Best Xbox One Games in 2020

Best Xbox One Games Windows Central 2020

• Best Overall: Red Dead Redemption 2
• Editor's Pick: The Outer Worlds
• Best RPG: The Witcher 3
• Best Competitive Shooter: Rainbow Six Siege
• Best Campaign Shooter: Prey
• Best Co-Op: Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
• Best Racing: Forza Horizon 4
• Best Open World: Assassins Creed: Odyssey
• Best Graphic Adventure: Life is Strange
• Best Action Adventure: NieR: Automata
• Best Horror: Resident Evil 2
• Best Survival: The Long Dark

Best Overall: Red Dead Redemption 2

Whether you have an Xbox One S or a 4K-powered Xbox One X, there is one quintessential experience you cannot live without on Microsoft's home console. Rockstar Games' reputation for unrelenting quality continues in Red Dead Redemption 2, which is an open-world adventure on a whole other level.

Unprecedented environmental detail, dynamic ecosystems, storytelling worthy of Hollywood, and uncannily realistic character presentation coalesces to make Red Dead Redemption 2 the ultimate Xbox One experience. Set in the closing days of the classic "Wild West" era, one of the region's last surviving criminal gangs attempts to rebuild their fortunes after a disastrous run-in with an increasingly powerful federal law system.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is first and foremost a story-driven game, where you'll guide Arthur Morgan and the Van der Lin Gang across a risky parade of daring heists, train robberies, and gang wars. Spanning five fictional US states across a wide variety of terrain, with all sorts of compelling missions and side objectives, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a must-have title for any library.

Editor's Pick: The Outer Worlds

For our latest Editor's Pick, we're choosing The Outer Worlds, for dragging Bethesda's neglected Fallout formula into the modern era.

Built by Obsidian Entertainment, The Outer Worlds sports all of the same wit, charm, and consequences as Fallout New Vegas, against a backdrop of stunning sci-fi scenery and tight RPG shooting gameplay. The Outer Worlds is an absolute must-buy for RPG fans everywhere, especially those who miss the good ol' days of Fallout 3, New Vegas, and Mass Effect.

Best RPG: The Witcher 3

The Witcher 3 held our "best overall" Xbox One game for years for good reason, like Red Dead Redemption 2, it is a masterpiece in its own right. Built by CD Projekt RED, The Witcher 3 is unequivocally the best RPG on Xbox One today, by a fairly huge margin too. Set in a dark, medieval-inspired fairy tale land, The Witcher 3 follows Geralt of Rivia's attempts to track down his protege, Ciri. Along the way, Geralt gets caught up in all sorts of political intrigue, trading his supernatural hunting services for coin and information.

The Witcher 3 is packed with dozens of hours of content, which will push to well over 100 hours if you pick up the stellar expansion packs along with it. Exceptional methodical combat, stunning visuals, and harrowing monsters.

Best Competitive Shooter: Rainbow Six Siege

Cranking out its fourth year of free post-launch updates, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege's tactical shootouts continue to draw millions on Xbox One. It's growing roster of playable Operators define its hero-style gameplay, depicting elite counterterrorism forces for both offensive and defensive play. Backed by a lineup of ultra-competitive, destructible arenas, Rainbow Six Siege rewards strategy and resourcefulness over raw firepower. There's simply no other multiplayer shooter on the market that matches Ubisoft's tense, skill-driven battlefront.

With Operator and map knowledge essential, there's a sharp learning curve for new Siege recruits. However, upon grasping those underlying mechanics, map flow, and gadget synergies, Rainbow Six Siege's perfected formula comes to light.

Best Campaign Shooter: Prey

Prey is an incredible story-driven shooter from Arkane Studios, set aboard the Talos I space station. Set in an alternative world timeline, Prey follows the discovery of a mysterious alien species, and humanity's experiments on the creature's physics-bending abilities. As you might expect, things go south pretty quickly, and you find yourself as one of the station's remaining survivors.

With an emphasis on puzzle-solving, passive world-building narrative, and exploration, Prey is an underrated gem fans of games like Dead Space and Bioshock must not miss.

Best Co-Op: Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

Monster Hunter World is a massive action RPG with a ton of things to see, do, and kill, and the mammoth-esque Iceborne expansion makes it even better. As a hunter, your job is to study the game's diverse fantasy ecosystems and eliminate dangerous encroaching predators that threaten the balance. Various monsters, wyverns, and other gigantic creatures swarm through the game's varied locations, and you and up to three friends can take on a wide range of creatures of all shapes and sizes.

With dozens of weapon types for all sorts of playstyles, a load of armor types, upgrades, and on-going content updates, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is a leading co-op action game.

Best Racing: Forza Horizon 4

Forza Horizon has always been the racing game that everybody can enjoy, but for the fourth outing in the series, it kicked everything up a notch. It's the most ambitious entry yet with a vast shared world experience paired with weekly content updates to keep players engaged and entertained week in, week out.

It's a technical triumph, offering 4K HDR visuals on Xbox One X, a performance mode with a 60 FPS frame rate, and an almost entirely destructible environment. And thanks to Microsoft initiatives like Game Pass and Play Anywhere, Forza Horizon 4 is accessible to more players than ever before.

Best Open World: Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey perfects the franchise's push into deeper RPG territory, taking place within a staggeringly vast Ancient Greece open world. Full of noteworthy historical sites, piles of reasons to explore both overground and underwater, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey is one of Ubisoft's most impressive open-world games to date.

Following the events of Assassin's Creed: Origins, Odyssey follows a young Animus researcher who dives back into Ancient Greece to piece together more puzzles from the game's overarching sci-fi story. Odyssey features full naval combat systems, playstyle tailoring through RPG mechanics, and a vast world full of unique animals to hunt, locations to plunder, and of course, baddies to assassinate.

Best Graphic Adventure: Life is Strange

Life is Strange is an evocative graphic adventure game set in a fictional Pacific North Western town in the US. Max Caulfield is an art student with a focus on photography, who ends up with a mysterious power.

In a community filled with horrible secrets, Life is Strange's unique time-bending game mechanic allows you to experience different branches of your story decisions in real-time. Max teams up with her rebellious childhood friend, Chloe, in an attempt to figure out what ties together a missing girl, the town's shady characters, and a devastating supernatural storm.

Best Action Adventure: NieR: Automata

NieR: Automata is one of the most unique and complex games ever, combining enticing and addicting gameplay with a deep, philosophical narrative into one cohesive experience. Its world is as intriguing as it is beautiful, and its themes will make you consider topics that have baffled some of humanity's greatest minds for generations.

Its complexity and depth may be a deterrent if you simply want to sit back and relax while you game, but if you want a story that will challenge you to think critically, there's no better game on the Xbox One.

Best Horror: Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil 2 is a legendary 90s horror game, completely remade for the current generation. Resident Evil 2's 2019 remake proves that the original had a timeless formula, set in a city-wide zombie outbreak that tears into the locals, mutating humans and animals alike (and even some plants).

Resident Evil 2 follows rookie cop Leon, and local Claire, searching for her brother, caught up in a massive bio-engineering disaster. Solve the puzzles in the iconic museum-turned-police station, evade the hulking Mr. X, and scavenge for supplies in zombie-infested sewers. This is a must-buy title for horror fans.

Best Survival: The Long Dark

The Long Dark is a stunning survival simulator from Hinterland Games, set in the icy climbs of Canada. Following a plane crash, you find yourself stranded in the Canadian wilds. A mysterious meteorological disaster has thrown the climate into chaos, driving local wildlife into an unnaturally aggressive frenzy.

In The Long Dark, you'll scavenge supplies, fashion weapons, and ultimately survive, managing your hunger, third, and of course, temperature.

Best Platformer: Ori and the Blind Forest

Ori and the Blind Forest is a beautiful, hand-painted platformer set in a magical forest world. Guiding the cat-like creature, Ori, you'll embark on a quest to save your home from corruption.

With tight, acrobatic platforming and satisfying magical combat, Ori and the Blind Forest stuns with its haunting music, atmospheric locations, and challenging gameplay.

Best Puzzle: Inside

Inside is a haunting puzzle platformer from Playdead, expanding on the concepts pioneered in the studio's previous title, Limbo. In Inside, you control a young boy through a monochromatic dystopian hellscape, with Lynchian industrial overtones and a grisly authoritarian undercurrent.

Throughout the game, you'll be called upon to solve various logic puzzles that test your brains, and occasionally your reactions. The protagonist is being pursued by the game's mysterious authority, whose true nature slowly reveals itself as you march through this evocative title.

Best Strategy: Mutant Year Zero

Mutant Year Zero is a turn-based strategy game with RPG elements. In Mutant Year Zero, you control a small team of mutants in defense of the last free human civilization in a distant post-apocalypse. All remnants of our world are in ruin, pieced together by speculation and rumors by the last surviving humans.

With grid-style turn-based tactical combat, Mutant Year Zero is an excellent take on XCOM-style gameplay conventions, with lots of unique areas to explore.

Best Simulation: Surviving Mars

Surviving Mars is an addictive simulation game, set on the Red Planet. In Surviving Mars, it's up to you set up your very own space colony, including all the problems therein. Your colonists need oxygen, food, water, and shelter from the violent hazards that exist on Mars.

In Surviving Mars, you'll grow your colony from a single small dome into a sprawling exoplanet city, complete with drone workers, and eventually, terraforming facilities.

Best Stealth: Hitman 2

Inside the mind of the iconic barcode-branded assassin, Hitman 2's lineup hosts some of Agent 47's most ambitious heists yet. Built upon shared foundations with the 2016 episodic reboot, the latest title explores six missions across half a dozen locations; from dense jungles of Colombia to a blazing Miami raceway.

Blending in with the crowd is vital, leveraging an extensive lineup of gadgets, disguises, and tailored scenarios to eliminate targets in style. The best assassins will kill victims in plain sight and cover the tracks, making for a stealth experience like no other.

Best Fighting: Killer Instinct

Killer Instinct is an incredible combo-heavy fighting game from Iron Galaxy and Microsoft, based on the 90s games of the same name. The game has a couple of dozen fighters for all sorts of playstyles, with iconic combo-breaking tactical layers on top of relatively accessible fighting gameplay.

Best Sports: Rocket League

Rocket League is what happens when you combine soccer and jet-powered RC racers in confined sci-fi stages. In Rocket League, your goal is to bash the ball into the opposing team's net, scoring points on the way to victory. Heavily physics-based, Rocket League rewards those who take the care to master its nuances. The best players are those that master the game's more advanced moves, gliding through the air and wall riding.

With tons of free updates, cross-platform play, and lots to unlock, Rocket League has kept millions hooked for years.

Best for Kids: Minecraft

Minecraft is a legendary crafting and building game from Mojang and Microsoft. Set it infinitely procedurally generated random worlds, comprised of various types of landscape environments, Minecraft encourages its players to do anything they like. Build gigantic structures, set up farms, tame animals, protect villagers, or explore the Hellish Nether, Minecraft is a game that keeps on giving, extensible with mods and free updates.

Bottom line

Red Dead Redemption 2 retains the top spot for its majesty, vision, and cover-to-cover excellence. Few games have begun to approach what Rockstar has achieved with Red Dead Redemption 2, which is ultimately the example by which all other open-world action games should follow.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Jez Corden is a full-time writer for Windows Central, focusing on Xbox, Surface, and Windows PC. He spends the vast majority of his time gaming, or writing about gaming, with a mission to provide gamers in the Microsoft ecosystem the best and most up-to-date info possible.

Matt Brown is a staff writer at Mobile Nations for Windows Central. Following years of professional consumer technology and gaming coverage, he's focused on the world of Xbox and Windows PCs. You can follow him on Twitter @mattjbrown.

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

With a pal

Best Xbox Game Pass Co-op Games 2020 (Online and Local)

Xbox Game Pass is a glorious service giving access to a couple of a hundred games for a modest monthly fee. And hey, you can bring a friend as well.

Games worth your time

Best Xbox Game Pass games for January 2020

Pick up the best Xbox One games included with an Xbox Game Pass subscription.

Rated T

Rated 'T' for teen: Here are the best teen-rated Xbox One games

Need Xbox gift ideas for a teenaged loved one that doesn't include the non-gift-wrappable, free-to-play Fortnite? Consider some of these!