The best Xbox One games

While Microsoft’s flagship series isn't what it used to be, the Master Chief collection offers the series at its best. It contains Halo one, two, three, four, O.D.S.T and Reach, making for a total of six campaigns – all playable in co-op - creating a total of over 50 hours of single-player content. Halo and Halo2 use the anniversary editions of the game so you can switch back and forth between old and new graphics at the push of a button. 

That’s not all though, the collection also has multiplayer for each game so you can play online in any of the games, even with PC players via crossplay. There’s also the series' iconic forge mode allowing you to create your own maps and game modes. 343 has also added completely new content including a Flood-based firefight – a mode not in the original release - where you fight waves of parasitic enemies. 

Game Pass: Yes

Much like Halo, Gears of War is a franchise synonymous with the Xbox brand. Gears 5 takes the classic chainsaw-gun-wielding gameplay and sticks it in a semi-open area where you can go at your leisure, there are also the classic multiplayer modes and the iconic horde mode returns.

Game Pass: Yes

Obsidian's take on the survival genre, Grounded, sees you playing as shrunken kids surviving in a back garden ala Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. You must work with your friends to defeat all manner of now terrifying insects and work towards returning to your normal self. One of the game's most prominent and praised features is its arachnophobia slider, allowing those to turn the game's spiders into little blobs. 

Game Pass: Yes

While IO’s Hitman reboot got off to a slow start back in 2016_,_ the series has come a long way since, especially with Hitman 3. The game sees you as everyone's favourite bald guy Agent 47, as he carries out several assassination missions. The player is given complete control to do these however they want, using careful timing and planning to create an “accident”, or just taking them out with a sniper. Alternatively, you could dress in a flamingo mascot costume and go on a rampage. The level of replayability and creative missions makes this one of the best games of recent years.

All the trilogy's levels are playable from Hitman 3, meaning the first and second games can be played with the graphical and gameplay improvements of the third. You will have to own them or buy the relevant DLC to do this.

Game Pass: Yes (the whole trilogy)

Resident Evil Village continues from the brilliant Resident Evil VII, trading weird mould-people and zombies for werewolves and vampires. Returning from the previous game, Ethan Winters searches for his daughter in a village that’s out to kill him. The game features the long-established series staples of fighting giant mutated monsters, resource management and overcoming impossible odds. The Gold Edition is releasing soon featuring a third-person mode, the ability to play as the villains - such as Dimitrescu or Heisenberg - in mercenaries mode and a new story.

Game Pass: No

If we are all being honest, we have all wanted to drive recklessly fast in a ludicrously expensive car - right? Unfortunately, money and something people are calling "health and safety", stop us from doing that. Luckily Forza Horizon 5 provides a great virtual alternative. Set in a huge open world set in Mexico, you will be able to drive many cars throughout the world's beautiful and impressive vistas. You will of course be able to race too, working towards new cars as you go.

Game Pass: Yes

Hazelight studio was already known for their wonderful Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons and more recently their co-op prison break game, A Way Out. It Takes Two builds on both of these games to create a whimsical adventure involving sentient books of love, squirrels fighting wasps and two parents turned into dolls. This is all framed in a touching tale about a couple learning to love each other and themselves again.  

It Takes Two does require two players – the gameplay doesn’t work without it - but only requires one copy of the game whether that be local or online. With EA play being part of Game Pass, you would be crazy to give this one a miss.

Game Pass: Yes (via EA play)

The Witcher 3 is considered by many to be the greatest game ever created, arguably now challenged only by Red Dead Redemption 2. It is a huge RPG game which offers hundreds of hours of gameplay. If you're in doubt, check out only a few of the 800 awards to see if this game is worth a look.

The game of the year edition comes with both expansions adding even more content and is great value for money.

Game Pass: No

DOOM Eternal has everything we love about the DOOM franchise. It's frantic, violent, and over-the-top gory. True to the game's reputation, it demands that you're brave, never resting, never stopping, never overthinking. You will be breathlessly bounding from swarm to swarm, fighting off the hoards threatening to overwhelm you. Adrenaline-pumping FPS Xbox action at its finest.

Game Pass: Yes

If you want something utterly macabre but with added wackiness and a sense of twisted humour, then pick up the Danganronpa Trilogy. Each game sees you playing as a Japanese high school student, trapped in a school by a bear called Monokuma who offers freedom to anyone who can get away with murder. You must solve the murders of your classmates, lest you be executed yourself. 

Game Pass: Yes

While not connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Guardians of the Galaxy takes all the best elements such as a great soundtrack and character interactions and spins them into game form. You will shoot and dodge your way through enemies in its high-octane sections and have moments of levity and calm as you talk to the crew and explore. 

One of the most enjoyable features of the game is its pep talk mechanic, allowing you to give your team a boost in confidence... if you say the right thing. Do it right and you get a health and damage boost as well as one of the game's various 80s pop songs playing.

Game Pass: Yes

Not all video games have artistic merit, but they don't need to. Some are just mindlessly fun while somehow being really quite hard to master. Anyone who has been playing games, or even knows that games exist, knows about the infamous Mortal Kombat. It's violent, it's over the top, and this eleventh instalment might just be the best one yet. The ultimate edition comes with a story expansion and new playable characters such as RoboCop, The Terminator and The Joker.

Game Pass: Yes (standard edition only)

This game came out of nowhere to become a huge hit. A shooter that is smart, taking the best of battle royale style games and throwing out the worst. Players of Titanfall will recognise the sci-fi setting which plays host to the battles. There's also a very innovative way of communicating with teammates using the controller, streamlining the cooperative elements of the game to challenge the most well-known royale titles. This particular edition will give you access to the playable character Bloodhound.

Game Pass: No, butthe game is free to play

Kingdom Hearts as a series makes almost no sense really. It's an epic role-playing adventure where you fight with a giant key and are joined by an entourage of brawl-ready Disney characters. Why this game series exists is a pretty big question mark, but everyone is glad it does because it's a game done right. It's huge, in-depth and, importantly for an RPG, fun.

Game Pass: No

While the film franchise has been questionable as of late, Alien Isolation offers a true to from experience. Playing as Amanda Ripley – Ellen Ripley’s daughter - the player navigates an empty space vessel, encountering androids and survivors out to kill and of course, the iconic Xenomorph, who must be avoided using the series' famous motion tracker. It’s a tense game, and you can’t possibly learn all the alien's moves as the AI gets upgraded across the game giving it more abilities. 

Game Pass: Yes

If content is what you are looking for then Deep Rock Galatic quite literally has it in buckets. It sees you playing as one of four classes of dwarfs completing various objectives in a giant space rock. You will be mining out ores as you get swarmed by bug-like aliens and using your class abilities to help you and your teammates out of many sticky situations. 

The game gives you a plethora of weapons and tools, all of which can be upgraded, and the game is constantly receiving free updates with more weapons, mission types and cosmetic items. 

Game Pass: Yes

This game takes a dark period of history, the French Inquisition and the English invasion of France, and crafts a tale of horror, humility and tension. The storytelling is immersive, and the graphics are stunning. And people have the cheek to say video games have no artistic merit.

Game Pass: No

Remastering a PlayStation One classic may sound like a slightly unoriginal move, but by gosh does it pay off with this Crash racer. The formula is timeless, a racing arcade battle game full of recognisable characters. It is simple, and it works. Prepare to laugh, cry, rage and become incredibly addicted - a great party game.

Game Pass: No