Xboxrecently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and its player base was treated to a few surprises. Along with an early release ofHalo Infinite’s multiplayer beta, there were also a whopping76 original Xbox and Xbox 360 games that joined Backwards Compatability, including critically acclaimed titles likeSkate 2,Max Payne, andTimeSplitters 2.
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Unfortunately, one piece of bad news was slipped in with all the excitement: there will be no more additional Backwards Compatibility games,predominantly due to legal and technical issues. Although this is disappointing, there are more than enough excellent Xbox and Xbox 360 games for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One owners to play, including a range offorgotten gems.
10Binary Domain
Binary Domainis one of the 76 games that recently joinedBackwards Compatibilityduring Xbox’s 20th-anniversary celebrations. Thethird-person shooterturned-heads when it was released in 2012, as the game implemented a voice command feature that let players give orders to their A.I. squadmates in six different languages.
Binary Domainwas released by Sega and developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, who are best known for their work on notable franchises likeYakuza,Sonic,andSuper Monkey Ball.
9Vanquish
From oneSega gameto another,Vanquishis no stranger to featuring in lists about underrated or forgotten gems. This is something developers PlatinumGames likely find very bittersweet.
Vanquishimpressed fans and critics upon release due to its fast-paced action and hand-to-hand combat. The game was praised for offering a 3D modernization of theclassic beat ‘em up and shoot ‘em up arcade genres.
8Crackdown
Crackdownis one of the many, many games over the years that was hyped up as being the “nextGrand Theft Auto.” Crackdownimpressed players with its January 2007 demo, which exploded in popularity and wasthe second most played game on Xbox at one point, with only the modern classicGears of Warplacing higher at the time.
Like most games that are coin the “nextGTA,” Crackdownfailed to live up to the sky-high expectations. However, it was still well-received and remains a joy to play today.
7Alice: Madness Returns
When thinking of IPs that would be well-suited to a dark, gory,hack and slash video game, it’s safe to say thatAlice In Wonderlandwouldn’t spring to mind for most people.
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However, Electronic Arts clearly had a different view of the novel and film. This was exemplified by their 2011 psychological horror gameAlice: Madness Returns,a sequel to 2000’sAmerican McGee’s Alice. Although the premise may sound like a gimmick,Alice: Madness Returnsis a surprisingly solid game that finds a good balance between the hack and slash and platform genres.
6Frontlines: Fuel of War
Frontlines: Fuel of Waris a first-person shooter that came out in 2008 on PC and Xbox 360. The game’s release came as war shooters were at their peak in popularity, which resulted in the FPS title being somewhat lost in the crowd.
Frontlines: Fuel of Waris set in 2024, where a global energy crisis has caused a war for resources between the East and West. The game isn’t the mostinnovative shooterin the world, but it does do a great job of encapsulating how enjoyable first-person shooters were in the late 2000s.
5I Am Alive
Darkworks began development forI Am Alivein 2005, though it wasn’t until 2012 that the game was finally finished by Ubisoft Shanghai, who took over the project in 2009. The action-adventure game throws players into apost-apocalyptic landscapeand takes a more realistic approach to its gameplay than most other titles in the genre.
Whereas most post-apocalyptic games have players running and gunning like a well-oiled machine,I Am Aliveforces players to consider their well-being before physical activities like climbing and jumping. Meanwhile, they also need to find ways to fend off other survivors without ammunition, such as by bluffing with an empty gun.
4Indiana Jones And The Emperor’s Tomb
There has been a wide range ofIndiana Jonesvideo gamesreleased over the decades. Although ’90s graphic adventureIndiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantisis the IP’s most esteemed gaming release,Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomboffers the best third-person action-adventure experience. The game is best remembered for taking players to a vast range of locations, including Hong Kong, Prague, Istanbul, and even The Netherworld; offering great variety to both the visuals and gameplay thanks to the different weapons and enemies.
Indiana Jones is set to make his gaming return in the near future, as Bethesda has teamed up with MachineGames to release a new title starring the archaeologist,which was teased at the start of 2021.
3Kameo
Back in the mid 2005s, few people would have guessed thatKameowould be a “forgotten game” one day, as the action-adventure game had a ton of hype at the time. Rare initially planned to release the game on the Nintendo 64, a console that the studio had great success with, though the development cycle ended up taking far longer than initially predicted.
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Kameofinally got a release date many years later, when it was confirmed that it would be an Xbox 360 launch title. The game’sbright and beautiful graphicswere a great advert for the seventh generation console, though the launch title struggled to stay relevant when the Xbox 360’s popularity sharply rose months later.
2Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Enslaved: Odyssey to the Westwas released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in October 2010, before coming to PC in 2013. The game was developed by Ninja Theory, who are best known for their work onDmC: Devil May CryandHellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.
LikeKameo, Enslaved: Odyssey to the Westturned heads with its impressive visuals, though they weren’t enough to make the game a commercial success. Although there are some gameplay issues,Enslavedis well worth playing for its excellent world design and encapsulating performance from Andy Serkis, who voices the protagonist.
1Tom Clancy’s EndWar
Real-time tactics and strategy gameshave historically struggled to succeed on consoles, predominantly due to the genre’s inherent suitability for mouse and keyboard.Tom Clancy’s EndWarwas no different, unfortunately, as the game struggled commercially, resulting in the cancellation of a planned sequel.
Although this paints a bleak picture ofEndWar, the game is actually a ton of fun to play. Along with well-balanced strategy gameplay,EndWaralso boasts an ability to be entirely played via voice commands, which provides an interesting alternative to using a gamepad.
