The Best Xbox Game Every Year 2001 - 2024
9. 2016 - Quantum Break
There’s some irony perhaps in that Xbox One’s infamous E3 unveiling and it’s obsession with “TV, TV, TV(!)” did coincide with one of the better exclusives of 2016 being a hybrid piece of media. Quantum Break was Remedy Entertainment’s first console game since 2010’s Alan Wake and is perhaps even more of a cult classic than that had been.
Between missions of Quantum Break players were invited to sit back and enjoy an episode of a serialised live-action drama that took place alongside their own actions. Even if the reception to the show itself was varied, the concept was intriguing. Performances from lead actors such as Aiden Gillan and the late, great Lance Reddick were the glue between the two halves.
From a gameplay standpoint, where Quantum Break perhaps didn’t always land as a shooter was more than made up by the player’s time-based powers - freezing enemies, dashing to and from cover and using time itself as a shield, all of which can be combo’d into each other for some rewarding (and incredible looking) combat sequences. Where it truly excelled was its environmental design and the way players used those powers to navigate and solve puzzles.
Whilst Quantum Break never became the huge IP Microsoft had perhaps hoped for, it exceeded sales expectations and became the console’s best-seller up to that point.