Microsoft’s Xbox One
The Xbox One had a more interesting year due to Microsoft’s new Play Anywhere initiative, which makes digital copies of games work on both the Xbox One and PC. It largely removes the need for the console at all, allowing fans to access Xbox Live and other console features directly from their Windows PC or laptop. Of course, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any exclusives, although most of them fall under the umbrella of “console exclusive.”
The first major title of the year was Quantum Break, which is currently sitting at a 77 on Metacritic. It was a solid experience with a new take on storytelling, offering live action episodes that your decisions in-game could alter. The next majorly billed exclusive didn’t come until early September when Recore (63) released for the Xbox One and PC. Although that was a relative low point for the year in terms of Microsoft’s major video game offerings, things did pick back up later on thanks to some heavy hitters. Forza Horizon 3 is the highest rated Xbox One title, sitting at a 91, then you have Gears of War 4 coming in at 85. The console’s last big exclusive of the year, Dead Rising 4, sits currently at a 74.
While the major releases were available on PC, a couple of exclusives could only be found on the Xbox One. Horse Racing 2016 only has two reviews on Metacritic, with the highest being a 30/100. Then you have Kung-Fu for Kinect (60), which requires a device that doesn’t even come with the base console anymore.
Still, if you have an Xbox One, this year was filled with a few great games not found on the PS4. These were supplemented by a few intelligent indie partnerships, although quite a few of them, such as that with Inside, were timed.
