5. Halo 5: Guardians
Microsoft needed a big win for the Xbox One in 2015, and they'd pretty much get it through Halo 5, 343 Industries' second take on continuing where Bungie left off. Sales have been incredibly high, beating the multi-platform Assassin's Creed: Syndicate to claim the top spot for multiple weeks, despite Halo itself being Xbox One exclusive. The Case For: 343 have made some major strides with the core gameplay, keeping its immaculate signature feel, but taking some massive risks to show there's life in the old girl yet. Ground-pounds, shoulder-charges, boost-slides and universal down-crosshair aiming all refine the storied series and make it the premiere shooter of not only 2015, but the generation overall. The Case Against: The single-player campaign is strangely empty. For all Microsoft did to promote Guardians as 'the true story' behind why Master Chief and newcomer Spartan Locke didn't get on, the actual story isn't about that whatsoever. Like Batman: Arkham Knight, we were perhaps intentionally lied to for the sake of what's the real focus, but ultimately that feels too misleading. There's also the introduction of microtransactions gating weapons and vehicles behind a collectible card system (called the REQ system) you can pay for in the Warzone mode. All abilities are unlocked through progression eventually, but the very existence of tying in a real-world cash element cheapens the worth of what's there regardless. My Take: The REQ system only encourages experimentation and forces you to change up your tactics to try different loadouts, so that's never been an issue. For me, it's just the fact that the story wasn't even remotely about the thing we'd been told about for months on end. The new gameplay changes are fantastic, Warzone multiplayer combines Battlefield's zone-capture with MMO-style point-gathering by slaying A.I. enemies to great effect, and the single player is still a great ride, yet on that's considerably undercooked narratively.