Microsoft recently revealed the Xbox Series X’s price and release date, with the next-generation console launching on November 10 for $499. Anyone interested in getting an Xbox Series X console on launch day will want to make sure that they pre-order as soon as they can when pre-orders go live on September 22.
In the meantime, the reveal of the Xbox Series X release date was accompanied by a number of launch titles being confirmed for the next-generation system as well. While a final list is still not available, fans now have a much better idea of what to expect from the Xbox Series X launch title lineup. A number of impressive games will be available for Xbox Series X on day one, but it remains to be seen if they will reach the same heights as some of the Xbox launch titles of the past.
Here are the best Xbox launch titles across the original Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Unfortunately, the Xbox One launch lineup was pretty underwhelming compared to past generations. Its exclusive games, like Dead Rising 3 and Ryse: Son of Rome, earned mixed reviews from critics, and even its big cross-generational releases, like Call of Duty: Ghosts, earned lower scores than expected. One game that does stand out in the Xbox One launch lineup of games, however, is Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. Even though it had already been out for a month on last-generation consoles, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag was considered one of the best games of 2013 for both PS4 and Xbox One thanks to its sharp visuals and pirate-themed gameplay that successfully breathed new life into the long-running series.
It may be hard to believe it now, but Call of Duty wasn’t always a household name. The original Call of Duty was PC-excluisive, and while it earned a slew of awards, it had a comparably limited audience compared to later games in the first-person shooter franchise. Call of Duty 2 brought the main series Call of Duty games to consoles, and it was a massive success on Xbox 360. Many critics agreed that Call of Duty 2 did a great job of showing off the graphical prowess of the Xbox 360, while also delivering a distinctly next-generation experience. Besides its acclaimed single player campaign, Call of Duty 2 also had online multiplayer support, though the franchise’s online multiplayer wouldn’t really take off in a significant way until Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare‘s launch in 2007.
The Xbox 360 launch lineup was notable for its variety, with a host of genres represented on the console on day one. The horror genre was represented by Condemned: Criminal Origins, another game that was visually impressive for its time. Fans were drawn in by the dark, twisted, serial killer detective story and brutal first-person melee combat. Developer Monolith Productions has been busy with Middle-earth games in recent years, but many fans would likely enjoy seeing the studio return to the Condemned franchise at some point down the line.
A launch title for the original Xbox, Dead or Alive 3 is also one of the system’s most successful games. At the time of its release, Dead or Alive 3 received particular praise for its graphics, which were truly cutting-edge back in 2001. Dead or Alive 3 been retroactively hailed as one of the best fighting games ever made, and it certainly bolstered the original Xbox’s launch lineup.
When Microsoft joined the console race in 2001, it faced stiff competition from Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s GameCube. In order to stand out from the crowd, Microsoft needed a killer app to draw players to its new console. Luckily, Bungie and Microsoft hit a home run with Halo: Combat Evolved, a sci-fi first-person shooter that has remained synonymous with the Xbox brand ever since. Halo: Combat Evolved earned numerous year-end awards at the time of its release and remains one of the most innovative and influential first-person shooters ever made. Microsoft has continued to push Halo as its flagship franchise to this day, with the upcoming Halo Infinite one of the biggest titles in the works for its next-generation Xbox Series X console.
Rare put out award-winning work for both the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64, and so hopes were high for what the company could do after Microsoft acquired it in the mid-2000s. While the general consensus is that Microsoft’s acquisition of Rare has been mostly disappointing compared to what the studio accomplished elsewhere, the company played a major role in bolstering the Xbox 360 launch lineup. This included the release of a Zelda-like game called Kameo: Elements of Power that earned decent reviews at the time of its release for its impressive-for-the-time graphics and gameplay.
Fans have not responded well to Madden NFL 21, the latest game in the long-running sports franchise from EA, but there once was a time when it was critically-acclaimed. In fact, one of the highest-rated Madden games actually launched alongside the original Xbox back in 2001. Madden NFL 2002 on Xbox has an impressive 90/100 rating on Metacritic, making it one of the top-rated games in the original Xbox’s launch lineup.
The Need for Speed franchise is another one that has not been all that well-received in recent years, but was once one of the industry’s premiere franchises. Arguably the peak of the Need for Speed series came with 2005’s Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which gave the Xbox 360 a high quality racing game right off the bat. It may look a bit dated nowadays, but it was quite easily one of the best-looking racing games available in 2005.
The first two Oddworld games were big hits on the PlayStation 1, and many expected the series to continue on the PlayStation 2. But instead, Oddworld Inhabitants switched gears and released the next game in the series as an original Xbox exclusive. Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee didn’t quite reach the same heights as its predecessors, but it was still a relatively well-received puzzle platformer and filled an important niche in the original Xbox’s launch lineup.
Besides Kameo: Elements of Power, Rare’s other big Xbox 360 launch title was the long-awaited return of its acclaimed first-person shooter franchise, Perfect Dark. Perfect Dark Zero translated the gameplay of the original Nintendo 64 classic to better meet modern standards, letting players battle it out in online multiple arenas while also providing a wealth of local multiplayer options. While it may have been quickly outclassed by other Xbox 360 FPS games, Perfect Dark Zero was still a strong, feature-rich addition to the Xbox 360 launch lineup.
When it comes to racing games, Microsoft has focused almost exclusively on its Forza franchise in recent years. But at the launch of the original Xbox, Microsoft had another premiere racing game for fans of the genre. The first Project Gotham Racing was both a critical and commercial success for the original Xbox, spawning a franchise of its own that would continue until 2007’s Project Gotham Racing 4 on Xbox 360.
Microsoft ushered in the Xbox 360 era with another PGR title, with this one being Project Gotham Racing 3. Like its predecessors, Project Gotham Racing 3 earned a great deal of acclaim at the time of its release, with praise given to its both graphics and sound design. Unfortunately, a new Project Gotham Racing game hasn’t been released since 2007’s PGR4, but perhaps Microsoft could be convinced to revisit the series at some point during the Xbox Series X’s lifespan.
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