It wouldn't be innacurate to say the Xbox One was the silver medallist of the current console generation; pre-launch fumbles and a large sales gap between it and Sony's PS4 might have been enough to put off some gamers, but loyal Microsoft fans have at least been rewarded with some fantastic games.
Putting the incredible line-up of games set to arrive in 2015 and beyond to one side, the current crop of triple A releases, download-only indie games and everything else in between has ensured the Xbox One has a permanent place under our TVs. That's why we're perfectly placed to help you decide which games are worth picking up, and which are best avoided. Here's out list of the best Xbox One games, split into three sections.
Topping the list are the bigger titles, which command the most cash but should provide the most hours of entertainment. Next we have a handful of launch titles and older releases, which are certainly worth a look now as you can find them at knockdown prices. Finally, smaller games, download-only titles and indies round off the list. We'll keep the entries up to date with the latest releases as soon as we get our full reviews online.
Please note that some of the trailers below are not suitable for those under the age of 18.
Big budget Blockbusters
Alien Isolation
The original Alien movie has arguably stood the test of time better than its more gung-ho siblings, often appearing in lists of the greatest films of all time. Here Creative Assembly have taken that to heart and fully embraced its eighties vision of the future, with low-fi technology dominating the Sevastopol station, itself a doppleganger for the original's Nostromo.
Playing as Ripley's daughter, you are thrown into the chaotic station, which is a location to rank alongside Bioshock's Rapture in terms of unsettling menace. The stations groans and creaks around you, while you try to survive human, robot and alien aggressors. As with the original film there's only a single Alien here, an all-powerful presence but one that you can use to your advantage too.
We love the way that stealth game staples are so sweetly integrated into the fiction. The classic motion tracker provides a limited radar; while the Synthetics slavishly follow their patrol routes, they are robots after all. It's a brilliant achievement and our favourite entry in the Alien universe since the second film.
Destiny
How do you follow up a series like Halo? If you're Bungie, you launch one of the most hyped games in recent history: Destiny is the first real hybrid of first person shooter gameplay in a persistent online world, borrowing heavily from MMORPGs and loot-based grind sessions like Diablo.
This unique blend lets you either tackle the story yourself, jump in with friends to defeat the Darkness together, or compete against strangers in the Crucible competitive mode. A clever weekly rotation of events and daily challenges ensure players always have something new to do, and a steady stream of DLC episodes promised over the coming year will definitely keep gamers coming back for more.
Forza Horizon 2
The Horizon series takes the brilliant handling model and graphics technology from the Forza Motorsport series and adds a huge dollop of fun to the proceedings. This latest version is set in a highly-romanticised Mediterranean landscape combining some stunning locales drawn from the French and Italian Riviera. And they do look stunning to, with stunning graphics, real-time weather and a full day-night cycle.
The game combines free-roaming driving, where you can generally cut across country at a whim, with an open tournament structure. You cruise around the map looking for challenges and races, and occasionally taking on multi-stage tournaments set around a certain car type - such as classic super cars or hot hatches. There's a wealth of lovingly-detailed vehicles to race and collect.
The racing, both on- and off-road is brilliant. The handling model is a little more forgiving and drift-happy than in Forza Motorsport, but the sensation of weight and feedback from the road is still top-notch. If you like racing games, but aren't keen on restrictive tracks, then Horizon 2 is a must buy.
Halo: Master Chief Collection
As we write this we're still having massive problems with the multiplayer element of Halo: Master Chief Collection; which is why our full review has been indefinitely postponed. A fix is in the pipeline, apparently, but for now we can only talk about the single player part of the game. Thankfully the rest of the package is good enough to justify a purchase if the multiplayer doesn't interest you overly.
The Master Chief Collection includes Halo: Combat Evolved, 2, 3 and 4; while entries such as Halo: ODST and Halo: Reach are left on the sidelines. All four games are accessed from a single interface, letting you switch easily between different missions in different games. Halo: Combat Evolved is presented in its 2011 anniversary edition. Halo 2 has now also been remastered in a similar way, with new textures and stunning new cinematics to make it more than palatable to modern eyes. Halo 3 and 4 now both run at 1080p and 60fps.
They're all well worth replaying, as fans will remember great sections they've forgotten, and if you missed any or all of the series you're in for a treat. Halo is still the great sci-fi shooter series and this collection simply reinforces its status at the top.
Titanfall
The end result of what happens when you give two of the men responsible for the meteoric rise of the Call of Duty games free reign to create a brand new franchise, Titanfall is about as epic as multiplayer shooters get on the Xbox One. Human Pilots and giant mechanised Titans stomp across futuristic wastelands and cities in brutal, yet immensely satisfying, competitive battles.
It might not have the massive player counts of Battlefield 4, but clever use of AI-controlled grunts help make each match feel like a frantic and highly populated confrontation. The free-flowing pilot movement, aided by jet pack-powered double jumps and wall-running parkour means you never feel outgunned, even when the enemy is bearing down on you in their own Titans. It's immense fun and should be in everyone's Xbox One games collection.
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Who would have thought one of the best first person shooters of 2014 would be a Wolfenstein sequel, filled with opportunities to blast away Nazis in an alternate reality 1960? The New Order is in many ways a love letter to the FPS games of the past; health and armour is measured in numbers, and crouching behind cover won't suddenly heal your wounds. You never run out of space for outlandish weapons, and can brandish two at a time for maximum carnage.
Underneath the bravado, however, there's a brilliant story that deals with sensitive issues with care, even if the tone varies wildly throughout the course of the game. With a simple stealth mechanic, wide variety of locations and set-pieces, and some excellent voice acting, The New Order is the antidote for anyone sick of countless Call of Duty sequels.
New-Gen upgrades and remasters
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag
Black Flag is the high point of the Assassin's Creed franchise to date; its successor, Unity, might be out now, but it's afflicted with poor optimisations and bugs. Now that you can pick it up preowned from Game for £20, Black Flag is certainly the game to go for; it takes the stealth and swordplay from previous entries in the series but adds a massive ship-based piracy simulator on the side. The mechanics might be showing their age a little, but the digital Caribbean has never looked better.
GTA V
Rockstar's opus was brilliant fun on previous generation consoles, but it looks absolutely stunning on Xbox One. Improved draw distances, more incidental detail, extra plants, trees and animals, and streets filled with more AI-controlled pedestrians than ever help make San Andreas feel more alive than ever, and that's before you factor in the new first person view mode. You can now play entirely in first person, with fully animated weapon models, car interiors and cutscenes. It completely transforms the game, even for players that explored every inch of it on the previous generation.
Download only-titles
Killer Instinct
Double Helix Games picked up where Rare left off on the Super Nintendo, reimagining Killer Instinct for the modern console generation. The end result is an eye-searingly stunning 1-on-1 fighting game that's easy to pick up and play, but takes dedication to master. Fireballs, lazer beams and mystical attacks all explode in a shower of particles that looks outstanding at 60fps, while the eclectic cast all feel uniquely different to control - unlike other fighting games, which frequently rely on palette swaps and small changes.The brilliant tiered price structure means you can download it and play as one character for free, then pay to unlock the rest of the cast.
Rayman Legends
Proof that next-gen graphics aren't explicitly linked to fun, Ubisoft's classic Rayman character got upgraded with a gorgeous hand-drawn art style for the Xbox One. The 2D platform mechanics remain as strong as ever, even with the added pace that comes from plugging in a second controller for 2-player gameplay, and the soundtrack is beautifully scored too.
Strider
One of the best examples of pixel art from the 16-bit era got completely overhauled for the current console generation. Morphing from a straight up platformer into a Castlevania-like exploreathon, Strider 2014 is packed with enemies, upgrades and secret items, with expert ninja Strider Hiryu growing his abilities as you unlock more of the dystopian metropolis that is Kazakh City.
