Our favorite Xbox One games
Hey everybody, we're back, continuing our Xbox One 10-year anniversary celebration! If you haven't already, we previously went over our top 5 moments from the entire Xbox One generation, which you can find "here". Now we're going to get a little more specific and count down our top 5 Xbox One games. The Xbox One generation was absolutely packed with killer experiences for multiplayer and single-player gamers alike; there was more than enough to keep you glued to your television. For this list, we're not going to focus on just exclusives but on our personal 5 games we spent the most time with and got the most enjoyment out of on the Xbox One. This is going to be a long one, so let's dive in!
1. Sea of Thieves
I've talked at length about this already, but Sea of Thieves is truly one of those generation-defining moments. Something that launched in a questionable state but has managed to be a shining example of a love service title that's able to keep a steady community alive and happy while expanding on what makes the game special. Another feather in Rares hat showing that they're one of the greatest video game developers. Check out my deep dive on Sea of Thieves and why I love it so much here.
2. Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare
We're getting the obvious ones out of the way first. Garden Warfare is one of the most balanced shooters I've ever played. The initial outing kept its cards close with a small but diverse cast of characters—four classes with three abilities on each side—but those classes, each with a multitude of variations, made each round a wildly different experience. Personally, I kept it simple and Mained the Pea Shooter variant Berry Shooter with an ever-changing magazine of bullets that did more direct damage and splash damage; however, each time I could switch it up on the fly to the Toxic Pea for AoE damage overtime or the more slow but higher damage Law Pea, who has a Six-Shooter style attack. The diversity of characters and locations kept the game feeling fresh and new every time you played. Certain variations would randomly show up on the enemy team, and you'd have to rework the way you approached certain choke points or objectives to push on. Each round was a fast, hectic affair that felt like an all-out warzone at times, but with a colorful, fun aesthetic that's missing in more serious shooter titles.
3. The Master Chief Collection
The announcement of MCC was enough to rile up any Xbox fan and bring in a wave of nostalgia. All four original titles are under one banner, with multiplayer launching as it was when each other's titles were released. Being able to seamlessly jump between Halo 3 and 4 to the original in-between every match was nothing short of a dream. Even in light of the disastrous launch, the team at 343 kept pushing ahead and turned the game around with multiple content updates, fixes, and community support, including lost and forgotten maps or armor from old design documents. It's truly the one-stop shop for all things Halo-related, and to this day, it's still the #1 most played multiplayer title for me.
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
This one was honestly a surprise for me looking back, as I've severely fallen off the Call of Duty train since. Black Ops 4 is here for one reason, one singular word, and that is... blackout. Up to this point, I wasn't someone who enjoyed battle royale games; Fortnite wasn't even installed on my console until 2 years ago, and everything else just felt empty to me. Blackout completely changed my view and made me fall in love with its simplistic game design that rewarded a higher-level approach to combat and fights. Loading into lobbies and people on mics, asking who else was on voice, and openly communicating and planning out game plans was something I thought was long gone with the 360 generation. I met countless friends, even if just for a little while, while we were grinding out Blackout on a nightly basis. Voice communications and playing tactically brought back the days of old I've been trying to find since Halo 3 left its prime. Every party I ran with had their own set of roles. Equipment and load-out drops, we'd make sure to give one person over the other. Having one person as a designated sniper follow behind the main group, laying down suppressive fire, was a blast. Blackout took over my life for about 7 months, but it was some of the most nostalgic Xbox Live memories I'll ever have.
5. Killer Instinct
I'll be honest, I forgot Killer Instinct was a thing before its revival at E3. I had faint memories as a kid of some game with werewolves, skeletons, and robots fighting that I remember playing, and honestly, it was one of the first games I've played. Over time, these memories left me with something I didn't put much thought into until the E3 reveal of Killer Instinct. Just those first music notes hitting threw me into such a spiral of nostalgia for something I didn't know I had. Killer Instincts return was special, and I believe that in the eyes of the fighting game community, it still holds up. Bursting at the seams with style and character, this is one of the best tutorials you will ever find in a fighting game, with solid online support and stability. Killer Instinct hit every possible bar it had to reach and taught me to hold my own in ranked matches, and it has been the only fighting game to do so.
I could go on and on with the amount of titles and joy I had throughout the years. There were so many other missed titles we couldn't fit here, like Dead Rising 3, Titanfall, Final Fantasy 15, Rainbow Six Siege, Ori, and Sekiro. So many games I've spent countless hours in have truly made the Xbox One a solid box, pushing past its initial boundaries. To everyone who was part of the team and helped launch the Xbox One: Here's to many more years ahead, and thank you for the past 20 years of joy and passion for millions of people around the world. What were your favorite games on the Xbox One? Let us know below or reach out to us on X, x.com/badlandsbacklog.
Twitch.tv/thebacklogsgames