The 7 Best Xbox One Games Of 2016

What a year 2016 has been for the Xbox One. The console that has been playing second fiddle to the PlayStation 4 since it arrived back in 2014 has made impressive inroads into levelling the playfield - especially in the last few months. Thanks to the introduction of the Xbox One S, the console has retaken the initiative, finishing ahead of the PS4 as the top selling console. But behind every great console are its selection of games, and this year has seen a host of new exclusives that have aimed to continue last year’s “greatest line-up” selection. There’s been something for everyone, from racing sims to our favourite third person shooters comprising Xbox One’s exclusive offerings. But of all the best titles that the console has to offer, which came out as top dog in 2016? As part of our end of year summary, we’ve compiled a list of its best exclusives and crowned one of them as 2016's greatest Xbox One game. Read on to see our rankings and as always, be sure to let us know your own lists in the comments below. 7) The Turing Test The Turing Test is a first person puzzle game from developer Bulkhead Interactions. And, as the name would suggest, this futuristic science fiction title is about artificial intelligence. While the game’s narrative isn’t overly complex, the writing does a decent job exploring interesting themes such as free will and what it means to be human. With gameplay heavily inspired by Portal, The Turing Test will be familiar to those who've played FPS puzzle titles. Working your way through the abandoned research facility, players are challenged by different rooms, each comprising one of its many puzzle challenges. They aren’t quite as inspiring in their design as the aforementioned iconic title from Valve, but The Turing Test does introduce some interesting innovations towards its latter half. Overall, there’s certainly plenty of challenge across The Turing Test’s 10 or so hours of gameplay, and science fiction lovers will enjoy its narrative offerings, especially the final twist. While it might not be high on the list of everyone’s best Xbox One games, we enjoyed The Turing Test’s eerie locale, wider thematic setting and the design of its final levels just enough for it to sneak into the mix. 6) ReCore ReCore was a much anticipated new IP, developed by three separate studios and originally conceptualized by the legendary Keiji Inafune. The game is an exciting blend of platforming, third person combat and Metroidvania style level design, resulting in an extremely enjoyable experience. Players will spend most of their time exploring the game's overworld, dungeon crawling, looting and upgrading their mechanical robot buddies. There’s a sweet dynamic to ReCore’s combat, too, thanks to its color coded ammunition mechanic which requires players to constantly switch depending on enemy type. Unfortunately, ReCore was slightly let down by a lack of polish, with technical issues that cause it to run poorly on Xbox One. There’s also some problems with its barren open world, over reliance on backtracking and fetch quests, and pacing problems with its narrative. In essence, ReCore feels as though it has its roots too grounded in the past to allow it to reach the heights that it had originally promised. Yet, for all its faults, ReCore’s combat, which is simple but dynamic, proves a redeeming quality that means this new IP is certainly worth playing. Even if it didn’t quite fulfill its potential, ReCore has a bright soul and some charming character, and we’re absolutely happy for having played it. 5) SuperHot One of Microsoft’s big new initiatives has seen plenty more indie games debut on Xbox One, and this year’s seen a host of innovative new titles from smaller developers launch on the console. SuperHot is one such example, impressing us with a unique gameplay mechanic that puts a fresh spin on the typical FPS formula. Each of SuperHot’s levels is a time bending puzzle that swaps fast paced shooting mechanics for a more tactical approach. When players stop, so does time. It isn’t necessarily complex, but this mechanic is effective in producing some tense and challenging gameplay. Players will need to discipline themselves to learn SuperHot’s combat and there’s plenty of satisfaction in mastering its design. Don’t expect any substantial narrative offering, but there’s loads of replay value in SuperHot. There is a challenge and endless mode to be unlocked after completion, though admittedly there isn’t a huge amount of variety in its later levels. Even still, we had an absolute blast playing this FPS/puzzle hybrid thanks to its extremely creative design. 4) Dead Rising 4 Christmas time means mince pies, presents and Father Christmas. Apparently, it also means spilling the blood and guts of a hundred thousand zombies in Dead Rising 4’s mad, whimsical and satirical open world outing, which presents a polished package that both hits and misses. Frank West returns to the series as the witty and downright hilarious protagonist of Dead Rising’s latest instalment, bringing us plenty of comical lines that will have you giggling through the game's dense open world. That being said, the narrative that comprises the main story arc is sometimes a little too heavy handed for Dead Rising's goofy premise. Gameplay, on the whole, is a mixed bag, too. It isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but the game has diluted its difficulty in favor of giving the players more freedom. Sure, it's super fun reigning total chaos in a huge variety of gruesome and hilarious ways, but the absence of the countdown timer has reset the difficulty and changed the sense of urgency that was always such a mainstay of the series. The increased duration of weapons and vehicles, too, has altered the emphasis of gameplay, and not necessarily for the best. Dead Rising’s satirical juxtaposition of violence and comedy has produced another decent game. There's certainly some issues with the lack of challenge, and the series formula is perhaps starting to ware a little thin, but this over the top zombie shooter still does more than enough good to feature on our list. 3) Quantum Break Probably Xbox One’s most anticipated new IP, Quantum Break debuted earlier this year boasting a creative twist on third-person shooting and traditional narrative cut scenes. Remedy Entertainment’s spiritual successor to the Alan Wake series thrilled us with its awesome time bending mechanics and intrigued us with its terrific production quality. Gameplay-wise, Quantum Break swaps simple Max Payne-style bullet time slowdown with full-on superhero time warping abilities. Players can completely manipulate time; blink teleporting, suspending enemies in a time bubble and performing a host of awesome slow-motion takedowns. The animations are absolutely superb as well, but frustratingly, the game is too quick to grant these abilities and as such, gameplay becomes tedious well before the conclusion. That being said, there’s still plenty of meat in Quantum Break’s story. Indeed, though its gameplay might have held the most promise, it’s actually the narrative that emerges as the best quality. Told via animated cut scenes and a live action TV series featuring some familiar faces, Quantum Break's story puts a neat spin on the themes of time travel. Both the writing and acting are solid as well, but it's the agency granted to players to influence the game’s narrative that's its best feature. The choices made by the end of each act directly affects elements of its story in both the game proper and the live action cutscenes. So, while players will undoubtedly enjoy the novelty of the combat here, Quantum Break's story is a good enough reason to still give this one a whirl. 2) Forza Horizon 3 The Forza Motorsport franchise is one of Xbox’s oldest and most critically successful, arguably dethroning Sony’s Gran Turismo as king of the genre. Forza Horizon takes the impressive array of vehicles, excellent driving physics, and gorgeous aesthetic and marries it to an open world street racing formula. The result is perhaps the most accessible and entertaining racing game on the market, and Forza Horizon 3 is the series' most impressive outing yet. While Forza Horizon 3 might not have advanced the formula too much beyond what we’ve seen previously, there’s a high level of polish and some sweet new features to enjoy. The Australian backdrop of its open world is astoundingly beautiful and packed with details, and there are even more customization options for vehicles than ever before. Forza Horizon is bigger and better than its predecessor in almost every way. As such, it’s a must own for Xbox One gamers. 1) Gears of War 4 Gears Of War is perhaps Xbox’s hallmark franchise, and the long-awaited fourth title in the series finally arrived back in October. Featuring scintillating third person shooter combat, typically superb multiplayer and cooperative gameplay, and a terrific single player campaign, Gears Of War 4 is WGTC’s very best Xbox One game of 2016. Gears of War 4 might, at times, stick a little too close to its tried and tested blueprint, but in practice, it still feels fresh. In comparison to previous games, the single player offering is much more varied and engaging, working superbly as a solo and cooperative experience. The online mode, too, is exhilarating, catering to all levels of gamers, from the less adept to series veterans. With regards to hoard mode, Gears of War has steadily introduced complexities to the basic idea to keep it fresh, and Gears Of War 4 continues that trend with a revamp that debuts new mechanics and encourages more tactical decisions. Even if it wasn’t necessarily as seminal a title as the original game, we absolutely adored Gears Of War 4. There’s plenty of replayability and the game works in standalone and multiplayer guise. As a total package, there’s just no question that it sits proud at the top of the pile in 2016.