The Xbox One doesn’t have the unique sport choice of the PlayStation 4 or Nintendo Switch, however Microsoft’s console is the one one of many three to supply backward compatibility along with your older library of video games.
An enormous variety of Xbox 360 video games might be performed on Xbox One just by placing within the disc and ready for the file to obtain, and the supported sport listing consists of a number of the largest titles on the console. We’ve compiled our favourite backward appropriate Xbox One video games, paying particular consideration to video games that haven’t gotten remastered variations on the newer system.
Further studying
Action-adventure
‘Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood’
The Assassin’s Creed sport had a protracted historical past on the Xbox 360, with the unique sport up via Assassin’s Creed Rogue releasing on the system, but it surely was Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood that stands out as the sport that outlined the era.
Building on the improved construction and fight of Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood launched allied assassins to help throughout missions, and Ezio’s story was simply as charming and stuffed with historic figures because it was the primary time round.
Read our full Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood assessment
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‘Grand Theft Auto IV’
The American Dream is a sophisticated idea that not often goes based on plan, and Grand Theft Auto IV confirmed its darkish and miserable fact. Protagonist Niko Bellic arrives in Liberty City hoping to show his life round and neglect the violent previous he left in Eastern Europe, however he’s as a substitute compelled to just accept that America isn’t a fantasy land, and his palms are nonetheless going to get bloody.
With a superb climax, an enormous variety of aspect actions, and a beautiful metropolis to discover, Grand Theft Auto IV is a timeless basic.
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‘Castlevania: Lords of Shadow’
A daring reimagining of the long-running Konami sequence by Spanish developer MercurySteam, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow takes the most effective parts from sport sequence like God of War and The Legend of Zelda, folds them right into a darkish and emotional story, and provides a post-credits twist so surprising, it had us on the sting of our seats as we waited for the sadly lackluster sequel.
With voice expertise like Robert Carlyle and Patrick Stewart, the performances and stellar, and assist Lords of Shadow stand by itself, Castlevania identify or not.
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‘Red Dead Redemption’
Before you play the wonderful Red Dead Redemption 2, play the unique Red Dead Redemption to be taught extra concerning the sport’s huge solid of characters, and to see the destiny of John Marston after he left Dutch van der Linde’s gang of outlaws.
A completely realized Old West getting ready to loss of life is fleshed out with a number of the finest characters and writing of the era, and the progressive “Dead Eye” system makes it simple to change into the last word gunslinger.
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Shooter
‘BioShock Infinite’
A divisive sport that launched science-fiction parts bordering on fantasy to the good shooter sequence, BioShock Infinite’s private story of household, betrayal, revenge, and what it means to just accept duty for one’s personal actions is a curler coaster trip that doesn’t decelerate till the closing credit. Combat enhancements, together with the brand new “Sky-Hook” weapon, make getting across the metropolis of Columbia a breeze, and the beautiful environments are completely fitted to the sport’s stylized artwork design.
Read our full BioShock Infinite assessment
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‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is commonly thought to be the most effective sport within the sequence, but it surely was its sequel that really cemented the sequence’ place in shooter historical past. With an action-packed marketing campaign stuffed with double-crossing, intense set-pieces, and probably the most stunning scenes in online game historical past, it understood precisely what it meant to be a Call of Duty sport, and the aggressive multiplayer launched new perks and kill-streak rewards that made it addicting and rewarding. It has been a futile race to high Modern Warfare 2 with every subsequent sport.
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‘Crysis 2’
The Crysis sequence is healthier recognized for its ridiculous graphical settings than for the video games themselves, however Crysis 2 is an exception to that. Striking a steadiness between open-ended environments and direct, mission-focused storytelling, the sport’s overgrown city atmosphere is the right place to experiment along with your super-powered swimsuit, and the combination of human and alien enemies forces you to always consider your technique earlier than leaping into battle. It won’t look fairly as fairly now because it did at launch, however Crysis 2 remains to be undoubtedly price taking part in.
Read our full Crysis 2 assessment
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‘Far Cry 3’
The sport that might set the template for the sequence to at the present time, Far Cry 3 is an exceptional open-world shooter that manages to make the primary storyline and the handfuls of aspect actions worthwhile.
The star of the present is villain Vaas Montenegro, whose chilling monologues make our pores and skin crawl, however the tropical island you’re exploring is a fair higher character. With so many animals to hunt, races to finish, and outposts to liberate, you’ll be able to sink 50 hours in Far Cry 3 and nonetheless not see the entire sport, and also you gained’t thoughts doubling that quantity.
Read our full Far Cry 3 assessment
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Gears of War (sequence)
The sequence that inspired many Xbox 360 gamers to purchase the console within the first place, Gears of War popularized the cover-based shooter that’s nonetheless so prevalent on the Xbox One at this time.
Telling a narrative of household, loss, and brotherhood, Epic Games’ trilogy managed to be a tearjerker regardless of the presence of burrowing alien creates and males with biceps the scale of redwood bushes. The chainsaw-equipped Lancer rifle is among the many finest weapons in any online game, and it nonetheless feels superior to chop a Locust enemy into bite-size bloody chunks.
Read our full Gears of War 3 assessment
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‘Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’
The Ghost Recon sequence has taken a number of completely different varieties over time, transitioning from a first-person shooter to a third-person shooter with an emphasis on stealth and ways, and it was it its most high-tech in 2012’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.
The sport is totally playable solo or cooperatively, and it launched the “sync shot” characteristic that lets you take out 4 enemies concurrently. The on-line multiplayer performed like a cross between Gears of War and Battlefield, with teamwork valued above all else, and the wonderful controls made taking cowl and eliminating enemies a breeze.
Read our full Ghost Recon: Future Soldier assessment
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‘Halo 3’
The climactic and explosive finale to the conflict between the Covenant and the us, Halo 3 is solely beautiful. One of the most effective video games out there for any Xbox system, Bungie’s third entry within the sequence builds towards an exhilarating conclusion, then raises the stakes even additional with an ambiguous ending that ultimately paved the way in which for much more Halo video games.
Multiplayer on Xbox Live allowed gamers to frag one another for hours on finish, or they might take two native cooperative modes and try and deal with the story on Legendary issue.
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‘Halo: Reach’
Halo 3 was the unique sport’s method polished to a blinding sheen, however Halo: Reach wasn’t content material to simply make iterative, trivial adjustments. Taking place earlier than the occasions of the primary sport, the marketing campaign noticed a number of Spartan super-soldiers band collectively in a failed try and cease the Covenant from taking on the titular planet, and it made for a number of the most dramatic moments within the sequence to this point.
Online multiplayer launched extra customization than we had seen up to now, with particular armor talents drastically altering how battles performed out.
Read our full Halo: Reach assessment
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‘Ikaruga’
The shoot-‘em-up genre certainly isn’t as huge because it was, but it surely nonetheless has a spot on the Xbox One and Xbox 360, and Ikaruga would possibly simply be the king. As projectiles fill the display screen, enemies race out and in of view, and the commercial environments move by, it’s simple to see why Ikaruga served as inspiration for Nier: Automata greater than a decade later, however the sport’s polarity-switching idea and all-out motion assist to make it price taking part in at this time.
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‘Left 4 Dead’
The zombie apocalypse can be an insurmountable problem for one to face on their very own, however with just a few pals, it will get considerably extra manageable. That is, after all, until you’re taking part in Left 4 Dead, a sport by which one individual’s false transfer may spell distress for your complete squad.
A cooperative and open-ended survival sport with a way of character and humor not discovered elsewhere within the style, Left 4 Dead is brutal, difficult, and satisfying, and the right sport to play for some team-building workout routines.
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Action
‘Dead Space’
As Resident Evil slowly morphed right into a third-person shooter sequence that occurred to characteristic terrifying monsters, Visceral Games launched the definitive Xbox 360 survival-horror sport. Dead Space’s science-fiction setting, which added a layer of cramped pressure, and its concentrate on mutilations and physique horror made it probably the most intense video games of the era. Subsequent sequels started to fall into the action-heavy Resident Evil entice, however we’ll at all times have the unique.
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‘Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’
Despite having one of many dumbest titles in online game historical past, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is the uncommon online game spin-off that may stand toe-to-toe with the primary sequence. Developed by the motion masterminds at PlatinumGames, Revengeance places gamers within the cybernetic sneakers of Raiden, now nearly totally remodeled right into a cyborg. Using a singular sword-cutting system, Raiden can flip practically any enemy into ribbons of flesh or metallic, and the bosses he fights are over-the-top sufficient for even probably the most devoted Metal Gear followers.
Read our full Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance assessment
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‘Splinter Cell Blacklist’
An underrated stealth-action sport that excels as a pure stealth sport and a third-person shooter, Splinter Cell Blacklist takes the silent-and-violent method established in Splinter Cell Conviction and expands on it with new devices, weaponry, and ways. Sam Fisher isn’t an unstoppable killing machine, however his experience and assets can definitely make him look like it. An participating cooperative storyline can also be included, and the sequence’ well-known Spies vs. Mercs aggressive mode makes a return after being absent from the earlier sport.
Read our full Splinter Cell Blacklist assessment
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Role-playing
‘Fable II’
The follow-up to Lionhead’s massively formidable sport Fable, Fable II helped to raised understand the scope and granular particulars that had been promised within the unique. On the extra highly effective Xbox 360, the world of Albion regarded far superior to its unique Xbox counterpart, and there are sufficient distinctive characters, quests, and places to go to to actually get misplaced in its world. It’s a disgrace Fable 3 couldn’t construct on this success.
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‘The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’
Bethesda not often fails to impress, and the early-generation role-playing sport The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion definitely lived as much as expectations. With way more lifelike environments and characters than we noticed in Morrowind for the unique Xbox, it’s among the many finest video games the corporate has ever made, and the liberty it’s important to select between so many various class choices means there’s a play-style for almost everybody. Its sequel, Skyrim, is the right sport to play subsequent in your Xbox One.
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Mass Effect (sequence)
The Mass Effect sequence has seen higher days, and none had been higher than when Mass Effect 2 launched in 2010. The story of Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy was at its strongest within the center chapter, which fleshed out the universe and the solid of supporting characters with intelligent “loyalty missions,” whereas additionally bettering the fight drastically over the earlier sport.
Nearly any character can die over the course of your journey, making it endlessly replayable, and also you’ll really care when your favourite crew member bites the mud. Mass Effect 3 had a controversial ending, but it surely managed to streamline the gameplay and tie up most of its tales in a satisfying and emotional manner, and it’s nonetheless leagues higher than Andromeda.
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Sports and racing
‘Forza Horizon’
Shifting away from the gearhead-centric Forza Motorsport video games of the previous, Forza Horizon is all about freedom. Set in a model Colorado stuffed with races to finish and challenges to beat, the high-speed occasions you’ve come to count on from Forza are nonetheless right here, however they’re introduced as a smaller piece of the open-world complete. Forza Horizon appears like a racing sport for individuals who don’t like racing video games, but it surely does so with out alienating its unique viewers.
Read our full Forza Horizon assessment
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‘Fight Night Champion’
Sports video games don’t often characteristic tales, and although FIFA and Madden have been doing so just lately, you’ll be able to hint their success again to the boxing sport Fight Night Champion. A Mature-rated sport with a narrative that options parts of racism, corruption, and disturbing violence, Fight Night Champion is a brutal boxing sport. Every punch has weight to it, and eventually touchdown a knockout blow takes persistence and cautious timing. It’s the final Fight Night sport Electronic Arts launched earlier than switching its focus to MMA, and contemplating its high quality, that’s a disgrace.
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Strategy
‘XCOM: Enemy Unknown’
XCOM: Enemy Unknown managed to revive a lifeless franchise and never solely please sequence veterans with its powerful, unforgiving tactical turn-based fight, but it surely additionally launched the style to a brand new era. With everlasting soldier deaths and clever enemies, one fallacious transfer can imply catastrophe in your total squad, and every failure brings the aliens even nearer to complete world domination. The gameplay loop is addicting sufficient to make you retain taking part in anyway, and determining a method to take down a gaggle of aliens is an amazing feeling.
Read our full XCOM: Enemy Unknown assessment
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Simulation
‘Viva Piñata’
An idea that would solely be conceived with a bit assist from chemistry, Viva Piñata is without doubt one of the weirdest video games Rare has ever made. Essentially a petting zoo simulator the place you’ll be able to develop your personal piñata animals, and even make them breed, it’s a colourful and eccentric tackle the simulation style that thumbed its nostril at business developments. As different video games centered on grey and brown, Viva Piñata took satisfaction in coloration, and it’s inconceivable to play it with no smile in your face.
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Puzzle
‘Portal 2’
The solely query price asking about Portal 2 is whether or not it’s the most effective puzzle video games ever made or the most effective puzzle sport ever made. Valve’s physics-bending journey takes the portal-jumping gameplay from the primary sport, combines a variety of new objects and mechanics, and introduces much more hilarious supporting characters to create probably the most immersive and fully-realized worlds we’ve ever seen, and it does it with out the protagonist saying a phrase. With good audio design and a good however difficult issue, it holds up simply as nicely at this time because it did at launch.
Read our full Portal 2 assessment
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Editors’ Recommendations