The Top 25 Xbox 360 Games

The best of Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade.

Eight is a lot of years. Xbox 360's enormous lifespan is coming to a close, and while it's sure to see numerous releases through 2014, the advent of Xbox One brings a sense of finality to 2013.
That's why, for the first time, IGN's Top 25 Xbox 360 Games list includes retail and digital games. Xbox Live Arcade played a massive part in the platform, after all, and paved the way for the mighty, smaller game on consoles.
You may note the absence of impressive, unforgettable games this year -- Halo 3, Geometry Wars 2, Battlefield: Bad Company, Condemned, Gears of War: Judgment, Shadow Complex...the list goes on. But the hard truth is that, no matter how much we love those games and more, Xbox 360's eight years have been so good to gamers that there simply isn't room for everything on the Top 25.
These are the games that deserve to be in every Xbox 360 player's library, whether they jumped in at the 2005 launch or grabbed a machine for the first time today. These are the absolute. These are the best of the best. These should not be missed.

Sam Fisher’s last-minute appearance on Xbox 360 caught us by surprise: It borrowed what worked best for Conviction -- a terrific game but questionable Splinter Cell experience -- and melded it with the superb stealth that defined Chaos Theory. Plus, its story is a frightening and believable take on terrorism on American soil. It empowers players with dozens of gadgets, suits, and weapons, both lethal and non-lethal, and rewards pacifism while encouraging aggression. Blacklist is a flexible, intelligent, open-ended action game that thrives when thoughtful players explore alternative routes, ignore enemies, or unleash devastating lethality with the improved Mark and Execute system. Additionally, Blacklist’s Spies vs. Mercs multiplayer is a refreshing addition that forces teams to think tactically in radically different ways. It’s really the first truly excellent Splinter Cell game on Xbox 360, and it’s well worth it even in the late stage of the console’s life cycle.  – Mitch Dyer

Developer Remedy’s Xbox 360 exclusive captivates for numerous reasons. The moody, brooding tone of Bright Falls really builds a strong setting, and the convincing weirdness of its inhabitants further sells the odd and unsettling atmosphere. The stressful sense of helplessness in playing as a simple writer wielding a flashlight (and what few firearms he could find) creates a survival horror experience like the good ol’ days. As the story unravels and the mystery becomes more head-scratching, Alan Wake draws you in even deeper, connects the necessary dots, and leaves plenty of room for interpretation. The story is as nutty as it is interesting, but it manages to balance those elements pretty well. Like Twin Peaks, the TV show that heavily influenced it, Alan Wake is an oddball game dripping with dark personality and eccentric humor. If you’re a sucker for serialized stories, good scares, and stylish combat against the literal forces of darkness, look no further than this fantastic adventure. – Mitch Dyer

If you could distill feelings into physical form, Rayman Legends would be bottled joy. Its imaginative level designs -- which challenge you to think about 2D spaces in a more serious way than ever -- play into new gameplay systems that improve on Rayman Origins’ perfected, traditional approach. The addition of Murfy, a secondary character any local co-op player can control with the tap of a button, turns precision platforming into a more complex, timing- and skill-based exercise.  – Mitch Dyer

Mojang’s out-of-nowhere PC masterpiece found much more success on Xbox 360 than I think anyone anticipated. Its spacial limitations, in addition to a new developer in 4J Studios, meant it wasn’t even the same Mojang game. Yet Minecraft on consoles works because of those things. 4J has been vigilant about not only trying to achieve feature parity with its PC counterpart, but giving Minecraft on Xbox 360 unique content that console gamers can really relate to. Character skins and regular free updates fill the void left by the absence of mods, and not in a “good enough” way, either. Local co-op allows for instant creativity as you and yours build a unique world from scratch, using harvested materials and collaborative teamwork. Minecraft’s greatest success is its commitment to not living as a half-baked imposter. This is the real deal, and it continues to impress its ever expanding Xbox 360 audience with killer content updates. – Mitch Dyer

For many, State of Decay is the zombie game they’ve always wanted. Rather than be a fast-action, monster-closet shooter like the fantastic Left 4 Dead, State of Decay is, essentially, an open-world zombie-survival role-playing game. You’re dropped into a fictional county that’s been overrun with the undead, and your goal is to simply survive. You do that by managing resources, relationships with fellow survivors (you need them!), and your stats. It’s simultaneously riveting, harrowing, and overwhelming. And it’s one of the best zombie games you’ll ever play. – Ryan McCaffrey

 

It’s hard enough to build a successful new franchise, but creating one that becomes a key pillar for an entire console platform? So many planets have to align: releasing at the right time in a system’s lifecycle, marketing it well, crafting likeable characters, and – oh yeah – designing an incredible game helps. Gears of War pulled off the miracle, and Gears of War 3 is the pinnacle of the series to-date. Epic storyline with genuinely emotional moments? Check. Huge battles and set-pieces? Yep. Polished multiplayer with dedicated servers? Mmm-hmm. The greatest Horde mode on the planet? Damn straight. The brand-new Beast mode that puts a clever reversal on Horde? Absolutely. Oh, and four-player campaign cooperative play too. Outside of The Orange Box, Gears of War 3 is arguably the best overall package in the history of Xbox 360. – Ryan McCaffrey

Car porn. That’s what developer Turn 10 Studios shamelessly advertises Forza Motorsport 4 to be, and that, gloriously, is what it is. The Xbox’s answer to Gran Turismo might not look quite as stunning as Sony’s signature racer (though it does look outstanding), but it’s decidedly more playable and packed with many more user-friendly features.
First, the cars themselves: a select handful are viewable inside and out in Autovista mode, and the rest are fully modeled so that you can drive from cockpit or traditional external camera views. And the rides themselves vary wildly – everything from electric cars (Tesla Roadster) to pop-culture superstars (DeLorean DMC-12) to every flavor of supercar in-between. Outside of the races, you’ve got challenges to issue to and receive from other players, a robust multiplayer suite, car customizations out the tailpipe (including the return of the user-generated content farm known as the Auction House), and more. It is the ultimate game for gearheads on Xbox. – Ryan McCaffrey

Before realizing the depths of Fez, the outward-facing appeal was its simple yet powerful gameplay hook. The world, which exists in 3D but presents itself in 2D, can be rotated 90 degrees with each pull of the triggers. It disrupts your understanding of perspective by creating opportunity in the way the world has changed. What you see is what you get, so regardless of the physical logic of a space, its visual appearance makes it easy to understand where you can go and how you can get there. Its reverence for video games, the lovely soundtrack, hilarious inside jokes, and mysterious wonder are the claws that dig Fez’s hooks in deep. Mind-bending puzzles, insane alien languages, and risk-free exploration make Fez’s delightful, nostalgic world a joy to wander. It borrows liberally from many things, but Fez is still unlike anything else on Xbox 360. – Mitch Dyer

Video games tend to drive players toward narrow-minded goals, most of which involve slaughtering an army of evil grunts until you inevitably kill The Big Bad. It gives the player an excuse for their actions rather than legitimate motivation. Red Dead Redemption balances violence and narrative with a delicate care that few other games can compare to. Anti-hero John Marston’s tale isn’t violent because he’s angry, careless, or vengeful. He is a product of the turn-of-the-century West trying to escape his outlaw past. He’s so desperate to be back with his family that he’ll do anything to be with them again, even if it means falling back on his old ways.
And yet, Red Dead Redemption isn’t a game about its plot. Finding and killing Marston’s former crew is the excuse – finding his family and letting go of his old ways is the motivation. The devices we as players use to accomplish these goals display Rockstar in its finest form. The mission design is believable while hitting the highest of Spaghetti Western notes, both in and out of combat. The careful pace keeps us enthralled by the gorgeous settings, while the addictive freedom to exploring a vast open world yields secrets, scenery, and side-quests well worth seeking out. Plus, Red Dead Redemption retains Rockstar’s signature dark humor, lending levity to a miserable world we’re not likely to forget, and features one of the largest multiplayer suites in any Xbox 360 title. – Mitch Dyer

In absorbing the greatest accomplishments of Thief, BioShock, and action-RPGs of their kind, Dishonored is able to create a first-person, super-powered stealth game like nothing else out there. Navigating the ravaged but beautiful city of Dunwall, assassinating its worst inhabitants, and making gut-wrenching moral choices along your path to redemption and revenge create an outstanding experience.
The universe here has plenty of detail worth seeking out and steeping in, with memorable characters both altruistic and despicable layering in distinct personality that matches Dishonored’s oddball, awesome art style. Variety is key here, and a second play-through exposes entirely new routes you likely didn’t notice -- or miss, really -- as you learned how protagonist Corvo works. Each replay of a mission showcases exactly how far Dishonored goes to give you something interesting and new to do in your compassionate quest to rescue a missing child. Also, the DLC chapters starring Daud -- one of Dishonored’s villains -- have terrific parallel-timeline missions that humanize a different side of the story. – Mitch Dyer