GamesRadar+ The 25 best Xbox One games. What are the best Xbox One games to buy? Take a look at this list and all will become clear. The cream of the crop. In case you missed it, Monster Hunter World is pretty popular right now. It\s sold well, and is good, but it's best Xbox One games good? Well, not quite. There's been some online problems on Xbox One and while it's good, it's not really a hall of fame job. It was a similar story with the recent Vanishing of Ethan Carter, an atmospheric supernatural murder mystery that, like Monster Hunter World, is highly recommended. However, when you've only 25 places to fill they've got to go to the best of the best. That means things like Assassin's Creed Origins and Wolfenstein 2 most recently. They're also two Xbox One X Enhanced games so if you have a 4K TV and an X, then those are great games to show everything off. In terms of upcoming Xbox One games, Coming up soon we'll have Monster Hunter World on Jan 26, and Far Cry 5 on March 27, along with this little selection over the next couple of months. Mar 13 - The Crew 2. Mar 23 - A Way Out. 'Spring' - State of Decay 2. 'Spring - Crackdown 3. Only time will tell if any of those will make it into the 25 best Xbox One games list. For the meantime, though the best Xbox One games is still full of classics like Fallout 4 , Cuphead , Titanfall 2 , Minecraft and Gears of War 4 . If it's an essential Xbox One title it's here, and as there's only 25 places competition only the best get a look in. Every time something new comes alone we review it, appraise it and then, if it's good enough, it might be added here. 25. Final Fantasy 15. The Final Fantasy name isn't exactly synonymous with Microsoft's console, but we're happy just the same as Final Fantasy 15 is easily one of the best RPGs of the year. It blends the vast open-worlds of Western RPGs with Final Fantasy's hallmark over-the-top anime absurdity to great effect, crafting a world based on the highways and byways of Middle America while filling that world with ferocious monsters, massive crystals, and powerful magic. There are times when Final Fantasy 15 feels like an idiosyncratic mishmash of ideas, but when you throw everything together - the strange world, the thrilling, real-time combat, the lovable characters who stick with you for your entire journey - it becomes something much greater than the sum of its parts. It becomes one of the best Final Fantasy games in ages; a game well worth the wait. 24. Cuphead. After delays that led to maybe just a touch of apathy, Cuphead is here and has instantly become one of the best shooters all time (according to our review). While the presentation is crafted beautifully from 1930 cartoon art - things like Betty Boop shorts and Disney's Silly Symphonies - this takes gameplay cues from sources like Mega Man, Contra, Metal Slug, and Gunstar Heroes. The levels aren’t huge but it’s the challenge, not the size that matters here as you dodge bullets and learn enemy patterns. Everything tests your skills and reactions in a range of interesting ways and, most importantly, are a joy to beat. 23. Halo: Master Chief Collection. *braces for complaints* Yes, we are well aware of the problems that plagued this particular entry, but now that it works, there's no doubting the craftsmanship here. Bungie's genius meets 343's love in a package that truly does justice to an industry-shaking legacy. Buffed-up, revarnished and back in the shop window, The Master Chief Collection leaves us to wonder if Halo always looked so lovely. And you know what? It more or less did. Is that mug a Mimic? How about that chair? Or even that corpse. There's nothing quite like exploring Talos-1, just waiting for its terrifying alien predators to appear when you least expect it before splatting them senseless with a wrench. But that's only the beginning of the joys of Prey. Before long, you're expertly juggling Neuromods, experimenting with new abilities and attempting to stay out of sight of horrific Typhons and the frankly intimidating Nightmare. Prey requires to explore every inch of its space station, heading into tunnels when you'd rather go the other way and hunting down corpses of those who came before. Add in the twisting narrative that gradually unravels before you and this is an instant addition to our best Xbox One games list. Just remember your GLOO gun. You'll need it. 21. Rainbow Six Siege. The first few minutes of a Rainbow Six: Siege match feel more like a slasher film than an all-guns-blazing FPS. The pitter-patter of combat booted feet sounds through the roof. Defenders erect Home Alone defences. Was that the whine of a rappel buckle? It's a sense of tension that beats most horror games. And once all hell does break loose, you're suddenly thrown into the midst of deep, strategical, brutally unforgiving warfare. Ripe with tactical options and built for "one more go" appeal, this is by far Xbox One’s smartest multiplayer shooter. 20. Halo 5: Guardians. Halo's always been a balance of campaign with multiplayer, but this entry's a tad lopsided. The story of Locke chasing Chief isn't quite the era-defining moment we were hoping for but, luckily, it's the series-best multiplayer that gets our visors misty. Halo 5: Guardians offers so very much to prospective online warmongers. Arena is a return to the Halo of old, tense cerebral skirmishes that are an oasis of sanity in a sea of crude shooters. If you fancy some madness, then you have Warzone - mega-battles powered by a desperately addictive card-collecting system. And more's being added - 343 just reintroduced Big Team Battles and a new version of classic map, Blood Gulch for free. We're home. 19. Ori and the Blind Forest. Imagine a lavish, beautiful storybook world… that slams shut on your stupid, bleeding fingers for seven brutal hours. This is Ori and the Blind Forest, the result of Microsoft handing a group of retro fanatics enough money (and freedom) to make a worthy successor to the platformers of old. Not only is this a pitch-perfect update to the formula set up by Metroid and Castlevania, combining mechanical satisfaction with tear-jerking narrative sequences, it's also quite probably the best-looking 2D game of all time. So yeah, it's pretty special. 18. Middle-earth: Shadow of War. With a bigger, richer world and more tightly honed mechanics Shadow of War is a great sequel - the combat is more immediate and satisfying, the environments more detailed varied, and everything combines beautifully. It's also one of the best Xbox One X enhanced games if you want to show off all that power. This is a big game though - seriously, seriously huge. 15 hours or so will finish the prologue; another 25 odd will unlock the rest of the map, so don't pick this up for a quick fling - you need to commit. The series' nemesis system that defines the series has had expanded to create a twisting narrative of encounters, defeats and victories as you meet and battle various orcs - yours and their progress defined by who wins the fight. This time it's also been expanded to include castles you can storm, building and training an army up to the task. Even if you don't like Lord of the Rings, it's a massive and exciting open world to explore. 17. FIFA 18. It's another step on for FIFA 18 this year, with some great tweaks to the action: taking a shot from a distance now has more impact, crosses are improved with a genuine whip added to the ball. AI's been improved as well with far more individual character and personality to different star's playing styles and, while lower league team don't feels quite as good, teams do have different feeling tactics when you play them. The continuation of the single player Journey also continues to impress with an exciting and even occasionally touching campaign as you follow his career. It's this mode that gives FIFA 18 the edge over PES this year as it's leagues ahead of any comparable mode you might find in similar games. And, finally, the monster that is FIFA Ultimate Team is improved by Squad Battles which let you progress better without spending real money. A welcome addition if chasing cards and coins is big part of your life. 16. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus. Wolfenstein: The New Order is one of the most unique, brutal, brave, hilarious, and intelligent shooters of the generation so far. MachineGames' sequel, The New Colossus, confidently doubles down on all of that. Moving BJ Blazkowicz's very personal war further into the alternative-universe '60s, and transposing it to an America under Nazi rule, The New Colossus is uncompromisingly relevant. It's a smart, sensitive, and emotive discussion of callousness, prejudice, and cruelty, that nevertheless knows how to be fun at all times. A biting portrait of human failures and social horrors, that does its biting with big robot teeth and hatchet blades. It's a game that exemplifies heart and brains throughout, but never with more unremitting flair than when it comes to the noble art of tearing Nazis to shreds with bloody and balletic style. 15. Battlefield 1. We were worried DICE had set themselves up for a fall with a WW1 shooter, when Battlefield 1 was announced. Taking on one of the most bloody and tragic conflicts in human history isn't typically the best starting point for a fun game. But the anthology format is a masterstroke, using different perspectives to capture the sensational action of conflict, while sensitively showing the human cost of war. The story of the British chauffeur turned tank driver alone is more emotionally nuanced than anything we've seen from Battlefield before. But this isn't some weepy drama – it's a WW1 epic, an overwhelming shooter like nothing else on Xbox One, with 64 player multiplayer mode to keep you coming back. It's a gamble that paid off. Just be careful how you Tweet about it next time, OK EA? 14. Rocket League. Nobody expected this to be quite such an explosive success but then think objectively and put the words ‘cars’ and ‘football’ together and suddenly it all makes beautifully insane sense. Both local and online modes for its petrol fuelled madness makes Rocket League multiplayer gold. Slews of DLC - Back To The Future’s DeLorean anyone - since release and now a new Xbox One/PC multiplayer option means it’s now bigger and better than ever, and there’s no better time to put your hand on your wallet and foot on the gas. Make it one of your life… goals. 13. Rise of the Tomb Raider. Don’t be fooled by its frostbitten landscapes; this is the kind of barn-burning action-adventure that, until recently, only (ahem) other consoles used to get. Pivoting effortlessly from digital sightseeing to cinematic survival, then into stealth before exploding into brutal action, this is truly blockbuster stuff - appropriate for one of gaming's biggest icons. Amidst a gaming landscape packed with open worlds that sap full weeks of your life away, that Rise of the Tomb Raider packs all its thrills into a dizzying ten hours isn't just welcome, it's an accomplishment - this is non-stop fun. Except when Lara's murdered by your fumbling fingers. That's not so nice. 12. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Let's face it. Resident Evil had gone a bit like a foot left out of the fridge too long. A bit, well, off . After the glorious heady heights of Resi 4 defining the third person shooter as we know it, it all got a bit mediocre. Well 2017 is the year Resi got its groove back and you should be very afraid. Turning the franchise on its head, Resident Evil 7 is a first person survival terror-fest that sees you sneaking through a decrepit Louisiana mansion hunting for your missing wife. Texas Chainsaw Massacre style fiends? Check. Horrific body horror? Check that too. Add in a story that'll leave you forgetting to breathe for a little too long and Resident Evil 7 manages to be an exhilarating rollercoaster ride that reinvents the franchise. Sure you'll recognise those green herbs but this is a new brand of horror that just demands you creep through its hallways even if it feels like you should run in the opposite direction. 11. Forza Motorsport 7. Improved AI, collisions, handling - what Forza Motorsport 7 gets right reads like a list of everything a racing game should do perfectly. Cars all feel great to control, giving you the confidence you need to push the handling to its limits - drifting on cue, or hugging the rails when you need dig the tires in. In fact, throughout, this a game that tweaks and adjusts everything the previous installment got wrong. It’s all about delivering the best player experience and creating a game that’s both realistic and fun. Some of the progression is a little demanding, with numerous barriers to surmount as you collect cars and win events, but there’s nothing that really take the shine of one the greatest racers currently available. 10. Gears of War 4. It was during Act Four, when the storm was raging, bullets were flying from all sides, blood was gushing all over us as we chainsawed close-up enemies and then tried to aim at those sniping us from afar, when suddenly the music rose at the perfect moment. It was as if God himself was singing 'I'm really sorry for Gears of War: Judgment'. Apology accepted. A bloodbath with real brains, Gears of War 4 adds an army of new monsters, each demanding fresh tactics to dispatch and bringing new ideas to how we approach combat. It means the first sequel since Gears 2 that can surprise newcomers without sacrificing the excellent cover-shooting that made the series famous. Bloody essential. 9. Titanfall 2. Any FPS that lets you run along walls and then double jump into a giant mechanical Titan instantly has our attention. Titanfall 2 does that and so much more. “But where's our single-player?” we moaned, when the first Titanfall came to Xbox in 2014. “Fine!” retorted Respawn. “How about for this sequel, we tell the story of a pilot and his Titan? One where you steadily unlock Titan weapons that look powerful enough to burn the universe in half? How about a stage wherein you can travel through time at the touch of a button? How about several hours of dizzyingly paced, ideas-stuffed action that makes every shooter since we made Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare look lazy?” Well that certainly shut us up. Throw in Bounty Hunt, a capitalist nightmare of an essential multiplayer mode, and we promise never to accuse Respawn of laziness again. 8. Overwatch. Well if Valve aren't going to bother making Team Fortress 3, we'll have Blizzard do it instead. The World of Warcraft studio had never made a shooter before, so it makes no sense at all that Overwatch is one of the best multiplayer FPS' ever. A ridiculously varied cast of colourful heroes, each with powers that should logically break the game (Tracer can travel back through time for crying out loud!) Yet it all checks and balances, letting us fire bows and arrows, sky dragons, walls of ice and whip chains through the air for hours and hours without ever feeling like its cheaty or unfair. Months later, and still the only flaw we can find is Tracer's horrid cockney accent. By this logic, if Blizzard ever offer to make us dinner, expect world hunger to be eradicated within the hour. 7. Destiny 2. After the endless, life absorbing life sink of the original game what could Destiny 2 possibly do to beat it? The answer is actually obvious: more of the same, only richer, more accessible and. just. more Destiny. The sequel takes nearly every element of the space travelling, gun collecting, number raising MMO and polishes it to a fine sheen. You can see almost every area where Bungie learned from the last game, making the areas you explore richer with things to do, adding depth to both the systems that progress your character, and hte activities you take on to do so. Few games mix combat, multiplayer and character progressions so well and it's an addictive draw as a result. 6. Grand Theft Auto 5. Gaming's biggest blockbuster deserves its place at the head of the list. GTA 5 was already an excellent, brutal, beautiful open-world game, and is made even more so on Xbox One with a visual tidy-up, a glut of new content and the addition of first-person pedestrian-beating. With the addition of online Heists to make its online component even more enticing, Rockstar edges closer to making a game world so vast and varied that you could start to do away with anything else. Which, come to think of it, was probably the plan all along. 5. Minecraft. As simple or as complex as you want it to be, Minecraft is the perfect example of a game that lives up to the hype. Whether you just fancy pottering around in creative mode, or jumping into survival to take on various blocky nasties in your quest for the End, Mojang's masterpiece always feels perfectly yours and unique. This is a world worth just wandering in for eternity. Plus, the constant evolution with new packs, new textures and gameplay tweaks means that Minecraft is always moving forward. If you thought it was just about stacking up green blocks, it's time to catch up. 4. Assassin's Creed Origins. Assassin's Creed Origins is the long awaited reboot the series has needed. And ye gods, is it ever exactly what we hoped for. It's also a flagship Xbox One X Enhanced game so a great way to show off your new console. Remodelling Assassin's Creed into a true open-world RPG, full of creative stabbing, character stats, and malleable gameplay (What is best in life, Conan?), the ancient Egyptian adventure is a vast, sprawling, actual, bona fide country of a game, packing with detail, side-quests, and secrets to tackle your own way, at any time you want. With the overhauled combat now fuelled by a fully customisable gear system (Want twin daggers that put people to sleep, and a poisonous shield? Or a sword that buffs your health, and a bow with controllable arrows? You can have all of these things), any hint of the old series’ weary gameplay is long gone. Packed with wit, warmth, and a staggering scale of options, it's really rather fitting that the game that goes back to the beginning of the story is also the one that gives Assassin's Creed a fresh start. 3. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. If we didn't know better (or should that be worse?), we'd say Konami took the Hideo Kojima brand off of his last stab at MGS 5: The Phantom Pain because it feels quite so different to his previous efforts. Yes, it's packed with the off-kilter jokes, mechanical ingenuity and conspiracy theories so wild they're seemingly drawn from the darkest of the internet's depths - but at it's core, this is a very different kind of Hideo Kojima game. 2. Fallout 4. We sort of knew what we were getting. It's big, it's buggy, it's Bethesda. Fallout 4 is a natural evolution, bringing with it the often aimless exploration, gentle humour and moral greyitude of the last two instalments, while propping it all up with a new-gen veneer. They might not be enormous shifts, but main character voice acting, better gunplay and (shock) not having to look inside crates to loot them all make this a streamlined version of a now-classic formula. Frame rate dips and occasionally horrifying glitches rear their heads as usual, but it's difficult to feel too bad when there's simply so much going on. Once again, Bethesda has crammed several games' worth of joyously inconsequential stuff in here, resulting in one of the most compulsive, moreish games of this generation. Get stuck in, and you won't emerge for weeks. 1. Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. One of the most immersive RPGs ever made - a standout, mutable storyline, endlessly satisfying detective-cum-hitman Contracts, and side quests deeper than many games' main campaigns. The Witcher 3's world is one of the few game spaces to deserve that title - full of political intrigue, folklore and gross beasts to slice into ribbons. And all of that's failing to mention CD Projekt RED's raft of free DLC, and a couple of expansion packs - the first of which, Hearts of Stone, is responsible for this shooting up to the highest reaches of this list. Beautiful, rewarding and essential, this is a game we'll remember for years and years to come. Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info. Recommended. 8 things to watch out for this week. Who are the GamesRadar+ team? Shadow of the Colossus review: "Still feels as thought provoking and artful as it did all those years ago on PS2" Monster Hunter World review: "An incredible achievement" UFC 3 review: "Half-brilliant, half going-through-the-motions" Dragon Ball FighterZ review: "Flashy and a bit dumb. but god is it fun to watch" The Inpatient review: "It's all utterly brilliant; terrifyingly so" Journey's End review: "A harrowing, powerful WW1 drama well worth enduring" Phantom Thread review: "Anderson crafts another classic of obsession and strange love" Early Man review: "A primitive concept generates unsophisticated laughs" Last Flag Flying review: "A salty road trip tinged with sadness" Downsizing review: "Alexander Payne re-confirms his position as one of US cinema's premier filmmakers" Star Trek Discovery S1.13 review: "It's incredible how much is packed into this one episode" Star Trek Discovery S1.12 review: "Proves that the series is even cleverer than we originally thought" Star Trek Discovery S1.11 review: "Swaps action for character revelations, but is no less thrilling" Star Trek Discovery S1.10 review: "So shocking and emotional that you'll need a second watch" The Walking Dead S8.08 review: "Is this really the best The Walking Dead has to give?" Gaming deals, prizes and latest news. Get the best gaming deals, reviews, product advice, competitions, unmissable gaming news and more! No spam, we promise. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details without your permission. GamesRadar+ is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury , Bath BA1 1UA . All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Engadget. ‘Diablo’ creator’s next game is a 2D dungeon crawler. YouTube's live TV service is now available on Apple TV. Wirecutter's best deals: HIFiMan's HE400i headphones drop to $180. Latest in Gaming. Nintendo Labo hands-on: Cardboard has never been this fun. ‘Diablo’ creator’s next game is a 2D dungeon crawler. Nintendo Labo gadgets can be remixed with 'Toy-Con Garage' Spotify teams with Discord to soundtrack your gaming chats. The best Xbox One games. The Xbox One has come a long way since its 2013 debut. Microsoft has fixed the console's hardware flaws with the One S and the recently released One X, but now it has a different problem to address: a dearth of compelling games you can't play anywhere else. In recent years the company has relied on timed third-party exclusives that eventually make their way to other platforms or are also available on Windows and Steam. It happens on PS4 as well, but the difference there is that Sony has a wide assortment of games that you can only play on its console. That's not to say there aren't exclusive games worth playing on Xbox; it's just that they're buried among annual Forza racing games, middling modern Halo releases and the testosterone-fueled Gears of War franchise. Microsoft has promised to break out of that predictable release cadence, though, so the future could be brighter than you may have come to expect. As it stands, these are the best Xbox One games you can play right now. AAA vs indie darlings. Microsoft proved that indie games could have an audience on consoles when it published Braid on the Xbox 360 in 2008. Fast forward nine years and the landscape has changed quite a bit. The Nintendo Switch is increasingly becoming the home for niche titles, and PlayStation's selection of blockbuster tentpole games grows with every trade-show Sony attends. Faced with this harsh reality, last month Xbox chief Phil Spencer admitted that his team hadn't invested as much in original games as it should. Next year, he's going on a shopping spree for games and development studios to make up for the ones he cancelled and closed. The company trotted out Capybara Games' Below in the lead-up to the Xbox One's launch in 2013, and since then it's been delayed indefinitely. For a while it looked like Cuphead would face a similar fate, but as luck would have it Studio MDHR released the game this September after repeated delays. Fullbright's Tacoma had similar misfortunes on the road to release. Limbo studio Playdead's haunting sophomore effort Inside was only exclusive to the Xbox One for a few short months before appearing on PC and PS4. Same goes for Oxenfree . But that's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, a good game is a good game regardless of where you play it. Case in point: Minecraft , once the biggest indie game in the world, which is now owned by Microsoft. The thing is, until Microsoft proves it can dream beyond Forza , Gears of War and Halo though, indies are your best bet for interesting, inventive ideas on Xbox. Since purchasing this blocky freeform building game in 2015, Microsoft has drastically upgraded its graphics (while retaining the game's lo-fi charm). Just as important, it unified nearly every version of Minecraft , allowing people on disparate platforms to play together. Surprisingly, the game didn't lose its soul in the process. It's as charming and soothing as ever, while fancy visual tricks like HDR and detailed textures add some overdue modern flair next year. Combine those additions with Minecraft 's addictive building and survival gameplay and you've got a game that just about anyone can appreciate. Playdead's follow-up to its macabre debut Limbo shows what's possible when a studio keeps it simple. Inside is a haunting physics-based platformer that follows a young boy on his journey to, uh, get inside a research facility. As compelling as the game mechanics are, your primary motive for pressing onward should be the game's narrative. While "dystopian sci-fi" starring an adolescent might bring The Hunger Games to mind, Inside 's story is more Black Mirror than YA fiction. By the time the credits roll, the frustration of repeatedly getting caught by sentry guards should be a distant memory thanks to one of the craziest endings in modern video games. If you're playing Blizzard's hero shooter on a console, Xbox One is where you should do it. Playing with friends online feels effortless thanks to the way Xbox Live is baked into every facet of the console. Adjusting the balance between party chat and game audio, adding new friends to your group and even broadcasting your session via Mixer is dead simple on Microsoft's hardware. The game was first released last year, and is showing no signs of getting stale. The team at Blizzard keeps the game humming by regularly releasing new heroes, maps and modes, for free. Just remember, if you're going to play, there are never enough people moving the payload toward the objective. Your team will be grateful for the help. After a series of delays, Cuphead finally came out this year. And it was worth the wait. Studio MDHR's challenging side-scrolling shooter calls to mind classics like Contra and Ghouls 'n Ghosts , with retro visuals to match. Rather than pixel art reminiscent of the 8- or 16-bit era, though, Cuphead features hand-drawn animation inspired by cartoons from the 1930s. Keep in mind, this game isn't for the faint of heart. You'll simultaneously have to memorize level layouts, enemy placements and bosses' attack patterns if you want to succeed. That's in addition to reminding yourself to duck incoming fire and not get distracted by the inventive audio and visual design. If that seems like a tall order, it is. But you like a challenge, right? Halo has been Microsoft's golden goose since the original Xbox launched in 2001. But recent years haven't been kind to the series, which has seen some duds. That's why we recommend The Master Chief Collection ( MCC ), a greatest-hits collection of the franchise's best releases, with upgraded visuals and unique twists like playlists that group campaign missions by theme. Want to play the opening level from each game in succession? Have at it. Same goes if you'd rather play nothing but vehicle-based missions. Additionally, MCC takes every map from the franchise's multiplayer suite online. The player population has since migrated to Halo 5: Guardians , but if you want to recreate the experience of playing capture the flag on Blood Gulch at your first Xbox LAN party, this is your best bet. Forza Horizon 3 isn't just Microsoft's most recent off-road racer -- it's the best entry in the Horizon series to date. And you don't have to be a gearhead to have a blast tooling around the game's Australian outback. Unlike the mainline Forza Motorsport series, the emphasis here is on pedal-to-the-metal, arcade-inspired fun that emphasizes silliness over simulation. But that doesn't mean Horizon isn't serious about accuracy; physics still matter, and you can of course upgrade and tune your favorite ride to your heart's content. Need a break from the Outback's beaches and jungles? The "Blizzard Mountain" expansion takes the terror out of driving in inclement weather, while the Hot Wheels add-on puts the toy cars and their trademark orange loop-de-loop tracks on your flatscreen. The Xbox One's biggest advantage over the competition is that you can play a huge swath of the Xbox 360's catalog on it. That includes Alan Wake , Remedy Games first Microsoft exclusive from 2009. If the recent Twin Peaks revival made you want to take a trip to the Pacific Northwest, consider this game about a horror novelist whose creations are coming back to haunt him. The sleepy town of Bright Falls is being corrupted by a dark presence that possesses people and inanimate objects, even turning wheelbarrows into fearsome enemies. You'll need more than just firearms to defeat them, too; flashlights and flares are as important as firearms, as you need to "burn" the darkness out of an enemy before destroying it for good. Ori and the Blind Forest will break your heart in the first 10 minutes. After that, things get easier -- at least from an emotional standpoint. Ori follows the tradition of Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night by giving you a huge interconnected 2D world to explore, where secrets are hidden in plain sight and familiar areas give way to new ones as you unlock abilities for Ori. Gorgeous art and music complement the onscreen exploration; if you're a fan of physics-based platforming à la Super Meat Boy , you're in for a treat. Now's the perfect time to try the game, too: Microsoft said earlier this year that it's ordered a sequel. But with no release date in sight, you should have plenty of time to explore the game's mysteries. When Microsoft bought Rare Ware back in 2002, a big questions was whether the company would resurrect the long-dormant fighting franchise Killer Instinct . Eleven years later, a series reboot served as an anchor for the Xbox One's meager launch lineup. In the four years since, development passed to Divekick studio Iron Galaxy. Meanwhile, Microsoft added Gears of War bad-guy General Raam, Halo 's third-fiddle protagonist The Arbiter, and Rash from Rare's Battletoads series to the roster. The game now boasts almost 30 fighters, and its combo-based pugilism feels as satisfying as it did on the Super NES and N64. A quasi-story mode helps keep things interesting for solo players, and you can even fight against AI based off the fighting style of people on your friends list. Think of it like Forza 's Drivatar system, but for punching faces. Quantum Break is at once a cinema-inspired third-person shooter and an interactive TV drama where the choices you make in the game affect how each episode of the show plays out. Manipulating time goes beyond the game's narrative and impacts how you solve puzzles and take out enemies. The game's surreal vistas are particularly impressive. Thanks to a glitch in the space-time continuum, time itself is breaking down. Which means every now and again, everything in a given scene will go into still-frame, be it a shipping barge crashing into a suspension bridge, or a helicopter attacking an office building. It makes for some incredibly cool platforming sequences. And if you've just picked up an Xbox One X, Remedy went back over the game to make those "stutters" (and everything else) perform better on Microsoft's new hardware. Fru wasn't just one of the last Kinect games -- it was one of the best reasons to own Microsoft's do-all sensor. Rather than use the camera array and microphones for clunky motion and voice controls, Fru takes advantage of a different aspect of the hardware: its ability to read silhouettes in real time. The game is a platformer at its core, and to cross certain gaps or find hidden treasures, you'll need to position yourself in a way that allows the fox-masked protagonist to run along or inside your silhouette. You can make the game even more challenging by trying to play solo as you contort your body in front of the sensor. Or, you can tap your yoga-master best friend to hold their Vriksasana pose while you make your way ever rightward along the game's 2D plane. Over the past nine years, Timothy’s covered everything from drag shows to heavy metal, and he even debunked a local ghost story before joining Engadget in 2013. He’s an A/V enthusiast who adores physical media, much to the chagrin of his available shelf space. Movies by David Fincher and music from Amon Tobin, Deftones, Run the Jewels and Trent Reznor are his favorites. He has a complicated relationship with photography too and shares an exact birth date with Katy Perry. Nintendo Labo hands-on: Cardboard has never been this fun. Nintendo's crazy Switch accessories aren't so crazy after all. ‘Diablo’ creator’s next game is a 2D dungeon crawler. ‘It Lurks Below’ is slated to come out later in 2018. YouTube's live TV service is now available on Apple TV. The rollout may finally be complete. Snapchat's in-app Snap Store peddles memetastic merch. Because who doesn't want a dancing hotdog toy with a removable bun? 2017 was Amazon's best year for new Prime subscriptions so far. It raked in a whopping $1.9 billion in profits last quarter as well. TechRadar. The best Xbox One games 2018: 25 must-play titles. All the best games for Microsoft's Xbox One. Best Xbox One Games introduction. It's a new year and you know what that means: new games on the Xbox One. However, while the new year is a time for looking forward, it's also a time for reflection and we think it's important to remember the greats that you can already play on Microsoft's console. [ Update: Monster Hunter: World is our first 2018 title to make its way onto our must-play list.] Sure, 2018 is going to bring some thrilling new titles to the Xbox family of consoles, from big exclusives like Sea of Thieves and Crackdown 3, to new games from big third-parties like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Anthem. But we're trying to reign in our excitement and focus on the fantastic games that we can play in the here and now. In the five years since its launch, we've seen some true greats come to the Xbox One. There are a diverse range of exclusive experiences available, whether you're looking for exciting indies like Cuphead and Ori and The Blind Forest, or high-octane AAA adventures such as Forza Motorsport 7. And that's without even taking hugely successful third-party blockbusters like Assassin's Creed Origins and Overwatch into account. With the release of the Xbox One X in 2017, we've seen the Xbox family grow and change but thanks to backwards compatibility, you don't have to miss out on anything. Yes, whether you're on original Xbox, the Xbox One S or you've just set up your sparkly new Xbox One X, you're more than able to experience the wonderful games we've picked out here. As delightful as all these great games are, they do pose a problem: which ones are worth your time and money? We understand the struggle, which is why we've put together this best-of list; whether you're looking for a high-octane adventure, a thrilling racing sim or razor sharp first-person shooter, you'll be able to find it on Xbox. Check out the video below to see more on the Xbox One X. Make sure you frequently check back here as we frequently update this list to make sure you never fall behind on the latest and greatest releases. Forza Horizon 3. Huge, exotic and amazing to behold: Australia is a petrol-head's dream. While the original Forza titles were about pristine driving skills around perfectly kept tracks, the Horizon series has a penchant for trading paint and isn't afraid to have you get down and dirty with off-road races from time to time. While the first two entries in Turn 10's spin-off franchise surprised and delighted, Forza Horizon 3 is the unabashed pinnacle of the series, and stands amid some of the greatest racing games ever made. Good news for Xbox One X owners – Forza Horizon 3 now has its 4K and HDR patch. Gears of War 4. The Gears keep on turning for this excellent third-person shooter franchise. Despite a new platform, a new development team and a new-ish set of muscled heroes on its box art, Gears of War 4 isn't some grand reimagining of the series that helped Xbox 360 go supernova back in 2006. But then again, such a revelation shouldn't come as a shock – this is the cover shooter that made cover shooters a fad-filled genre all unto itself, so messing too drastically with that special sauce was never a viable option. Instead, the Xbox One and Xbox One S get the Gears of War template we all know and love with a few extra features gently stirred into the pot. For a start, the jump to current-gen tech has made all the difference to The Coalition's first full-fat Gears title. Spend a little time in the previously remastered Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and you'll see how small and confined those original level designs were, even with a graphical upgrade to make it feel relevant again. It's more than just graphics, though. It's the return to form for the franchise; the focus on what makes a Gears game so great, that really won us over. Beautiful and frustrating in equal measure. After a long development and lots of anticipation, Xbox indie exclusive Cuphead has finally been released. Was it worth the wait? It certainly was. Cuphead is a run-and-gun platformer with stationary boss fight levels thrown in. With visuals and a soundtrack inspired by 1930s animation but gameplay inspired by the platformers of the 80s this game has had us torn since we first tried it at Gamescom. It's lovely to look at but its gameplay is challenging and you're going to find yourself frustrated and dying a lot. We enjoyed Cuphead so much we named it Best Xbox Exclusive in our 2017 Game of the Year Awards. Still, it's an indie experience that shouldn't be missed and you'll only find it on Xbox and PC. Battlefield 1. A refreshing jump back in time. In the latest Battlefield game, DICE takes players back in time to World War One and by doing so completely rejuvenates the once stagnating franchise. The game offers a poignant and entertaining single-player campaign that sets a new standard for first-person shooter. Broken into six sections, each following a different character and front line location, the campaign never feels dull or repetitive –and even feeds neatly into Battlefield 1's multiplayer mode which, while familiar, also benefits from the much-needed breath of life that the change in setting gives. Graphically impressive, entertaining, and sometimes touching, Battlefield 1 is a return to form for the series. Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition. You'd have to be blind to miss this indie fantasy stunner. A top-class graduate of the "Metroidvania" school of action-adventure design, in which an enormous world gradually opens up as you unlock new abilities, Ori is the kind of experience you show a reactionary relative who thinks "videogame art" is a contradiction in terms. There's the world, to start with - a dreamlike maze of canted-over trunks, thorny caverns and sunlit glades – but it's not just a question of blissful visuals. Ori is a crisp, empowering platformer, with a main character who learns to scurry up surfaces and ricochet away from projectiles, like a spacecraft "sling-shotting" around a planet. The Definitive Edition improves upon the original by adding new areas to explore and additional background on one of the game's most beloved characters. Halo 5: Guardians. Halo multiplayer at its best. A franchise that has defined Xbox as a platform for a long time is Halo and Halo 5: Guardians is a worthy addition to the series. With both a single-player campaign and the usual thrilling multiplayer combat, this is the Halo game for Xbox One you don't want to miss. Though its single-player campaign isn't the best in the franchise in terms of story, this is Halo multiplayer combat at its most fun and anyone that loves playing online with friends will enjoy what the various modes on offer. The team-based shooter you need to buy on Xbox One. Overwatch has, without a doubt, been one of our favorite games to come out of the last year – garnering our Game of the Year 2016 award. It's a classic team arena shooter from Blizzard that sets two six-person teams of wildly different characters against each other in a bright and cartoonish science fiction universe. And while it feels similar to the Call of Duty you've played before, Overwatch turns traditional shooters on their heads by adding unique character abilities and cool-downs to the mix that force you to strategize every once in a while instead of blindly running from room to room. Great graphics, tight maps, and a good roster of characters to enjoy playing. Overwatch is good old fashioned fun and we thoroughly recommend it. Dark Souls 3. Consult your doctor first to see if Dark Souls 3 is right for you. Playing a Dark Souls game is a masochistic thing. The pain of losing to the same boss ten times in a row is crushing, but chasing the buzz of a victory makes it all worth it. Dark Souls 3, the latest in the soul-crushing series, is back and more terrifying than ever. The graphics have been updated for the modern era, with stunning lighting effects, which illuminate all that is good, as well as what's better left unseen. The gameplay is faster than previous Souls games, riffing off of BloodBorne's rapid pacing. Finally, the story and the online multiplayer come together to make this a game that you won't put down once you pick it up. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. A chilling return to form. Your gaming collection isn't really complete if it doesn't have a quality horror title and if we had to suggest one it'd be the newest installment in the Resident Evil franchise. Resident Evil is the franchise that put survival-horror games on the map and though it lost its way slightly in later titles, the newest game is a return to form for Capcom. By going back to the survival-horror basics and getting them dead on, Capcom has made Resident Evil 7 a genuinely frightening and exhilarating gaming experience. If you have the stomach for the gore, it's absolutely worth playing. Don't miss our full review of the game. Titanfall 2. They had the technology to rebuild him, better than before. The original Titanfall was a great game – so great that it long held a place on this very list. However, its sequel, Titanfall 2, improves on it every conceivable way: the motion is more fluid, there are more distinct titans to choose from and, hold onto your hats here, there's actually a single-player campaign that might take the cake for the best first-person shooter story of the year. This game's pedigree is inherited from one of this generation's smartest and most unusual shooters. The original Titanfall married ninja-fast on-foot combat to the gloriously thuggish thrill of piloting giant mechs, which are summoned from orbit a few minutes into each match. The skill with which Respawn has balanced this mix of styles in the sequel is remarkable – Titans have firepower in excess but they're easy to hit, and maps offer plenty of places for infantry to hide. These ideas coalesce into one of this year's most remarkable entries in the genre and is well-deserving its own shot in the spotlight as well as a Game of the Year nomination. A retro-slash-modern romp through the underworld. DOOM is very, very good. Not in a “wow, that’s good for a remake” kind of way, either. It’s genuinely a great shooter – so much so that we gave it a Game of the Year award in 2016. While Overwatch reinventing the wheel for first-person shooting games, DOOM impresses us by bringing us back to the time where dial-up internet was the only way to access AOL email: DOOM is, in so many ways, an excellent evolution of what the series was 20 years ago. It’s brutal. It’s bloody. It has devilish, frightening creatures that bleed when you slice them in half with a chainsaw. It’s the experience we wanted two decades ago but couldn’t articulate it because of the limitations of technology. Rise of the Tomb Raider. The name of the game is freedom in Lara's latest sprawling outing. Despite being the sequel to a prequel about the young life of the Lara Croft, this still feels like a Tomb Raider game that has grown up. The reboot which saw a brave new direction for the franchise seemed a lot of the time to be little more than a bit of light Uncharted cosplay, but Rise is a far more accomplished game. There's now a genuine open world which feels like there is always something to do, and something more than just harvesting up collectibles in exchange for a light dusting of XP. There are also tombs. Yes, that might seem a fatuous thing to say given the name, but the previous game gave them short shrift. In Rise though they are deeper and more plentiful. Rise also has one of the best narratives of any Tomb Raider game, penned again by Rhianna Pratchett, it's sometimes rather poignant. So come on, ditch Fallout 4's wasteland for a while and give Lara some love. The homecoming we've waited seven years for. All things considered, this is one of the best games Bethesda has made. It ticks all the boxes: a massive, detail-oriented open-world; still-fantastic tenets of looting and shooting; a story filled with intriguing side quests and subplots that feel like they matter; and of course a classic soundtrack that brings it all to life. In many ways it's the game we've been waiting for since Fallout 3 steered the series away from its top-down role-playing roots. Not only is the world itself wider, but the plot is better, and more digestible, than any of the games before it. There's still a sense of mystery about what's happening but you no longer have to dig forever and a day through terminals to piece it together. Welcome home, stranger. Dragon Age: Inquisition. "Our weapons are fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency and gigantic sidequests." Inquisition is the proverbial RPG banquet - a 200-hour array of quests, magic-infused scraps, postcard landscapes and well-written character interactions that's perhaps a bit too familiar, at times, but makes up for it with sheer generosity. It puts you in charge not just of a four-man party of adventurers but also a private army with its own castle and attendant strategic meta-game, tasked with defeating a mysterious demon menace. The choice of Unreal Engine makes for vast open environments and sexily SFX-laden combat – fortunately, you can pause the latter to issue orders if the onslaught becomes overwhelming. It's a genre giant. Monster Hunter: World. Friends who slay together, stay together. You've probably heard of the Monster Hunter franchise before now – it's a classic that's been going a long time. But we haven't seen it on console for a while. Until now. Monster Hunter: World is the franchise's debut on the latest generation of consoles and it's a true breath of fresh air. Giving players the option to play solo or team up with up to three other friends, this game invites you into a living, breathing game world to hunt down some monsters. For research. And fun. You'll face a learning curve with Monster Hunter: World and the dark-souls style of combat has the potential to frustrate, but this is the most accessible Monster Hunter game we've seen in years. If you've been looking for a chance to break into the series, this is it. In our review we called the game "a bold and confident new chapter" and gave it a "play it now" recommendation. Thinking of becoming a Monster Hunter yourself? Make sure you check out our full survival guide . Dishonored 2. A smart, stealthy, steampunk adventure. Following the surprise 2012 hit Dishonored wasn't going to be an easy task, but Dishonored 2 has more than lived up to its expectations. Picking up 15 years after the events of the original, Dishonored 2 takes players back to the Victorian Steampunk city of Dunwall. This time, though, you have the choice of whether or not you want to play as the original title's protagonist Corvo, or his equally-skilled protegee Emily. Dishonored 2 doesn't differ wildly from the first game, but there was nothing wrong with Dishonored in the first place. What we get is a vastly improved and close to perfected take on it. Anyone who likes their games filled with atmosphere, character, and a bit of wit and intelligence will find Dishonored 2 worth picking up. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Stories don't come bigger than this. Geralt didn't have the smoothest of entries to consoles, but after some heavy patching and a lot of angry words about visual downgrades, we're left with an RPG boasting tremendous scope and storytelling. Oh, and combat. And don't forget Gwent, the in-game card game. And there's the crafting to get stuck into. And the alchemy. You're rarely short of things to entertain yourself with in The Witcher 3's quasi-open world, then, and all the better that you're in a universe that involves the supernatural without leaning on the same old Tolkien fantasy tropes. Invigorating stuff. Still the best football sim money can buy. FIFA is, for many console owners, a highly anticipated annual event. The latest and arguably greatest installment in the football sim series has arrived in the form of FIFA 18. Whether you're looking to play against others online, build up a management career on your own or play a cinematic story mode that'll give you an insight into the dramatic life of a premier league footballer, FIFA has a game mode just for you. The best thing is, there's always more than enough to throw yourself into and agonize over until the next game rolls around with further incremental improvements that'll convince you to upgrade. You can read our full review of FIFA 18 right here and make sure you're the best on the pitch using our tips and tricks guide. Out of this world online multiplayer. Taking the place of the original Destiny on this list is, of course, its sequel Destiny 2. With its original game, Bungie managed to create a huge triple-A success as well as a cult hit. Now, however, it's opening up to the masses and anyone that felt like they couldn't jump on the Destiny band wagon the first time shouldn't miss the opportunity to do so now. This huge online multiplayer shooter will reel you in with its universe, single-player story, satisfying gameplay and addictive online modes. In our full Destiny 2 review , we call Destiny 2 "the Destiny you know, and the Halo you used to love, all in one loot-filled package." If you're just getting started, it's also worth taking a peek at our handy tips and tricks guide which will allow you to hit the ground running. Grand Theft Auto V. There's no fear and loathing in Los Santos – just explosive entertainment. Yes, including one of last generation's greatest games among this generation's finest is rather boring, but GTA V on Xbox One is too good to ignore, with HD visuals, a longer draw distance and a faster frame-rate. Among other, more practical perks it includes a first-person mode, which genuinely makes this feel like a different game, though the missions, tools and characters are the same. The new perspective pushes Rockstar's attention to detail to the fore, allowing you to better appreciate the landscape's abundance of in-jokes and ambient details. GTA V's open world multiplayer remains a laidback thrill, whether you're stuntdiving with friends or teaming up to complete a Heist (a long overdue addition to MP, but worth the wait) – it's probably the best place to hang out on Xbox Live. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. How many Snakes does it take to change a lightbulb? Okay, so Hideo Kojima's last game for Konami - and his last ever Metal Gear game - might be a little tough for the MGS n00b to get to grips with, but it's still one of the best stealth-action games ever crafted. The open-world shenanigans will satisfy all your behind-enemy-lines / Rambo fantasies and probably confuse you with crazy plot twists and a million characters all with the same gravel-toned voices. But hey, that's all part of its charm, right? Assassin's Creed Origins. Making the old feel new again. After a year away, Assassin's Creed is back and it's bigger and better than ever. In Assassin's Creed Origins you go back to ancient Egypt, before the brotherhood and before the Templars, where you play as the original assassin Bayek. Assassin's Creed is a series that was growing increasingly stale but with Origins the formula has been refreshed with new RPG mechanics, story-driven side quests and a far more free-flowing combat system. Whether you're new to the series or a fatiguing fan, Assassin's Creed Origins is absolutely worth playing as it's the strongest installment we've seen in years. Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Bold, brilliant and brutal. Middle-earth: Shadow of War is the sequel to the accomplished Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and builds upon all of its strengths. Taking up the role of Talion once more, this game takes you back to a beautifully realized world that's bursting with originality. If you were a fan of the original game, we highly recommend that you pick of Shadow of War as it's an improvement in almost every way. Rocket League. Looking for a game that you can dip into between those long-winded RPGs? Take a gander at the online extravaganza that is Rocket League. Cars essentially playing football shouldn't really work but thanks to Rocket League's outstanding mechanics and physics system it really does. You play with and against others online in matches of varying numbers and though each match only last 5 minutes so it should be easy to break away. Invariably, though, you'll find yourself hours later murmuring about winning "just one more". Rocket League has been available for a while now and as a result it's built up a dedicated and skilled community. Prepare yourself for a challenge. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Looking for an incredible single-player shooter? Look no further than the 2017 wonder that was Wolfenstein II. Picking up from where the original game left off, this game is a timely social commentary and a superbly silly adventure all rolled into one well-written package. With tight mechanics and a story worth caring about this is one of the most satisfying first-person shooters we've played in a long time. In our full review we called it "expertly crafted" and recommended that you play it now. Related articles. Tech deals, prizes and latest news. Get the best tech deals, reviews, product advice, competitions, unmissable tech news and more! No spam, we promise. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details without your permission. Samsung Galaxy S9 release date, price, news and rumors. SIM only deals: the best plans in February 2018. 3 reasons why now is a terrible time to buy a new smartphone. Best fitness tracker 2018: the top 10 activity bands on the planet. The best cheap laptop deals in February 2018: prices start at just £145. LibreOffice 6.0 makes it easier than ever to switch from Microsoft Office. 3 reasons why now is a terrible time to buy a new smartphone. Exciting new iOS 12 features reportedly shelved so Apple can focus on reliability. Google buys part of HTC's phone business, including Pixel team. Honor releases the 7X in a limited edition Red colorway - just in time for Valentine’s Day! TechRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury , Bath BA1 1UA . All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Engadget. ‘Diablo’ creator’s next game is a 2D dungeon crawler. YouTube's live TV service is now available on Apple TV. Wirecutter's best deals: HIFiMan's HE400i headphones drop to $180. Latest in Gaming. Nintendo Labo hands-on: Cardboard has never been this fun. ‘Diablo’ creator’s next game is a 2D dungeon crawler. Nintendo Labo gadgets can be remixed with 'Toy-Con Garage' Spotify teams with Discord to soundtrack your gaming chats. The best Xbox One games. The Xbox One has come a long way since its 2013 debut. Microsoft has fixed the console's hardware flaws with the One S and the recently released One X, but now it has a different problem to address: a dearth of compelling games you can't play anywhere else. In recent years the company has relied on timed third-party exclusives that eventually make their way to other platforms or are also available on Windows and Steam. It happens on PS4 as well, but the difference there is that Sony has a wide assortment of games that you can only play on its console. That's not to say there aren't exclusive games worth playing on Xbox; it's just that they're buried among annual Forza racing games, middling modern Halo releases and the testosterone-fueled Gears of War franchise. Microsoft has promised to break out of that predictable release cadence, though, so the future could be brighter than you may have come to expect. As it stands, these are the best Xbox One games you can play right now. AAA vs indie darlings. Microsoft proved that indie games could have an audience on consoles when it published Braid on the Xbox 360 in 2008. Fast forward nine years and the landscape has changed quite a bit. The Nintendo Switch is increasingly becoming the home for niche titles, and PlayStation's selection of blockbuster tentpole games grows with every trade-show Sony attends. Faced with this harsh reality, last month Xbox chief Phil Spencer admitted that his team hadn't invested as much in original games as it should. Next year, he's going on a shopping spree for games and development studios to make up for the ones he cancelled and closed. The company trotted out Capybara Games' Below in the lead-up to the Xbox One's launch in 2013, and since then it's been delayed indefinitely. For a while it looked like Cuphead would face a similar fate, but as luck would have it Studio MDHR released the game this September after repeated delays. Fullbright's Tacoma had similar misfortunes on the road to release. Limbo studio Playdead's haunting sophomore effort Inside was only exclusive to the Xbox One for a few short months before appearing on PC and PS4. Same goes for Oxenfree . But that's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, a good game is a good game regardless of where you play it. Case in point: Minecraft , once the biggest indie game in the world, which is now owned by Microsoft. The thing is, until Microsoft proves it can dream beyond Forza , Gears of War and Halo though, indies are your best bet for interesting, inventive ideas on Xbox. Since purchasing this blocky freeform building game in 2015, Microsoft has drastically upgraded its graphics (while retaining the game's lo-fi charm). Just as important, it unified nearly every version of Minecraft , allowing people on disparate platforms to play together. Surprisingly, the game didn't lose its soul in the process. It's as charming and soothing as ever, while fancy visual tricks like HDR and detailed textures add some overdue modern flair next year. Combine those additions with Minecraft 's addictive building and survival gameplay and you've got a game that just about anyone can appreciate. Playdead's follow-up to its macabre debut Limbo shows what's possible when a studio keeps it simple. Inside is a haunting physics-based platformer that follows a young boy on his journey to, uh, get inside a research facility. As compelling as the game mechanics are, your primary motive for pressing onward should be the game's narrative. While "dystopian sci-fi" starring an adolescent might bring The Hunger Games to mind, Inside 's story is more Black Mirror than YA fiction. By the time the credits roll, the frustration of repeatedly getting caught by sentry guards should be a distant memory thanks to one of the craziest endings in modern video games. If you're playing Blizzard's hero shooter on a console, Xbox One is where you should do it. Playing with friends online feels effortless thanks to the way Xbox Live is baked into every facet of the console. Adjusting the balance between party chat and game audio, adding new friends to your group and even broadcasting your session via Mixer is dead simple on Microsoft's hardware. The game was first released last year, and is showing no signs of getting stale. The team at Blizzard keeps the game humming by regularly releasing new heroes, maps and modes, for free. Just remember, if you're going to play, there are never enough people moving the payload toward the objective. Your team will be grateful for the help. After a series of delays, Cuphead finally came out this year. And it was worth the wait. Studio MDHR's challenging side-scrolling shooter calls to mind classics like Contra and Ghouls 'n Ghosts , with retro visuals to match. Rather than pixel art reminiscent of the 8- or 16-bit era, though, Cuphead features hand-drawn animation inspired by cartoons from the 1930s. Keep in mind, this game isn't for the faint of heart. You'll simultaneously have to memorize level layouts, enemy placements and bosses' attack patterns if you want to succeed. That's in addition to reminding yourself to duck incoming fire and not get distracted by the inventive audio and visual design. If that seems like a tall order, it is. But you like a challenge, right? Halo has been Microsoft's golden goose since the original Xbox launched in 2001. But recent years haven't been kind to the series, which has seen some duds. That's why we recommend The Master Chief Collection ( MCC ), a greatest-hits collection of the franchise's best releases, with upgraded visuals and unique twists like playlists that group campaign missions by theme. Want to play the opening level from each game in succession? Have at it. Same goes if you'd rather play nothing but vehicle-based missions. Additionally, MCC takes every map from the franchise's multiplayer suite online. The player population has since migrated to Halo 5: Guardians , but if you want to recreate the experience of playing capture the flag on Blood Gulch at your first Xbox LAN party, this is your best bet. Forza Horizon 3 isn't just Microsoft's most recent off-road racer -- it's the best entry in the Horizon series to date. And you don't have to be a gearhead to have a blast tooling around the game's Australian outback. Unlike the mainline Forza Motorsport series, the emphasis here is on pedal-to-the-metal, arcade-inspired fun that emphasizes silliness over simulation. But that doesn't mean Horizon isn't serious about accuracy; physics still matter, and you can of course upgrade and tune your favorite ride to your heart's content. Need a break from the Outback's beaches and jungles? The "Blizzard Mountain" expansion takes the terror out of driving in inclement weather, while the Hot Wheels add-on puts the toy cars and their trademark orange loop-de-loop tracks on your flatscreen. The Xbox One's biggest advantage over the competition is that you can play a huge swath of the Xbox 360's catalog on it. That includes Alan Wake , Remedy Games first Microsoft exclusive from 2009. If the recent Twin Peaks revival made you want to take a trip to the Pacific Northwest, consider this game about a horror novelist whose creations are coming back to haunt him. The sleepy town of Bright Falls is being corrupted by a dark presence that possesses people and inanimate objects, even turning wheelbarrows into fearsome enemies. You'll need more than just firearms to defeat them, too; flashlights and flares are as important as firearms, as you need to "burn" the darkness out of an enemy before destroying it for good. Ori and the Blind Forest will break your heart in the first 10 minutes. After that, things get easier -- at least from an emotional standpoint. Ori follows the tradition of Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night by giving you a huge interconnected 2D world to explore, where secrets are hidden in plain sight and familiar areas give way to new ones as you unlock abilities for Ori. Gorgeous art and music complement the onscreen exploration; if you're a fan of physics-based platforming à la Super Meat Boy , you're in for a treat. Now's the perfect time to try the game, too: Microsoft said earlier this year that it's ordered a sequel. But with no release date in sight, you should have plenty of time to explore the game's mysteries. When Microsoft bought Rare Ware back in 2002, a big questions was whether the company would resurrect the long-dormant fighting franchise Killer Instinct . Eleven years later, a series reboot served as an anchor for the Xbox One's meager launch lineup. In the four years since, development passed to Divekick studio Iron Galaxy. Meanwhile, Microsoft added Gears of War bad-guy General Raam, Halo 's third-fiddle protagonist The Arbiter, and Rash from Rare's Battletoads series to the roster. The game now boasts almost 30 fighters, and its combo-based pugilism feels as satisfying as it did on the Super NES and N64. A quasi-story mode helps keep things interesting for solo players, and you can even fight against AI based off the fighting style of people on your friends list. Think of it like Forza 's Drivatar system, but for punching faces. Quantum Break is at once a cinema-inspired third-person shooter and an interactive TV drama where the choices you make in the game affect how each episode of the show plays out. Manipulating time goes beyond the game's narrative and impacts how you solve puzzles and take out enemies. The game's surreal vistas are particularly impressive. Thanks to a glitch in the space-time continuum, time itself is breaking down. Which means every now and again, everything in a given scene will go into still-frame, be it a shipping barge crashing into a suspension bridge, or a helicopter attacking an office building. It makes for some incredibly cool platforming sequences. And if you've just picked up an Xbox One X, Remedy went back over the game to make those "stutters" (and everything else) perform better on Microsoft's new hardware. Fru wasn't just one of the last Kinect games -- it was one of the best reasons to own Microsoft's do-all sensor. Rather than use the camera array and microphones for clunky motion and voice controls, Fru takes advantage of a different aspect of the hardware: its ability to read silhouettes in real time. The game is a platformer at its core, and to cross certain gaps or find hidden treasures, you'll need to position yourself in a way that allows the fox-masked protagonist to run along or inside your silhouette. You can make the game even more challenging by trying to play solo as you contort your body in front of the sensor. Or, you can tap your yoga-master best friend to hold their Vriksasana pose while you make your way ever rightward along the game's 2D plane. Over the past nine years, Timothy’s covered everything from drag shows to heavy metal, and he even debunked a local ghost story before joining Engadget in 2013. He’s an A/V enthusiast who adores physical media, much to the chagrin of his available shelf space. Movies by David Fincher and music from Amon Tobin, Deftones, Run the Jewels and Trent Reznor are his favorites. He has a complicated relationship with photography too and shares an exact birth date with Katy Perry. Nintendo Labo hands-on: Cardboard has never been this fun. Nintendo's crazy Switch accessories aren't so crazy after all. ‘Diablo’ creator’s next game is a 2D dungeon crawler. ‘It Lurks Below’ is slated to come out later in 2018. YouTube's live TV service is now available on Apple TV. The rollout may finally be complete. Snapchat's in-app Snap Store peddles memetastic merch. Because who doesn't want a dancing hotdog toy with a removable bun? 2017 was Amazon's best year for new Prime subscriptions so far. It raked in a whopping $1.9 billion in profits last quarter as well. Best Xbox One Games 2018: The best One S and One X titles. 2017 was a relatively quiet year for Microsoft’s console. While we did see the release of a 4K juggernaut in the form of the excellent Xbox One X , there weren’t many exclusive titles to enjoy. However, there were still plenty of blockbusters and indie darlings to sink our teeth into. The best part is, they’re even cheaper now 2018 has rolled around. Trusted Reviews has compiled some of the very best games you can play on Xbox One right now including the likes of Forza Motorsport 7 , Cuphead and more! Monster Hunter World. Score. Want to play one of the finest RPGs that’s now far more accessible to newcomers? You need to buy Monster Hunter World. It’s a brilliantly rewarding, intensely satisfying game that has you hunting giant beasts, looting their hides and crafting the finest weapons and armour with some of the most fun combat in the genre. Forza Motorsport 7. Score. Developer: Turn 10 Studios. Forza Motorsport 7 is the most graphically stunning racing game ever seen on a console. Turn10 knows how to make gorgeous racing titles, and are often used to represent the pinnacle of visuals on any Xbox console. It already looks gorgeous on the Xbox One S, and even better on Xbox One X. 3 of 27. After four years of waiting, Xbox One players finally have a Tekken title to sink their teeth into. Updating the classic formula with new mechanics, fighters and a cinematic solo campaign, Namco’s iconic fighting series has never been better. Looking absolutely gorgeous on Microsoft’s console, Tekken 7 feels fittingly engineered for newcomers and veteran players alike. While it doesn’t quite reach the fantastic heights of Injustice 2, Tekken 7 remains an excellent fighter that builds upon the classic series in exciting new ways. Whether you’re playing through the fiedishly addictive Treasure Battle mode or taking on friends online, there is plenty to love here. 4 of 27. Thought you was done with your Destiny addiction? Think again, it’s time to get obsessed with light levels all over again as Bungie brings Destiny 2 to your console with a bang. With a stronger story, beautiful graphics and that ever-so addictive gameplay and collecting of loot, you’ll be saving the galaxy for hours upon hours on end once again in this brilliant universe. Oh and good luck in the Raids, because they’re absolutely brutal. Dragon Ball FighterZ. Score. The Dragon Ball series is known for its incredible over-the-top action sequences, and they’ve been brilliantly recreated in ArcSysWorks’ fighter. This is also a really accessible fighter meaning fans of the anime can jump on board and have a great time watching the chaos unfold. There’s a solid story mode here too for those who don’t fancy taking on fellow players online. A stunning and gorgeous brawler and one of the best in its genre on Xbox, this is truly one for the fans. 6 of 27. 2K simply produces the best sports game on the market, year-on-year, and the same is true with NBA 2K18. Ridiculous depth in every mode, near-photorealistic visuals, amazing ESPN-style presentation and great storylines are all you could ever ask for from a sports sim. MyCAREER is back and rather than following a story of another player, 2K wants players to feel more like they’re living their own NBA dream, meaning there’s less of a rags-to-riches story and much more focus on playing your game. MyGM has also had a massive revamp to bring many of these story elements into the fold and offer much more depth. If you’re new to the world of basketball, 2K has made the game much more welcoming, too. 7 of 27. This is undoubtedly the best FIFA has ever been. With tons of new animations, an amazing new look with the transition to Frostbite, season two of The Journey and the continued dominance of Ultimate Team, EA has played a blinder. Don’t believe us? Watch mobiles editor Max Parker and games editor Brett Phipps discuss how good the game is in our FIFA 18 vs PES 2018 video: Resident Evil 7. Score. Resident Evil 7 is a glorious return to form for the iconic survival horror series. Switching the action to a first-person perspective, the infected horrors and gross environments have never felt so tangibly real. You play as Ethan, a man searching for his missing partner in rural Louisiana. He soon stumbles upon The Baker Family, a group of strange people infected with some form of deadly virus. Making his way through sprawling mansions, filthy swamps and other strange locales, Ethan will have to solve puzzles and best horrifying enemies if he hopes to survive. This is essential for horror fans, and a masterful reboot for the troubled franchise. Stardew Valley. Score. After taking PC by storm earlier this year, Stardew Valley and its charming mixture of farming, exploration and dungeon crawling is finally on Xbox One, and it’s just as good as we’d hoped. You’re a new citizen in the town of Stardew Valley, starting a fresh new life as a farmer in charge of your own land, crop and animals. Every day you’ll wake up and carry out whatever tasks you want, whether it be going on dates, digging up trees or hitting the local bar. Much like Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley is capable of sapping hundreds upon hundreds of hours from you if you get carried away. It’s utterly addictive, dripping with bundles of charm that make it difficult not to love. It’s also really cheap, sitting at £11.99 on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Final Fantasy 15. Score. After countless delays, dozens of trailers and ten long years in development, Final Fantasy 15 is finally here. This ambitious new entry in the beloved JRPG franchise is a completely different beast to what came before it, thrusting us into a massive, daunting open world simply begging to be explored. Playing as Noctis, you and the rest of the Japanese backstreet boys must venture across the land of Eos, thwarting a growing conflict between two neighbouring kingdoms. The wider narrative is a mess, yet the combat, exploration and characters you meet more than make up for it. Those looking for a more traditional RPG may be disappointed with Final Fantasy 15, yet it remains one of 2016’s brightest surprises. Dishonored 2. Score. Dishonored 2 is a fabulously immersive stealth experience that improves on the original in almost every way. It never abandons the core traits of the first that made it so immersive and fun. Instead, it refines them with some truly impressive level design with immense depth and creativity. Set in the city of Karnaca, you play as either Emily Kaldwin or Corvo Attano, each with their own unique arsenal of devastating powers and equipment. The usual suspects are back with some nifty mechanical improvements perfect for dispatching the world’s many guards. Fans of Thief and Deus Ex will have an absolute blast with this fantastical adventure. And the best part is when you’re done with Dishonored 2, there’s Death of the Outsider to enjoy. Titanfall 2. Score. Developer: Respawn Entertainment. The original Titanfall was a refreshing surprise with breathtakingly fast-paced multiplayer action fuelled by giant robots and relentless park-our. Respawn Entertainment crafted a new franchise with mountains of potential, much of which is fulfilled in Titanfall 2. Respawn Entertainment has crafted a brief yet exhilarating solo campaign to accompany its addictive multiplayer this time around, and it’s a surprisingly inventive venture well worth investing some time into. The gunplay has been refined, improved and expanded with new titans, pilots and abilities to master. It’s a brilliantly varied shooter that appears to be far more ambitious than its rivals. Injustice 2. Score. Developer: NetherRealm Studios. Injustice 2 is one of the finest fighting games of 2017. By making incredible use of the DC license with a huge cast of playable heroes and villains, NetherRealm Studios has crafted one of its best creations in a long, long time. The combat system is rewarding for both veterans and newcomers, boasting an incredible amount of customisation through a dastardly addictive loot system. The comprehensive solo campaign makes things even better, pumping out a more convincing story than any films in the fumbling DC Cinematic Universe. Comic book fans will find so much to love here, especially those who are looking to trounce their friends as the world’s greatest detective. Battlefield 1. Score. Electronic Arts has taken the explosive shooter franchise back to the filthy trenches of The Great War with Battlefield 1. In doing so, it has produced what is arguably the best game in the series for decades, boasting a truly emotional solo campaign and bombastic, long-lasting multiplayer. The single-player campaign is a harrowing retelling of the infamous conflict through the eyes of brave young soldiers fighting in a war they have no place in. Unfortunately, it’s over far too soon, a true testament of its quality that it left us begging for more. Battlefield 1’s multiplayer is equally as fantastic, providing you and millions of other players with vast, explosive battlefields to march, drive and fly across. The blockbuster action of previous titles is here to stay, and it’s more pronounced than ever this time around. Gears of War 4. Score. The latest entry in Microsoft’s ultra-violent shooter franchise could very well be its best yet. Developed by The Coalition, Gears of War 4 marks the beginning of a new trilogy with all new characters, enemies and gamplay mechanics. As always, you’ll be clinging to chest-high walls as locust and robots rain down bullets upon you. It’s your job to pick the perfect window of oppurtunity to peek out and take a few precise shots. Few thrid-person shooters play better than Gears with its beautiful mixture of tight cover shooting and truly breathtaking set pieces, and its debut on Xbox One more than proves this. Fans of the series’ chaotic online multiplayer and addictively challenging horde mode will find a lot to love here, as both return with refreshing new iterations. Sure, Gears of War 4 doesn’t exactly rewrite the rulebook of modern shooters, but it certainly has what it takes to be the best. Forza Horizon 3. Score. Developer: Playground Games. Forza Horizon 3 is one of the best racers of 2016, presenting a truly breathtaking open world stretching across the vast Australian Outback. You’ll cruise throgh cities, beaches, forests and deserts before your final race rolls around, and every single moment is an unparalleled blast. Instead of competing, you are now in control of the annual Horizon Festival. All of the events taking place across Australia can be customized by you with new rules and cars. The rewards for scoring first place are plentiful, dripfeeding you with all new vehicles and events as you discover more of the beautiful, sunny countryside. Boasting over 350 unique cars at launch, Forza Horizon 3 is the most ambitious game in the franchise yet, and it’s only going to get better with the addition of downloadable content further down the line. Whether it be the lovely new Lamborghini Centanario or a beaten down Dune Buggy, the thrill of racing against your friends has never been so fun and accessible. Little Nightmares. Score. Developer: Tarsier Studios. Little Nightmares could be the scariest game you play this year, but it will also be one of the most unique and interesting titles of 2017, too. If you’re a fan of scares then you need to add Little Nightmares to your library, just maybe warn the neighbours of the forthcoming child-like screams and yelps. 18 of 27. IO Interactive has taken Agent 47 to France, Morocco, Thailand, Italy and the United States in his first season of relentlessly creative murder. Our favourite bald assassin will be finishing up in Hokkaido, Japan later this month as his debut outing concludes. Hitman is easily the best game in the franchise, providing a selection of wonderfully unique global playgrounds for you to wreak havoc upon. The sheer amount of oppurtunities available to Agent 47 are almost staggering, and have only grown crazier with each new episode. With a such a fantastic first season we can’t wait to see what IO Interactive has planned for future instalments, and where on earth Agent 47 will end up next. 19 of 27. Developer: Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard’s first new IP in almost two decades delivers a wonderful shooter full to the brim with character. At launch Overwatch has 21 playable heroes with 12 maps. Every character is unique and with multiplayer game modes actively encouraging you to switch on the fly to adjust team tactics, it won’t be long before you have a group of your favourites. Overwatch is a must-have for anyone with an Xbox One. With more maps and characters to come after launch for absolutely free this game will only get better and better as the months roll on, and it’s already brilliant. Rise of the Tomb Raider. Score. Taking everything that was successful with the 2013 reboot, Rise of the Tomb Raider takes it that one step further. It offers stunning graphics and that more mature, reimagined Lara, along with a better crafting system and the return of traditional Tomb Raider puzzle tombs. Rise of the Tomb Raider is the ultimate game in the series, and if you’re not swept away by Fallout 4, this is the game for you. Dark Souls 3. Score. Dark Souls 3 marks a strong return for the Souls series after the brief departure for PS4 standalone Bloodborne. Although the third entry is beginnning to show signs of over-familiarity and some wear-and-tear, this is still a game better than most available on the market. Journeying around the gorgeously-realised world of Lothric will see you take on plenty of dangerous foes, and you’ll no doubt meet your demise on plenty of occasions. But there’s few games in this world that quite have that feeling of triumph like the Souls series, and Dark Souls 3 is no different. This is not for the faint-hearted, so be prepared to meet a tough challenge, but once you overcome its obstacles, there’s no greater feeling. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Score. Commiserations Bethesda and BioWare. The Witcher 3 is the ultimate RPG and you can get it on Xbox One. Developer CD Projekt Red has managed to bring together all the best elements of an RPG and make it one of the most beautiful games to walk, ride or sail around. This is the largest and most convincing fantasy open-world we’ve ever seen and the storyline is ridiculously good. Not to mention that there are tonnes of side quests and smaller missions to take on, to the point that this game can take over 100 hours to complete. This will be the biggest but also the most beautiful time sink you’ll play this year. Ori and the Blind Forest. Score. Ori and the Blind Forest is one of the most exciting and absorbing games on Xbox One, even if there are a few difficulty ramps to overcome. It’s a rather inventive take on the classic Metroidvania game style, with stunning hand-painted graphics. But it’s not all about the presentation, there’s a surprisingly affecting story here and a skill tree system that sees Ori develop before your eyes. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Score. Developer: Kojima Productions. Want the complex interlocking systems of MGS3? How about the cinematic drive and fan service of MGS2 and MGS4? Like the recruiting and army management of Peace Walker on PSP? Or the open-world gameplay of Metal Gear: Solid Ground Zeroes? Well, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain has all that and more. It’s an excellent celebration of everything that makes the Metal Gear Solid series great, while adding new elements to make it the definitive game. This is an open-world game where all the missions can be approached exactly the way you want to. But, it’s also a game that learns the way that you play. Don’t become too reliant on any one gameplay method, because The Phantom Pain will screw you over. If you like headshots, guards will start wearing helmets. Or if you’re a shotgun fan, your enemies will begin to don body armour. Plus, there’s dog and horse sidekicks. What more could you want? 25 of 27. We’re always a little worried about next-gen remakes, but with a base game as strong as GTA 5, perhaps we had nothing to worry about after all. The new-gen (and incoming PC) revamp introduces enhanced visuals, making the game look even better. But the other additions, such as an optional first-person view and new side quests, make GTA 5’s Los Santos feel even more immersive than it was when it was originally launched. GTA 5 is still as sick, twisted and depraved as the original, but the new version makes all that even better than the original masterpiece. Batman: Arkham Knight. Score. Developer : Rocksteady Studios. We’re ridiculously sad that this is the close of the Batman Arkham series, but boy does it go out with a bang. Rocksteady Games has made a game that’s even bigger and more epic than Arkham City, but Arkham Knight doesn’t skim on the details. Nor does it forget that Batman is a super powerful protagonist, despite the inclusion of dual-combat with Robin and co. Arkham Knight is powerful, thrilling and ambitious. And something you absolutely have to play. 27 of 27. Developer: Red Barrel Studios. Outlast 2 is a terrifying sequel that horror fans need to experience for themselves. Taking the ideas which made its predecessor so compelling and improving upon them, this is certainly not one for the faint-hearted. Quarterly Report: The 25 Best Xbox One Games. Our "Quarterly Reports" provide a handy list of the 25 best games for each platform, both for the current year so far and for all time. There's a separate report for each platform, and they will be updated again during the first week in April. Best-reviewed Xbox One games of 2017. Includes games released between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017 with at least seven reviews in our database. Note that games are ranked by Metascore prior to rounding. The Metascore is a weighted average of critic reviews on a scale of 0 (bad) to 100 (good). All scores are from December 31, 2017. Best-reviewed Xbox One games of all time. Games released during the last three months (if any) are marked with a symbol. Games with fewer than 7 reviews are not eligible for inclusion. For a complete list of all Xbox One high (and low) scores, visit Metacritic's Xbox One section. Comments (7) Please sign up or log in to post a comment. Oct 18, 2017 4:19PM. I haven't played any of these. Apr 5, 2016 11:20PM. Why PS4/XO have different multy platform games in list? Like PS4 have Gone Home(87) in 2016 list and XO did not. Why so? game is identical on both platforms. Same for LMB and Life is Strange. and and so on. Jan 15, 2016 2:34AM. so, only 5 out of 25 of "all-time hits" are not available at ps4. Jul 8, 2015 11:29PM. There are 71 critics for Ori and the blind Forest and only 12 and 11 for Dark Souls and The Witcher. . So Ori should be Number 1 - because its much harder to get that metascore with 71 critics. Nov 2, 2014 8:45PM. Terrible list. Minecraft is fun don't get me wrong. But it doesn't belong anywhere near most of these games for next gen. Either does NBA 2k. Same content with new skin. Apr 2, 2014 4:32AM. Curious about some rather obvious multi platform games missing from the list. Where's Battlefield 4, Rayman Legends, Lego Marvel etc? They made the PS4 list. Even Assassins Creed 4, seems the XO list has the freedom cry DLC and not the actual game? Seems a bit pointless compiling these lists if it misses half the AAA titles.. Mar 25, 2014 4:28PM. So XBOX One sucks? I look at PS4 list, and it's almost all green. XBOX One's is half yellow? IGN's Top 25 Xbox One Games. If you're just now getting yourself an Xbox One, we have good news: you've got a lot of fantastic games to play. These are the best 25 games you can play on your Xbox One, as ranked by a humble crew of IGN's biggest and most knowledgeable Xbox One fans. Review scores mattered, but we also factored in things like ways each game took advantage of the Xbox One, design risks taken that you should see, curiosities, etc. Enjoy! [*Note: Games had to be released by October 3, 2017 in order to be eligible for this list.] Minecraft is excellent for many reasons, but the most important is that it both encourages and encourages a sense of wonder. That mountain in the distance? You can burrow into it. You can make your home inside it and cover it with lava so it’s spooky and cool. And then you can dig deep into the ground to find treasure and fight monsters. Minecraft can be played as a do-what-you-want sandbox, but there are enough game systems and rules to structure your time into a “campaign,” if that’s what you’re after. Few games have set the world on fire like Minecraft, and it’s likely few ever will in the same way again. Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Even without its unfortunate online troubles out of the gate, this collection of the first four mainline Halo shooters stands tall – particularly the completely remastered Halo 2 Anniversary – for the campaigns alone. And now that the multiplayer functionality has been rebuilt into a perfectly workable state, Halo: The Master Chief Collection is an absolute must-own. Halo 1's pistol-powered, Blood Gulch-blasting multiplayer is online for the first time ever on Xbox, while Halo 2's legendary map complement comes back from the dead after the plug was pulled on the servers years ago. Throw in the ever-popular Halo 3 and the underrated Halo 4 and this package is simply irresistible. Using a hand radio, Oxenfree takes you through monuments of a tragedy from the past as you solve an eerie island's secrets through creepy radio messages and intense conversations between the cast of five teenagers. Through convincing voice acting and smart dialogue, Oxenfree feels personal, even if your time as a teen has long past. This is a wonderful coming-of-age story that has mild pacing issues, but it well worth the adventure. Halo 5: Guardians. Its campaign may have been a misstep in the series, but Halo 5 not only packs the best gunplay in possibly the entire franchise, but also the best multiplayer since Halo 2. Halo 5's arena multiplayer pits combatants against each other on an even playing field, with great weapons and well-crafted maps to battle on. Warzone, meanwhile, is literally the biggest Halo multiplayer addition ever, with AI "heroes" thrown into the mix with 24 human players. If you're not playing Halo 5 multiplayer, you're missing out on the Xbox One's very best online combat. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition. Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition is one of the best couch co-op games out there right now. Driven by a constant flow of smashable enemies and ever-more-powerful loot drops, you can endlessly crawl through its campaign levels and randomized dungeons in search of legendary weapons and armor. Each of its five classes has a distinct style for smashing enemies to bits, like leaping through the air and smashing down a heavy ax as the Barbarian or blasting magical orbs of death from afar as the Wizard, and coordinating your attacks and buffs to take down a demonic boss with maximum efficiency brings gamers together in a great way. Dragon Age: Inquisition. Dragon Age: Inquisition, our 2014 Game of the Year winner, raises the bar for excellence in design of modern roleplaying games. This massive open world is full of breathtaking vistas, nuanced characters, political drama built upon rich lore, and of course battles with huge beasts. In the dozens - or hundreds - of hours you can spend completing its grand storyline and rich sidequests, BioWare’s latest epic entrenches itself as one of the greats. Ori and the Blind Forest. Ori harkens back to the glory days of Xbox Live Arcade by delivering challenging platformer gameplay wrapped in an absolutely beautiful visual aesthetic and topped by a sweet, somber story starring a charming lead. It will test your will at times, but such trials are well worth it. Ori is one of Xbox One's best digital-only game yet. What can a teddy bear in glasses leaning over a book tell you about the ghouls that live in a school? Or numerous mannequins wielding mechetes positioned around a skeleton that's lying in a tub? Though your character gains a voice in Fallout 4, the star of the game is the Commonwealth. This wasteland is filled with history from both pre- and post-war conveyed through fantastic environmental storytelling. Pair that with the great companions and the ability to craft any sort of player character - be it a hammer-wielding saint or gunslinging thief - and you've got one of the best adventure RPGs around. © 1996-2018 Ziff Davis, LLC. We have updated our PRIVACY POLICY and encourage you to read it by clicking here. IGN uses cookies and other tracking technologies to customize online advertisements, and for other purposes. IGN supports the Digital Advertising Alliance principles. Learn More. The Best Xbox One Games. The Xbox One must-haves. by Randolph Ramsay on May 10, 2017 11:32 AM. You are now subscribed. Microsoft's Xbox One was released back in November 2013, and some years after its release, you may be wondering what's worthwhile playing on the new system. As it turns out, there are plenty of great games already available for the successor to the wildly popular Xbox 360. Check out our list of top Xbox One titles below, and let us know what you think about our picks in the comments. Of course, with even more games scheduled to come out, expect us to add and update this list as the months roll on! Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. "There's an incredible scope to what you can do in Black Flag, with a level of harmony between its component parts that encourages you to try it all, and a story that keeps you invested throughout the whole thing." Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Assassin's Creed Syndicate. "Coupled with strong, loveable leads and a seemingly endless procession of ways to leave your (fictional) mark on London's history, Assassin's Creed Syndicate is a shining example of gameplay and storytelling." Battlefield 4. "Battlefield 4 multiplayer is a blast and definitely the best reason to return to this hallowed franchise or dive in for the first time. Though the campaign makes strides in the right direction, it remains a sideshow to the main event. Expansive and exciting, challenging and empowering, Battlefield 4 multiplayer is a thrilling endeavor in this generation or the next." Child of Light. "There are so few games willing to explore that dull ache that I became mesmerized by Aurora's journey, even when I needed to step away from her plight while I regained my composure. Child of Light is a wonderfully realized, somber adventure, and I couldn't be happier that such a game exists." Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. "Advanced Warfare makes for a convincing foundation of futuristic yet relatable combat that is worth exploring and expanding further." Dark Souls III. "There are several possible endings to Dark Souls III, and although most are anticlimactic, they drive home the loneliness of the paths we took. The old lords have abandoned their posts, and in the hunt to usurp them, we descend into those dark valleys, and climb those imposing peaks. This is the essence of Dark Souls III: periods of doubt, followed by great reward. The journey may be rocky, but there's a throne waiting at the end." Dead Rising 3. "Survival may not be always be pretty in Dead Rising 3, but it's fun to roam around in this LA-inspired setting for Capcom's latest take on a zombie apocalypse. You'll be able to hop in a car and traverse from one end of this city to the other in about five minutes, but the thrill is in the journey rather than the destination." Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. "Deus Ex: Mankind Divided refines and reinforces the defining foundations of the series. It creates challenging situations and gives players the tools and flexibility to deal with them in a multitude of ways, all within an absorbing cyberpunk world. Although not a significant departure from Human Revolution, Mankind Divided is still a uniquely fulfilling experience, one which feels rare in games today." Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition. Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition. "Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition feels like the happy conclusion of a two-year public beta, with the initial purchasers on PC bearing much of the grief with the auction house and the slow pace to reach level 60." Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved. "When trumpet fanfares and wailing guitars fill the room, the game calls for dramatic sweeps and swift punches; when plaintive violins and cellos encourage quiet contemplation, your hands swish about in graceful arcs." "Many shooters chase the thrill Doom delivers, but few are as potent in their execution. It captures the essence of what made the classic Doom games touchstones of their day, and translates it to suit modern palates with impressively rendered hellscapes and a steady influx of tantalizing upgrades. Doom is the product of a tradition as old as shooters, and while it's not the model to follow in every case, modern shooters could learn a thing or two from Doom's honed and unadulterated identity." "Fallout 4 can be an intoxicating experience. You're often forced to sacrifice something--a relationship, a lucrative opportunity, or your health--to make gains elsewhere. And the deeper down the rabbit hole you go, the more you wonder: what if I chose a different path? You second guess yourself, not just because you had other options, but because you aren't sure if you did the right thing. The fact that your decisions stick with you after walking away from the game is a testament to the great storytelling on hand. Fallout 4 is an argument for substance over style, and an excellent addition to the revered open-world series." Far Cry Primal. "When it uses the Stone Age setting to elevate the combat and reinforce the brutality of nature, it thrives. It fosters a give-and-take relationship with the wilderness, granting you the means to survive, but also the threats you have to overcome. That focus on primitive times can become a hindrance at certain points, with limited tools and repetitive combat, but in the end, Far Cry Primal stays true to its callous setting, fleshing out every layer of the captivating world it creates." "FIFA needed a year like this. Without serious competition from Konami’s PES in the past few years (until now), and with Ultimate Team keeping players playing and paying all year round, there’s been no pressing motivation to ring the changes. Annual titles will always evolve gradually, but recent progress has felt glacial. FIFA 16 can be stubborn and stifling, but it feels gloriously new, and having to learn fresh strategies and nuances in a game series like this is an almost-forgotten pleasure." Forza Motorsport 6. "As merely the second installment for the Xbox One, Forza Motorsport 6 not only keeps up with the high bar set by Forza 5, it capitalizes on that foundation of quality. The Mod system and the weather effects are reasons enough for Forza 5 enthusiasts to seriously consider this sequel and the abundance of difficulty and assist options makes Forza 6 an immensely accessible driving simulation for newcomers." Halo 5: Guardians. Halo 5: Guardians. "In some ways, Halo 5 is the boldest Halo yet. The franchise's multiplayer is at its peak, with a mode I'm sure I'll return to several times over. But then there's the campaign, which introduces fluid new movement and open level design, yet can't tell a coherent story to match. There are signs of a phenomenal shooter here, but certain narrative aspects feel underdeveloped, holding the franchise's newest sequel back from true excellence." "This is a beautiful, haunting, and memorable game, a worthy follow-up to Limbo. Its puzzles, although rarely difficult, are engaging complements to the story. The real achievement of this game, though, is the way that it crafts its narrative: detailed environments convey the bizarre world that you travel through; introspective moments are filled with minimalist sound design and just the barest touches of music; and the things you must do to complete your journey force you to confront the realities of humanity, freedom, and existence." Lords of the Fallen. "Superficially, you could call Lords of the Fallen a Souls game for the meek and the uninitiated. But it earns more respect than such a flippant description." Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. "When it comes to storytelling, there has never been a Metal Gear game that's so consistent in tone, daring in subject matter, and so captivating in presentation. The Phantom Pain may be a contender for one of the best action games ever made, but is undoubtedly the best Metal Gear game there is." Minecraft Xbox One Edition. "Minecraft: Xbox One Edition surpasses the Xbox 360 Edition with cleaner, sharper visuals, and a farther view distance, and it runs at 60 frames per second for complete smoothness." Mortal Kombat X. "Mortal Kombat X successfully continues the tradition of mixing a fighting game with gore-laced slapstick." "The fact that NBA 2K16 is a great basketball experience can’t be ignored. Few sports games come close to providing a more authentic and fun virtual representation of the real thing, and even if this is the least user-friendly entry in years, I can’t stop playing it." Ori and the Blind Forest. "Ori and the Blind Forest is a rapturous platformer that is as fun as it is beautiful." Ori and the Blind Forest. "Overwatch is an intelligent cascade of disparate ideas, supporting one another, pouring into one another, and coiling around themselves as they flow into the brilliant shooter underneath." Rare Replay. "Rare Replay is a great way to experience some of the best games from the studio's past, and the new videos that document Rare's storied history are the icing on the cake; it's just a shame that you can't access them from the start." "It's the very epitome of a pure gaming experience, one that can be as deep or as simple as you want it to be, and one that never loses sight of what makes it so appealing to so many people." Rayman Legends. "Momentum is the name of the game in this 2D platformer. Rayman runs, leaps, swings, glides, and swims with a kinetic grace that compels you ever onward. Being able to squeeze past spikes and thunder across toppling towers should be expected in any adventure that presents such formidable challenges, but what makes Legends special is how joyful such movements are." Rise of the Tomb Raider. Rise of the Tomb Raider. "Rise of the Tomb Raider's first shot pans over the vast, foreboding landscape we'll soon come to know. In many ways, it functions as a promise on the part of Crystal Dynamics: there are big things ahead of us. And at the end of Lara's journey, after we've seen her through this adventure, and experienced everything the world has to offer, it's clear that promise was kept." "From the moment you embark on your journey right up until the final deathblow, Strider is a blast to play. Controlling this agile ninja feels empowering right out of the gate, and each new upgrade brings with it an enjoyable new way to engage your foes." Sunset Overdrive. "Sunset Overdrive never pretends to be anything but an excuse to swear like a sailor, jump off of a skyscraper, and blow up a gang of monsters." Super Time Force. "Super Time Force gleefully shreds conventional concepts of time travel in both its writing and gameplay, making it a refreshing twist on the side-scrolling shooter." The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. "Where the Witcher 2 sputtered to a halt, The Witcher 3 is always in a crescendo, crafting battle scenarios that constantly one-up the last, until you reach the explosive finale and recover in the glow of the game's quiet denouement. But while the grand clashes are captivating, it is the moments between conflicts, when you drink with the local clans and bask in a trobairitz's song, that are truly inspiring." "The high-flying action intertwines beautifully with the brutish, tactical titan battles, creating battlefields that crackle with possibility. Titanfall is a leap forward for shooters, a game that combines the vibrant and new with the tried and true to create something special." Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. "What's most remarkable about Tomb Raider is how its many elements so perfectly complement each other, so that no matter which activity you're currently engaged in, you're fully invested. Even the straightforward platforming, in which Lara's sticky hands ensure there's little chance of failure, is thrilling thanks to brief quick-time events that keep your mind focused on even your smallest actions." Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. "My experiences weren't always perfect, but when Siege works, there's nothing else like it. It's not designed to appeal to all players, and that's exactly what allows it to be something special. With so much strategic depth, those periods between firefights actually become some of the most rewarding, while firefights themselves are made all the more intense by the knowledge that you're fighting for your life, not just your kill/death ratio." Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. Tom Clancy's The Division. "No matter how frustrated I grew with the game's semi-indestructible enemies or its repetitive leveling structure, I absolutely could not stop playing. The world was too engrossing, the loot was too enticing, and the campaign was too gripping for me to simply walk away. I stopped caring about the game's flaws after the first few hours and proceeded to lose myself in obsessive stat optimization and cooperative gun battles. The problems (and frustration) never disappeared, but I was more than happy to play through the pain." Trials Fusion. "This is another expertly designed entry in the enthralling series. Though the core action remains largely unchanged, it's as exciting as it has ever been, thanks in part to the gorgeous visual design that brings each location to life." Watch Dogs. "Watch Dogs is a lushly produced and riotous game with an uncanny ability to push you from one task to the next, each of which is just as fun as the last. This version of Chicago is crawling with a hyperbolic number of degenerates, and I didn't mind squashing pyromaniacs and slavers." * GameSpot's Best Of Lists will be updated periodically as new games worthy of inclusion are released on their respective platforms. Last updated May 10, 2017. Randolph Ramsay. We'll begin emailing you updates about %gameName%.

List of best xbox one games

By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's. The 5 Best Xbox One Games Of 2017. One for all. by GameSpot Staff on Dec 13, 2017 08:00 AM. You are now subscribed. The Xbox received a much needed boost with the release on the Xbox One X this year. The console's successes have varied, but this year in particular was a big step in the right direction. Part of this can be attributed to the arrival of Xbox One X, currently the most powerful console on the market. In theory, it will be the best way to play cross-platform games. It's this forward-thinking that has given Microsoft an edge over its competition--despite its short list of console exclusives. On the other hand, 2017 also yielded an array of fantastic indie games for Xbox One, further rounding out its lineup of first-party and third-party releases. The Xbox One offers solid experiences that are often made even better by high-end hardware. In no particular order, here are our picks for the best Xbox One games of 2017. Assassin's Creed Origins. After seven years worth of annual releases, it's understandable that people grew fatigued with the Assassin's Creed franchise. However, Assassin's Creed Origins quells doubts and concerns over the series' future by making good on the promise of revitalizing the franchise. Taking form now as an action-RPG, it benefits from expanded stealth and combat mechanics, offering more depth and nuance than its predecessors. Its protagonist Bayek is one of the series' best, possessing kindness and compassion that make him instantly likable, but he's also a morally conflicted character with a tragic past that's easy to empathize with. While Origins maintains the series tradition of period-piece settings and conspiracy theory narratives that made past entries so engrossing, it also reinvigorates the formula with new ideas. The game organically shifts progression through a multitude of activities you discover while navigating a stunning depiction of Ptolemaic Egypt. No longer do you climb towers to unlock a checklist of simplistic tasks; instead, each quest you take on offers narrative context that shines light onto the state of the world, displaying the time-period's myriad injustices or simply showing you a heartfelt encounter between Bayek and his loved ones. Origins is one of the best open-world adventure games on Xbox One this year, offering an experience that'll keep you hooked for hundreds of hours. It's also the best version of the game on consoles, as it performs and looks best on Xbox One X compared to PS4 Pro. If you haven't picked it up, Origins is well worth your time on Xbox One, regardless of whether you're a hardcore fan of Assassin's Creed or not. If a game was made in the 1930s, what would it look like? The answer is: Cuphead. Developer Studio MDHR's creation brings together a wealth of ideas and mechanics that feel completely at home with one another. The game's hand-drawn animation and watercolor backgrounds bring to life a visual style that is both completely unique to video games and executed flawlessly. From the moment the opening title rolls, Cuphead envelops you in its world, one whose authenticity never lets up for a second. But Cuphead is more than just a fancy, well-drawn exterior. The game is an ode to the run-and-gun shooter genre and to classic video games in general, with homages to series like Mega Man, Contra, and Street Fighter. Cuphead's two-dozen-plus bosses not only fill the screen with hazards and obstacles, but also with personality, constantly offering challenges that excite just as much as they frustrate. You're encouraged to get better, though, and eventually overcome its toughest levels. Cuphead is a game that deserves to be seen and played by everyone. Backed by a fully orchestrated jazz soundtrack that you'll catch yourself humming for weeks to come, Cuphead grabs hold of you with its beautiful and infectiously cartoony world, and hopes you never leave it. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus never lets you forget who you're fighting, and why. Nazi brutality is on full display, from the blown-out, irradiated remains of Manhattan to each of the characters, who all carry mental scars if not physical ones. The far-future technology of the Nazi regime is exhilarating to partake in--high-powered laser weapons are exciting to use, after all--but it’s also a grotesque display of their ruthless subjugation of all corners of the world. That said, a tongue-in-cheek tone reminiscent of Inglorious Basterds strikes the right balance with the game’s incredibly heavy subject matter. The New Colossus has a completely bonkers storyline, and it’s elevated by satisfying Nazi-killing action and a self awareness of its own dark humor. It also manages to make combat exciting without becoming a power fantasy--it’s straight-up difficult, and its mechanical, heavily armored enemies can seem impossible to take down at times. But regardless of whether you take a stealthy or guns-blazing approach, you’ll be rewarded with a thrilling fight once you do emerge victorious. The most memorable thing about The New Colossus, though, is its direction. Carefully choreographed cutscenes give more gravity to an already great cast of characters, and the timing of specific moments (all spoilers) makes them all the more impactful. Wolfenstein's tense gameplay elevates this further by giving you the power to truly resist--and come out of each battle ready for another fight. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard marks a return to form for Capcom, which reconnected with its survival horror roots in 2017 to deliver a Resident Evil that is both modern and faithful to the series' legacy. The game casts aside the third-person perspective for first-person, and in doing so, ratchets up the nerve-wracking tension throughout the campaign. Crucially, however, it leans on the genre pillars that it both established and popularised; bullets and healing items are in short supply, and enemies require strategy and a steady hand to take down. From the early moments of breathlessly running around the Baker home, hoping and praying not to cross paths with Jack, the psychotic patriarch of the family, to the nail-biting cat and mouse game in Marguerite's bug-infested cabin, and the intense fight for survival at the end, Resident Evil 7 is edge-of-your-seat gaming at its finest. What Remains of Edith Finch. In What Remains of Edith Finch, you play titular character Edith Finch as she explores her family's old and mysterious mansion. Ever since her ancestors arrived in America from Norway in the 1930s, there's been a rumor that suggests the Finch family tree is cursed, leading to many strange and unfortunate deaths. As you explore the various rooms within the large estate and read old notes from your fallen relatives, the game flashes back and allows you to play out their last moments. What makes What Remains of Edith Finch so powerful is that it does an excellent job tapping into the commonalities of belonging to a family. Who hasn't lost a loved one in life? Seeing how Edith's aunts, uncles, and siblings pass away can be heartbreaking, but these little story vignettes are also wildly imaginative and whimsical. Seeing a hungry little girl eat poisoned berries only to experience hallucinations that lead to her untimely death is both sad and fantastical. Reliving your brother's last moments as he overcomes depression while daydreaming on the job at a fish factory is another haunting, yet beautiful experience. Each vignette in the game is distinct and amounts to short-but-sweet modern-day fairytales. It helps that the game is tied together by wonderful voice acting and meticulously detailed environments that further bolster the story's eerie events. GameSpot will be unveiling its picks for the best games of the year throughout all of December. Check out our Best of 2017 hub for even more. More from Best of Games 2017. GameSpot's Best Games Of 2017 #8: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. PS4 Report Card 2017. GameSpot Game Of The Year Reveal Schedule For PS4, Switch, PC, Xbox One, And More. GameSpot's Best Games Of 2017 #9: What Remains of Edith Finch. GameSpot Staff. Assassin's Creed Origins. We'll begin emailing you updates about %gameName%. GamesRadar+ The best Xbox One exclusives 2018 - the releases you need to own. If you've got an Xbox One X recently, or still have a trusty S/original, you're probably looking for the best exclusive releases to show what it can do. Especially with a world of Xbox One X enhanced games to play now. With that in mind these are 10 of the best Xbox One exclusive games currently available. And, for the X owners out there, we've marked whether they're Xbox One X enhanced or not, so you'll know if you're going to get a little extra bang on your box. Most recently we've added PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds to the list, especially as its 1vs99 deathmatch popularity shows no sign of letting up any time soon. Then there are some of last years other Xbox hits like Cuphead , with it's cartoon charm and merciless challenge, and Forza Motorsport 7 , quite possible the best racer out there right now. And that's all on top of established classics like Quantum Break , Gears of War 4 and obviously a Halo game or two. Let's take a look. 10. Halo Wars 2 (Xbox One X Enhanced: yes) Real-time strategy games rarely flourish on consoles, but Halo Wars 2 manages to comfortably map every tactical function you need to the gamepad, putting the focus on fast-paced, top-down action while saving you the headache of having to constantly fiddle with the controls. This sequel adds the invaluable ability to create control groups for your units (all faithfully recreating Halo's most iconic vehicles and enemies), which makes micro-managing your army mid-combat a breeze. Halo Wars 2's campaign tells a gripping war story with plenty of impressive cutscenes, and the orchestral score is up there with the series' best. If you're jumping into the online multiplayer, be sure to check out the innovative Blitz mode, which couples classic RTS gameplay with a deck-building mechanic to become Halo Wars 2's best innovation. 9. Quantum Break (Xbox One X Enhanced: yes) It might've overextended a bit with its experimental TV tie-in elements, but Quantum Break from Remedy Entertainment (makers of Max Payne and Alan Wake) has moments where its mix of third-person shooting and temporal powers really soars. As Jack Joyce (played by Shawn Ashmore, the lead in a relatively star-studded cast), you've stumbled into time-manipulating godhood and must use your newfound superpowers to wipe out waves of armed goons and prevent the cataclysmic End of Time. It's worth playing Quantum Break just for those moments when you've trapped enemies in a prism-like stasis bubble, peppered them with soon-to-be-unfrozen bullets, then warp-dashed over to another baddie for a melee takedown, all in the span of a few seconds. 8. Ori and the Blind Forest (Xbox One X Enhanced: no) The sheer artistry of Ori and the Blind Forest must be seen to be believed. This beautiful 2D platformer puts you in control of the adorable fluffball Ori, accompanied by a watchful spirit named Sein as you explore a lush, treacherous forest structured in brilliant Metroidvania fashion. It's all brought to life with beautiful hand-drawn art, silky smooth animation, and a stirring soundtrack that'd be right at home in a Hayao Miyazaki movie. As if the base game wasn't enchanting enough, the Definitive Edition expands Ori's adventure with new areas and additional abilities that shape how you nimbly dart around the expansive environments with invigorating fluidity. If you're not one to back down from a challenge - some difficulty spikes really test your skill and perseverance - Ori's adventure will enthrall you from start to finish. 7. Sunset Overdrive (Xbox One X Enhanced: no) Insomniac Games made a name for itself with the beloved Ratchet & Clank series, famous for their varied assortments of outlandish weaponry - so the studio decided to take that expertise in crafting absurd artillery, build an open-world, Jet Set Radio-style metropolis bursting with color around it, and infuse the chaotic proceedings with a healthy dose of punk rock attitude. Sunset Overdrive lets you pull off some spectacularly absurd feats of mass destruction, where you can launch bowling bowls, fireworks, explosive teddy bears, and more, mowing down hordes of mutants, robots, and bizarre gang members while you grind along telephone poles with your physics-defying sneakers. Its attempts at edgy humor constantly fall flat, but the sheer fun and freedom of grinding, flipping, and air-dashing around Sunset Overdrive's urban playground make it well worth a go. 6. Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox One X Enhanced: yes) It's nowhere near the best Halo game , but as sci-fi FPS adventures go, Halo 5: Guardians makes for a solid system exclusive. Master Chief shares the spotlight with newcomer Spartan Jameson Locke, leader of the four-strong Fireteam Osiris. Halo 5's campaign is best enjoyed in online co-op (supporting up to four players, though sadly there's no splitscreen option), and though the plot itself lacks sufficient oomph, the new focus on verticality in the level designs keeps the tense, tactical firefights feeling fresh. Meanwhile, the multiplayer is as exciting as ever, especially in the large-scale, multi-objective skirmishes of the 24-player Warzone mode. As for all the other tried-and-true modes, you really can't go wrong with Halo multiplayer in any capacity. 5. Forza Horizon 3 (Xbox One X Enhanced: yes) Forza Horizon 3 is that rare breed of racing game with universal appeal, even if you're not typically keen on the genre. Getting behind the wheel of a high-end vehicle - chosen and customized from a selection of hundreds, with everything from Ferraris to 4x4s - then zooming around an open-world, near-photorealistic version of paradisal Australia is an absolute treat. Doesn’t matter if you're merely cruising to take in all the beautiful sights or excitedly flooring it in pursuit of a personal best time. The sheer variety of challenges to take on let you set the pace however you see fit, and the campaign's online integration puts you in full control of how many players you want to share the road with, if any. With accessible handling, drop-dead gorgeous visuals, and a near-endless supply of things to do, Forza Horizon 3 can take anyone for a thoroughly enjoyable ride. And when you're in the mood for a decidedly ridiculous drive across miles of orange plastic, the Hot Wheels DLC is just fantastic. 4. Gears of War 4 (Xbox One X Enhanced: yes) All the Locusts may have been wiped out, but humanity's war for survival is far from over. Gears of War 4 follows a new generation of lovable super-soldiers clad in bulky armor - Kait, Del, and Marcus Fenix's son JD - as they huddle behind cover and tear through legions of baddies with an assortment of bullets, explosives, and Lancer chainsaws. Whether you're playing solo or in two-person co-op (split-screen or online), Gears of War 4's campaign delivers one thrilling third-person shootout after the next, full of fast-paced, stop-and-pop combat against smartly designed opponents using a plethora of satisfying artillery. Diving into the PvP fray of online multiplayer is a great way to satiate any leftover bloodlust, and the revamped Horde mode (which introduces buildable structures generated by the Fabricator station) brings an appreciated tower defense vibe to the endlessly replayable PvE holdouts. 3. Cuphead (Xbox One X Enhanced: yes) After all delays and hype Cuphead finally delivered when it arrived on Xbox One. Most importantly it proved it more that just a distinctive and beautiful art style. Under that cure exterior is a mix of bullet hell style bosses and tricky platforming that'll challenge the best of you. It's precise and well balanced mechanics cater mix a range of abilities and options that encourage replays, as well simply wanted to best your previous playthroughs and it's a great co-op option to play with a friend. It's wonderingly presented throughout with that gorgeous presentation extending to the music and more. An Xbox essential. 2. Forza Motorsport 7 (Xbox One X Enhanced: yes) After a questionable previous installment Forza Motorsport 7 finally perfects it's racing game. Everything is as flawless as those 4K visuals with better AI, improved handling, more substantial collisions - everything you need to make the cars all feel great. The precision of the controls creates some great moments as you push cars to their limits - screaming around corners on the edge of the tyres grip. It all combines to deliver an experience that's both realistic and fun, as long as you don't mind working for it as some of the progression can be a little demanding as you try to collect cars and win events to get ever further. But, even though there's a hint of grind this is still one the greatest racers currently available. 1. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (Xbox One X Enhanced: yes) Sure PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is a little rough around the edges, but then it's always been that way and that hasn't stopped it becoming the biggest game around. The key to it's success is the ruthless thrill seeking behind it's 1vs99 deathmatch. Yes, you'll probably die. No, you probably won't reach number one. But it's the tension behind that 'just maybe' feeling each time you play - parachuting into an island to scavenge guns and gear, possibly not even seeing another player until the final 30, and then creeping around with your heart in your mouth until you finally, inescapably head towards conflict with the survivors. It's still in Game Preview right now, with a new desert map on the way, and updates always adding new gear and improving play. Recommended. 8 things to watch out for this week. Who are the GamesRadar+ team? Shadow of the Colossus review: "Still feels as thought provoking and artful as it did all those years ago on PS2" Monster Hunter World review: "An incredible achievement" UFC 3 review: "Half-brilliant, half going-through-the-motions" Dragon Ball FighterZ review: "Flashy and a bit dumb. but god is it fun to watch" The Inpatient review: "It's all utterly brilliant; terrifyingly so" Journey's End review: "A harrowing, powerful WW1 drama well worth enduring" Phantom Thread review: "Anderson crafts another classic of obsession and strange love" Early Man review: "A primitive concept generates unsophisticated laughs" Last Flag Flying review: "A salty road trip tinged with sadness" Downsizing review: "Alexander Payne re-confirms his position as one of US cinema's premier filmmakers" Star Trek Discovery S1.13 review: "It's incredible how much is packed into this one episode" Star Trek Discovery S1.12 review: "Proves that the series is even cleverer than we originally thought" Star Trek Discovery S1.11 review: "Swaps action for character revelations, but is no less thrilling" Star Trek Discovery S1.10 review: "So shocking and emotional that you'll need a second watch" The Walking Dead S8.08 review: "Is this really the best The Walking Dead has to give?" Gaming deals, prizes and latest news. Get the best gaming deals, reviews, product advice, competitions, unmissable gaming news and more! No spam, we promise. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details without your permission. GamesRadar+ is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury , Bath BA1 1UA . All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.