Life is good in Far Cry new Dawn! And surprisingly authentic, as Ubisoft’s replica of a post-apocalypse landscape has some actual science behind it.

Video games may be a visual medium, but without any audio they’d just be a collection of good-looking shells that were hollow inside. Music creates an atmosphere, it tells a story and pushes players in the right direction when a game needs to pick up the pace. They’re the subliminal prods that keep the momentum going, but there are times when a game’s soundtrack can stay with you long after the end credits have rolled. Here’s a look, at the video game soundtracks that defined 2018.

If you were looking for games that gave you glorious gung-ho action and plenty of weapons with which to deal out some old-fashioned justice, then 2018 was a great year for the shooter genre. From experiences that saw players take on well armed cults of personality to the far reaches of space, here’s a look at the best that the year had to offer for any action junkie who was looking for quality, fun and mayhem.

For Far Cry: New Dawn, Ubisoft wants to change that formula up and give players deadlier opponents to deal with. Thanks to enhanced enemy AI, the post apocalypse might just more ruthless as creative director Jean-Sebastien Decant detailed how the game world and its inhabitants would react to your incursions into enemy territory.

It has been 17 years since the bombs fell. Almost two decades of war and ruin, that has led to the world descending into chaos as a new status quo has risen up in the ashes of mutually assured destruction. Welcome, to Far Cry New Dawn.

It wasn’t for everyone, but I adored Far Cry 5. Ubisoft kept in much of its established Ubiformula, but trimmed it down and simplified everything to make for a smoother, more organic experience. The story of cultists in the gorgeous Montana setting was interspersed with goofy side missions that were a blast to play. Speaking of blasts….

When you’ve got the licenses to everything Tom Clancy, a brand that encompasses everything from Splinter Cell to The Division, it’s a kick in the teeth not to see the more extreme politics of today tackled in video game form.

For those players who are keen to hop into Montana and give the Eden’s Gate cult a little of the ol’ what-for and various other anachronistic catchphrases, then you’ve got some pain to look forward to when Far Cry 5 updates itself.