The best Star Wars games are…

10. Star Wars Battlefront 2

If you’re looking to feel like you’re actually amidst a battle in a galaxy far, far away there are few better places to turn than Star Wars Battlefront 2. (opens in new tab)While the story campaign is short and somewhat underwhelming, and there’s no longer dev support for it (RIP), what you’re really here for is glorious multiplayer that’s as polished as Darth Vader’s helmet. The star of the show this time around is the Starfighter Assault mode that sees you taking the ‘attack and defend’ mantra from the original Star Wars Battlefront (opens in new tab)‘s Walker Assault and firing it into space. Hurtling through space above Endor is thrilling business, dodging the debris of the ruined Deathstar, and makes for constantly cinematic, if chaotic entertainment. Galactic Assault too stuns with its enormous 32 player battles. After a rockier launch than the cliffs of Ahch-To, Battlefront 2 has evolved since it’s launch to become of one of the most accessible shooters for Star Wars fans. 

9. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

After 17 years perfecting its formula, developer Traveller’s Tales has returned to the game that started it all and decided to redo LEGO Star Wars. But ‘redo’ doesn’t do justice to the ambition here. This is a completely new game, recreating not only the original trilogy of films in LEGO form, but all nine films from the yellow text of A New Hope, through the “I am the senate” posturing of the prequel trilogy to the final shot from The Rise of Skywalker (complete with a brilliantly cutting sight gag). It’s all here. Not just the action sequences you know and love, but the towns, forests, and swamps around them, all bustling with LEGO-ised life and absolutely packed with Star Wars lore, puzzles, and challenges. When a game goes all-in like this, Yoda was right. It’s do, or do not; there is no try. And Traveller’s Tales really, really did it.

8. Star Wars: Squadrons

If you thought you couldn’t get a great starfighter game after Star Wars: TIE Fighter (and the excellent X-Wing series), you were wrong. Star Wars: Squadrons is a wildly fun space combat game from EA that is even better in VR. You’ll be able to get into the cockpit of a complex starfighter, turning knobs and pressing buttons like a real pilot as you take part in space battles across the galaxy. Multiplayer matches are a ton of fun, and a fairly engaging story lets you choose sides in the war for the galaxy’s soul: do you go for the New Republic or side with the Empire? Whatever you choose, Star Wars: Squadrons is a spectacle you’ll never forget.

7. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

This action-adventure puzzler may be targeted at a younger audience, but there’s no shortage of references and gags that appeal to grown-ups, too. Swinging our lightsaber haphazardly and breaking things is a blast, especially with the movie-authentic sound effects and music contrasting with the brilliant slapstick action. Inadvertently smacking our co-op partner and watching them explode into Lego bits is always pretty damn entertaining too. Don’t want to play as Luke Skywalker? Fine, swap over to one of the other 50-odd characters and mess around with their own unique abilities. Lego Star Wars 2 satisfies our eternal hunger for flashy lightsaber battles, and our equally eternal need to build Lego contraptions, all in one go. The Complete Saga takes you through the events of all six movies, allowing you to relive everything from the dramatic dual of the fates, to the destruction of the second Death Star. It doesn’t get much better than that.

6. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

If there’s a moment that sums up the simple appeal of this excellent Star Wars adventure, it’s when you first discover you can force pull enemies onto the hot end of Cal’s lightsaber. Few Star Wars games have really embodied the raw power of being a Jedi, but Fallen Order manages it. Add on intricate level design that makes exploring the game’s collection of planets a joy, and this is EA’s best Star Wars game since they started making them. We can’t wait for the sequel.

5. Star Wars: Republic Commando

This Xbox exclusive is one of the gems in the Star Wars games library. It’s a great shooter, which is a solid foundation, but LucasArts injects some much-needed variety into the action by allowing all four members of the squad their own individual voices and personalities. All have their particular quirks, skill sets, and preferred positions. In brief, these boys (and their often excellent AI) know exactly how to get the job done. Add in a number of clever design decisions and quality visual flourishes (that windshield cleaner) and you have one of the few Star Wars titles to truly excel in its own right.

4. Star Wars: The Old Republic

Thousands of years before the Emperor and Darth Vader ruled the galaxy with an iron fist, the Old Republic stood for over a thousand generations. That rich, rarely used history serves as the perfect setting for an ever-expanding MMO. BioWare jumped headfirst into this intriguing timeline with Star Wars: The Old Republic, giving players a vast, ancient galaxy to explore, unhindered by Star Wars movie canon. In SWTOR, you choose what type of hero or villain you want to be. You can take roles like a Jedi Knight struggling to maintain peace and justice, a shady Bounty Hunter looking to cash in on their next big contract, or a dedicated Imperial agent. Between the intricate storytelling of the main story (which is entirely unique to each class), abundant side-quests, and getting to know your ever-growing crew, The Old Republic lets you build your own space adventure one encounter at a time. It’s free-to-play if you’re feeling frugal, but subscribing lets you stick solely to main story quests, effectively offering eight epic BioWare stories in one place.

And there’s a whole new host of fun to be had with the Legacy of the Sith expansion that just dropped. We talked to BioWare about it ahead of its launch, and it only got us more excited to jump back into SWTOR. 

3. Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast

This is the ultimate Jedi fantasy. The game that lets you run around the galaxy fighting the Empire, cutting off stormtroopers’ limbs with a lightsaber, and using all of the Force powers seen in the movies. Jedi Outcast makes you feel like a powerful Jedi Knight – something that plenty of games have tried to do but just didn’t get quite right. Everything here is spot on, from the lightsaber clashes with your red-bladed, Reborn enemies, to the memorable encounters with powerful enemies and famous allies like Luke and Lando. Multiplayer is a treat, too. Players can still be found online engaging in the usual swath of online multiplayer modes. But you can also find more dedicated groups of players taking part in movie-like, one-on-one lightsaber duels as spectators calmly look on. Yeah, that really happens. People get serious when it comes to lightsaber duels.

2. Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2

A Star Wars game was the Gamecube’s best launch title. Seriously. Rogue Leader is that good. Dropping players into the cockpits of a number of different ships from the Star Wars universe, amid some of the most memorable parts of the films (and some other battles, too), its as complete a Star Wars air-combat experience as you could want. Death Star trench run? Its in there. The Its a trap! battle above Endor? It has it. Hoth? Not only is it in the game, but its done better than any other Hoth level in any other game before. Even today, the game looks beautiful, taking you to new and classic locations that range from the Cloud City of Bespin to hidden Imperial bases. Rogue Leader is a blast to play giving you a chance to take on the Empire as you engage in dangerous frontal attacks on massive Star Destroyers and blast your way through innumerable enemy TIEs. This is the ultimate star fighter pilot experience.

1. Knights of the Old Republic

BioWare delivers one of the most compelling Star Wars narratives ever with its RPG, Knights of the Old Republic. The universe – which is set during a completely different time period, thousands of years before the events of the movies – fleshes out the Universe in ways you’d never expect. You get to explore the galaxy when the Jedi Knights numbered in the thousands, discover the secrets of the ancient Sith, and even discover things like why Sandpeople hate outsiders so much. As you progress through the story, you’ll meet some fascinating and unforgettable characters, and in typical BioWare fashion, discover their deep backstories. The Assassin Droid HK-47 holds a special place in our hearts for his degrading and threatening comments towards organic meatbags, but steadfast loyalty to his master. The malleability of the story makes playing through the game multiple times vital to the full experience, and you’ll always be happy to oblige. Knights of the Old Republic is the definitive game for Star Wars fanatics. It has everything: witty characters, good versus evil, bucket-of-bolts starships and a plot twist that will blow your reverse power flux coupling.

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In times like these, the priority is to take care of your health, physical and mental, and to keep yourself safe while following the guidelines to help stop the spread of Covid-19, aka coronavirus.

If you’re currently cooped up indoors and are in need of reading materials, we’d like to point you in the direction of MyFavouriteMagazines.co.uk (opens in new tab). There’s currently an offer running on digital subscriptions, where you can get five issue of Official Xbox Magazine for only £5 for the first five issues. (opens in new tab)

If you’re in Europe, you can also get your first five digital issues for €5, and in the US, you can get the first five digital issues for $5.

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So if you can’t get to your local store to buy a magazine, you can still get it delivered instantly to your phone or tablet.

There are a host of other brilliant magazines available under the same offer, including Total Film, SFX, games mags like Retro Gamer, Edge and PC Gamer, music mags Metal Hammer and Classic Rock, and loads more. So head to MyFavouriteMagazines.co.uk/march206 (opens in new tab) to take advantage of the offer. Terms and conditions apply, offer runs until April 30, 2020.

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This article is taken from Official Xbox Magazine, your guide to Xbox One and with the inside track on Xbox One Series X. Subscribe now for as little as $9 for three digital issues (opens in new tab).

I normally hate those T-shirts with iconic collections of folk on them. You know the sort… ‘John, Paul, George & Ringo’. ‘Ross, Rachel, Monica, Joey, Chandler & Phoebe’. ‘Frank, Pat, Bianca & RIIICKY’. Alright, ‘iconic’ might be a bit of a stretch with that last one. The point is, thanks to my continuing, seven- year-long obsession with GTA 5, I’m seriously considering having a ‘Michael, Trevor, Franklin, & Dave Meikleheim’ tee made up. 

Almost a decade on, I’m still utterly besotted with Grand Theft Auto 5. Rockstar’s open-world masterpiece recently hit Xbox Game Pass, and seeing as I’ve previously only ever played the Los Santos epic on PC and a certain rival console – naughty, I know – that’s all the excuse I need to dive back into what may well be my favourite video game of all time. 

GTA 5’s story missions are still the best in the biz. Not a single sandbox competitor can match the drum-tight pacing, inventiveness or murdery spectacle the Blaine County adventure produces again and again over its 69 missions. But the real X factor separating GTA 5 from the rest of the open-world pack? Its trio of criminal chums, that’s what. 

God, I love switching between them. The first mission that lets you swap out Michael, Trevor and Franklin is ‘Three’s Company’; a daring daytime caper that sees the felons attempting to pluck a witness straight out of the IAA’s headquarters. The first part of the audacious kidnap requires Trevor’s mad whirlybird skills to land on the roof of The agency’s cloud- scraping office. 

Next up it’s Michael’s chance to hog the homicidal limelight as he abseils down the building, smashes through a window to grab the target, then busts out his best Max Payne impression during a suspended slow-mo shootout. To assist with the IAA slaughter, you can also switch to Franklin who’s squatting on the roof of the adjacent FIB headquarters armed with a sniper rifle and one seriously itchy trigger finger. Faced with such unblinking teamwork, those snivelling government cronies never had a hope. 

Of heists and men

As the story stakes escalate the criminal-swapping escapades become more and more elaborate. Just take ‘The Paleto Score’. One of GTA 5’s headline-hogging heists, this multitiered mission has the Los Santos cohorts ripping off a bank in a backwater town filled with corrupt cops. Cue a frankly insane job involving full body armour suits, a minigun spree that obliterates several police cars before downing a copper chopper, an escape in a bulldozer of all things, before a final shootout in where else? Why, a Cluckin’ Bell chicken factory. Naturally. Nail Trevor’s, Franklin’s and Michael’s individual roles and a cool $8,016,020 take swells your criminal coffers. It’s a mission of absurd spectacle that I bloody adore. 

There’s something inherently freeing in being able to chop and change between three very different characters. Not only does each of the trio’s special abilities increase your tactical options when you’re causing mayhem on the streets of LS, but it feeds into a quasi role-playing mechanic that allows you to take control of these crooks in a way that reflects their personalities. 

I’ve played through GTA 5’s story at least five times – yes, I’ve clearly lost the run of myself… for the umpteenth time – and every time the faeces hits the fan in these multi-man missions, it’s Trevor I switch to when death needs dishing out. Sure, his health- boosting ‘rampage’ power isn’t as useful in a pinch as Michael’s slow-mo shooting, but then again, I just don’t see De Santa having that kind of consistent carnage in him. Thanks to GTA 5’s criminal-swapping capers, I’m given the freedom to roleplay Franklin as the cool-headed getaway driver, Michael as the ice-veined cover-fire enforcer and Trevor as the unapologetic psycho who tips his cap to earlier entries’ thirst for cop- swatting rampages. 

Shortly after Red Dead Redemption 2 (opens in new tab) was announced, I hoped its debut trailer hinted that we’d get to play as the entire Van Der Linde gang. As it turned out, Rockstar’s epic Western settled on just two characters, and such focus was ultimately to its story’s benefit. More introspective than GTA 5, Arthur Morgan’s frontier tale wouldn’t have meshed well with chop-and-swap firefights. Still, all these years later, I can’t get enough of the trio. Keep the Magnificent Seven; I’ve got the Los Santos Three.

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Plus we bring you a massive Preview Special, featuring all of the biggest games releasing in 2019 and beyond. Plus there are free gifts: Xbox Icons sticker set and awesome double-sided Halo poster – all free with the latest issue of OXM (opens in new tab).

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100 Greatest Games on Xbox

There have been so many great games on Xbox since the first console was released in 2001, that it was a really tough job to list only 100 of the finest. From Halo: Combat Evolved and the Gears of War series to Forza, Batman Arkham, Assassin’s Creed and more, we’ve listed our favourite games that are still, via the magic of compatibility, playable today on Xbox One. How many of the 100 have you played?

Retro Xbox games

We love our Xboxes, and all the great games that have ever been on it! Find out the story behind underrated but brilliant Xbox 360 RPG Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning in this month’s mag!

This man inhabits an Oddworld

Every month we talk to the world’s top game developers and get behind the scenes with the greatest new Xbox games. This issue we spoke to Oddworld Inhabitants’ Lorne Lanning, creator of the Oddworld games, who tells us about the origins of Abe and his Mudokon friends, and the series’ latest forthcoming game, Oddworld: Soulstorm.

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Read more

How many people play Fornite? (opens in new tab)

The news often feels like it’s trying to tell us that the world is bad and video games are partly to blame, then, but a closer look to the future offers a more hopeful message. Video games are good, actually, and they can help to make the world even better. This year, games are being used as a tool to educate, unite, and build a brighter future, well beyond their function to offer pockets of escapism and entertainment to those who play them. 

Let’s begin with the battle royalephant in the room. Fortnite’s meteoric surge in popularity throughout 2018 may have introduced an entirely new audience of players to the world of multiplayer gaming, but that success was twinned with a sensationalised response by the mainstream media, bouncing off the understandable worries of parents concerned about their child’s latest obsession. That debate over screen time and age ratings is still playing out, but – whether you love it or hate it – Fortnite has the potential to be a positive platform in 2019, when so many other online ‘third places (opens in new tab)’ like Twitter and YouTube are falling short. 

Take the Climate Fortnite Squad (opens in new tab), a group of scientists who stream and play Fortnite together while discussing climate issues and interviewing key topical figures like the Director of NASA’s Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Office, educating an audience of Fortnite fans through the initial draw of playing a popular video game together. 

After finding success last year, the Climate Fortnite Squad has kicked off 2019 with the launch of a new Climate Gamers website (opens in new tab), Twitch channel (opens in new tab), and even more streaming plans beyond Fortnite designed to evangelise the climate conversation to the younger generation. Right now, they’re edging towards 1000 subscribers on Twitch, and this year will see them continuing to expand on that platform, working to beat climate change, one Victory Royale at a time. 

Games as a (public) service

Climate Fortnite Squad isn’t the only example of video games taking steps to educate people about the biggest issue of our time. Eco is an Early Access survival game, due to release this year, in which players must build a civilisation from scratch without ruining the planet in the process. 

Set in a reactive ecosystem based on our very own, you’ll have to gather scientific data to propose sustainable laws, work with others to conserve and protect the surrounding environment, and develop an economy that doesn’t threaten to send everything into climatological meltdown. And developer Strange Loop Games is just one of many studios attempting to resuscitate edutainment (opens in new tab) for a modern audience in 2019, a genre of games that teaches its player base about real-world topics through the lens of interactive entertainment. 

This year, there’s also Mars Horizon (opens in new tab), an upcoming space simulator developed in collaboration with the UK Space Agency, where players must manage an entire space exploration campaign with all the real-life particulars that it entails. Meanwhile, Nintendo has officially partnered with the Institute of Play (opens in new tab) to bring its Labo cardboard kits to classrooms across America this school term, all in an attempt to engage young children with basic principles of design technology. Learning through play is becoming an increasingly popular philosophy in education, and Labo has already proven itself appealing with kids, so this partnership makes perfect sense. Nintendo tested a similar program in Canada last year to positive results, and you can expect to see more of its impact to come to fruition throughout 2019. 

Estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars in net worth, the games industry is also continuing to make good on its opportunity to support noble causes in 2019. Already, Games Done Quick (opens in new tab), a non-profit that organises charity speedrunning events across America, has raised $2.4 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation (opens in new tab), with its next fundraising jam taking place in June. In March, Gamers for Giving (opens in new tab) will be holding their annual extravaganza where thousands compete and play together to raise money for Gamers Outreach Foundation, which provides gaming equipment for children coping with long-term treatment in hospitals. 

Meanwhile, the 2019 Games For Change Festival (opens in new tab) will bring lawmakers, developers, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits together to “share and learn how they can leverage the power of games for civic engagement.” These organisations, alongside the likes of Extra Life (opens in new tab), Humble Bundle (opens in new tab), and the AbleGamers Charity (opens in new tab) (to name just a few more), will together make new strides in supporting important philanthropic projects in 2019.

And, speaking of AbleGamers, thanks to an eight-year-old piece of legislation that’s finally coming into effect, this will also be the first year in which games in the US will be required by law to have their internal communications (i.e. user interfaces, on-screen text) accessible to people with visual or hearing impairments. This is thanks to the work of the International Game Developers Association (opens in new tab), which has been lobbying for greater communication accessibility in the games industry since 2003. 

The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act 2010 (opens in new tab), as it’s officially known, also requires that “people with disabilities must be involved in some capacity in the design or testing process” of each title from 2019 onwards, which itself is another step on the ladder in the path to making games more inclusive as a platform.

Play to win

And while the World Health Organisation’s conclusion on gaming addiction may have cast a dark cloud over the scientific conversation around gaming, the debate over their neurological impact is always evolving, though you’re less likely to hear about the more positive findings when they don’t make quite as compelling a news headline. At the beginning of 2019, for example, a newly released study from the Memorial University and Université de Montréal revealed that video games can maintain and even improve the cognitive capabilities of the elderly, as evidenced by the Silver Snipers, the world’s oldest esports team, who recently told CNN that their competitive tours around Europe are providing them with healthier and happier lifestyles in their senior years. 

Even putting all of the evidence to one side, it’s hard to deny that the people, projects, and passions of the video game industry won’t continue to be a force for good, with history acting as our most reliable prophet. 2018 alone gave us dozens of the kind of unexpected, uplifting anecdotes that pop up throughout the year without fail, like Ninja Theory donating $50,000 of its Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice profits to Mental Health America (opens in new tab), Microsoft releasing the world changing Xbox Adaptive Controller (opens in new tab), or Bethesda previewing Fallout 76 to a 12-year-old with terminal cancer (opens in new tab), and I have every faith that we’ll be hearing similar examples of heartwarming stories over the next 12 months. 

Video games can positively impact lives in ways most of us can neither see nor comprehend, in spite of their critical growing pains that undoubtedly need addressing in the long term. These hurdles, from triple-A predatory gambling practices to the aforementioned issue of gaming addiction, are real and unignorable. But, like in any emerging art form, they’re problems to solve, not excuses to dismiss the medium outright. 

As a beacon for technology and culture, video games are an irreplaceable cog in the workings of modern life for the 21st century and beyond. The sporadic, hyper-reactive accusations by those who suggest otherwise would do well not just to recognise their value to society, but learn how we might use them more effectively to bring about the kind of change that we’re already seeing in 2019.

For more on how video games can impact the world and the people who play them, here’s the scientific explanation on why they’re good for our brains (opens in new tab). 

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You’ve tried to outdo yourselves this time with even more types of weapons, so how many do you think you’ve got?

Jimmy: “Because of the nature of the system, over a billion is kind of accurate, the way the parts play together, what we’ve taken from BL2 and the technology that we’ve moved forward, those numbers compound and get big really quick, so the iterations are out there.”

Kevin: “But in the guns that you’re going through, and as you’re collecting the guns, we tried to get variety on a more human scale, and doing that by making very specific gameplay types from all the different manufacturers. And so finding the variety within has been a major focus, the number kind of came secondary, it was the result of us doing that.”

Jimmy: “We definitely reached a threshold where it doesn’t matter how big the number is, because from a player perspective it is unachievable. So you start to expand sideways and up and down and left and right and see what we could do to add depth and variety, more than just a top line number.”

Are all those weapon variations pretty much potentially available from the start?

Kevin: “There’s definitely a level ramp, as you’re moving in. The more rare a weapon is, the more parts are available that the system is going to attach to it and that’s where the variety happens, it’s where the heart of a player’s experience comes from. If you gave someone everything from the very start, then what are you aiming to get later? And you’re not going to be surprised. And so we’ve got it so that the variety slowly exposes itself.”

Jimmy: “So that the progression and that perception of value is good – something to hunt for and search for as you go through the game. There’s a bit of an art to it, finding out when you should allow something to open up into the system so that, cool, there are some new things that I can hunt for now; but yeah there’s a little bit of gating in that sense but by the time you’ve reached the full steam of the narrative in the game you’re fully exposed to everything the system’s got to offer.”

Balancing must have been quite tricky. Is the damage balanced for the enemies or is it possible to be massively overpowered?

Kevin: “Overkill scenario is actually possible, one of the fun things about the game is that it is possible, but if it happens, it’s only going to happen for a few levels, right? Eventually that gun is going to be overpowered by the enemies but you’ll have a hell of time during that time where you can just god-like destroy!”

Jimmy: “A lot of our long-time player retention thrives in that finding the broken builds and finding that piece of gear somewhere that does this thing to that thing, that gives you this kind of ‘god build’ and you can run around and enjoy the fruits of your labour – the fact that you found this synergistic set of gear and skills and abilities that all work together. Thankfully, the way our game is set up, being PvE narrative focused, co-op or single player, we’re not afraid of those overpowered builds. Just have fun, let it happen!”

What’s the craziest thing you’re proudest of creating, weapons-wise?

Jimmy: “Children Of The Vault weapons have unlimited magazine size, and so, what does unlimited magazine size mean? How do you visually represent that and what are the gameplay implications? And so we’re like, well how about instead of some giant belt feed or huge magazine down to the ground we have what we call the Bullet Forge.”

Kevin: “If you look at those COV guns you start them up like a motor and there’s a little forge that’s on the right hand side of the gun that’s building bullets and then dumping them down the belt into your gun, so it’s a fun little way that we explain the gameplay aspect of like, alright cool, you just get to shoot as many bullets as you have. And, er, we thought we were pretty clever!”

How did you go about balancing the loot when it comes to ammo? We were running out of ammo a lot in our playthrough…

Jimmy: “Ammo ended up being one of the trickiest currencies [for us] in Borderlands: getting enough of it, not getting too much of it, making sure it’s still something that folds into the gameplay. It becomes a player choice – if you’ve got a high rate-of-fire weapon, one of the downsides of it is that you may be running out of that type of ammo quite a bit, and if you have a gun that you really like and it’s chewing through ammo, the first mod you want to get is the ammo upgrade for that one. There are some ways it’s balanced through gear, so even some of those higher level weapons don’t consume ammo so fast, so there’s something to hunt for and there’s a way to balance it as you play through.”

Do all the gun types have different tactile behaviour for the player?

Kevin: “We played with differences in ADS [aiming down sight] times, differences in recoil, differences in where that first shot is going to go. And, based on the manufacturer, their aesthetic. Like Dahl is more of a Call Of Duty guns type, it lends itself to that kind of play style – hopefully those players will come over and play our game too! Every manufacturer has its behaviour and its feel, hoping to lend itself to a type of player. Hopefully there’s something for everybody that they can zero in on as they play through.”

What’s the silliest gun type in the game?

Jimmy: “We kind of got nuts on the engine stuff. Torgue we got crazy with, because we made the bodies actual engine blocks, and if you look at some of the Torgue rifles, I was looking at F1 cars so I put intake trumpets on the right, and then the pistol ended up having this giant curved exhaust on it.”

Kevin: “Borderlands is fun, it allows us the freedom to do a lot of crazy stuff, but somehow it all works. We’ve spent time with the franchise and we’re aware of what can and can’t work, but it does provide a lot of freedom to do a lot of crazy things and get away with it!”

This feature first appeared in OXM (opens in new tab). For more excellent features the one you’ve just read, don’t forget to subscribe to the print or digital edition at MyFavouriteMagazines (opens in new tab). 

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What Enhanced actually means can vary wildly from game to game, but usually you’re looking at 4K output and/or HDR capabilities as a bare minimum. You’ll often get plenty of performance bonuses to boot, including graphical upgrades like better lighting and shadows, improved textures, increased detail at distance, and more. Some games like The Witcher 3 (opens in new tab) and Monster Hunter World (opens in new tab) also give you the choice between maximum resolution or the highest, smoothest framerates (as the two modes are often a ‘one or the other’ deal). 

• The best upcoming Xbox One games for 2019 and beyond
• All the latest Xbox One X deals (opens in new tab)
• The best Xbox One accessories (opens in new tab) currently available

You’ll be shocked to see just how many games support the power that is Xbox One X Enhanced, some of which you might be hearing about for the first time. There are well over 100 Xbox One X Enhanced titles, and the list just keeps on growing as more Xbox and Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility games are added and developers come up with new ways to harness the power of the Xbox One X via post-release patches. We’ve listed all of the supported games here, be they upcoming or available now. But first, if you’re not sure what those technical terms like 4K and HDR actually mean, here’s a quick breakdown. If you’re already in the know, just scroll down to see the many Enhanced games and all the graphical improvements they have to offer. For anyone looking to jump aboard the Enhanced train, be sure to check out all the best Xbox One X deals (opens in new tab). Alternatively, you can head over to the best Xbox One bundle (opens in new tab) page for the cheaper Xbox One S.

• 4K resolution on home screens is actually 3840 x 2160 pixels. 
• HDR means High Dynamic Range, and basically improves the color range of an image. So blacks are blacker, tones stronger, and so on. 
• FPS stands for ‘frames per second.’ Most games hit 30fps now, with 60fps being the gold standard to aim for. It’s worth noting that when framerates are noticed and discussed, it’s usually because they’re changing or unstable, not necessarily because they’re lower. 
• Checkerboard rendering is a way of essentially splitting a screen image into a tiny grid and only rendering every other square. A filter then reconstructs the missing parts to create the target resolution, using less processing power as a result. It’s practically indistinguishable to the human eye, but technically not ‘true’ 4K. 
• Dynamic scaling/resolution means that a game varies the resolution it renders at, usually depending on the processing power needed at any given moment. This doesn’t always affect the output resolution, as things can be scaled up. So, roughly speaking, a ‘4K’ game might render a 2K image when things are quiet, and upscale to 4K, but drop to a lower rendered resolution (still upscaled to 4K) when a lot is happening onscreen (explosions, loads of enemies, etc.)

You can find a more in-depth explanation of what things like 4K and HDR actually mean (opens in new tab) here. With that, here’s every Xbox One X Enhanced game and what features it includes (including specifics where applicable), all ordered alphabetically.

All Xbox One X Enhanced games

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• 8 To Glory: The Official Game of the PBR – 4K, HDR
• 11-11 Memories Retold 

A

• A Plague Tail: Innocence – 4K, 30fps
• A Way Out (opens in new tab)
• Aaero – 4K
• Absolver (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown – 4K, HDR
• Adios Amigos – 4K
• Agents of Mayhem (opens in new tab) – improved resolution, traffic, and pedestrians
• Airheart – Tales of Broken Wings – 4K, HDR
• AlienCruise
• Alteric – 4K
• Ancestors Legacy – 4K
• American Fugitive – 4K
• Anthem (opens in new tab) – 4K
• AO Tennis – 4K, HDR
• A Plague Tale: Innocence (opens in new tab) – HDR
• The Artful Escape
• ARK: Survival Evolved (opens in new tab) – Detail graphics option renders 1440p and “the highest-end graphics effects we’ve got”. Includes long-distance shadows, high-rez textures, volumetric clouds, and dynamic weather systems & atmospheric effects. HDR. Xbox One X-hosted servers support 70 players, up from 50.
• Armed and Dangerous
• Ashen (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Ashes Cricket – 4K, HDR
• Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title (opens in new tab)) – 4K
• Assassin’s Creed 3 Remastered – 4K, HDR
• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Assassin’s Creed Origins (opens in new tab) – 4K checkerboard, 30fps, HDR, improved draw distances (up to double compared to Xbox One S), improved geometry, faster loading and transitions. 
• Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered – 4K
• Assault Android Cactus – 4K
• Astroneer – 4K
• Attack on Titan 2
• Away: Journey to the Unexpected

B

• Bad North – 4K
• Banjo-Kazooie – 4K
• Banjo-Tooie – 4K
• Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts – 4K
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Batman: Arkham City
• Battle Chasers: Nightwar – 4K
• Battlefield 5 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Battlefield 1 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Battlerite
• Battlezone Gold Edition – 4K, HDR
• Below – 4K
• Biomutant – 4K
• Black (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)  
• Black Desert Online – 4K, HDR
• Bless Unleashed – 4K, HDR
• Blinx: The Time Sweeper (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)  
• BloodRayne 2 (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)  
• Brawlout
• Breakdown (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)  
• Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition – 4K
• Burnout Paradise Remastered (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K

C

• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Call of Duty: WW2 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Casey Powell Lacrosse 18 – 4K, HDR
• Candleman – 4K
• Chess Ultra – 4K, HDR
• Cities: Skylines – 4K
• City of Brass – 4K, HDR
• Claws of Furry – 4K, HDR
• Claybook – 4K
• Code Vein
• Conan Exiles
• Conker: Live & Reloaded (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)  
• Construction Simulator 2
• Crackdown (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Crackdown 3 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Crayola Scoot – 4K
• The Crew 2
• Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled – 4K, HDR
• Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• Crossout
• Cyberpunk 2077 (opens in new tab)

D

• Danger Zone – 4K
• Danger Zone 2 – 4K
• Dark and Light – 4K
• Dark Souls: Remastered
• Darksiders (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) 
• Darksiders Warmastered Edition – 4K
• Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition – 4K
• Darksiders 3
• The Darwin Project – 4K, HDR
• Day Z – 4K
• Dead or Alive 6 – 4K, HDR
• Dead Rising 4 (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Dead to Rights (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title) 
• Deep Ones – 4K
• Deep Rock Galactic – HDR
• Descenders – HDR
• Destiny 2 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Destroy All Humans! (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title) 
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (opens in new tab) – HDR
• Devil May Cry 5 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls – Ultimate Evil Edition (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Dirt Rally 2.0 – 4K, HDR
• Dishonored 2 (opens in new tab) – Up to 4K with dynamic resolution, 30fps, improved framerate stability, 4K textures, improved geometry, improved draw distances, improved anti-aliasing, improved shadow quality.
• Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (opens in new tab) – Up to 4K with dynamic resolution, 30fps, improved framerate stability, 4K textures, improved geometry, improved draw distances, improved anti-aliasing, improved shadow quality.
• Disneyland Adventures – 4K, HDR
• Divinity: Original Sin 2
• The Division (opens in new tab) – 4K
• The Division 2 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Doom (opens in new tab) – 4K, 60fps
• Dovetail Games Euro Fishing – 4K
• Dragonball FighterZ (opens in new tab)
• Dying Light 2 (opens in new tab)
• Dynasty Warriors 9

E

• Earthfall – 4K, HDR
• The Elder Scrolls Online – support for native 4K rendering, enhanced bit-depth throughout our entire rendering pipeline for true HDR, SSAO shadow enhancements, real-time water reflections, and increased view distance. 
• Elea
• Elex
• Elite Dangerous (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Energy Cycle Edge – 4K
• Enigmatis 3: The Shadow of Karkhala – 4K
• Everspace – 4K
• The Evil Within 2 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR

F

• F1 2017 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• F1 2018 – 4K, HDR
• Fable Anniversary (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Fable 2  (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Fable 3  (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) 
• Fable Fortune – 4K
• The Fall Part 2: Unbound – 4K 
• Fallout 3 (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title)
• Fallout 4 (opens in new tab) – 4K, 30fps
• Fallout 76 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Far Cry 5 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Far Cry New Dawn (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Farming Simulator 17 – 4K
• Fe (opens in new tab) – 4K
• FIFA 18 (opens in new tab) – 4K, 60fps
• Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age
• Final Fantasy 15 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR, 30fps
• Firewatch (opens in new tab)
• For Honor (opens in new tab) – 4K, 30fps, improved water reflections, LOD, shadow resolution, and improved texture filtering.
• Forsaken Remastered – 4K
• For the King – 4K
• Fortnite (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Forza Horizon (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Forza Horizon 3 (opens in new tab) – native 4K (3840 x 2160) improved car reflections and shadow resolutions, improved texture detail for road and terrain surfaces. improved visual effects and increased LOD and draw distances.
• Forza Horizon 4 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Forza Motorsport 7 (opens in new tab) – 4K, 60fps, HDR, high-resolution assets, improved lighting and shadows resolution
• Fuzion Frenzy (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title) 

G

• Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Gears of War 4 (opens in new tab) – Up to 4K with adaptive resolution scaling, 30fps for Campaign/Horde modes, and 60fps for Versus, HDR, ultra quality textures, enhanced character textures, enhanced lighting and reflections, dynamic shadows, increased draw distances
• Gears 5 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Generation Zero
• Ghost Recon: Wildlands (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR, improved view distances, and “stronger terrain representation.”
• The Golf Club 2019 – 4K
• Gorogoa – 4K
• Grabbed by the Ghoulies (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• Grab the Bottle – 4K
• Gravel – HDR
• Greedfall
• Grip
• Gridd: Retroenhanced – 4K, HDR
• Grim Legends 4: The Dark City – 4K
• Guacamelee 2 (opens in new tab)
• Guilt Battle Arena

H

• Halo 3 (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title)
• Halo 5: Guardians (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR, 60fps, better rendering detail at distance, faster loading times.
• Halo Infinite (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Halo: The Master Chief Collection – HDR
• Halo Wars 2 (opens in new tab) – 4K, increased visual fidelity, increased loading speeds.
• Hand of Fate 2 – 4K
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Hello Neighbor – 4K
• Hitman (opens in new tab) – ‘High Quality’ renders 4K resolution at 30fps (targeted) with higher quality shadows. High Framerate targets 60fps, at a lower resolution upscaled to 4K image. HDR.
• Hitman 2 – 4K, HDR
• Hitman HD Enhanced Collection – 4K
• Hive Jump – 4K
• Homefront: The Revolution (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Hover – 4K, HDR
• Human Fall Flat – 4K
• The Hunter: Call of the Wild 
• Hunter: The Reckoning (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• Hyper Sentinel – 4K
• Hyper Universe – 4K, HDR

I

• Immortal Redneck – 4K
• Immortal: Unchained – 4K
• The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III – 4K
• Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb
• Injustice 2 (opens in new tab) – HDR
• Insane Robots
• The Invisible Hours

J

• Jade Empire (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)   
• Jagged Alliance: Rage – 4K
• Jettomero: Hero of the Universe – 4K
• Jump Force
• Jurassic World Evolution (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Just Cause 4 (opens in new tab) – HDR

K

• Kameo: Elements of Power – 4K
• Killer Instinct (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Killing Floor 2 – 1080p
• The King of Fighters Neowave
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance (opens in new tab) – 1440p resolution, improved global illumination, better shadows, better lighting, and better LOD distances.
• Kingdom Hearts 3 – 4K, HDR

L

• LA Noire – 4K, HDR
• The Last Night – 4K, HDR
• Lego Harry Potter Collection – 4K
• Life is Strange: Before the Storm (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Life is Strange 2
• The Long Dark
• Lumines Remastered – 4K

M

• Madden NFL 18 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR, 60fps
• Madden NFL 19 – 4K, HDR
• Mafia 3 (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR, improved performance for depth of field, ambient occlusion, shadows, volumetric effects, motion blur and increased geometry detail.
• Mantis Burn Racing – 4K, 60fps
• Marble Void – 4K
• Mark of the Ninja Remastered – 4K
• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (opens in new tab)
• Masters of Anima
• Mega Man 11 – 4K
• Megaton Rainfall – 4K
• Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)  
• Metal Gear Survive (opens in new tab) – HDR
• Metro Exodus – 4K, HDR
• Metropolis: Lux Obscura – 4K
• Middle-earth: Shadow of War (opens in new tab) – Targets 4K with dynamic resolution scaling, HDR, increased texture detail, increased draw distances, improved shadow and lighting detail, increased vegetation, improved ambient occlusion, higher polygon counts and level of detail, texture filtering improvements 
• Minecraft – 4K, HDR, 60fps
• Mining Rail
• Minion Masters – 4K
• Mirror’s Edge (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Monster Energy Supercross
• Monster Hunter: World (opens in new tab) – HDR
• Morphite – 4K 
• MotoGP 18 – HDR
• MotoGP 19 – HDR
• Mutant Football League
• Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden
• The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• MX Unleashed – 4K
• MX vs ATV All Out – 4K
• My Brother Rabbit – 4K

N

• NBA 2K18 – 4K, HDR
• NBA Live 18 – 4K
• NBA Live 19 – 4K
• Need for Speed Payback (opens in new tab)
• Neon Chrome – 4K
• Neonwall – 4K
• NHL 18 – 4K
• NHL 19 – 4K
• Nier: Automata (opens in new tab) Become As Gods Edition – 4K, HDR
• Nightmares from the Deep 3: Davy Jones – 4K
• Nine Parchments
• Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)  
• Ninja Gaiden 2 (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) 
• No Man’s Sky (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• North

O

• The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title)
• Observer
• Okami HD – 4K
• Omensight – 4K
• On A Roll 3D – 4K
• One Eyed Kutkh – 4K
• Onrush – 4K, HDR
• Ooblets
• Operencia: The Stolen Sun
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps – 4K, HDR
• Outbreak The Nightmare Chronicles – 4K
• Outlast 2 (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Override: Mech City Brawl 
• Overkill’s The Walking Dead – 4K
• Overwatch (opens in new tab) – 4K

P

• Paladins – 4K
• Panzer Dragoon Orta (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• Party Arcade – 4K
• Party Golf – 4K
• Party Jousting – 4K
• Path of Exile – 4K, 60fps
• Perfect Dark – 4K
• Perfect Dark Zero
• PixARK
• Planet Alpha – 4K
• Planet Rix-13 – 4K
• PlayerUunknown’s Battlegrounds (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR, 30fps
• Portal 2 (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Portal Knights – 4K
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title) 
• Pure Chess
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2018
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 – 4K, HDR
• Project Cars 2 – HDR
• Psychonauts (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title) 

Q

• Q.U.B.E. 2 – 4K
• Quantum Break (opens in new tab)

R

• Raiders of the Broken Planet – 4K, HDR, improved visuals
• Railway Empire – 4K, HDR
• Rainbox Six Siege
• Rage 2 (opens in new tab)
• Rare Replay – 4K
• Real Farm
• ReCore: Definitive Edition (opens in new tab) – HDR
• Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Red Faction 2  (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title) 
• Red Faction Guerilla Re-Mars-terd
• Redout: Lightspeed Edition – 4K
• Refunct – 4K
• Remothered: Tormented Fathers – 4K, HDR
• Resident Evil 2 – 4K, HDR
• Resident Evil 7 (opens in new tab): Biohazard – 4K, HDR
• Ride 3 – HDR
• Rime (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Rise of the Tomb Raider (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR, improved anti-aliasing, higher frame rates, enhanced geometry, improved reflection, foliage and shadows, New volumetric lighting and higher texture filtering
• Riverbond
• Robocraft Infinity – 4K
• Roblox
• Rocket League (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Rugby 18 (opens in new tab)
• Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure – 4K, HDR

S

• Sea of Thieves (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (opens in new tab) – HDR
• Session
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Sid Meier’s Pirates! (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title)
• Sigi – A Fart for Melusina – 4K
• The Sims 4
• Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption
• Skate 3 (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title)
• Skyrim: Special Edition (opens in new tab) – 4K, HDR
• Slime Rancher – 4K
• Smite
• Snake Pass – 4K, HDR
• Sniper Elite V2 Remastered – 4K, HDR
• SNK 40th Anniversary Collection – 4K
• Sonic Forces – 4K
• Sonic Generations (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title)
• Sonic Mania – 4K
• Space Hulk: Tactics
• The Spectrum Retreat
• Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
• Spike Volleyball – 4K
• Spintires: MudRunner – 4K
• Spiral Splatter – 4K
• Splinter Cell Double Agent (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Xbox  Backwards Compatibility title)
• Splinter Cell Conviction (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title)
• Splinter Cell Blacklist (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title) – 4K
• Spyro Reignited Trilogy
• SSX 3 (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title)
• Starpoint Gemini Warlords – 4K
• Star Wars Battlefront 2 (opens in new tab) – HDR
• Star Wars Battlefront 2 (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• Star Wars Jedi Starfighter (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• Star Wars Republic Commando (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• Star Wars The Force Unleashed (Xbox Backwards Compatibility title)
• State of Decay 2 – 4K, HDR
• Steep (opens in new tab) – HDR
• Strange Brigade – 4K, HDR
• Sudden Strike 4 – 4K
• Super Lucky’s Tale – 4K, 60fps
• Supermarket Shriek – 4K
• Super Mega Baseball 2
• Super Night Riders – 4K
• Superhot (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Super Street: The Game – 4K
• The Surge – 4K, HDR
• Surviving Mars – 4K
• Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet

T

• Tacoma (opens in new tab) – 4K
• Tales of Vesperia – Definitive Edition
• The Talos Principle – 4K
• Tempest 4000 – 4K
• Tennis World Tour – 4K
• Tesla vs Lovecraft – 4K
• This is the Police 2 – 4K
• Thumper – 4K
• Titan Quest – 4K
• Titanfall 2 (opens in new tab) – 4K output, 60fps with dynamic super scaling, increased rendering details and dynamic resolution cap.
• Train Sim World
• Transcripted – 4K
• Tropico 6 – 4K, HDR
• TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge

U

• UFC 3 (opens in new tab)
• Undead Horde – 4K
• Unreal Champions 2: The Liandri Conflict 
• Unruly Heroes – 4K, HDR

V

• Valkyria Chronicles 4
• Vampyr (opens in new tab)
• The Vanishing of Ethan Carter – 4K 
• Velocity G – 4K
• Vicious Attack Llama Apocalypse – 4K
• Vigor – 4K
• Viva Pinata – 4K
• Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise – 4K

W

• The Walking Dead: The Final Season – 4K, HDR
• Warface
• Warframe (opens in new tab)
• Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr 
• Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide – 4K
• Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide 2 – 4K
• Warriors Orochi 4 – 4K
• War Thunder – 4K
• We Happy Few – 4K
• Where Are My Friends? – 4K
• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility title)
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (opens in new tab) – 2 new graphic modes: 4K Mode and Performance Mode, support for 4K resolution, HDR support, enhanced shadows, ambient occlusion and texture filtering, higher resolutions textures, dynamic resolution scaling (from 1080p to 4K).
• Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (opens in new tab) – 4K
• World of Tanks – 4K, HDR, 30fps, improved, improved ambient inclusion and shadow resolutions, higher poly models and higher resolution textures at all distances.
• World of Warships: Legends – HDR
• World War Z – 4L
• WRC 7 FIA World Rally Champion – 4K
• WWE 2K18 (opens in new tab)
• WWE 2K19

X

• XCOM 2 (opens in new tab)
• X-Morph: Defense – 4K

Z

• Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection – 4K, HDR

Check out all the best upcoming Xbox One games (opens in new tab), many of which will have Xbox One X Enhanced features.

The post Xbox One X Enhanced games – Every game with 4K resolution, HDR, higher framerates, and more appeared first on Game News.

• The best FPS games (opens in new tab) of all time

But as I’m about to get chopped down by another unseen biplane in Battlefield 5, or decimated by a Tiger tank from across an impassable expanse, my shellshocked mind retreats to a time when gung-ho heroics never felt out of reach; when a single moment of derring-do by even a two-man squad could take down a tank or swing the tide of a battle. I think about the tight, shamelessly console-friendly game that was 2010’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on Xbox 360.

Just a bit of a scrap?

In a way, Bad Company 2 had no right to be as good as it is. Previous Battlefield games already had higher 64-player limits, jets and sprawling maps, so removing all of that surely seemed like a backward step. This wasn’t such an issue with the console-exclusive Bad Company, but when it was announced in 2009 that the sequel would be the latest Battlefield game for both console and PC, the game came in for scrutiny, rubbing shoulders with the mainline series on PC. Is a battle with up to 24 players even a battle, or is it just a bit of a scrap?

Bad Company 2 went on to earn its stripes with distinction, and nine years since its debut it still stands as a demonstration that a Battlefield experience isn’t defined by scale and spectacle, but the amount of memorable moments that it pulls you into. Every aspect of Bad Company 2 – from its slim, slithery maps to its almost completely destructible buildings – coordinated to keep creating these moments.

Battle lines

To accommodate Rush, the new defenders-versus-attackers mode, most maps appeared almost linear on the spawn screen. While this was deceptive to an extent, with a high density of buildings allowing for all kinds of flanking opportunities, it also meant that the frontlines were more clearly defined than in other outings. It was tougher to encircle the enemy, while restricting air vehicles to dangerous but vulnerable choppers and UAVs removed that feeling that your assaults or stalwart defence would be undone by an intervention from some unexpected angle.

YouTuber / Streamer JackFrags explains why Battlefield Bad Company 2 is so beloved by fans of DICE’s series

More so than its siblings, Bad Company 2 was a game of toy soldiers, encouraging you to act out war fantasies like shooting choppers out of the sky in tanks, or quad-biking behind enemy lines and hitting a ramp to launch you into a flag’s capture perimeter. With slower movement and everything packed in closer, Bad Company 2 narrowed the power gap between infantry and vehicles, and every game would throw up multiple opportunities to take out tanks in a team or jump out from a crumbling building to slap up a UAV with C4 before scurrying off into a nearby alley.

Urgency and escapades

However, the threat of death was ever-present, as the game does away with the prone position and almost entirely removed bullet drop. Bad Company 2 more than compensated for its lack of size, replacing unpredictability and spectacle with urgency and escapades. Sadly, the game is dormant on Xbox these days (though servers are still up and it’s part of the Xbox One backward compatible games (opens in new tab) list, so there’s always hope). The best way to play it today is on PC, where a large community is still embroiled in its condensed skirmishes.

With Battlefield 5 so far not quite living up to expectations, it could mean the next game in the series will shake things up in order to get the juggernaut going again. It’s highly unlikely that EA DICE will pare things back to this degree, but that doesn’t mean it can’t learn from it and offer a gleaming twist on the formula that made Bad Company 2 so successful. 

Bad Company 3 may be a wish too far, but for those like me who appreciate this spin-off’s quirks, a new entry would need to hold onto the spirit of this series outlier: slower-paced, smaller-scaled and offering more evenly matched interactions between man and machine that can make even a halfway decent player feel like a hero. 

This feature is taken from Official Xbox Magazine – get your issue delivered every month and save up to 55% on a print and digital subscription (opens in new tab)

Looking for more on DICE’s legendary FPS series? See where Battlefield Bad Company 2 placed in our ranking of the best Battlefield games. 

The post Why Battlefield Bad Company 2 made us feel more like heroes than Battlefield 5s cannon-fodder appeared first on Game News.

In a recent blog post (opens in new tab), BioWare’s Chad Robertson advised players to “stick around for Sunday afternoon; you’ll see a glimpse of some of the cool things we’ll be doing in the future!” Some players have speculated that this surprise is our first proper look at Anthem’s story, but given the lengths BioWare has gone to in order to scrub story details from the demo (opens in new tab), I’m leaning more toward it being a taste of Anthem’s endgame content, which players are equally curious about. A spider-infested stronghold was playable in the VIP demo, but that was about it, so perhaps we’ll see something a little more challenging? Maybe a contract mission or traces of a raid? We’ll find out soon enough.

Happily, it sounds like most of the issues that bogged down the VIP demo will be resolved ahead of the open demo. As Robertson explained, BioWare has been working on server performance, bugged Javelin unlocks, login issues, bugged mission rewards, and more. Robertson also said the infinite loading screens which plagued the VIP demo have been “improved,” which I’m hoping translates to ‘fixed,’ or at the very least, ‘less infinite.’ 

We’ll be covering Anthem extensively for the next two weeks in our new editorial series On The Radar: Anthem. 

The post BioWare teases something special for the Anthem demos Sunday finale appeared first on Game News.

Speaking to Bioware Producer Thomas Singleton at an Anthem preview event, he said Bioware dedicated an entire team to “stripping” all story content from the recent closed alpha that happened in late 2017 to stop dataminers going in and revealing any spoilers whatsoever.

“The biggest job within that closed alpha before releasing it to the audience, was literally stripping out – we had an entire team dedicated to stripping [laughs] – all of the story content so no-one could mine it, and then share it,” explains Singleton. “Because it’s a spoiler. We want people and our fans to experience it for themselves for the first time.”

It sounds like the upcoming Anthem demo (opens in new tab) will be much of the same too. Available tomorrow for VIP access holders, and for everyone next weekend, it’s aimed at giving people a vertical slice of what the game will have to offer, with gamers dropped into the middle of the title, with one story mission available alongside some other activities like a Stronghold, and exploration of your base, Fort Tarsis. 

It seems we’ll have to wait until the game’s February 22 launch to find out what’s going on in the world of Freelancers. 

The post Bioware had an entire team dedicating to stripping story references from the Anthem alpha appeared first on Game News.