With the dust now settling on one of the best years we can remember for video game releases, we're finally managing to catch our breath over the festive break and take a look back at everything we've thoroughly enjoyed playing in 2023.
Yes we've had all of the biggies, your Starfield and your Baldur's Gate 3, Alan Wake 2 and Hi-Fi RUSH, we reviewed 'em all. However, in a year as busy as this, we couldn't quite stretch to a final official verdict on everything we ended up loving. In some cases, it was because getting review access wasn't as simple as we'd hoped, and in other cases there just wasn't enough time!
So, in order to make doubly sure we get to mouth off about even more stuff, here's a list - in no particular order - of Ten Xbox Games We Didn't Get Around To Reviewing In 2023!
Dead Space (Xbox Series X|S)
If you'd asked us before this remake of Dead Space was announced what game we'd most like to have seen remade from the ground up for modern consoles, we 100% would not have said Dead Space. We'd have said Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed. However, you didn't ask us...so let's just get on with it.
Dead Space didn't need a remake. Let's get that clear from the get-go here. Absolutely did not nee...oh hold on. Hold on a minute, this is amazing. Yes, this particular writer was very much in the "no thanks" camp when it came to revamping this bonafide horror classic, a horror classic that still looks and plays incredibly well.
However, there's no denying that what we got served here in the end is actually quite spectacular (shows what I know). Dead Space 2023 is a slick and polished remake that reinvigorates the USG Ishimura and everything that takes place aboard her. We were worried about talking Isaac Clarke, worried that fancy new graphics would ruin the gritty atmosphere, or that additions and excisions would disrupt the immaculate flow of proceedings. Thankfully none of this has transpired, and what we've got here is an incredibly slick version of one of our all-time favourite horror games that's taken a classic and modernized it without tainting what made us love it in the first place. Bravo!
- Xbox Game Pass? Yes
DREDGE (Xbox Series X|S)
One of the absolute standout indies of the year, DREDGE is just one of those very special games that stays with you long after you've stopped playing. Black Salt Games' Lovecraftian fishing game is every bit as brilliant as it sounds. This is an incredibly atmospheric horror game that gives you a fiendishly addictive core gameplay of fishing and tooting about in a wee boat, we do love a nice bit of fishing and tooting, and then adds in lots of very scary things that lurk beneath the waves.
There's a fantastic sense of progression here as you upgrade and expand, netting better gear so you can venture further out around the islands and waterways of an archipelago that has some truly disturbing secrets to hide. Dredge nails the wonderfully off-kilter atmosphere it's going for, it nails the rhythm of its gameplay loops and gentle expansions of your abilities whilst also serving up scares and even some food for thought by the time it's all over.
In a year stacked full of cracking indies, this was among the very best, and it's even got some sweet DLC a few down the line to further enhance the main adventure.
- Xbox Game Pass? No
El Paso, Elsewhere (Xbox Series X|S)
One of the absolute standouts of the year for this writer personally has been Strange Scaffold's hugely entertaining El Paso, Elsewhere. On the face of things this indie gem may look like just another retro effort, this time aping the gameplay loops of old-school Max Payne with its pill popping, bullet-dodging and time-slowing mechanics all intact.
Spend more than just a few minutes with it though, and this hugely effective shooter reveals a melancholy and rather haunting love tale at its core. If gun-toting vampires, slo-mo headshots, trippy visuals, OTT inner monologues and absolutely banging soundtracks are your kinda thing, you're gonna have a ball with this one. An indie shooter that serves up slick action and an affecting story all wrapped up in some of the most stylish visuals and music of the year? When's the sequel?
- Xbox Game Pass? No
Ghost Trick : Phantom Detective (Xbox Series X|S)
One of the all-time greats this. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective shouldn't need much introduction at this stage but, if you've missed it up to this point, now is the time to right that wrong. This is one of the smartest, funniest, kookiest puzzle adventures we've ever played, a Capcom classic that originally released on Nintendo DS back in 2010 and absolutely deserves this second chance in the spotlight.
It may have been designed with the DS dual screens in mind, but Ghost Trick works just fine on Xbox, serving up Sissel the amnesiac ghost's story in a revamped HD remaster that everyone who's ever enjoyed an Ace Attorney game (and the rest of the eejits who haven't) should really make a point of indulging in. We didn't get around to putting a score on it, but you can rest assured that this cult classic of its genre would have been taking home some serious points if we had done. Another 2023 must-play in the bag.
- Xbox Game Pass? No
Ghostrunner 2 (Xbox Series X|S)
Well, we didn't get to review the first Ghostrunner either, this absolutely has to stop right now. One More Level and Slipgate Ironworks delivered one of the most original, stylish and exciting efforts of 2020 with the first of these fast-moving action-platformers, and Ghostrunner 2 improves upon the winning formula in several ways.
So what's this series all about, then? Think Cyberpunk 2077 mixed with action puzzlers like Hotline Miami and first person platformers like, well, like Mirror's Edge and you're sort of getting warm. It may be tough as nails at times, there's lots of repeating and learning and just straight-up getting gud to be done, make no mistake but, if you're up to the challenge, there's nothing quite like the mix of slick free-running, intricate platforming, fast-paced one-shot gunplay and dazzling artistic style that these games bring to the table.
An action-packed, fast-paced platformer that makes you fell like a badass cyborg ninja? Yesh pleash, and this time it comes packing more of everything that made the first one so very memorable!
- Xbox Game Pass? No
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Xbox Series X|S)
Seeing as how the Hot Wheels DLC for Forza Horizon 4 was one our favourite things about that particular game, you'll forgive us for having been a little concerned that a standalone attempt at bringing Mattel's dinky little cars to life would pale in comparison. Playground Studios and Turn 10 are masters of the racing genre after all, and what they gave us with their slick take on Hot Wheels would take some beating, especially in the handling and graphics department.
However, we needn't have been quite so concerned, as the first Hot Wheels Unleashed, and now this turbo-charged sequel are actually surprisingly great games that provide a solid alternative to Forza's offering. Yep, its predecessor was a solid racer, but this second bite at the cherry is actually one of the better racers we've had on Xbox this year, a flashy, fast and exciting collectathon that gives fans of tiny little cars a lot to dig into.
There's tight and satisfying arcade action here, incredible visuals, a pumping soundtrack and an absolute ton of cars to gather up in one of our favourite automobile efforts of 2023.
- Xbox Game Pass? No
Remnant 2 (Xbox Series X|S)
We were pretty blown away by Remnant 2 when we got hands-on with it earlier in the year, but we never quite got around to filing a review, which is a shame, as this is one of the best new co-op experiences on current consoles.
The OG Remnant was a bit of a banger, but it was a game that didn't fully deliver on its core concept. This sequel takes all of the promise we saw in its predecessor and weaves it into a much bigger and more challenging experience, one that gives teams of players a properly stiff challenge, pitting them against a menagerie of monsters in procedurally generated levels full of death.
It's a dark and deadly looter shooter that absolutely encourages constant teamwork, it's flipping Dark Souls with guns, a game that will shock and surprise, smother you in delicious loot then absolutely stomp you and your pals into the floor. Anyone looking for a challenging shooter to jump into with friendos should definitely check this bad boy out ASAP as it's one of the highlights of a cracking year.
- Xbox Game Pass? Yes
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Xbox Series X|S)
Respawn returned to Star Wars for this follow-up to 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and, boy oh boy, did they return with some slick new moves.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor sees Cal Kestis continue his struggle against the dark side and one of the best decisions here right off the bat was to let our Jedi hero keep the skills and moves he'd unlocked in the first game. You're kicking off as a pretty proficient saber-swinger here and the moves keep coming as Cal's repertoire continues to grow throughout an adventure that's bigger, more action-packed and thrilling in every way.
We were on the fence with Fallen Order the first time we played it. It gets a lot better in its later stages, but it was a little too clunky and got off to a rough start that sullied initial impressions. This sequel fixes all of these issues and it's been patched and updated and improved since release too. The action here is expansive and slick, levels are much bigger, more varied and complex than those found in Cal's first outing and it all looks and sounds absolutely phenomenal. 2023 really did just serve us up one of the best Star Wars games we've ever played.
- Xbox Game Pass? No
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Valheim (Xbox Series X|S)
Irongate Studios' Valheim has already been around for quite a while on PC, where it's been earning itself rave reviews for its addicting and highly atmospheric survival sandbox antics.
The survival/crafting genre really needed a bit of a shot in the arm this year we reckon, and Valheim sure gave it one on Xbox, delivering immaculate viking vibes, well balanced survival mechanics and a world full of inviting mystery to explore as you grow from strength to strength.
With excellent art and a real eye for detail and atmosphere, this really is one of the best examples of its genre that we've played in recent years and exactly the type of game you could very well find yourself hopelessly addicted to. It might not fully save its players from the inherent grind of survival games, but it absolutely makes it much easier to put up with through some top-notch world-building.
- Xbox Game Pass? Yes
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (Xbox Series X|S)
What if we told you that Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun was one of the very best Warhammer games we've played in over a decade? It's true!
This retro-styled "boomer shooter" stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Amid Evil as the very best examples of the genre, so a very good bloody shooter then, that just happens to have lots of lovely Warhammer lore and characters and all that good stuff thrown in. With slick shooting action, tight controls, fantastic level design - there are some incredibly big and surprisingly intricate levels here - there's genuinely nothing not to love. It's Warhammer, it's boomer shooter, it's retro, and it's absolutely bucking brilliant. For those who seek perfection, there can be no rest on this side of the grave and all that.
- Xbox Game Pass? No