While Xbox as a brand is not doing its best right now, it can be pretty easy to forget just how incredible the big X’s early days were. Weird, slightly alien, and boasting a controller from lead architect Andre the Giant, the OG Xbox was more than capable of stepping up to fill the void sadly left by SEGA. But what about the games on the giant obelisk from space? Were those any good? Well, as these 50 games will attest, they were some of the greatest of all time.
50. Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Pretty much every console platform had their mascot platformer. For PlayStation, they started with the Crash Bandicoot franchise before moving to Jak and Ratchet on PS2. For Nintendo, it’s obviously Bubsy. When Microsoft revealed the Xbox then, with The Rock standing side by side with Bill Gates, it was clear that the Xbox was going to try and find a mascot of its own. Enter Blinx: The Time Sweeper, an anthropomorphic cat with a vacuum cleaner that can control time.
Gaming used to be so peak.
As Blinx, you’re trying to stop a gang of pigs from travelling through time and destroying the world. To do that, you’ll use a vacuum cleaner that allows Blinx to stop, slow down, fast forward and rewind time. He can also hit record to create a clone of himself, and you’ll need to use all of those abilities to solve the game’s various combat and platforming puzzles. Reviews at the time weren’t the most glowing, but if you want a platformer unlike anything else out in the early 2000s, Blinx deserves props for uniqueness alone.
49. Stubbs The Zombie in Rebel Without A Pulse
If zombies appear in video games, 99 times out of 100 they’re common cannon fodder for the heroes to defeat, dismember or disembowel. Stubbs The Zombie in Rebel Without A Pulse is that 1 in a 100 game, with players controlling the eponymous undead as he finds himself in the retro futuristic city of Punchbowl in 1959. Immediately after rising from his grave, Stubbs starts relieving the local populace of the grey matter, with the full game revealing both the origins of Stubbs, Punchbowl and the reason for the zombie outbreak.
A sort of action adventure game with light strategy elements, Stubbs has the ability to devour the brains of his enemies, which has the two-pronged benefit of recovering his health and recruiting new rotting corpses to your horde. Besides being a charismatic leader of the undead, Stubbs also wields lots of his own combat abilities, mostly to do with exploding body parts for some reason. There’s a fair bit of jank to this one, but it possesses a unique energy that could only be found on the original Xbox.
48. Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller
After the failure of the Dreamcast, SEGA really hitched their wagon to Xbox for a while there. Sure, games like Sonic Adventure were released on other platforms, but SEGA also started developing arcade games using an arcade board developed alongside Microsoft called the Chihiro. This board led to the release of arcade games like The House Of The Dead 3, Outrun 2 and Virtua Cop 3, while older arcade games like Spikeout were brought to the Xbox. The best of the bunch though had to be Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller.
Essentially the deluxe edition version of Crazy Taxi as a whole, Crazy Taxi 3 includes the characters and maps from the first two games, along with all the added techniques and refinements that the second game brought, such as multiple passengers and Crazy Hop. Throw in a brand new, Las Vegas inspired level, a brand new collection of mini-games in the form of Crazy X, and a whole new vehicle type to unlock, and you’ve got a game that refines rather than reinvents a classic. Still incredibly fun though. It’s also fun to say taxi in Welsh, which is “Tacsi”.
47. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth
Say what you want about Lovecraft, like his terrible pet names, but the world of Cthulhu and its surrounding mythos has had a chokehold on the horror genre for the last century. People can’t even touch cosmic horror without earning some kind of comparison to Lovecraft’s seminal work, so it’s not surprising that when survival horror became one of the most successful video game genres, someone would try and pay homage to the master of it all. Enter Call of Cthulh u: Dark Corners of the Earth.
While it shares the name with the story that kicked off the Cthulhu Mythos, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth has more in common with other short stories surrounding the town of Innsmouth. Players control Jack Walters, an amnesiac mental patient private detective sent to investigate the town of Innsmouth while also investigating the missing six years of his memory. A famous commercial flop, Dark Corners included plenty of cinematic choices like a lack of HUD that have become staples in the years since, so it’s incredibly ahead of its time. Also, it’s bloody terrifying.
46. Steel Battalion
Arguably the game responsible for the most famous gaming peripheral not related to Guitar Hero, Steel Battalion felt like a bet from Capcom about how much they could get us to spend on plastic tat. The answer: abou t $200. The main selling point of Steel Battalion was of course the controller that aimed to make players feel like they were in control of a giant mech, and apparently to accomplish that, you need a giant switchboard looking thing with dozens of buttons, a radio dial, two joysticks, three pedals and more.
Despite walking weapons platforms not being a thing right now, Capcom were trying to create a heavy simulation focus with Steel Battalion, with small details like your vehicle falling over if you turn too fast making it one of the wildest mech games ever made. Special mention should also be made of the sequel, Line Of Contact, which was an online-focused affair that included a full faction campaign mode with persistent battlefields. Sure, the servers were taken offline within two years, but that’s nothing if not incredibly ambitious. We’d be amped to see another one.
45. Amped/Amped 2
If you wanted snowboarding games in the early to mid-2000s, the simple answer was SSX. EA’s brilliant extreme sports series was available on pretty much every platform and captured the boisterousness of extreme sports effectively. We should give props to Microsoft Game Studios though, as they worked with Salt Lake Games Studio to work on the Amped games, which were a worthy competitor to SSX’s snowboarding crown. As for which Amped game is better, Amped 1 and 2 were different beasts altogether.
Amped 1 aimed to be more of a simulation of snowboarding, leveraging the power of the Xbox Hard Drive to render full mountain resorts in real-time, allowing for unparalleled exploration for the time and complete freestyle runs. No linear courses here. Amped 2 felt a bit more arcadey in its approach, but the introduction of snow skates as an option is something no other snowboarding game has done, making it unique and worthwhile for that alone. We can’t decide which one is best, so play them both and enjoy some snowboarding goodness.
44. Metal Wolf Chaos
Ordinarily, we wouldn’t put a Japanese-only exclusive on one of these rankings as few people would have played it, but thanks to the Devolver Digital port in 2019, more people are aware of the ridiculousness of Metal Wolf Chaos. If you’re part of the unaware, her e’s the elevator pitch: you play as the President of the United States who must fight a coup d’etat from his Vice President, all in a giant mech suit. Oh, and it’s developed by a pre-Dark Souls FromSoftware, exclusively for the original Xbox. Utterly mental stuff.
Before the Souls games, FromSoft were perhaps most known for their Armored Core series, so another mech game isn’t actually outside of their wheelhouse too much, but a predominantly comedic take on American politics with mech suits is a ludicrous addition to their library. The game itself is nothing more than some simplistic blasting through a series of linear levels, purchasing upgrades as you progress, but there’s genuine fun to be had here with the bonkers premise and B-movie level voice acting that doesn’t panzer to the audience.
43. Panzer Dragoon Orta
Another SEGA series that managed to find a home on the original Xbox after the Dreamcast and Saturn crashed and burned, Panzer Dragoon Orta was the fourth and final game in the series. It was also developed by a different development team to the first three games, albeit with a few veterans who stuck around for the love of the game, which has led to some notably mixed feelings from even the development staff on its place within the wider series. Some felt Saga was a fitting conclusion, and Orta kind of tarnished that slightly.
Regardless of the previous game though, Panzer Dragoon Orta is still an immaculate on-rails shooter, with players mounting an all-powerful Dragon and laying waste to anything in the vicinity. Playing as Orta, you’ll contend with a post-apocalyptic world filled with bioengineered mutants left over from a previous war, and an evil empire intent on using her genealogy for nefarious means. It’s an incredibly short game, which is why it’s not higher in this ranking, but Panzer Dragoon Orta is an unmissable Xbox game.
42. Otogi: Myth Of Demons
We’ve talked about so far, and we’ve talked about FromSoftware, but what if we were to get some peanut butter on your chocolate, or some chocolate in your peanut butter? While SEGA might have only helped when it came to publishing FromSoftware’s action RPG Otogi: Myth of Demons in the West, it still marks a historic two-time partnership between one gaming juggernaut and a sleeping dragon. These days, a partnership like that would break the gaming news cycle, but back then, we simply didn’t know better.
Anyway, on the surface, Otogi might just look like the Xbox’s answer to Onimusha, but with FromSoft at the helm, you know you’re in for a challenging yet engaging action RPG where you fight demons in feudal Japan. There’s multiple weapon categories, plenty of magic to learn and a story that encourages at least a second playthrough to understand the full context. If you like this take on demons in Japan, FromSoft released a sequel a year later with more characters to unlock and play. Both are incredible, and they’re backwards compatible with current Xbox’s. Dust saying.
41. Phantom Dust
Another example of the Xbox showcasing games that were creative and different from whatever else was on the market, and another example of Xbox trying and failing to court favour with the Eastern markets, Phantom Dust is a weird one. An action RPG/strategy game that utilises digital collectible cards and deckbuilding, Phantom Dust feels like it dropped about 20 years too early. Say all those buzzwords now, and some publisher is going to try and sign you to create the next big indie hit, but back in the 2000s? You’re likely getting plenty of confused looks.
Set in a post-apocalyptic Earth covered by dust, the game follows the few remaining humans called Espers who are able to utilise the Dust. Before each level, you build your deck filled with skills of both offensive and defensive abilities, and must use them to try and survive various challenges and bosses. The gameplay is unlike anything else, the story is bonkers and bleak in equal measure, and there’s even multiplayer if you wanna play cards with your friends. Underrated at the time, Phantom Dust is absolutely among the best Xbox games of all time.
40. Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge
Flight games are typically more simulation heavy in their approach. Sure, logging a hundred hours in Ace Combat doesn’t mean the military is going to let you pilot a F-16, but having to go through the motions of take off and landing while dealing with semi-realistic physics makes most flight games feel more like a simulation. Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge, the sequel to the PC flight game from the year 2000 that’s loosely based on a board game, takes flight simulation and kicks it out of the airlock.
Set in an alternate version of the 1930s, players control Nathan Zachary, an air pirate trying to avenge the death of his friend. There’s a swashbuckling aesthetic that’s immediately obvious to anyone who plays this game, and the physics, aircraft and weaponry all play into that. You want realism? Piss off over to Microsoft Flight Simulator, as Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge is all about shooting down “not-Nazis” and looking good doing it. It’s fun, and it’s one of several original Xbox games we’re ranking today that’s still available to buy on the modern Xbox store.
39. MechAssault
We don’t have enough time in this video to break down the sheer enormity of the BattleTech universe, suffice to say that it’s a big tabletop wargaming craze with plenty of PC games that have come back to consoles in recent years in the form of MechWarrior. Back in the early 2000s though, the idea of a BattleTech game on console was a more novel concept, so much so that the idea was pitched to Microsoft by developers Day 1 Studios. The result was MechAssault, which just so happened to launch on the most mech-loving consoles of all time.
Set within the BattleTech universe, the mechs in MechAssault are a bit nippier than in Steel Battalion, with players controlling a BattleMech pilot as they try to repel an invasion on the planet Helios. It’s definitely a more arcadey take on mech combat, which helped make MechAsaault one of the first big successes of Xbox Live thanks to its online multiplayer components. All of these features were built upon in the sequel, MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf, which added new playable vehicles and more. Both MechAssault games make a wonderful duo still worth seeking out today.
38. The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
You’d think it’d be easier to make a game about Marvel’s lean, mean, rage machine, but for whatever reason, most games that feature The Incredible Hulk tend to be incredibly dull. The tie-in to the 2003 Ang Lee film spent too much time turning Bruce Banner into Solid Snake, while the SEGA tie-in to the 2008 film is just a mess of a game. The less said about The Avengers as well, the better. It seems like it’s inevitable that The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is destined to be the strongest one there is.
Interestingly, the similarities between Ultimate Destruction and the Edward Norton MCU film are hilarious, with Brucie on the run from General Ross, who’s recruited Emil Blonsky to track Banner. Blonsky then ends up becoming the Abomination, while Banner teams with Samuel Sterns to try and find a cure for the Hulk problem. The solution for all of these things? Play as the Hulk and smash everything into a fine, concrete paste. It’s simple and repetitive, but it’s a banger from the team who went on to make Prototype. Clearly, they knew their strengths.
37. Beyond Good & Evil
Let’s just admit it to ourselves now: we’re never getting that sequel to Beyond Good & Evil. Ubisoft have confirmed that development on the sequel is still ongoing, with the same level of insistence and possible deception as someone in a zombie film swearing they haven’t been bitten, but we’ll believe it when we see it. Even if that sequel never comes, or if it does come and manages to be absolutely crap, we’ll always have that original Beyond Good & Evil game to replay over and over again.
A stealth action adventure game from 2003, Beyond Good & Evil sees investigative reporter Jade going above and beyond for her story by working with a resistance movement to uncover a vast conspiracy. Jade uses her photography skills, along with athletics and skill with a big combat staff, to take the fight to the aliens, leading to one of the best and most varied 3D adventure games on the sixth generation of consoles. If you want an all-timer of an escapade, Beyond Good & Evil deserves to be played by everyone at least once. Also you cannot outrun me mentioning that it got sold with cheese every time the game comes up. What a wild time.
36. Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast
We actually have the Xbox to thank for Outrun making any kind of comeback, and yes, we are circling back to that partnership between Microsoft and SEGA. Using the Chihiro board, SEGA AM2 developed Outrun 2 for release in arcades in 2003, before being ported over to the Xbox in 2004. It was the first Outrun game in over a decade, and bizarrely the fourth ever Outrun release, and it revitalised the classic racing game by retaining the easy to learn, hard to master controls and mixing them with the most gorgeous sixth generation graphics ever seen.
Outrun 2’s Xbox port was great already, but Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast is another beast entirely. Essentially a definitive edition of Outrun 2, the game includes all the tracks from the original Outrun 2, along with the 15 new ones from the arcade release of Outrun 2 SP. Throw in more cars than ever from Ferrari, plenty of unlockables to collect and the biggest single-player mode in Outrun history, and this deserves to be remembered at the front of the pack as far as racing game royalty is concerned.
35. Peter Jackson’s King Kong
The Jack Black and Adrian Brody-fronted remake of King Kong might not have set cinema alight in the same way the original film did, but it did bring us a wee little whipper of a tie-in game, courtesy of Ubisoft. Like Hulk, you’d think a King Kong game would be easy to make, as you’d have the big ape rampaging through forests and eventually New York smashing everyone in sight. Simple, but effective, and while there are those levels in this 2005 release, the real meat and potatoes comes with the other 75% of the game.
When not playing as the monkey, King Kong casts you as Jack Driscoll, as you use whatever makeshift weapons and firearms you can find to try and survive the horrors of Skull Island. There’s a food chain to manipulate, leading to some inventive puzzle solving alongside some terrifying creatures to fight, which makes for a surprising highlight in a game that could’ve been altogether brainless. It might be ranked a bit too high for some here, but we genuinely reckon this is an all-time great FPS game. Don’t make us say it two times. 2x? Segue.
34. THPS 2X
Is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2X the best Tony Hawk’s game on the original Xbox? That arguably depends on how much you preferred THPS 4’s approach to a freeroaming career mode, or the changes in Underground onwards that allowed you to get off your board and stretch your legs. However, until Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 dropped in 2020, THPS 2X was the definitive collection of the first two games in the series, taking all of the levels and adding new features from the more recent THPS 3 to really seal the deal.
Essentially an exclusive director’s cut for the start of the Tony Hawk’s series, players skate their way through the levels of THPS 2, only for them to then unlock all the levels from the first game too. These come with added benefits like the ability to create female skaters, or an actual balance meter for grinds, but the real coup d’grace is the five bonus levels exclusive to 2X. Some parts of these levels have been recycled over the years, most notably Tampa Skate Park being used in THUG, but they weren’t included in the 2020 remake, making THPS2X a wholly unique entry in a beloved series.
33. Far Cry: Instincts
If you want to know where Crytek got their obsession with highly trained killers fighting mercs on island archipelagos, you look at the original Far Cry. The first PC game was developed by Crytek, and pioneered the open ended levels that would become the Far Cry staple. Here’s an outpost, you can attack it from any angle, have fun; you all know the drill by now. Naturally, its success meant a console port, and while Far Cry: Instincts isn’t quite as open as its PC counterpart, thanks to the lesser power of the Xbox compared to PC, it’s altogether more bonkers.
A remake of the first game, complete with an altered storyline and characters, players control Jack Carver as he escorts a journalist named Val to a mysterious cluster of islands. Immediately, he’s attacked by mercenaries, and the plot basically turns into The Island Of Doctor Moreau but with automatic weapons. There’s a mad scientist doing gene-editing research, you get a bunch of cool feral powers and must carve a path through the hordes of heavily armoured goons. It might have been overshadowed by Halo, but don’t sleep on Far Cry: Instincts.
32. Sid Meier’s Pirates!
Sid Meier has become a name in the gaming industry that’s just as legendary as Hideo Kojima, Shigeru Miyamoto and Josef Fares. That last one might be a bit premature, but he made Geoff Keighley squirm in his tighty Nikes, so he will always have our respect. Moving back to Sid Meier, he might be most famous for his work on the Civilization series, arguably the be all and end all in strategy games, but if you feel like being a swashbuckling scoundrel instead of a world conqueror, consider Pirates!
Essentially a full-blown remake of the original Pirates! on the Commodore 64, Sid Meier’s Pirates! for the Xbox sees players controlling a young, newly minted pirate on the Caribbean seas, seeking revenge against the villainous Marquis de la Montalbán. Players earn fame by taking on rival crews, engaging in duels, romancing the daughters of prominent governors and more. While the sailing might not be as in depth as something like Sea of Thieves these days, this is still one of the definitive pirate experiences on console.
31. Dead or Alive 3
Rest in peace, Tomonobu Itagaki, because if there’s one thing you were exceptionally good at, it’s having ninjas doing cinematically cool shit. Enter Dead Or Alive, the flashiest 3D fighting game in history and one of the most pleasing to watch brawlers. You might think we’re saying that because of the — ahem — jiggling, but we’re actually talking about juggling. Juggle combos, specifically. Get your head out of the gutter. What we’re saying is that Dead or Alive’s gameplay is entertaining to watch, because look how sick it is.
The series might have started life on the Dreamcast and arcades, but the franchise took on new life when DOA 3 dropped on the original Xbox. Functionally, the game isn’t much different from 2, albeit with some changes to make the game easier for beginners to grasp, but the real improvements come from the graphics enhancements. Bigger stages, better character models and lighting, along with a pretty memorable final boss, make DOA 3 a true fighting game legend on the original Xbox that still looks like it comes from the future. .
30. Jet Set Radio Future
Another Dreamcast refugee, it’s amazing that we even got one Jet Set Radio game, never mind a sequel. There’s no amount of words that can do justice to the chokehold that cel-shaded graffiti’em up had on Y2K era gamers. Hell, the effects and influences of Jet Set Radio are still being felt today thanks to games like Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and with another Jet Set game on the way, we’re hopeful that our best times of funky beats, laying tags and punching cops are ahead of us. Still, that new game will have a hell of a job trying to top Jet Set Radio Future.
A part sequel, part remake, part alternate reality experience according to composer Hideki Naganuma, apparently, Jet Set Radio Future sees the G.G.s clashing with rival gangs and the authoritarian Rokkaku Group on the streets of a future Tokyo. The graphical style is a little bit darker than the original Dreamcast release, but the cel-shaded vibrancy is on full display, now with bigger environments and no time limits. It’s bigger, just as fun as the original, and oh boy that soundtrack will always slap.
29. The Punisher
Forgive us, but we’ve reached the “Cultured Vultures has to talk about The Punisher” portion of our rankings. If you’ve been around the channel for a while, you’ve probably seen us do it before, so just bear with us for a minute. If not, let’s talk about how Volition’s The Punisher is one of the best games on the original Xbox. Is it the cleanest, the most refined or the best example of video games being high art? No, but you get to run rampant through hordes of goons with high powered weaponry and the skills to commit nothing less than gratuitous violence.
While not related to the 2004 film of the same name, The Punisher did see Thomas Jane reprise his role as Frank Castle, taking him back to his old stomping grounds of New York City. Here, Frankie boy has to contend with various crime families like the Gnuccis, the Russian Mafia and even the Yakuza. Throw in plenty of comic book villains like Bushwacker, Jigsaw and Bullseye, and it’s a bit of a bad day at the office for Castle. Thankfully, The Punisher never met a problem he couldn’t murder his way out of, and in this game? Murder is always a huge dub.
28. Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition
Look, normally Need For Speed gets all the limelight in rankings like this, so permit us the chance to gush about Midnight Club alone for once. Rockstar’s now forgotten and abandoned street racing franchise, Midnight Club (2 especially) took players around the world and had them race at blisteringly high speeds while looking at some of the most horrifying character models of all time. Midnight Club 3 dialed back the international aspects along with the character models, focusing instead on tight racing physics and impeccable open world design.
Set across three American cities of San Diego, Atlanta and Detroit, you’ll enter various street racing tournaments and mingle with different clubs who specialise in certain vehicle types. From SUVs to muscle cars, bikes, super cars and tuners, vehicles of all kinds were represented in Midnight Club 3, making it feel like a more comprehensive racing experience than something like Need For Speed. There’s something about open world street racing on bikes that hits the right vibe, especially when racing at night, and Midnight Club 3 nails it.
27. Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
It’s possible that even Ubisoft didn’t know how much of a winner they were on to when they decided to revive the Price of Persia series for the sixth generation of consoles. Even though it had only been a few years since Prince of Persia 3D for PC and Dreamcast, the poor quality of that release meant expectations were lowered heading into Ubisoft’s take on the franchise, The Sands Of Time. The end result was a 3D adventure platformer that arguably changed the landscape of gaming forever.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time wasn’t the first action adventure to include heaps of platforming puzzles, considering Tomb Raider had been around for years before that. The Sands of Time parkour platforming and wall climbing inspired everything that game after it though, with practically every action adventure game including easily climbable and clearly signposted walls. White scuff marks were the yellow paint of 2003, people. Anyway, incredible combat, puzzles and platforming, aided by the gimmick of controlling time, made The Sands of Time a sixth generation banger.
26. The Warriors
These days, getting any sort of game out of Rockstar feels like pulling teeth. GTA 6 got delayed around the time of writing, if you couldn’t tell. Go back to the turn of the millennium though and Rockstar were developing and/or publishing multiple games a year, and they were all bangers. Don’t fact check us on that, they were all great. While the likes of GTA and Bully have gone down in history, another Rockstar whipper that we’ll always take a chance to talk about is The Warriors. Whoever decided to make a tie-in for a then 25 year old movie cooked, honestly.
Based on the movie from 1979 about the eponymous gang’s odyssey through New York on one fateful night, Rockstar’s The Warriors functions as a full prologue to the film. All the characters are given fleshed out backstories, while the various gangs of NYC are given more time and development too. For fans of a cult classic piece of cinema, The Warriors is a perfect accompaniment, but even if you play the game without seeing the film, you’re still getting a wonderfully brutal brawler with a surprisingly deep multiplayer experience.
25. Star Wars: Battlefront 2
Pandemic deserves all the credit in the world for creating the Star Wars Battlefront series and arguably popularising the hero shooter genre. Sure, they were five years too late to beat Team Fortress to the punch on PC, but when it comes to consoles, we were yet to see a proper class-based multiplayer shooter. 2004’s Battlefront might have started the gaming masses’ love affair with Battlefront, but Battlefront 2 a year later really cemented the formula for many. For starters, it actually lets players have a go as the heroes, so that’s something.
Essentially a bigger, more content complete sequel, Battlefront 2 offers players a campaign where players control a clone trooper both before and after Order 66, allowing you to experience a good and evil playthrough in one go. Meanwhile, Galactic Conquest allowed multiple players to engage in either a competitive or co-operative version of Star Wars Risk, as players vie for control of the galaxy. Throw in online play for those who were privileged enough at the time and Battlefront 2 was an unmissable multiplayer experience.
24. Mercenaries: Playground Of Destruction
From one Pandemic developed, LucasArts published game to another (we swear this wasn’t intentional), Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction feels like a true version of what an open world game could be. Sure, Pandemic might have nearly caused an international incident when they released them, with South Korea actually banning the game from sale because of its depiction of the conflict between North and South Korea, but we’d love it if more games were able to just let us loose behind enemy lines.
Set inside North Korea, you control one of three mercenaries sent in to hunt down the Deck of 52, which make up the key military personnel of the NK leadership. In order to ascertain their positions though, you need to make nice with the various factions, manage your reputation by performing missions and, you know, not being a rampaging gun nut. If you want an open world that gives you the freedom to tackle it how you see fit, Mercenaries is the game for you. Plus, there’s a hidden code to play as Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Who doesn’t love that?
23. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath
The Oddworld series made a name for itself with the misadventures of an unusual creature named Abe. The mystical Mudokon guided players through three epic quests before the series shifted gears to a first- and third-person Western starring the mysterious Stranger.
Stranger’s Wrath sees the titular character set on his own path, completely detached from the original trilogy. Using an arsenal of live ammunition derived from living beings that’s fired from a nifty crossbow, Stranger hunts down bounties to collect money for a life-saving operation.
Though it’s nothing like its predecessors, Stranger’s Wrath is just as eccentric, weird, and delightfully entertaining. It’s been ported to a lot of modern platforms, so if you’re wanted to become the second best bounty hunter in pop culture (the first obviously being Dog the), you’re in luck.
22. TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
As the third entry in the TimeSplitters series, Future Perfect had every opportunity to be a letdown. However, the game’s quirkiness, various locations across time, and co-op and competitive multiplayer resulted in an unforgettable entry in the sixth generation of consoles.
Sergeant Cortez returns on a mission across time to stop the TimeSplitters race from ever being created. While the campaign had its moments, particularly when Cortez battled zombies and ghosts, it was the multiplayer that helped drive the game’s popularity. Future Perfect also featured a level editor that allowed players to create different complex levels to share around, but if you were anything like me you just spawned everyone in a massive room and cackled like a maniac.
A new TimeSplitters game was in the works not too long ago, but we can’t have nice things. Quite unreal how they continue to mess it up. But hey at least we have TimeSplitters Rewind now!
21. Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
Unlike its Unreal predecessors, The Liandri Conflict was a first and third-person shooter, where players could swap on the fly to find their preferred playstyle. A sequel to Unreal Championship, The Liandri Conflict added character classes and a camera lock-on mechanic that compensated for the analog controls of console gaming.
There’s a story mode that’s quite enjoyable, but it’s the game’s multiplayer and its 50 maps that everyone rightfully flocked to. Team deathmatch, deathmatch, and capture the flag rounded out the classic game modes, though the host could have some fun if they wished and alter games with the series’ staple mutators.
If you’re hoping to see more Unreal these days, you might want to wait for Fortnite to die off, or you guys could at least stop paying £20 for a skin?
20. Thief: Deadly Shadows
There are games where thievery is a fun mechanic to tinker with. You know, Skyrim, putting the buckets on the heads. In Thief, it’s a focal point as players take control of Garrett, a master thief making his third appearance in a game that really showed just how wild lighting, or the lack of it, could feel back in the day. Deadly Shadows picks up after its predecessor, enhancing the experience with a large explorable living city.
Rather than follow a flow of steady missions, in between quests, Garrett can eavesdrop on and steal from random citizens while seeking out side quests. Thief: Deadly Shadows was the series’ first console release. It’s a game I fondly remember blowing my mind back on the OG. And while arguably not the best entry, it brought the popular series to a whole new market.
A market that would absolutely crash and die with the release of the titular Thief a few years later, a game that truly didn’t know what it wanted to be. The IP has been dormant ever since, apart from a VR game? Sure, why not.
19. Project Gotham Racing
Not the Batman Kart Racer we all so desperately crave.
PlayStation and Xbox each have their signature racing series. For PlayStation, it’s Gran Turismo. For Xbox, it may be Forza today, but it started with Project Gotham Racing, a series that plenty of fans still clamour for today.
Unlike traditional racing games, Project Gotham wasn’t just about finishing first. Players also had to complete challenges and score enough points to advance. It may have been a bit unconventional, but it was a good launching point for Microsoft’s signature racing series and set the stage for Forza.
Its style was even aped a little by Sony’s own DriveClub on the PS4. RIP DriveClub, you deserved so much more.
18. Splinter Cell
Metal Gear Solid might have pioneered the 3D stealth genre on PS2, but Microsoft worked with Ubisoft to create their own generational hit in the form of Splinter Cell. Sure, Ubisoft would go on to publish the original Splinter Cell on other platforms about a year later, but that one year, the original Xbox had the answer to the question of “what can stand up to MGS?” Said answer involved a highly acrobatic spy who was voiced by the brilliant Michael Ironside, with mechanics that focused more on light, sound and verticality than most other stealth games on console.
Set in the world of Tom Clancy, where pretty much everyone is on DEFCON 1 at all times, Splinter Cell sees Sam Fisher recruited to the NSA’s Third Echelon to deal with international threats. Players need to use the shadows in order to infiltrate objectives, shooting out lights and even climbing sheer walls to find the most advantageous spot. Throw in plenty of gadgets, such as a deployable camera that can be fired into walls, and Splinter Cell gives players all the tools they need to become a stealth legend.
17. Burnout 3: Takedown
Love speeding down digital streets, duking it out with competition for the first-place spot? Well, that’s not quite what Burnout is. Sure, you jump behind the wheel of some sweet rides in a high-speed race, but the primary goal is to take out the competition in a demolition derby-style race.
You’ll cruise through city streets and countryside, finding different ways to completely destroy opposing vehicles, whether you’re knocking them into walls or forcing them into head-on traffic. Burnout 3 refined the series’ concept for the best iteration of the arcade racer, complete with multiple game modes, new cars, and more. The ability to play your own music while ripping down the street was a feeling that you wanted to bottle forever at the time — I must have listened to Toxicity like 100 times while grinding World Tour.
Somebody get Criterion out of the Need for Speed content mines and please get them to make a new Burnout. Please.
16. Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
There are so many Star Wars games out there, so it says something when one is often described as one of the best. Jedi Outcast continues to follow Kyle Katarn, an extended-universe favorite who started his journey as an Imperial officer before joining the resistance and discovering his connection to the Force.
The game is an early example of how to effectively put players in control of a Jedi, with a good blend of Force-powers and fluid lightsaber combat. Though Katarn could have fit in modern Star Wars lore, the character is reserved for one of the best Star Wars stories to hit and, specifically, the original Xbox.
Some may view Star Wars Jedi as the modern versions of these games, but there’s something about these that we think may be remembered for longer.
15. Black
It doesn’t get any more straightforward than grabbing two weapons and going to town on your enemies. Criterion Games wasn’t looking to revolutionize first-person shooters with fancy mechanics in Black. Instead, it emphasized the best parts of action titles with cinema-inspired visuals, Hollywood-quality sound design, and destructible environments.
One of Black’s most unique mechanics is that players could only carry two weapons at a time, requiring them to strategize how they’d press forward in each mission. It’s also a game in which you often have to be on the move as your cover comes crumbling down around you. If there’s a sixth-generation game that could really thrive off a remake, it’s Black.
Black did get a spiritual sequel of sorts called Bodycount, but it’s a bit too easy to count the sales on that one.
14. Jade Empire
After knocking it out of the park with another famous RPG we’ll get to, BioWare decided to focus on an original IP that was still set a long, long time ago, but in our galaxy at least. The result was Jade Empire, which heavily drew on Chinese mythology and history, along with a love of Kung Fu cinema to tell a martial arts RPG epic.
The player controls a character referred to by many as the Spirit Monk, who’s raised from an early age as an orphan to become a martial arts prodigy. After several attacks on their home village, the Monk sets out to both investigate the cause of all the undead popping up across the empire, and take out the oppressive Emperor Sun Hai once and for all. Like all good BioWare games, you’ll meet a charming gallery of allies, some of which you can maybe even smooch, and make some devastating moral choices on your way to one of several endings. A stone cold classic, this, and one that we’d love to see make some kind of comeback.
13. Shenmue II
Shenmue II really pushed the limits of console gaming with mechanics you rarely even see in modern titles. Like, how many games have arm wrestling these days? Not enough.
The action-adventure title follows Ryo Hazuki, a young martial artist seeking revenge for his father’s murder. Ryo’s journey is rife with plenty of people to beat up, but Sega AM2 really gave players a lot to do and witness with large sandboxes to explore, minigames to enjoy, a day/night cycle and varying weather, and NPCs their own schedules.
Combat unfolds in brawler-style bouts, with Ryo taking on one or multiple opponents in a 3D space similar to Virtua Fighter. Despite a full English dub, the Xbox port suffered a bit compared to its original Dreamcast release, but it remained an iconic release that fans clamored for more for many years after. They eventually got what they wanted, though to m ixed results. I cannot believe they still left it on a cliffhanger.
12. Doom 3
Eleven years and four months after the original Doom shook up PC entertainment, id Software returned to its breakout series with a completely different take. Whereas the first two games were more action-packed, Doom 3 took a slower-paced, more horrifying approach. While some of the narrative conventions remained, framing this third entry as a reboot of the series, the gameplay was overhauled to fit a survival horror experience.
Though the series triumphantly returned to its action roots with the 2016 reboot, Doom 3 proved that the demonic romp on Mars had plenty of room for jump scares and bigger, badder enemies. I wouldn’t mind seeing a slower Doom like this again. Though Doom 3 first launched on PC, the Xbox version received a two-player co-op version of the campaign and ranks among the best looking original Xbox games.
Seriously, play it for five minutes these days and the lighting still holds up remarkably well. The shotgun is still a bit rubbish though, sadly.
11. Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Everyone is all about Call of Duty and Battlefield these days, but there was a time when the wartime FPS market wasn’t a monopoly of just two series, well at least on console. Brothers in Arms stood up against the behemoths that outlasted it with entries like Road to Hill 30, a dramatic and tactical shooter that put players in charge of a team of soldiers with a series of simple commands.
The game emphasized the suppression and flanking tactics of World War II (the “Four F’s”) and gave players a more nuanced experience than the series’ competition without getting super bogged down in ultra realism. The game was so good in what it achieved that the History Channel actually used it to recreate historical scenarios in its Brother in Arms special.
It’s kind of surprising that Ubisoft hasn’t tried to make this IP into a World War 2 version of The Division in recent years. Uh oh. Don’t give them ideas.
10. Fable
If you owned an Xbox during Fable’s reveal and release, you likely know that the game that eventually launched wasn’t quite in line with the ambitious promises of Lionhead Studios’ head Peter Molyneux. Despite lacking much of what Molyneux stated would be included in what was to be “the best game ever,” Fable became a classic and one of the best Xbox games across its vast library.
Players follow the hero’s journey from the very start, using blades, longbows, and magic to cut down fantastical foe on a quest to kill Jack of Blades. Along the way, the hero can be molded through moral decisions. Will you follow a path of nobility and appear more angelic or let your inner demon take control and grow horns?
Or will you just fart on everyone and marry everything you can? You know what King Arthur would do.
9. Psychonauts
Double Fine Productions has a knack for bringing the quirky and the strange to life. Its first venture, Psychonauts, set the stage for the company’s ongoing success with the zany adventure of Razputin “Raz” Aquato. Looking to join the famed Psychonauts, Raz runs away from his circus family to put his psychic powers to the test.
From telekinesis to pyrokinesis, Raz gradually learns new abilities as he helps the Psychonauts work through an exceptionally dangerous and complicated case and tackles his own demons. Psychonauts really went heavy-handed on aspects of the human mind and Double Fine crafted a surprisingly deep and incredibly fun narrative that still packed quite the punch with unexpected themes for a platformer of the time.
A sequel released many years later to just as much acclaim, with Double Fine themselves now being a part of the Xbox family. If you’ve not checked out either game, you really really should.
8. Half-Life 2
Dr. Gordon Freeman was an unlikely hero forced to face interdimensional horrors in Half-Life. No wonder the NHS waiting list is so long. Unfortunately, things didn’t get any easier for him nearly 20 years later when he was awakened from stasis to find the world under the rule of the multidimensional Combine. His destiny once again chosen for him, Gordon is forced to join the Resistance, where he meets former Black Mesa scientist Dr. Eli Vance and his daughter, Alyx.
Half-Life 2 is a bit heavier on the narrative than its predecessor, with a fully fleshed-out world full of aliens, oppressive regimes, and weird science. Boasting the types of open environments rarely seen at the time, Half-Life 2 was a visual wonder, even on the original Xbox, and segments like the horror-filled Ravenholm have stuck with us for decades.
Now, granted, you don’t really want to play Half-Life 2 on the OG these days, but for the time, what an absolutely wild accomplishment.
7. Ninja Gaiden Black
Team Ninja resurrected the Ninja Gaiden series in 2004 with a game that became known for seemingly hating its players. The following year, the development team doubled down with Ninja Gaiden Black, a reworking of the newer action-adventure featuring new enemies and a higher difficulty setting that really tested player patience.
Team Ninja did also make the game more accessible with the easier Ninja Dog mode after receiving many complaints, though players were made a mockery of with subtle changes to character interactions. Black also added 50 combat missions, giving players more time as Ryu Hayabusa, a super ninja with an arsenal of weapons and abilities used against a rogue’s gallery of unforgiving foes and punishing bosses.
And before you think it, no. It’s not Souls-like. It’s just difficult. But there’s a high chance someone at FromSoftware played this and wanted someone else to feel a similar kind of suffering. How many of you even got past the first boss?
6. Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
Before Richard B. Riddick (ridiculous name by the way) found himself entangled with the Necromongers and going toe-to-toe with Bio-Raptors, he was a captive of Butcher Bay. The stealth action FPS Escape from Butcher Bay follows the titular character as he navigates the maximum-security prison, making temporary companions and lifelong enemies while trying to find his way out.
As a prequel to Pitch Black, Escape from Butcher Bay explores the character a bit more, including the true origins of his mysterious eyeshine that made him such an asset against the light-sensitive creatures. Riddick’s exploits in Butcher Bay lent to a wonderful stealth-based experience, which was enhanced by the prison’s ecosystem, its nefarious inhabitants, and Riddick’s own deadly skills. Also this really extra main menu.
One of the best licensed games of all time? Hey, we think it belongs right alongside Goldeneye.
5. Forza Motorsport
Microsoft definitely did something right when it released Forza Motorsport for the original Xbox. Not only was it one of the best Xbox games, which is impressive being a simulation racer, but the Forza name has thrived for more than 20 years across over a dozen games. That’s a lotta wheels.
Unlike the Xbox’s other popular racer, Project Gotham Racing, Forza is all about crossing the finish line first. Taking a cue from Gran Turismo, the game favors simulated driving over arcade racing, giving each real-world vehicle an authentic feel. With visual and performance customization, players could create their perfect ride to tackle the somewhat difficult racing experience that was worth the headache to master.
And while it doesn’t have the same fidelity as its more recent successor, there’s something about its aesthetic that remains timeless.
4. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
For so many fans of the Elder Scrolls series, Morrowind was their introduction. Keeping the open-world, free-form design of its predecessor, Morrowind perfected much of what The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall stumbled with, setting the stage for an experience that players would still love years after its release.
Morrowind embodies the best parts of the RPG experience, from a “be who you want” approach to gameplay that lets you build a character from the ground up, choosing from a set of skills, abilities, weapon types, and even moral choices to craft a unique hero. The level of customization and depth of gameplay that Morrowind achieved remains a marvel today as a launching point for some of gaming’s best titles, and also Starfield, which was just…OK?
It will be interesting to see if that manages to age nearly as well as Morrowind has, even if it has some eccentricities. Will people be talking about Starfield in 20 years? Probably not.
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
What more is there to say about GTA San Andreas that hasn’t already been said either by others or even by us over the years. It’s Rockstar’s most iconic game, and while GTA V might be making money hand over fist thanks to the endless re-releases and Shark Card sales, nothing beats San Andreas for vibes and pure nostalgia. There’s a reason why every other scene is some kind of meme, because so many people have played through the game that it’s a shared cultural experience. Here we all go again.
At this point, we probably don’t need to recap the story of CJ coming back to Los Santos and just having a bad time of it, but San Andreas felt like the deepest and most mechanically rich game in the series. CJ can hit the gym to become stronger with melee weapons, go for a jog to increase his stamina. or just eat 55 burgers and have CJ accumulate mass like his name is Mac.
2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Moral decision-making was a pretty big concept during the sixth generation of consoles, and BioWare’s Knights of the Old Republic handled it wonderfully. Being set in the Star Wars universe only enhanced the struggle between good and evil, allowing players to choose between the dark or light sides of the Force.
Each alignment came with unique Force powers that could easily turn the tide of every round-based encounter. Customizing your lightsaber when you finally get your hands on one was a delight, adding another level to really making players feel like they were creating their own Star Wars adventure.
And there’s little that can be said about the story without venturing into spoilers, but let’s just say that KOTOR’s narrative is lightyears ahead of the sequel trilogy’s. I bet that remake is struggling because it’s just too hard for them make a game as good as this. Right, let’s say Halo to the best Xbox game of all time. It’s got quite the ring to it.
1. Halo 2
It’s a tough call deciding between Halo: CE and Halo 2, both being incredible entries in the Xbox library, but the sequel elevated our time with Master Chief surprisingly by dividing it with a disgraced Covenant Elite known as the Arbiter. Halo 2 took a surprising step with a split narrative that followed the SPARTAN-II supersoldier and the Arbiter as they set out to stop the activation of a new Halo.
The sequel was a bit more polished than CE, its scope getting a little bigger as we see more of the Covenant, the Flood, and the titular ring. Also, you could dual wield, which was hilariously broken but still fun as shit.
Of course, what’s a Halo game without multiplayer? Halo 2 featured a two-player, split-screen campaign and was one of the first games to really drive Xbox Live and online multiplayer console gaming in general. Who knows where console multiplayer would be without a series like Halo to make it essential?
If you’re looking for the one game that made Xbox a force to be reckoned with, this is the one right here.
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