Thanks to the recent launch of the Xbox Series X, many gamers all over the world get to finally experience the next generation of Xbox hardware. Now that plenty of people have the console, I’m willing to bet they’re all wondering what they can play. In this article, I’ll go into some great games initially released on the Xbox One that I think are worth playing on the Series X, especially with their enhancements.
1. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
As one game that boasts noteworthy enhancements over its initial Xbox One version, Ori and the Will of the Wisps from Moon Studio is a 2D Metroidvania that has challenging platforming and satisfying combat and puzzles. Some of the enhancements coming to the game for the Xbox Series X include a “6K Supersampled Rendering Mode” as well as a 4K 120fps mode, improved audio, and faster loading times.
Other improvements coming to the Xbox Series X version of the game are detailed on an Xbox Wire post from Gennadiy Korol of Moon Studios.
2. Forza Horizon 4
As one of the mainstay franchises of the Xbox brand, I’d be remiss to not mention Forza Horizon 4. This is easily one of the best racing games of the last generation, and with the launch of the Xbox Series X developers Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios can deliver the best version of the game available on a console yet.
Improvements to the game’s experience include “higher fidelity graphics and faster performance” as per the Forza Support team. They explain that players can expect visuals similar to the PC version’s Ultra settings at 4K 60fps.
3. Gears 5
As part of another mainstay Xbox franchise, Gears 5, much like Forza Horizon 4, is going to have improved visual fidelity at 4K 60fps. But’s that not the whole story with The Coalition’s Gears 5 on Xbox Series X. The studio promises reduced input-to-screen latency throughout all modes as well as a 120fps framerate for multiplayer versus. That means that the game is going to feel even more responsive to play than the Xbox One version.
Dana Sissons, Director of Communications at The Coalition, goes into much more detail about the relaunch of Gears 5 on the Xbox Series X via an Xbox Wire post.
4. Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Halo: The Master Chief Collection cover art
With the delay of Halo Infinite, Microsoft has unfortunately missed out on a huge opportunity to release a new Xbox console alongside a brand new Halo game. Instead of experiencing a new Halo, why not experience some of the old games with new improvements. That’s right; I’m referring to Halo: The Master Chief Collection with new optimizations on the Xbox Series X. The Xbox Series X update for the game is not out yet but will be in a few days on November 17th.
According to the Halo Twitter account, players can expect 120fps in both campaign and multiplayer as well as up to a 4K resolution on all titles that are part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
All of the games mentioned above are, admittedly, hard to miss if you know anything about Xbox. With that said, if none of these games interest you, there’s a whole catalog of Xbox One games that are playable on the Xbox Series X. As for games that are optimized for the Xbox Series X, Microsoft has provided a complete list of games that take advantage of the brand new system’s hardware.
