The contrasting characters of Kratos (left) and Atreus helped make 2018's God Of War such a well-received game. — AFP Relaxnews
The Writers Guild of America has chosen the convention-challenging action game God Of War as winner of 2018's Videogame Writing accolade. Read on for more on the winner and each nominee, including a selection of breakdown videos and information on where to play them.
God Of War – Writers Guild Award 2018 Winner
Launched in April 2018 as its franchise's fifth core entry and received as one of the year's best releases, God Of War upended action game formula as well as its own series convention. Although players still wade through hordes of enemies as a bloodthirsty Greek god, this time the gruff, unfriendly warrior does so in the company of his impressionable, enthusiastic, communicative son, on an outing through Norse mythology's pantheon.
God Of War is exclusive to PlayStation, debuting on its PlayStation 4 console.
Find out more through Writing On Games' analysis:
Assassin's Creed Odyssey – WGA 2018 nominee
As with its predecessors, Assassin's Creed Odyssey sets semi-historical action and adventure against a real, meticulously recreated historical background. One thing that the Ancient Grecian Odyssey did differently was to embrace a branching conversational structure, allowing players to dictate the flow of spoken encounters in addition to the usual athleticism of travel and combat.
Find it on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows PC and, in Japan, on Nintendo Switch via online game streaming.
Watch Luke Stephens discuss the narrative of Assassin's Creed Odyssey:
Batman: The Enemy Within, Episode 5 – Same Stitch – WGA 2018 nominee
Putting the final thread in an eight-month long series that explored an origin story for Batman's supervillain rival Joker, this also served as one of the last releases from story-oriented studio Telltale Games, which closed another eight months after the release of Same Stitch.
Initially released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, iOS and Android.
See how Episode 5's ending brings believability and complexity to both Bruce Wayne and Joker:
Marvel's Spider-Man – WGA 2018 nominee
The second of PlayStation's two big own-brand exclusives, and landing between April's Marvel ensemble movie Avengers: Infinity War and December's highly praised animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, this surpassed expectations to become a high point both in superhero adaptations and the year's gaming output as a whole.
Like God Of War, it was released as a PlayStation 4 exclusive.
Here, Snoman Gaming praises Spider-Man's all-round attention to detail:
Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire – WGA 2018 nominee
Adding naval voyage and pirate jaunts to the land-based adventures of its predecessor, Pillars Of Eternity II increased its scope in terms of navigable world, graphical prowess, voice acting and backstory, in part thanks to the quality of writing brought to bear upon its characters, story and setting.
Released on PC, Mac and Linux in 2018 with PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Switch editions for 2019.
Watch CohhCarnage discuss Pillars Of Eternity 2:
– AFP Relaxnews
