Ranking This Year’s AAA Xbox One Exclusives by Which Is the Best-Looking

This year has seen the release of some impressive exclusives on the Xbox One, for not only fans of shooters but racing and adventure games too. With the new generation of consoles, we’re starting to see developers achieve things graphically and visually that are really astounding to look at.

Let’s take a look at all of the Xbox One exclusives from 2016, and decide how they stack up against each other in terms of visuals. Do note that we’re only ranking the four exclusives of the year here, in terms of graphical power and how good they look. In no way is it representative of the game’s quality or experience. 

4. ReCore

ReCore was the new game from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, and it introduced us to a brand new heroine named Joule. In the game you’re exploring the desert planet of Far Eden, and that carries over to most of its visuals.

ReCore isn’t a bad looking game but it also isn’t exceptional, and most of the scenery you’ll encounter are desert dunes and abandoned buildings. Some of the facilities and factory-like settings you go into do help change things up though. The robot helpers that accompany you on your journey each have unique designs, and animations are mostly fluid in the game. although some can look a bit robotic. Of course you’re also fighting robots throughout the game, and there’s definitely a slight lack of enemy variety.

3. Quantum Break

Quantum Break is the newest game from Remedy, the makers of Alan Wake, and this time the story centers around time travel. Jack Joyce, the game’s protagonist, gets the ability to use time powers, altering the flow of time and space.

Quantum Break has some pretty good visual design, especially once you start throwing around time powers. The world of the game looks realistic and convincing, even if you are only exploring bits and pieces of it. Facial animations are very impressive, although seeing the actual actors in the TV show segments can make things feel a bit jarring when you go back to the game.

The time powers really are the highlight of Quantum Break, with enemies being frozen in place leaving streams of color from their energy weapons, and bullets or other items being frozen in midair. It’s definitely some impressive stuff on display However, the game also has a strange visual filter that makes everything look a bit blurry at times.

2. Gears of War 4

Gears of War 4 is the first game in the series to not be developed by Epic Games, this time being handled my Microsoft’s new studio The Coalition. The game brings the Gears series into the new generation with some serious style, while still retaining the signature look the series is known for.

The environments of Gears of War 4 look phenomenal, with dense forests, huge cities and abandoned ruins, and dank underground caverns, not to mention impressive skyboxes. On top of that, characters look great with the lights on their armor especially popping out, and their facial animations are smooth and realistic.

There’s also some nice variation to the enemies in the game, with the new faction known as The Swarm taking center stage. These Locust-like enemies are incredibly creepy, not to mention deadly, and many of their designs resemble some kind of horrifying insect-human hybrid. It’s all realized with some impressive style and graphical power.

1. Forza Horizon 3

Forza games are well known for having some real graphical power, but Forza Horizon 3 takes it to another level. The new game takes you to the Australian outback, with a massive open world that manages to be nicely varied in its scenery.

Forza Horizon 3’s setting is absolutely jaw-dropping with lush scenery, sweeping vistas, impressive skyboxes, and some really outstanding lighting. Motion blur is a bit smoother than it was in past titles, and both shadows and reflections are crisp. Of course, the other main attraction of Forza Horizon 3 are the cars themselves, each of which are incredibly detailed. You can examine almost every aspect of each car, and the development team really went above and beyond to painstakingly recreate virtual versions of impressive automobiles.

To top everything off, graphics comparisons on the game have shown that the Xbox One version nearly rivals the highest settings of the PC version. Whatever your thoughts are on Forza Horizon 3, we can all agree it’s definitely visually stunning.