It’s been one hell of a year to be an Xbox One gamer, with a huge number of new games arriving on our favourite console throughout 2016. Some came with huge budgets, others dropped with little fanfare or cash behind it.
Here at TheXboxHub we spent the year reviewing more than 300 titles, from the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. But which were our favourite games of the year and which one title should be crowned TheXboxHub’s Xbox One Game of the Year 2016? Well, we got our heads together and saw the following come up trumps.
Joint 10) The Division
A stunning experience that must be played by all
Upon release, Tom Clancy’s The Division split the gaming audience. Some loved it, throwing many hours into the experience, whilst others were a little shyer to admit that Ubisoft had delivered a masterpiece – before they too took to the street of New York over and over again.
What could not be debated though was that Ubisoft had reignited their reputation and ensured that no matter whether you were looking for a shooter, or something a little more explorative, The Division came up with the goods.
Further expansions to the base game have appeared to enhance New York even more and whether you take to the streets during the day, at night, or in a full on blizzard you’ll love what you find.
Joint 10) The Bioshock Collection
Would you kindly go out and pick this up already?
We couldn’t split The Division and The Bioshock Collection when it came to deciding our Xbox One Game of the Year for 2016 list. Whilst the former delivered a unique run through every single time, the sheer draw of the outstanding Bioshock, Bioshock 2 and Bioshock Infinite, now all fully optimised for a new generation of gamer, made sure that The Collection would grace our list.
Whether you played it previously on an older console, or are just getting deep with the world of Rapture or the city in the clouds, Columbia, for the very first time, The Bioshock Collection is a massive draw.
Its price is spot on too, allowing the collection to deliver three brilliant playthroughs, and a whole host of downloadable content at one great price.
9) Titanfall 2
You’ll Titan-fall in love with this game.
What’s that you say? Titanfall 2 shouldn’t be on our list? Well why not? For it’s great.
Granted, it may have some rather rubbish AI, and it may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but everything else included in Titanfall 2 single player and multiplayer experiences are pretty much spot on.
You may be worried that the sequel just takes everything that you would have already taken in throughout the original Titanfall, but a number of new online modes, some utterly fantastic level designs and a huge range of new abilities and weapons ensure that it is an altogether greater pilot and titan journey.
8) Watch Dogs 2
Fun in the sun
The original Watch Dogs was criticised from all angles for its slightly boring, rather repetitive nature. But when Ubisoft acknowledged that a sequel would be on its way, the gaming communities across the globe crossed their fingers and prayed that it would be an altogether greater experience.
Without beating around the bush, Watch Dogs 2 is superb with a fun, yet serious, tale being held together by the opportunities created by side missions, exploration, driving, selfie taking and hacking. Oh yes, hacking!
Of course, hacking is a huge part of Watch Dogs 2 and the basic rule goes something along the lines of ‘If you can see it, hack it!’. When you get such a colourful and vibrant world that is so full of option, the slight downside that appears within the combat system can be easily overlooked.
2016 was a fine year for the big U and Watch Dogs 2 was just the cherry on the top of a very sweet cake.
7) Overwatch
And now my watch has begun…
Overwatch or Battleborn? Battleborn or Overwatch? It was the question on everyone’s lips for months before their release. With Gearbox dropping their super colourful, somewhat quirky ideas to the masses first, Overwatch was instantly on the back foot.
…Until it released and promptly blew the competition away.
You see, Overwatch just does everything better than its competitor, bringing a greater roster of delightful characters, some brilliant gameplay and quite possibly the very best online shooting that we can imagine. Throw in a ‘Play of the Game’ and you’ve got enough content to keep dragging you back for more day after day and week after week.
Overwatch or Battleborn? There is no contest.
6) Doom
DOOM is the greatest hit of the franchise; it’s got all the best parts of the previous instalments with a few extra additions.
From the minute id Software and Bethesda announced that DOOM was to make a comeback, the eyes of many a gamer lit up. If there was one team who could be trusted to make a decent effort at reviving one of the greatest franchises in videogaming history, then this was it.
And you know what? They did a bloody fantastic job.
With some of the most fun, frantic and gory combat seen in recent times, stunning visuals and a killer soundtrack to boot, DOOM is a running gunning delight. It may not reinvent the wheel, but that god damn wheel never needed reinventing anyways and so the makeover it has instead received is a great one.
The added downloadable content which has released in the months after its release may not have peaked interest like the base game, but DOOM is here to stay and if ever there was a game which would bring the very best glory kills, DOOM is it.
5) Dark Souls 3
The long and winding road.
Right, let’s get this straight. You’re either going to absolutely love everything about Dark Souls III, or you’re going to hate the whole damn lot. There is no middle ground with FromSoftware’s latest adventure and no matter how gorgeous it looks, and no matter how huge a world it brings, you’re just not going to be able to change that.
Perhaps that’s why we’ve got Dark Souls III sitting pretty in the mid-pack of our favourite games of the year – some of our writers absolutely adored it whilst others…well, you get the idea.
Or maybe it’s just in this spot because its so damn hard and the bosses that frequent the latest Dark Souls world are just too bloody difficult to beat. Yeah that’s it, that’s what we’ll go with this time round…a great game that still has all the difficulty that made the entire series.
4) Battlefield 1
The war to end all wars
From the very first video, Battlefield 1 was winning the war over Call of Duty Infinite Warfare. Hell, if YouTube positives and negatives were anything to go by, Battlefield 1 basically won the internet.
Thankfully the actual game itself delivered something special too.
Taking us back to the best era, doing away with all this ‘space rubbish’ that its competition went with, Battlefield 1 delivers one of the most authentic experiences we could ever have imagined. The story may be brief, but it is fully engaging and does everything so well that we just really can’t fault it.
The online side to BF1 is also of the utmost quality, allowing friends and strangers the opportunity to fight it out to the death in one of the most war torn visual epics we’ve seen.
Who wants to go into space anyways?
3) Final Fantasy XV
It’s probably not worth waiting 10 years for, but now that it’s here, FFXV is definitely worth playing
It’s been 10 years in the making and there were no doubt many were ready to sit back and watch the whole damn franchise unravel in one fowl swoop. But Final Fantasy XV is very good, bridging the gap and allowing fans of multiple genres the chance to get involved.
You see, Final Fantasy XV whisks you off to a wonderful new world; one full of great visuals, strong characters and a story like no other. yep, it may be a little slow to get going, and if you’re not a fan then this may be enough to push you away again, but should you stick with it then you’ll become engrossed in everything thrown your way.
Magic and Summons are obviously a huge part of the entire Final Fantasy scene, and we cannot complain about the show stopping spectacles that they bring, but it would have been great to see them play an even greater part.
FFXV took 10 years, but Square Enix certainly didn’t blow it!
2) Forza Horizon 3
Perfection perfected!
By many, Forza Horizon 3 is seen as the ultimate racer. Doing away with track limits, opening itself up to hours upon hours of explorative opportunities across an Australian setting that just oozes quality. Forza Horizon 3 isn’t just one of the best racers ever created, it’s one of the best games period.
With a huge car roster, more events, races, championships and stunts than you can shake a stick at and quite possibly the tastiest visuals ever seen, Forza Horizon 3 rarely falters.
When you then combine all those single player options with a seamless, smooth and gargantuan online multiplayer mode that caters for pretty much every racer who has lived, you’ll quickly understand how FH3 has made it into the top 2 of our list.
Even the addition of snow and ice in the latest Blizzard Mountain expansion brings another reason for all Xbox One gamers to visit the Horizon festival once more…but strangely it isn’t our overall GOTY for 2016. That’s because there is one title that is even more fun to play…
A game made to play with your friends, Rocket League offers fun, chaotic competition with endless replay value.
For Rocket League to place anywhere on this list is some going. But for it to nail the top spot and be crowned TheXboxHub’s Xbox One Game Of The Year 2016 ahead of titles that cost millions more sums up its very nature.
You see, Xbox One owners were casting an eager little eye towards their Playstation counterparts from the very second Rocket League was thrust into the world, hoping and praying that the brilliant gameplay found in the RC car arena would one day make its way to Xbox One.
And when it did, it tore up every single thing we thought we knew about gaming. It was fast, it was fluid and it brought the best teamplay moments this side of scoring a 40 yard volley on FIFA Pro Clubs.
The single player experience excelled as well – as it does to this day – and whether you’re a loner just looking for a quick five minute mash up, or a team of the most highly skilled Rocket League players wanting to drop a full evening session, Psyonix have created something that delivers every single time.
Additional content, new add-ons and the regular introduction of complete and utter game changers have ensured that nearly a year on from its Xbox One release, it’s still THE go-to game for many.
Rocket League is one of the best Xbox One games ever and takes the crown of TheXboxHub’s Game of the Year 2016.
So there we have it, TheXboxHub’s Top 10 Xbox One Games of 2016. We must however give honourable mentions to the likes of Inside, Dishonored 2 and Quantum Break who were all pushing for a spot on this list. Do you agree with our choices? Is there something we inexplicably left out? Let us know in the comments below!
