The Xbox 360 turns 20 years outdated as we speak, and so what higher time to look again on the video games that the majority outlined the console. The 360 was not solely probably the most profitable machine Microsoft has ever made, however arguably probably the most beloved too. And for excellent purpose: the second Xbox blended highly effective {hardware} with progressive, boundary-pushing, and risk-taking software program to energy a memorable era that lasted eight years – longer than another Xbox thus far.
I had a front-row seat to the Xbox 360 period from begin to end throughout my time at Official Xbox Journal after which IGN, so listed below are my picks for the highest 20 video games that outlined the Xbox 360.
20. 1 vs. 100
Launched: 2009
Certainly one of Microsoft’s boldest experiments within the Xbox 360 period was 1 vs. 100, a reside recreation present the place most gamers could be randomly chosen to play alongside in The Crowd, whereas a fortunate 100 could be chosen to be in The Mob and a single particular person could be chosen as The One.
You had to go browsing at particular occasions to play 1 vs. 100; it wasn’t out there to you anytime you needed to fireside it up. Microsoft ran it with a reside host from a studio in Seattle. However whenever you joined in for what was actually appointment gaming, you have been rewarded with, in some instances, real-life prizes akin to Microsoft Factors – as much as 10,000 for The One in the event that they received, which is the equal of $125 – or free Xbox Stay Arcade video games.
It was a very distinctive social gaming expertise emblematic of the artistic dangers and on-line bets Microsoft was taking and making within the Xbox 360 days, and although I used to be by no means chosen to be The One, I used to be within the 100 as soon as and received 80 Microsoft Factors (aka $1). I do know which may not sound prefer it was all that worthwhile, however I promise you it was as participating and memorable because it was short-lived. My proudest Xbox Achievements are having all 12 of the potential 12 from 1 vs. 100, as a result of the sport is gone and, sadly, by no means coming again.
19. Viva Piñata
Launched: 2006
Lengthy earlier than Microsoft paid $69 billion for Activision-Blizzard, it shocked the world by buying a controlling stake in Nintendo second-party powerhouse Uncommon in 2002 for $375 million – the equal of over $600 million as we speak. Viva Piñata wasn’t the primary recreation the studio made for Microsoft – the fine-but-forgettable Grabbed by the Ghoulies got here first in 2003 earlier than Uncommon dropped two strong launch titles for the Xbox 360 in 2005: Kameo and Excellent Darkish Zero. However its first bona fide hit for Xbox was 2006’s Viva Piñata, a life sim wherein you grew and maintained your backyard stuffed with cute piñata-fied animals. It spawned a sequel, a Nintendo DS handheld model, and a short-lived animated sequence. In hindsight, it was forward of its time; it could appear to have nice potential to thrive now in a world the place Animal Crossing is an enormous hit for Nintendo. However even again within the 360 days, it was Uncommon’s first defining second for its new platform.
18. Misplaced Odyssey
Launched: 2007
No Xbox has ever efficiently gained an actual foothold within the Japanese gaming market, however you possibly can’t say that Microsoft by no means tried. Arguably the corporate’s greatest push got here within the Xbox 360 period, when one of many greatest overtures made to Japanese audiences by the American behemoth got here when it partnered with legendary Last Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi to assist fund his new studio, Mistwalker. The 2 JRPGs Mistwalker created for Microsoft reside on in Xbox lore: Blue Dragon, a cartoony journey with artwork by one other legend, Akira Toriyama, got here first, arriving in Japan in 2006 and within the Xbox’s house market within the US in 2007. But it surely’s the second recreation – the darker, extra critical, Unreal Engine-powered, four-DVD epic known as Misplaced Odyssey, that confirmed the remainder of the business that the Xbox may go toe-to-toe with Sony and Nintendo within the JRPG division and wasn’t only a Western RPG powerhouse. Nobody questioned Xbox’s RPG credentials after that.
17. Lifeless Rising
Launched: 2006
By default, each recreation launched for the Xbox 360 throughout its first few months that wasn’t additionally out there on the unique Xbox – and there weren’t practically as many cross-gen video games again then as there are actually – was an Xbox 360 unique, for the reason that PlayStation 3 didn’t launch till late 2006. Amongst these exclusives was probably the most memorable zombie video games of all time.
Capcom’s Lifeless Rising, which was produced by Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, was one thing we actually hadn’t seen earlier than: a triple-A recreation set inside a big mall with actually lots of of characters on the display screen at any given time. And people characters, after all, have been zombies. So, so many zombies. (Aspect word: one of many Xbox 360’s most well-known Achievements – keep in mind, the console invented these too – was the Zombie Genocider Achievement that required you to kill the variety of zombies equal to the inhabitants of Willamette: 53,594).
Lifeless Rising was uniquely advised on a timer – you had three in-game days to finish the story and, hopefully, escape the Willamette Mall. This resulted in quite a few potential endings and, thus, ample purpose to replay the marketing campaign. Simply as memorable was that as photojournalist Frank West, you may flip absolutely anything within the mall right into a weapon. However you additionally earned Status Factors by taking good footage of the madness round you – which you’d accumulate to stage up and have a greater probability of survival.
Lifeless Rising was not solely one of many defining video games of Xbox 360’s first yr, but it surely confirmed us that the “HD Period” was actually able to giving us gaming experiences that we’d by no means had earlier than.
16. Geometry Wars: Retro Developed
Launched: 2005
Xbox Stay Arcade – the good indie-turned-small-scale-and-indie recreation publishing program that provided a curated collection of bite-sized video games on a weekly foundation (who remembers Xbox Stay Arcade Wednesdays?) – did as a lot to outline the Xbox 360 as any triple-A recreation did. Essentially the most-downloaded Xbox Stay Arcade recreation ever was Geometry Wars: Retro Developed, Weird Creations’ unlockable Mission Gotham Racing 2 minigame that discovered a second life as a day-one debut obtain on the then-brand-new XBLA platform. Geometry Wars’s premise was deceptively easy: survive so long as you possibly can whereas blasting bigger and bigger waves of encroaching enemies. For lots of players, after they consider Xbox Stay Arcade, the very first thing they consider is Geometry Wars: Retro Developed.
15. Ninja Gaiden 2
Launched: 2008
PlayStation could have had God of Warfare, however Xbox had Ninja Gaiden. The primary in Ryu Hayabusa’s trendy revival helped legitimize the Xbox as a viable platform for Japanese-developed video games, and the Xbox 360-exclusive sequel upped the ante for the extra highly effective new console. It introduced extra weapons, extra bosses, and extra decision, now that Ninja Gaiden was in HD (enjoyable reality, although: the primary recreation natively supported widescreen means again in 2005!). Oh, and it additionally served up an entire heck of much more blood because of the brand new dismemberment system.
Ninja Gaiden 2’s motion was much more violent because of your new skill to slice off the arms, legs, and heads out of your foes. It solely augmented a fully chic fast-action fight system, even when having all these extra pixels couldn’t fairly repair the troublesome digicam. Sadly, this is able to show to be sequence mastermind Tomonobu Itagaki’s ultimate contribution to the franchise, however on the time, it asserted the Xbox 360 because the place to go for the very best of any style.
14. Braid
Launched: 2008
Odds are, if I say the phrases “Summer season of Arcade,” it brings up constructive recollections for you. The annual promotion was a genius little bit of Microsoft advertising that sought – efficiently, I’d add – to fill within the quiet summer time months that tended to be devoid of main recreation releases with 4-5 weeks of curated heavy hitters within the indie and bite-sized recreation house. The very first one happened in 2008, and boy did it ever set the tone! Galaga Legions, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Geometry Wars: Retro Developed 2, Fort Crashers, and a platformer known as Braid from a then-unknown developer named Jonathan Blow. Although smaller in scope than a conventional big-budget recreation, Braid had each bit the appears and the brains of 1 because of its distinct painterly artstyle and difficult time-manipulation-based puzzles. If everybody wasn’t taking note of Xbox Stay Arcade earlier than Braid, they certain as heck have been after.
13. Crackdown
Launched: 2007
It’s a double-edged sword that the unique Crackdown will maybe perpetually be considered at first as The Recreation That Got here With the Halo 3 Beta. However anybody who purchased Crackdown simply to get a crack at taking part in Halo 3’s multiplayer for the primary time shortly realized that the sweet wrapper tasted simply pretty much as good because the sweet bar inside. Crackdown – the brainchild of unique Grand Theft Auto creator David Jones – set gamers free inside a comic-book-esque world as a would-be superhero with no inflexible construction. As an alternative, you had complete freedom to go wherever and check out something in its Pacific Metropolis sandbox. That meant that, sure, you may make a beeline straight for the highest kingpin of one among Crackdown’s gangs. You in all probability wouldn’t be highly effective sufficient to take them down at that time, although – you bought actually stronger in Crackdown by defeating enemies and choosing up expertise orbs of various flavors relying on the way you took them down, akin to with melee fight, in a automobile, or with a gun. Ultimately, you’d have the ability to leap tall buildings in a single certain, carry vehicles over your head and throw them, and extra. In a time when there weren’t a whole lot of good sandbox video games not named Grand Theft Auto, Crackdown introduced one thing contemporary and enjoyable to the desk.
12. Forza Motorsport 3
Launched: 2009
Why Forza Motorsport 3 slightly than Forza Motorsport 2, which was the primary entry on the Xbox 360? Simple: as a result of FM3 is the place Forza handed Gran Turismo as the very best simulation racing sequence on this planet. Visually, the sequence at all times set the bar excessive, and its second lap on the 360 stored the pedal to the metallic in that division. And the automotive listing was by no means in query. However what Forza Motorsport 3 added was the Rewind mechanic that allowed you to press Y to reverse the motion a number of seconds in the event you crashed or took a flip too quick. You would flip it off, after all – Forza Motorsport was at all times nothing if not customizable – but it surely added a thick layer of accessibility and approachability to what had at all times been a fairly buttoned-up, critical racing sim. The Rewind function solely added to what I at all times known as the “soul” of Forza – my obscure however I feel correct means of describing the enjoyment and spirit that Forza Motorsport at all times delivered to gamers, whereas Gran Turismo, for all its simulation racing brilliance, at all times felt extra…scientific. Forza Motorsport 3 was Flip 10’s turning level the place the studio handed the competitors and by no means seemed again.
Kinect’s Legacy
OK, so the Kinect in all probability wasn’t everybody’s favourite a part of the Xbox 360 period, but it surely was an necessary a part of it nonetheless – particularly within the second half of the console’s lifecycle. And whenever you consider Kinect, there are two (good) video games that outlined the unique model of the {hardware}.
Kinect Adventures
Launched: 2010
Kinect’s pack-in recreation was additionally one among its finest. The mini-games – from River Rush to Rally Ball – actually emphasised utilizing your physique as a controller, and along with your Xbox Avatars as your in-game participant characters, it did assist pull you into the motion.
Dance Central
Launched: 2010
The true king of Kinect was Dance Central, and it wasn’t even shut. The Rock Band creators at Harmonix struck rhythm-game gold once more with this dance-based recreation that includes a soundtrack stuffed with the pop songs of the day, and it’s one of many few Kinect video games that was really enjoyable and never only a half-decent motion-control tech demo. In case you had a Kinect, chances are high you had a replica of Dance Central, too.
11. Left 4 Lifeless
Launched: 2008
Valve and accomplice Turtle Rock Studios (who Valve acquired mid-development) virtually began the four-player PvE development in shooters with Left 4 Lifeless, a superb, generally scary, and at all times replayable co-op shooter that had you continuing via a number of five-level-long campaigns, surviving waves of zombie assaults thrown at you by the AI “Director” whilst you clamored for every map’s restricted sources, searching for the shelter of the secure room on the finish of every chapter. Its mechanics have been easy however enjoyable, and due to the Director’s always-changing placement of frequent and particular enemies alike, it by no means fairly performed the identical means twice. Plus, working a complete marketing campaign solely took 60-90 minutes to finish, so that you and your pals may soar on Xbox Stay, have enjoyable collectively, and really feel such as you achieved one thing by the point you signed off for the night. It’s nearly quaint to consider now in our present age of long-tail live-service video games that attempt to hold you on a hamster wheel, grinding to the subsequent unlockable or piece of content material. However Left 4 Lifeless each revered your time and made nice use of it. Many video games have since imitated it, however none have ever topped it.
10. Limbo
Launched: 2010
Although Limbo didn’t come alongside till over midway via the Xbox 360 era, it’s nonetheless the standard-bearer for what Xbox Stay Arcade was able to. Developer Playdead’s side-scrolling physics-based platformer advised the harrowing story of a boy who…nicely, nobody’s fairly certain, actually – there are a lot of intriguing theories as to what the true story of Limbo is! However what’s not up for debate is that Limbo is about as near good as a online game can get when it comes to mechanics, artwork, animation, audio design, and polish. (Playdead’s subsequent recreation, 2016’s Inside for Xbox One, would show to one way or the other be even higher than Limbo, however that’s a narrative for one more day.) It was the right rebuttal to movie critic Roger Ebert’s assertion from three months earlier than Limbo launched that video video games weren’t and will by no means be artwork. Limbo outlined Xbox Stay Arcade, cementing Microsoft’s already established small-games platform as one of many highest issues concerning the Xbox 360.
9. Rock Band
Launched: 2007
In case you have been a gamer within the late 2000’s, odds are you have been both an energetic participant within the plastic-instrument rhythm-game craze that Guitar Hero began, otherwise you knew somebody who was. Developer Harmonix Music Methods constructed Guitar Hero however then offered it to Activision. That’s when the developer superior the exploding style ahead with Rock Band, a four-player co-op recreation whose multiplayer expertise is really in contrast to anything you’ve ever performed. A singer, guitarist, bass participant, and drummer labored collectively to hit the fitting notes as they got here down the word freeway, actually and emphatically delivering a convincing duplicate of the sensation real-life musicians have after they play collectively. Rock Band was actually outstanding, not only for its core gameplay and multiplayer alchemy, but additionally for its dedication to music. Harmonix added to the sport’s music library with new songs through DLC each single week for eight years, ultimately including full albums like Pearl Jam’s Ten, Nirvana’s Nevermind, Rush’s Transferring Footage, Foo Fighters’ The Color and the Form, and extra. Rock Band could not have been unique to the Xbox 360, but it surely was nonetheless a defining recreation for the console, standing out amongst the even heavier hitters developing increased on this listing that arrived on the similar time.
8. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
Launched: 2006
Round 30-60 minutes into the first-person RPG The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, whenever you first emerged from the dungeon and into the open world for the primary time, you spun your character round and your jaw dropped. A really next-gen, high-definition world was throughout you, and in it you may go wherever and, seemingly, do something. That Oblivion dropped so quickly after the Xbox 360 launched – simply 4 months into the brand new Xbox’s lifecycle, and whereas PlayStation players have been nonetheless caught on the PS2 that wasn’t able to something that seemed remotely prefer it – solely made Bethesda’s first console-on-day-one role-playing recreation that rather more unimaginable. Whereas the Xbox 360 had an excellent launch lineup, nothing on the time (or actually in hindsight) made you must purchase the console instantly. Oblivion modified that. You needed to get a 360. You needed to see this. And the gameplay lived as much as the graphics. Oblivion packed dozens of hours of open-world medieval-fantasy role-playing, spanning many memorable quests and places. It was a generation-defining second.
Indie Explosion
Whereas probably the most defining Xbox Stay Arcade video games are represented in our most important listing, Xbox Stay Arcade itself deserves to be known as out as an extremely profitable program and unforgettable piece of the Xbox 360 expertise. From extra of the numerous stars of the Summer season of Arcade program – Fort Crashers, Mark of the Ninja, and Shadow Complicated, to call a number of – to The Indie Film breakouts like Fez and Tremendous Meat Boy, Xbox Stay Arcade began and made careers for a lot of impartial builders, and its contribution to each the Xbox 360 and to gaming received’t be forgotten anytime quickly. It’s completely insane that Microsoft willingly walked away from the Xbox Stay Arcade model as soon as the Xbox One era started.
7. BioShock
Launched: 2007
Earlier than BioShock, tales have been principally secondary in first-person shooters. Positive, there was Halo, however that was the (great) exception to the rule. BioShock – the brainchild of Ken Levine, creator of the emergent-gameplay traditional System Shock 2 – had the depth of an incredible guide, the plot twist of a memorable film, and the gameplay to match the easiest of any motion recreation available on the market. It was set in a failed undersea utopia – town of Rapture – the place visionary Andrew Ryan’s dream became a nightmare. As gamers found Rapture, they discovered it overrun with creepy monsters in addition to curious Little Sisters and their drill-armed, divesuit-wearing protectors, the Huge Daddies. It’s not hyperbole to say that BioShock elevated online game storytelling, and the truth that it was initially launched as an Xbox 360 unique solely helped additional outline the second Xbox as essential leisure supply field on your lounge.
6. Fable 2
Launched: 2008
Whereas it wouldn’t be honest to say that Fable 2 was the Xbox 360’s Zelda, it was a large-scale action-adventure RPG with attraction for days and a singular consequence system that will change your character’s bodily look primarily based on how good – or evil – you selected to be. Fable 2, for probably the most half, delivered on the remaining guarantees made by famend designer Peter Molyneux’s first try on the unique Xbox. No, you couldn’t plant a seed and watch it develop right into a tree, however you may wander the world of Albion along with your trusty canine at your aspect, battling Hobbes, leveling up by really doing jobs, and constructing relationships – sure, even romantic ones – with townsfolk. Participant selection was on the coronary heart of Fable 2, making it yet one more implausible and unforgettable role-playing recreation for an Xbox platform that, till the 360 got here round (see what I did there?), was recognized primarily as a first-person shooter field. There had by no means been and nonetheless hasn’t been something fairly like Fable, and the sequence was at its finest with Fable 2, its first Xbox 360 entry.
5. Grand Theft Auto 4
Launched: 2008
To say that the buildup to Grand Theft Auto 4’s launch was a giant f’n deal could be a colossal understatement. The most important franchise on Earth was going next-gen, with a brand-new recreation engine and the ability of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 to permit for extra open-world potentialities than ever earlier than. And whereas the earlier 3D video games had all debuted as PlayStation exclusives, GTA 4 would ship day-and-date on Xbox 360. However Microsoft needed greater than that. So that they paid via the nostril for timed exclusivity on each of GTA 4’s good growth packs: The Misplaced and Damned and The Ballad of Homosexual Tony. Then-Xbox boss Peter Moore even introduced this monumental get by repeating his Halo 2 launch date trick, rolling up his sleeve to disclose a “tattoo” of the Grand Theft Auto 4 emblem. Abruptly, the Xbox 360 was the very best place to play the primary next-gen GTA recreation, and each expansions have been so good that I can’t think about anybody – be it Microsoft writing the test or gamers choosing up the 360 model of the sport – regretted their selection.
4. Name of Obligation 4: Fashionable Warfare
Launched: 2007
Shout-out to Name of Obligation 2, which was a day-one launch title for the Xbox 360 and actually began Name of Obligation’s ascent to turning into the largest non-Grand Theft Auto online game franchise on this planet, however Name of Obligation 4: Fashionable Warfare was the one that actually despatched the sequence into the stratosphere. It nearly appears foolish to say now, however earlier than Fashionable Warfare, Name of Obligation had solely ever been a first-person shooter set in World Warfare II. Infinity Ward not solely jumped the timeline ahead, however the whole lot else, too. The stellar single-player marketing campaign was stuffed with surprising moments, whereas the multiplayer constructed on high of the quick time-to-kill the franchise was already recognized for and paired with some actually memorable maps to make it a must-play. That this hit simply after the juggernaut generally known as Halo 3 – mixed with the effortlessness of connecting with your pals on Xbox Stay – cemented the Xbox 360 because the place to play multiplayer shooters.
3. Mass Impact
Launched: 2007
Mass Impact promised gamers a real house opera – a trilogy of video games the place your decisions would have an effect on your relationships with different characters and result in your personal distinctive outcomes and endings. Your character would import into the following video games within the promised trilogy, and ultimately it could be in contrast to any role-playing recreation you’d ever laid your fingers on. And the primary Mass Impact – a fully visually beautiful Unreal Engine-powered epic from the RPG kings at BioWare – delivered on its finish of the discount. The Mass Impact universe felt lived-in, with myriad alien species all interacting with one another on the Citadel, a galactic hub on the digital heart of the universe. You performed as a male or feminine Commander Shepard, a human who turns into the primary of their species to be welcomed into the ranks of the Spectres, a bunch of house sheriffs given unimaginable energy and leeway to guard the galaxy. Nobody had ever seen something like Mass Impact earlier than, and the truth that it got here from the identical improvement staff that gave us the original-Xbox-exclusive Star Wars: Knights of the Previous Republic, meant that Xbox actually had a few of the world’s most proficient RPG builders on its aspect.
2. Gears of Warfare
Launched: 2006
You already know a recreation is a giant deal when its builders can ask Microsoft to double the quantity of RAM within the Xbox 360 earlier than the console makes it to market – and Microsoft says sure. Gears of Warfare was maybe the best-looking motion recreation anybody had ever seen when it was launched simply 11 months into the Xbox 360’s lifespan, but it surely had extremely weighty third-person cover-based gameplay to match its beautiful appears. Gears of Warfare dropped us onto the planet Sera, into the center of a battle between people and the Locust, an underground-dwelling alien race hellbent on obliterating humanity. Gears of Warfare is a battle story, and whereas its Lively Reload system, delightfully vicious chainsaw ending strikes with the Lancer rifle, and engrossing team-based multiplayer have been all top-shelf, it’s arguably its empathetic characters that secured its place in players’ hearts. Marcus, Dom, Baird, and Cole – Delta Squad – actually felt like brothers, and we grew to become emotionally invested of their wartime journey. It’s no surprise Microsoft later purchased the franchise for $2 billion.
1. Halo 3
Launched: 2007
The Xbox 360 could not have had a brand new Halo recreation on day one, however as the remainder of this listing has proven, it didn’t want it. Nonetheless, when the day lastly got here in September of 2007 for the massively anticipated Halo 3 to drop – practically two years into the brand new Xbox’s life – it couldn’t have been an even bigger deal. The unique Xbox’s Halo 2 had infamously ended on a cliffhanger, and Halo 3 was constructed to resolve it – throwing loads extra {hardware} horsepower at Grasp Chief within the course of. Story-wise it caught the touchdown this time, giving gamers a satisfying conclusion that closed the guide on Bungie’s trilogy, however not earlier than Chief advised us, “Wake me, whenever you want me.”
In the meantime, multiplayer picked up the place Halo 2 left off, augmenting the very best on-line multiplayer infrastructure with Forge, a brand new level-editing software that allow gamers construct their very own maps. In hindsight, that is the place Halo peaked when it comes to success, recognition, cultural relevance and influence, as Name of Obligation took its place on the high of the first-person shooter ladder after the discharge of the aforementioned Name of Obligation 4. However we completed the combat, and the Xbox 360 eradicated any remaining doubt as to its dominance within the video games business.
These are our picks for the 20 video games that outlined the Xbox 360. Are there any you’d like so as to add? Depart them within the feedback under, and to the best Xbox console of all of them, let me say, completely happy twentieth anniversary and thanks for the numerous superb recollections.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s govt editor of previews and host of each IGN’s weekly Xbox present, Podcast Unlocked, in addition to our month-to-month(-ish) interview present, IGN Unfiltered. He is a North Jersey man, so it is “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
