Red Dead Redemption 2

Is Red Dead Redemption 2, one of the greatest games of all time, really the best Xbox One and PS4 title? Yes, it is, because even with the hardware limitations, Rockstar Games delivered an excellent open-world action-adventure. The story is fantastic; the characters, especially protagonist Arthur Morgan, are fantastic; and the gameplay, while not for everyone, is realistic and incredibly detailed with a wide range of activities.

Please note that we will only be including single-player games on this list.

With that out of the way, let’s begin.

Hitman 2

IO Interactive has done a fabulous job with its new brand of Hitman games, which features some of the best maps the series has seen to date. Not only are these maps large in size, but also dense with opportunities to murder your targets in some of the most creative ways possible. Beating a level for the first time is just the start in Hitman, and the fun comes from knowing the ins and outs of the level to a point where you can essentially become a ghost within these labyrinthian environments. Completing the many Mission Stories and additional challenges of each level nets you rewards in the form of new costumes and alternate starting locations for future playthroughs, which also makes replaying these levels a much more convenient task. We picked Hitman 2 for this list simply because maps like Florida, Mumbai, and Ark Society are some of the most replayable ones in the entire trilogy.

Showstopper- Hitman 2016

This was the first ever modern Hitman level to be released, and the fact that it has found its place on this list speaks volumes about its tight design. Taking place in a fashion show in Paris, this level serves as a perfect beginner puzzle to those well versed with the basics of Hitman. You need to get access to a restricted area to kill one target, and you need to separate a roaming target from his personal bodyguard to dispatch him without arousing any suspicion. There are plenty of ways to do that – you can disguise yourself as the bartender to spike one of the target’s drinks, you can swap places with a model to get an easy ticket to the upper floors, or maybe disguise yourself as one of the security guards in the fashion show. You can also make the assassination look like an accident by dropping a chandelier on top of your target while he’s walking down the ramp. Or you could just let go of all that and try a Suit Only run once you’ve got your bearings.

Dishonored 2 – The Clockwork Mansion

Arkane Studios did a fantastic job with Dishonored 2, a sequel that builds upon the foundations of the original with better level designs and varied powers. Dishonored 2 gives players the ultimate playground of possibilities with huge levels filled to the brim with secret zones and plenty of verticality, and the Clockwork Mansion is easily the best of the bunch. Even talking about this level in purely visual terms, this level impresses with its rendition of a mechanical palace. The palace is also home to an underground prison and rusty servant quarters which offer a stark contrast to the large rooms filled with all sorts of luxurious furniture and paintings on the upper floors. And of course, pulling the levers will drastically change the level layout which looks really awesome.

Only two editions can be purchased going forward. Hitman World of Assassination will cost approximately $70 and includes the base game, Hitman 1 Game of the Year Access Pass, and Hitman 2 Standard Access Pass. There’s also the Hitman World of Assassination Deluxe Pack for approximately $30, which includes Hitman 3’s Deluxe Pack and Seven Deadly Sins Collection, along with the Hitman 2 Expansion Access Pass.

To further accommodate players, IO Interactive is offering a “complete the set” option on Steam. So if you own Hitman 3’s Deluxe Pack and Seven Deadly Sins Collection but not the Hitman 2 Expansion Access Pass, you only need to pay $10 for that. Each of these will also be available via an in-game store for $10 each, allowing you to purchase the remaining content for a reduced price.

Hitman 1 and 2 will no longer be available to purchase digitally, but current owners can still access them. You can also still play Hitman 3 in its current state through Hitman World of Assassination. The latter’s release coincides with the new Freelancer mode, which is free for Hitman 3 owners. Head here for more details on the same.

Please note that this list is an unordered one, so the order in which these games are ranked has nothing to do with their respective qualities. Also for the sake of uniqueness, we have limited entries to one per franchise. 

With that out of the way, let’s begin:

Assassin’s Creed Unity

The Assassin’s Creed series of games is home to a number of excellent open-world experiences, although most would agree that Unity stands tall as one of the best stealth-oriented Assassin’s Creed games to date. Sure, the game suffered from a rocky launch – but now that its technical inefficiencies have been sorted out, fans can truly appreciate all that Unity did right. The densely packed and visually striking environments of the 18th-century palace house a wide array of techniques and opportunities to silently take down foes, and the fluid animation-driven parkour system is easily the best in the series. Furthermore, the game’s key assassination missions build on top of these mechanics by constructing open-ended missions with plenty of ways to go about taking down your targets.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The guerrilla warfare aspect and lack of a radar in Metal Gear Solid 3 turned sniping into a fairly important mechanic. Rifles could be used to scout ahead and pick off foes from a safe distance, after all though you still had to be careful about leaving bodies. The true test came when facing The End – if you actually tried fighting him, then tracing his position and not getting caught out was key, especially with how incredible his aim could be. This also opened up a number of strategies like capturing and releasing his parrot while using the directional microphone to find his position.

Agent 47’s Safehouse is being added as a new map and unlike others, it can be customized with more areas and options available as one progresses through Freelancer mode. So if you’re keen on practicing with weapons in the firing range, browsing suits or planning missions, this is the place. Freelancer campaigns can also be viewed from the Safehouse with each offering a number of different missions.

What’s interesting is that missions from the main campaigns have been reworked for the mode and feature new NPC types like Suppliers that provide different items and weapons, safes, hidden stashes and even rival NPC assassins. Any gear that isn’t brought back to the Safehouse once the campaign ends will be gone and you’ll need to revisit it between missions to restock explosives and syringes. With varying mission orders and different challenges, IO Interactive seeks to make this a highly replayable mode for players.

Ray tracing is also coming later this year for Hitman 3 PC players, providing improved reflections and better shadows. The developer confirmed that all locations in the trilogy will benefit from ray tracing when it goes live. Furthermore, Intel XeSS and Variable Rate Shading are also being implemented. Finally, a new map called Codename: Rocky is also set for later this year so stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

Hitman 3 PC players on Steam will have access to new upcoming improvements like Variable Rate Shading, Ray Tracing (more on that later) and XeSS along. Steam Achievements and Trading Cards are also coming while the pre-order bonus Trinity Pack will be available free with all editions for the first 30 days.

But that’s not all. Hitman VR will also be coming to PC on the same day and allows for playing all three titles using PC VR hardware. A gameplay clip by senior game designer Eskil Møhl on Twitter can be seen below, showcasing what one is capable of in VR. More information on supported hardware will be revealed before launch but PC VR will be available for all Hitman 3 owners on January 20th.

For more details on Hitman 3, check out our review here.

pic.twitter.com/WxkfE8fO2A

— Eskil Møhl (@Eskil_IOI) December 17, 2021

Overcooked is the quintessential party game series and Overcooked: All You Can Eat! includes pretty much everything. Both games along with their DLC are included and remastered, providing hundreds of different levels to co-op in, both locally and online. Hitman 2 is the follow-up to Hitman (2016), providing more sandboxes for Agent 47 to assassinate his targets along with new modes, the new Sniper Assassin mode and much more.

As for Predator: Hunting Grounds, it’s an asymmetrical multiplayer shooter from IllFonic, the team behind Friday the 13th: The Game. It sees four players, armed to the teeth with military weapons, completing objectives while being stalked by the Predator. Despite a rough launch, it’s received a number of updates and improvements overtime.