18 Essential Xbox One Games Every Owner Must Play
Are you getting the most out of Microsoft's mighty machine?
Microsoft might be pitching their tent in an uphill battle, but it's one based in the most solid of foundations. You need only look to the release schedule for the rest of 2016 to see that Sony are struggling to put together anything for the remaining months other than Uncharted 4 and the potentially disappointing No Man's Sky, to see that their initial sales lead is by no means guaranteed to continue.
As always, competition breeds excellence, and Microsoft have subtly been assembling a console offering that should see them comfortably through the rest of the generation regardless.
Backwards compatibility, monthly freebies including triple-A titles, exclusives worth shouting about and actually buying the system for, even free demos of in-progress games to get the best feel for how something is going to play out - they're truly pulling out all the stops to please as many people as possible.
Culturally it might feel as though Sony are way out in front, but you could completely make the argument that Microsoft's little green baby has more to offer. To that end, whether they're exclusives or just phenomenal third-party titles, if you're in possession of an Xbox One, you need the following games in your life...
18. Quantum Break
Starting with one of the most ambitious games of all time, Max Payne and Alan Wake-developers Remedy elected to combine their stylistic and live-action prowess into a game that's half third-person cover shooter, and half-episodic TV show. It went down a treat with critics for pushing the envelope on crafting an entire world for the player to explore and take in, and sees a cast of A-list actors being both playable and then subsequently watchable onscreen.
An experimental tale in all aspects, you'll play as Shawn 'Iceman' Ashmore attempting to help his brother fix a time-travelling experiment gone awry, one that's actually 'broken time', leading to a potentially apocalyptic scenario where everything simply stops.
Enter evil corporations who might know what's really going on (headed up by Game of Thrones' Littlefinger, Aidan Gillen), copious amounts of cheesy dialogue and a TON of time-manipulating powers as you get your Neo on, stopping bullets in mid-air or watching the entire world suspend as you dispatch foes at lightspeed.
Quantum Break represents over a decade's worth of lessons learned from two of the most identifiable and iconic games of all time, forming a gloriously over-the-top and enjoyable action adventure that every Xbox fan should have in their library.
Check out the full review for my complete breakdown.