios’ development cycle with it and “Injustice” being every other year from one another. Fortunately, my speculation was correct and the best part is the release date. “Mortal Kombat 11” drops April 23. That is incredibly close for a game we just found out about. I also am ecstatic for a proper gameplay reveal they said to come in January.

1. Far Cry: New Dawn
As a huge fan of the series, yesterday’s teaser trailer of a post-apocalyptic “Far Cry” was nothing short of exciting. Fortunately, Ubisoft’s follow-up to the new world post-explosion from “Far Cry 5” looks pretty great.

“Far Cry: New Dawn” has a post apocalyptic world with new factions arising above the rest. There is a bright color palette. Your dog can actually ride with you unlike the odd flaw of it running alongside vehicles in “Far Cry 5.” And most importantly, the trailer reveals The Father himself, Joseph Seed, to be in the game, seemingly distraught.

The game looks like a cross between a spin-off (think “Far Cry: Primal”) and an actual sequel, as it isn’t “Far Cry 6” per se but it does clearly succeed the events of “Far Cry 5.” It even has a release date, one that is but a couple months away. I am stoked for more “Far Cry” on February 15.

Are you looking forward to playing any of these new games I covered? What was your favorite announcement or trailer from this year’s Game Awards? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below.