Around two decades ago, just as Sega was exiting the console market following the Dreamcast’s failure, Sony and Nintendo got another major competitor in the form of Microsoft and Xbox. And though Xbox has, of course, seen its fair share of ups and downs over the years (as others have), the brand has persevered and strengthened. It goes without saying that the original Xbox, which came out twenty years ago in November 2001, had a huge role to play in that, laying down a foundation upon which Microsoft would continue to build with all future consoles. And a lot of that is down to the library- which had more than a few killer releases that are considered to be among the best games of that era. As Xbox celebrates its 20th anniversary, here, we’ll be talking about our twenty favourite games in the original Xbox’s library.
HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED
We had to start with this one. The fates of Xbox and Halo are uniquely intertwined- one would not exist without the other. Halo: Combat Evolved remains one of the biggest launch titles for any console to this day, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it might even be one of the most important and influential games of all time. Parts of the game may not have stood the test of time, but to this day, Master Chief’s first outing remains a stone cold classic.
