Next-generation is here!

Join us as we break down, year by year, the big comic book video game news and releases on what is now “last gen.”

Previous posts: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

2018 was somewhat light on comic book video game news and releases, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t generate any major headlines, far from it.

The biggest release of course was September’s Marvel’s Spider-Man from Sony and developer Insomniac Games. Up until that point, Spider-Man hadn’t swung in his own solo adventure since 2014 when both The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the Ultimate Spider-Man set for Disney Infinity launched. Marvel’s Spider-Man made up for the wait and then some.

Not just a terrific comic book game with tight web-swinging mechanics and combat with enough content packed in for dozens of hours, Marvel’s Spider-Man impressed with its story and performances too. At the center of its story is the father/son relationship between Peter Parker and his employer/mentor Otto “Doctor Octopus” Octavius. For those even remotely familiar with the character of Spider-Man, the fate of Otto is preordained, and Marvel’s Spider-Man makes it such that you’re wholly invested in his fall from grace, so much so that you don’t want to see it happen. The ending, which don’t be spoiled here, is similarly heartbreaking.

Post-launch, Marvel’s Spider-Man would get three downloadable expansions that take place after the conclusion of the game’s story. It would go on to become the best-selling superhero game of all time and get nominated for many Game of the Year awards, even going as far as to win the Rocket & Raygun for best game from The Electric Playground.

TT Games once again released another LEGO outing, this time focused on the villains of the DC Universe. Aptly titled LEGO DC Super-Villains, it would adhere largely to the established LEGO formula but a new twist allowed the player to create their own villain, dubbed “The Rookie,” who had the ability to absorb superpowers.

Many famous voice actors from other animated DC projects and video games would lend their talents to LEGO DC Super-Villains, including Kevin Conroy as Batman as well as Mark Hamill as The Joker. The humor of the game is very much in line with the family-friendly nature of the LEGO series, however the addition of many of these performers made LEGO DC Super-Villains feel like an extension of past DC Work like no title before it. This was especially refreshing coming off of 2017’s LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 which mostly featured all non-union talent.

August saw the season premiere of The Walking Dead: The Final Season, the first episode in what was to be the conclusion of Clementine’s story. In September however, shocking news abruptly came out that Telltale Games was being shut down with but a skeleton crew left to finish some remaining projects, leaving many without a job or even severance. Plans for a second season of The Wolf Among Us were effectively cancelled with the fate of Clementine similarly being thrown up in the air.

Early in the following month, The Walking Dead license holder, Skybound Entertainment, stepped in to help fund the final episodes of The Walking Dead. Not only that, they would go on to release a physical edition of The Final Season along with a collection of the entire series in 2019.

In the final year before the launch of the PlayStation 5/Xbox Series S/X, Marvel’s Avengers is shown for the first time along with a new Iron Man adventure exclusive to VR.