This is great, especially as I've been on a retro game kick. I still have most of my collection but some of these games on sale I idiotically traded in over the years, or just didn't buy. Big ones on the list for me are Panzer Dragoon Orta and Sonic & All-Stars Racing (the Vita version is good, I imagine on the 360 it's even better).
Gotta give MS credit, there have been some awesome sales over the last year. This is one of the best.
It's not perfect but MS is ahead of Sony (to be fair, the PS5 is an excellent PS4 bc machine) and miles ahead of Nintendo on this and the fact I can play damn near all my favorite original Xbox and 360 games in my collection, minus some sports titles, on the Series X is a huge reason I bought the console and why it's been my most played since getting it.
I've never used one of the Xbox Elite controllers so I won't go calling DualSense the best controller ever but of all the basic controllers I've ever used, going back to the NES era when I started, it's easily my favorite. The haptic feedback is awesome. I love the way they use the triggers when firing weapons, or how rumble will feel different depending on the environment you're exploring. It's a really cool control pad.
I've been interested in this game since the first sneak peak dropped but thinking it'll get a 2022 release is highly optimistic. Would love to be proven wrong but this feels like one of those games like Bayonetta 3 where an announcement was made early to try and keep momentum going for the system. One of those, 'look what we have on the way for you soon' type of deals, eventhough we all know 'soon' means at least 2 1/2-3 years away.
Have the game pre-ordered and looking forward to it. Will be disappointed if it's delayed but if it's looking like it'll be a crap release if they stick to the current target of April then they have to push it back.
@PhileasFragg We'll see how it plays out longterm but the combination of Series S and Game Pass may be what MS needed to crack the Japanese market. I'm not saying it will catch PlayStation, certainly won't do what Nintendo is doing, but 360 was, compared to how other American consoles sold in Japan, a pretty big success and if the Series line surpasses that, it's only a good thing for the future of Xbox.
@Dusk_Actual Reach still has my favorite campaign, followed closely by 3. Aside from 4 and 5, all the campaigns are really great. I'd definitely recommend the Master Chief Collection.
@Dusk_Actual I loved the Halo Infinite campaign as well, I actually don't play multiplayer much at all, I'm on my second run of the single player. Really like the way they handled Cortana in this. It wasn't perfect but they did the best they could given how they painted themselves into a corner with 5's horrible portrayal of her.
For me it's the first. I thought it had the best storytelling and while the gameplay was the roughest, I liked certain elements of it the most, particularly weapon upgrading.
I don't think it'd be a bad idea but for right now I'd like to see MS continue the momentum it has from 2021 and focus on the Series X/S bringing the Xbox brand back to what it was in the 360 days. After that, a year or two from now it can explore things like VR.
Best of luck to him. Since the first Forza Horizon the series has been one of my favorites in gaming and Playground has established itself as one of my top 5 favorite devs.
0 is still my favorite in the series but Like a Dragon is a great soft reboot and one veterans and newcomers can enjoy equally since the story and characters are new.
My favorite N64 game after Resident Evil 2 but console FPS have come a long way since then and GE hasn't particularly aged well. If this remake/remaster does in fact happen, I can look past the rough edges and enjoy the game, I'll definitely get it for sure. But I could see younger audiences saying 'this is what people went on about all these years?' And I couldn't fully blame them. A lot of 32/64-bit era FPS don't stack up by today's standards, even if I do like going back to revisit some.
The usual two for me the last few weeks... Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5. Just bought Mass Effect Legendary Edition so will also look to start that and I usually revisit an original Xbox or 360 game or two. Right now playing Black, which is one of my favorite games from Criterion before they pretty much moved exclusively to racing.
Happy new year. Hope everybody had a safe, fun holiday season. Looking forward to what this year brings. I'll be more active on this website now that I have a Series X. MS provided a lot of great stuff in 2021 and I can't wait to see how it tries to keep the momentum going.
My favorite era of Halo. I stuck mostly to the campaigns (these days it's exclusively to the campaigns in any game series) but I enjoyed some Halo 3 multiplayer as well back in the day. I still say it's the best all-around entry in the series. Reach had a slightly better campaign but added all up, the combo of great single and multi put 3 over the others.
@KilloWertz
I think the decline started before Rare got bought by MS. Most of its N64 games were good but I thought some near the end were kind of meh, and Star Fox Adventures wasn't exactly up to par either. Nintendo did give up its stake in the company pretty easily and I remember even back then it made me raise an eyebrow.
Not to say Rare hasn't provided some good stuff for Xbox. Sea of Thieves isn't my kind of game but a lot of people seem to like it. The Viva Pinata games were good and while the receptions were mixed I thought Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo and Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts were all pretty decent.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection (eventhough I have some of the games from their launches on disc) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. Now have all TR games, including the Lara Croft spinoffs, available on Xbox consoles.
@LtSarge Control, AW 2, hell I even liked Quantum Break and wouldn't mind seeing that story continued. Even with all the new studios it does seem like MS is missing that one that is truly dedicated to narrative-driven single player experiences. Remedy fits in perfectly for that.
@LtSarge Great point, didn't think about that. Of course, I'd counter that by saying for years Insomniac didn't want to be purchased either, and even at one point seemed to have a bit of a falling out with Sony not too many years before the company was bought up and made part of the PlayStation first party team. Everybody has a price and MS has a lot of $, I'd love to see something happen. If not, I hope Remedy does do well enough to keep making its own choices who it wants to work with and doesn't get nabbed by one of the Chinese tech giants.
@InterceptorAlpha
Same. I'm not ashamed to admit that anytime I see Tencent my interest in said game drops right to 0. Also hope this doesn't lead to an acquisition. Some of my favorite Xbox games have been made by Remedy, still can't believe with all the purchasing MS has done Remedy hasn't been one of those studios.
Series X is new and while it's off to a great start (one of the best first years a console, not just Xbox, has had) and is a terrific backwards compatible machine, I want to see how its own library of games ends up before ranking it. I do already enjoy it more than I ever did the X1, however.
Out of the other consoles, it's pretty easy.
1. Xbox 360
2. Xbox
3. Xbox One
The 360 is a top 5 console all-time and was for most of that gen my primary platform. Thinking of pretty much any genre (light gun games aside, which have sadly disappeared), even JRPGs, the 360 had gamers covered. Had the best exclusive FPS in the Halos, best TPS in Gears of War, Forza topped the whole racing genre, had hidden gems like Condemned: Criminal Origins, one of the best day one games ever... Just a great time period for the Xbox brand. The original had some great stuff as well. Halo 1 and Dead or Alive 3 were a heck of a way to kick off a new console launch and it brought some franchises to consoles that may have been PC exclusive otherwise. The X1 is a pretty distant third but it did have one of my favorite Insomniac releases in Sunset Overdrive.
I'd still put Resident Evil: Village at the top but Halo Infinite is definitely a deserving winner. I liked, but didn't love 4, and then I pretty much couldn't stand 5 not only was the story terrible in the latter, and the characterization of Cortana disappointing but the gunplay sucked. With all of that I was concerned about Infinite but fortunately 343 made, easily, its best Halo to date and one of my new favorite in the series. The story wasn't perfect but trying to clean up the mess of 5 was always going to pose a problem, in that sense what we got was great, imo. But the most important part, the gameplay, 343 hit a home run. It felt like classic Halo, the grappleshot added a new spin to thinks and made traversal (even combat in some ways) extremely fun and the look and sound of classic Halo is also there. Couldn't have asked for a better comeback, looking forward to what the next few years will bring and how 343 will proceed with doing the single player campaigns.
Mostly Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 but since I just got the Series X I'm also digging through my collection of older games to see what they're like with the enhancements from the new hardware. It's great that so many older games can be played on the XSX but some are like brand new experiences such as Sonic Generations, one of my favorite games from that era is even better in 60 fps.
I don't get too positive or negative over the 'free' games MS (or Sony for that matter) offers through XBL Gold anymore. But I will say this month isn't bad mainly because of Radiant Silvergun.
I'm more of a PlayStation guy but while PS2 was my console of choice the original Xbox had some of my favorite games that gen. Halo 1-2, Dead or Alive 3, PGR, Forza Motorsport, Jade Empire, Doom 3, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, Top Spin Tennis, the classic Splinter Cells... It was an impressive debut for MS in the console market.
I've never really been into online gaming (even in FPS like Halo I play them more for the campaigns) and people acting the fool is part of the reason why. I don't actually mind trash talking, I played sports for a lot of years, but when I play video games I want to relax and some of the stuff I've heard people say to others on the rare occasions I do try multiplayer can be a bit over the top. Easiest solution is use the mute button. People can say 'it shouldn't have to be like that' but it's the same as saying 'that's not fair' when something in real life doesn't play out the exactly the way you want. The internet is vast, there's going to be a-holes. The tools put in place to mitigate the toxicity aren't perfect but used right you can have a mostly good time.
@BlueOcean Yup, a video game is a video game. Genre shouldn't matter, if a game excels like Forza Horizon 5 it should be up for the Game of the Year award.
Still Assassin's Creed II, that was some game back in 2009. Great gameplay built off the solid foundation laid in AC 1, a great, new lead in Ezio (also still my favorite character in the entire series), strong overall narrative and an open world that was tons of fun to explore.
Also love Black Flag, Syndicate, Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla but if none of those excellent games could do it, I don't think II will ever be topped.
For me it's tough to decide between Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5. Objectively, the latter is probably the better game, but Infinite is such a great return to form for Halo and at one time that was my favorite series so for the purpose of this poll I voted for that game. Lots of great stuff from Xbox Game Studios overall this year, can't wait to see what these teams do going forward when just having to focus on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
@Fenbops That's the way to do it. I waited until 2014 when all the launch units (which tend to be the most faulty ones) were out of the way, they unbundled Kinect and dropped the price to $400. Also helped all this was happening just a month before Forza Horizon 2 came out and that was one of the best games on the market for any console at the time. Sending death threats or saying other stuff to low-level employees who don't make the initial, very stupid decisions Don Mattrick made doesn't help anybody, including the person getting all ticked off.
Halo Infinite (campaign) even on the base Xbox One I'm having a great time with it, can't wait to see how much better it is on Series X when I eventually get one. After Halo 5 I was a bit concerned but this is 343's best work, by far, on the series and can see this game just getting better with future DLC.
I'm actually going 90-92 for this one, eventhough I didn't care for Halo 4 and 5 at all. I stick to the campaigns, not really a multiplayer fan, and haven't been in love with 343's work but this one seems like it'll be a big step up. I'm hopeful, anyway, because there seems to be more excitement for this game than there was Halo 5.
No matter what, it's a day one buy. I'd love to be able to get a Series X before then but if not hopefully my XOne from 2014 will be able to play it competently enough.
I wasn't thrilled with MS buying Bethesda just like I wouldn't be thrilled if Sony or even Nintendo nabbed an entire publisher but once the deal happened you have to accept it. Apparently many people still haven't since this stupid question about exclusivity of Bethesda games is still being asked. Spencer needs to bottomline this and be very direct when doing so... Want to play Bethesda games? Buy an Xbox or build a top notch gaming PC.
Comments 2,052
Re: Deals: Xbox Is Having A Massive Backwards Compatibility Sale This Week
This is great, especially as I've been on a retro game kick. I still have most of my collection but some of these games on sale I idiotically traded in over the years, or just didn't buy. Big ones on the list for me are Panzer Dragoon Orta and Sonic & All-Stars Racing (the Vita version is good, I imagine on the 360 it's even better).
Gotta give MS credit, there have been some awesome sales over the last year. This is one of the best.
Re: Xbox Backwards Compatibility Is Teaching The Industry About Game Preservation, Says Exec
It's not perfect but MS is ahead of Sony (to be fair, the PS5 is an excellent PS4 bc machine) and miles ahead of Nintendo on this and the fact I can play damn near all my favorite original Xbox and 360 games in my collection, minus some sports titles, on the Series X is a huge reason I bought the console and why it's been my most played since getting it.
Re: Random: Legendary Filmmaker Thinks Halo Infinite Is The 'Best Of The Halo Series'
I only play the campaigns so judging based off that, I wouldn't say no. 1 but top 3 for sure.
1. Reach
2. Halo 3
3. Infinite
Re: Xbox Social Media Manager Explores Zeta Halo Using PS5 Controller
I've never used one of the Xbox Elite controllers so I won't go calling DualSense the best controller ever but of all the basic controllers I've ever used, going back to the NES era when I started, it's easily my favorite. The haptic feedback is awesome. I love the way they use the triggers when firing weapons, or how rumble will feel different depending on the environment you're exploring. It's a really cool control pad.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 15-16)
Series X - Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5
X360 (via backwards compatibility on Series X) - Dead or Alive 4, Rumble Roses XX, Saints Row 1
Re: Rumour: Xbox Exclusive Redfall Could Be Next In Line For A Delay
I've been interested in this game since the first sneak peak dropped but thinking it'll get a 2022 release is highly optimistic. Would love to be proven wrong but this feels like one of those games like Bayonetta 3 where an announcement was made early to try and keep momentum going for the system. One of those, 'look what we have on the way for you soon' type of deals, eventhough we all know 'soon' means at least 2 1/2-3 years away.
Re: Bad News, Stalker 2 Has Been Delayed To December 2022
It sucks but if it means a much better game like Halo Infinite, so be it. I was getting a bit concerned anyway that not much had been shown.
Re: Rumour Suggests Stalker 2 Is Being Delayed To Late 2022, GSC Game World Responds
Have the game pre-ordered and looking forward to it. Will be disappointed if it's delayed but if it's looking like it'll be a crap release if they stick to the current target of April then they have to push it back.
Re: Phil Spencer Discusses Xbox Series X|S Sales, Over 12 Million Reportedly Shipped So Far
@PhileasFragg
We'll see how it plays out longterm but the combination of Series S and Game Pass may be what MS needed to crack the Japanese market. I'm not saying it will catch PlayStation, certainly won't do what Nintendo is doing, but 360 was, compared to how other American consoles sold in Japan, a pretty big success and if the Series line surpasses that, it's only a good thing for the future of Xbox.
Re: Xbox's Sarah Bond Wants You To Play Firewatch On Game Pass
I appreciate her passion but I'll politely decline. Not my kind of game at all.
Re: Talking Point: What Xbox Game Are You Most Excited For In 2022?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, Demoniaca, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Hellblade 2, Starfield, Redfall (if it comes out in 2022).
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 8-9)
@Dusk_Actual
Reach still has my favorite campaign, followed closely by 3. Aside from 4 and 5, all the campaigns are really great. I'd definitely recommend the Master Chief Collection.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 8-9)
@Dusk_Actual
I loved the Halo Infinite campaign as well, I actually don't play multiplayer much at all, I'm on my second run of the single player. Really like the way they handled Cortana in this. It wasn't perfect but they did the best they could given how they painted themselves into a corner with 5's horrible portrayal of her.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 8-9)
Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5 and Rumble Roses XX are the games in my rotation this week.
Re: Pick One: Which Is Your Favourite Game In The Mass Effect Trilogy?
For me it's the first. I thought it had the best storytelling and while the gameplay was the roughest, I liked certain elements of it the most, particularly weapon upgrading.
Re: Three Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (January 6)
Mass Effect, but I have a disc copy I just bought last week.
Re: Playground Games Co-Founder Gavin Raeburn Is Leaving The Company
@Rural-Bandit
Yup. Interested to see how Fable turns out. Big departure from what Playground usually makes.
Re: Talking Point: With PSVR 2 On The Way, Do You Wish Xbox Also Had A VR Headset?
I don't think it'd be a bad idea but for right now I'd like to see MS continue the momentum it has from 2021 and focus on the Series X/S bringing the Xbox brand back to what it was in the 360 days. After that, a year or two from now it can explore things like VR.
Re: Playground Games Co-Founder Gavin Raeburn Is Leaving The Company
Best of luck to him. Since the first Forza Horizon the series has been one of my favorites in gaming and Playground has established itself as one of my top 5 favorite devs.
Re: Pick One: Which Is Your Favourite Xbox Yakuza Game?
0 is still my favorite in the series but Like a Dragon is a great soft reboot and one veterans and newcomers can enjoy equally since the story and characters are new.
Re: No Joke, It Looks Like GoldenEye 007 Is Finally Coming To Xbox
My favorite N64 game after Resident Evil 2 but console FPS have come a long way since then and GE hasn't particularly aged well. If this remake/remaster does in fact happen, I can look past the rough edges and enjoy the game, I'll definitely get it for sure. But I could see younger audiences saying 'this is what people went on about all these years?' And I couldn't fully blame them. A lot of 32/64-bit era FPS don't stack up by today's standards, even if I do like going back to revisit some.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 1-2)
The usual two for me the last few weeks... Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5. Just bought Mass Effect Legendary Edition so will also look to start that and I usually revisit an original Xbox or 360 game or two. Right now playing Black, which is one of my favorite games from Criterion before they pretty much moved exclusively to racing.
Re: Happy New Year From The Pure Xbox Team
Happy new year. Hope everybody had a safe, fun holiday season. Looking forward to what this year brings. I'll be more active on this website now that I have a Series X. MS provided a lot of great stuff in 2021 and I can't wait to see how it tries to keep the momentum going.
Re: Reminder: The Halo Xbox 360 Games Are Shutting Their Servers Soon
My favorite era of Halo. I stuck mostly to the campaigns (these days it's exclusively to the campaigns in any game series) but I enjoyed some Halo 3 multiplayer as well back in the day. I still say it's the best all-around entry in the series. Reach had a slightly better campaign but added all up, the combo of great single and multi put 3 over the others.
Re: Rare's Everwild Is Reportedly 'A Real Mess', Still Being Figured Out
@KilloWertz
I think the decline started before Rare got bought by MS. Most of its N64 games were good but I thought some near the end were kind of meh, and Star Fox Adventures wasn't exactly up to par either. Nintendo did give up its stake in the company pretty easily and I remember even back then it made me raise an eyebrow.
Not to say Rare hasn't provided some good stuff for Xbox. Sea of Thieves isn't my kind of game but a lot of people seem to like it. The Viva Pinata games were good and while the receptions were mixed I thought Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo and Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts were all pretty decent.
Re: Talking Point: What Have You Bought In The Xbox Countdown Sale 2021?
Halo: The Master Chief Collection (eventhough I have some of the games from their launches on disc) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. Now have all TR games, including the Lara Croft spinoffs, available on Xbox consoles.
Re: Remedy Partners With Tencent For New Free-To-Play Shooter, 'Vanguard'
@LtSarge
Control, AW 2, hell I even liked Quantum Break and wouldn't mind seeing that story continued. Even with all the new studios it does seem like MS is missing that one that is truly dedicated to narrative-driven single player experiences. Remedy fits in perfectly for that.
Re: Remedy Partners With Tencent For New Free-To-Play Shooter, 'Vanguard'
@LtSarge
Great point, didn't think about that. Of course, I'd counter that by saying for years Insomniac didn't want to be purchased either, and even at one point seemed to have a bit of a falling out with Sony not too many years before the company was bought up and made part of the PlayStation first party team. Everybody has a price and MS has a lot of $, I'd love to see something happen. If not, I hope Remedy does do well enough to keep making its own choices who it wants to work with and doesn't get nabbed by one of the Chinese tech giants.
Re: Remedy Partners With Tencent For New Free-To-Play Shooter, 'Vanguard'
@InterceptorAlpha
Same. I'm not ashamed to admit that anytime I see Tencent my interest in said game drops right to 0. Also hope this doesn't lead to an acquisition. Some of my favorite Xbox games have been made by Remedy, still can't believe with all the purchasing MS has done Remedy hasn't been one of those studios.
Re: Xbox Game Pass In 2022: The Full List Of Everything Announced So Far
Windjammers 2 and Redfall are the ones I'm most hyped for.
Re: Pick One: Which Is Your Favourite Xbox Console To Date?
Series X is new and while it's off to a great start (one of the best first years a console, not just Xbox, has had) and is a terrific backwards compatible machine, I want to see how its own library of games ends up before ranking it. I do already enjoy it more than I ever did the X1, however.
Out of the other consoles, it's pretty easy.
1. Xbox 360
2. Xbox
3. Xbox One
The 360 is a top 5 console all-time and was for most of that gen my primary platform. Thinking of pretty much any genre (light gun games aside, which have sadly disappeared), even JRPGs, the 360 had gamers covered. Had the best exclusive FPS in the Halos, best TPS in Gears of War, Forza topped the whole racing genre, had hidden gems like Condemned: Criminal Origins, one of the best day one games ever... Just a great time period for the Xbox brand. The original had some great stuff as well. Halo 1 and Dead or Alive 3 were a heck of a way to kick off a new console launch and it brought some franchises to consoles that may have been PC exclusive otherwise. The X1 is a pretty distant third but it did have one of my favorite Insomniac releases in Sunset Overdrive.
Re: Feature: Pure Xbox's Game Of The Year 2021
I'd still put Resident Evil: Village at the top but Halo Infinite is definitely a deserving winner. I liked, but didn't love 4, and then I pretty much couldn't stand 5 not only was the story terrible in the latter, and the characterization of Cortana disappointing but the gunplay sucked. With all of that I was concerned about Infinite but fortunately 343 made, easily, its best Halo to date and one of my new favorite in the series. The story wasn't perfect but trying to clean up the mess of 5 was always going to pose a problem, in that sense what we got was great, imo. But the most important part, the gameplay, 343 hit a home run. It felt like classic Halo, the grappleshot added a new spin to thinks and made traversal (even combat in some ways) extremely fun and the look and sound of classic Halo is also there. Couldn't have asked for a better comeback, looking forward to what the next few years will bring and how 343 will proceed with doing the single player campaigns.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 25-26)
Mostly Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 but since I just got the Series X I'm also digging through my collection of older games to see what they're like with the enhancements from the new hardware. It's great that so many older games can be played on the XSX but some are like brand new experiences such as Sonic Generations, one of my favorite games from that era is even better in 60 fps.
Re: Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From The Pure Xbox Team
Merry Christmas, hope everybody has a great day.
Re: Here Are Your Xbox Games With Gold For January 2022
I don't get too positive or negative over the 'free' games MS (or Sony for that matter) offers through XBL Gold anymore. But I will say this month isn't bad mainly because of Radiant Silvergun.
Re: Poll: Of All The Xbox Games You Play, What Percentage Are Game Pass Titles?
Probably 90% of the games I play are on there, but I still buy them to own.
Re: Xbox's New '20 Years Of Play' Trailer Hits Us Right In The Feels
I'm more of a PlayStation guy but while PS2 was my console of choice the original Xbox had some of my favorite games that gen. Halo 1-2, Dead or Alive 3, PGR, Forza Motorsport, Jade Empire, Doom 3, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, Top Spin Tennis, the classic Splinter Cells... It was an impressive debut for MS in the console market.
Re: Talking Point: What's The First Game You'd Recommend Downloading On Xbox Game Pass?
Going outside the normal like Halo or Forza Horizon... I'd say Psychonauts 2.
Re: Xbox Creator Demands Action As Sexist Xbox Live Recording Goes Viral
I've never really been into online gaming (even in FPS like Halo I play them more for the campaigns) and people acting the fool is part of the reason why. I don't actually mind trash talking, I played sports for a lot of years, but when I play video games I want to relax and some of the stuff I've heard people say to others on the rare occasions I do try multiplayer can be a bit over the top. Easiest solution is use the mute button. People can say 'it shouldn't have to be like that' but it's the same as saying 'that's not fair' when something in real life doesn't play out the exactly the way you want. The internet is vast, there's going to be a-holes. The tools put in place to mitigate the toxicity aren't perfect but used right you can have a mostly good time.
Re: Forza Horizon 5 Wins GOTY Award, Gives Away Free Wheelspins To Celebrate
@BlueOcean
Yup, a video game is a video game. Genre shouldn't matter, if a game excels like Forza Horizon 5 it should be up for the Game of the Year award.
Re: Pick One: Which Is Your Favourite Assassin's Creed Xbox Game?
Still Assassin's Creed II, that was some game back in 2009. Great gameplay built off the solid foundation laid in AC 1, a great, new lead in Ezio (also still my favorite character in the entire series), strong overall narrative and an open world that was tons of fun to explore.
Also love Black Flag, Syndicate, Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla but if none of those excellent games could do it, I don't think II will ever be topped.
Re: Poll: Which Has Been Your Favourite Xbox Game Studios Title In 2021?
For me it's tough to decide between Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5. Objectively, the latter is probably the better game, but Infinite is such a great return to form for Halo and at one time that was my favorite series so for the purpose of this poll I voted for that game. Lots of great stuff from Xbox Game Studios overall this year, can't wait to see what these teams do going forward when just having to focus on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 18-19)
Replaying the Halo Infinite campaign and starting Forza Horizon 5.
Re: Xbox Employee Recalls 'Sheer Hate & Vitriol' The Community Team Received In 2013
@Fenbops
That's the way to do it. I waited until 2014 when all the launch units (which tend to be the most faulty ones) were out of the way, they unbundled Kinect and dropped the price to $400. Also helped all this was happening just a month before Forza Horizon 2 came out and that was one of the best games on the market for any console at the time. Sending death threats or saying other stuff to low-level employees who don't make the initial, very stupid decisions Don Mattrick made doesn't help anybody, including the person getting all ticked off.
Re: Random: Of Course Phil Spencer Is Playing Halo Infinite's Campaign
Nearing the end of the campaign, been fantastic so far. The Grappleshot is a far better addition than I thought it'd be.
Re: Poll: What Is Your Xbox Game Of The Year For 2021?
1. Resident Evil Village
2. Forza Horizon 5
3. Halo Infinite
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Psychonauts 2
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 11-12)
Halo Infinite (campaign) even on the base Xbox One I'm having a great time with it, can't wait to see how much better it is on Series X when I eventually get one. After Halo 5 I was a bit concerned but this is 343's best work, by far, on the series and can see this game just getting better with future DLC.
Re: Halo Infinite Campaign Now Live, Here's How To Download
@fox_mattcloud
Agree. Very frustrating.
Re: Poll: What Do You Think Halo Infinite's Metacritic Score Will Be?
I'm actually going 90-92 for this one, eventhough I didn't care for Halo 4 and 5 at all. I stick to the campaigns, not really a multiplayer fan, and haven't been in love with 343's work but this one seems like it'll be a big step up. I'm hopeful, anyway, because there seems to be more excitement for this game than there was Halo 5.
No matter what, it's a day one buy. I'd love to be able to get a Series X before then but if not hopefully my XOne from 2014 will be able to play it competently enough.
Re: Phil Spencer: The Elder Scrolls 6's Xbox Exclusivity 'Isn't About Punishing PlayStation'
I wasn't thrilled with MS buying Bethesda just like I wouldn't be thrilled if Sony or even Nintendo nabbed an entire publisher but once the deal happened you have to accept it. Apparently many people still haven't since this stupid question about exclusivity of Bethesda games is still being asked. Spencer needs to bottomline this and be very direct when doing so... Want to play Bethesda games? Buy an Xbox or build a top notch gaming PC.