Sometimes you just want to game with friends, not against them.
The term 'best' is admittedly pretty broad, but these games we've entered into our list offer some serious fun for you and your online cohorts. In the games below, we've teamed up with friends to raid ancient technological vaults, squashed enemy pilots with our Titans and raced through the Australian outback and so much more!
Note: Games with online multiplayer require an Xbox Live Gold subscription.
- Overwatch
- Dark Souls 3
- Doom
- Grand Theft Auto: 5
- Forza Horizon 3
- Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition
- Titanfall
- Halo 5 Guardians
- NBA 2K17
- Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
- Tom Clancy's The Division
- Dead Rising 3
- Destiny
- Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition
- Far Cry 4
Overwatch
First person shooter Overwatch blasted onto Xbox One earlier in 2016, pitting two teams of six players against each other to achieve various goals within the map. Work together to secure and defend points on the map, or escort a payload for a period of time. It blew Battleborn out of the water, having been released very close to 2K's similar game. Offering character skins and victory poses to unlock, it offers a great level of character customizability.
But what makes Overwatch one of the best Xbox One games? Every fight is an intense multiplayer shootout, with a diverse cast of characters and classes, including Tank, Support, Offense, and Defense. The weapons and equipment are diverse and varied, and it's easy to pick up and play. And while it's a great co-op game, an update brought a competitive mode to Overwatch as well.
Dark Souls 3
Oh, Dark Souls. Many see this action adventure RPG franchise like 'The Everest' of games. If you've completed these games, you've rightly earned yourself the title of 'Gamer.' They're wickedly difficult, requiring meticulous planning and positioning, and learning of the enemies moves and attacks. Giant boss battles that pack a punch will knock you clean off your feet and vast expanses of enemy-filled environments will test your mettle and your reaction times.
Unrelentingly challenging, Dark Souls 3 is the third and most recent installment in From Software's growing franchise. It's the kind of game that is best enjoyed with absolutely no expectations; you'll never really be completely comfortable, and you'll inch through the game making progress so slowly because you feel so vulnerable. If Dark Souls 3 gets too much, you can summon up to two other players to join you in your world and help you take on bosses and areas you're finding a little too difficult to manage alone.
On the other hand, you could be invaded by more malevolent 'red spirit' players, and ambiguous purple summons who may help or attack you. Emulated, but yet to be bested, Dark Souls 3 is one of the best games on Xbox One, and we challenge you to take it on.
Doom
If you remembered and loved Doom from yesteryear, you'll be excited to know it has recently had a complete overhaul, making shooting demonic hordes the most thrilling experience yet. Driven by its single-player campaign, Doom also offers demonic multiplayer disembowelment, chainsawing them in the head, curb-stomping. Having reclaimed the essence of what made Doom "Doom," there is also a pretty competent multiplayer mode.
With no naturally regenerating health, armor, health pick-ups, and ammo is placed around the arena, and only the best of the best will remember where these drop points are and keep themselves fully kitted out. With the flow of battle altered by periodic demonic invasions, players run the 'risk' of spawning as a Hell creature with new abilities and skills. Lots of customizable options give multiplayer an addictive edge that you won't want to put down. A true must for fans of first person shooters.
Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto is undeniably one of the best franchises available, ever. If GTA:V is the first time you've played one of the games from the series, you're treated to a delight of switching between characters to play out one of the most incredible experiences ever. When you're finished driving around the streets (or in my case driving on the mountains), you can hop over to Online mode where you will be thrown back onto the streets of Los Santos and given a load of quests to do by the characters you'll meet in the offline game.
Team up with other players to fulfill objectives, like stealing and delivering cars, heists, and raids. With an open PvP (player versus player) mode, it's kill other players or be killed by them. Complete side missions to earn lots of money, buy apartments and garages to save your game and your vehicles… the Online game is just as addictive as the main game. Be sure to get insurance for your vehicles, you may just need it...
Forza Horizon 3
Hot off the release wagon, open road racer Forza Horizon 3 zoomed into a top spot so fast after release it's practically a photo finish. Set in Australia, Forza's biggest setting yet, you're now in charge of the Horizon festival. Race around the Australian Outback in over 350 cars, completely customize the festival and hire your friends to work for you. Forza Horizon 3 offers a greater depth of control and design, making this the most exciting and accessible entry into the franchise yet. If you thought that Forza couldn't possibly out-do its previous ventures, we'd beg to differ.
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition.
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition is one of the most deeply customizable turn-based fantasy RPGs. There probably isn't enough space to tell you just how customizable it is, with the ability to not only customize your characters and their attacks. It also has a variety of game modes to play through, with offline campaigns and a co-op multiplayer option. Any character you make is an archetype, and you have full control to make them exactly as you want. Combining skills and elements to give yourself the upper hand, team up with 2-4 players (offline and online) to create synergies between you to decimate opponents. The well-mapped and intuitive controls make raining death down on enemies easier than ever before.
Titanfall
Titanfall fell from the skies onto our Xboxes late 2014, and it's remained a staple of the first person shooter genre ever since. Fight as an agile pilot, use stealth to evade detection and employ the use of Burn Cards to give you an upper hand in battle. For the ultimate upper hand, call down your heavily armored Titan from space, jump in a shoot the ever-loving crap out of anything that moves.
As an online only game, Titanfall has quite a few different game modes, so there is something for everyone to try. There is so much Titanfall has to offer in its blisteringly fast-paced action, advanced parkour kits can see you wall running and hanging for longer, cloaking abilities make you harder to spot in a Titan. What's more, with Titanfall 2 coming out later in 2016, the original Titanfall is now really cheap to buy and comes with all the DLC maps for free. What are you waiting for, grab your pilot gear!
Halo 5 Guardians
Where oh where has Master Chief gone? What was once heralded as the finest local-multiplayer game, has now evolved into one of the biggest and most addictive first person shooters ever. Halo 5 seemed to have a lot to prove, standing on the shoulders of an already titanic franchise. While some may find the main campaign a little weak, Halo 5 Guardians' saving grace comes in the form of its online multiplayer. It is fast-paced, gorgeous and a ton of fun for even the most basic of players — a true return to form. Perhaps the one of the best examples of what 'next-gen' games are capable of, Halo 5 Guardians will have players returning for a long while to come.
NBA 2K17
Another game that's practically a slam dunk, NBA 2K17 is the latest installment in its storied franchise. Face off against your opponent in NBA 2K17 with some of the most famous basketball teams in history, presented with glorious graphics and near photo-realistic rendering of the players. NBA 2K17 gives better dribbling mechanics and a career mode that's more realistic than ever. Brilliant gameplay and brilliant graphics make this game a must-have for basketball fans.
Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
Two amazing games for the price of one, 2K you spoil us! If you've never played any of the Borderlands games, you're missing out on a cel-shaded delight. It has memorable and endlessly quotable characters, the guns are almost procedurally generated with literally millions of possibilities to find and earn as rewards, and customizable cars that shoot rockets?! I'm in love. Easily one of my most favorite games ever, and not just because it has a sense of humor that matches my own, some of my best memories of this game are from multiplayer.
With up to four players at a time, Borderlands will adjust the difficulty of the game accordingly depending on who is hosting. The more players in the session, the harder the game will be; especially if the game is hosted by a higher level friend. In this instance, you could power level and make yourself strong really quickly to push for the bigger raid bosses who are capable of dropping insane loot. Borderlands: The Handsome Collection not only gives you Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Presequel, but also the DLC, and the option of local split-screen co-op AND online multiplayer. Did we also mention these games are huge in size and offered in this one low-priced package? Boasting a range of classes, leveling options and more guns than you could shake at a four-armed Bullymong, Borderlands: Handsome Collection could potentially see you through for a good few months of solid playing.
Tom Clancy's The Division
The Division sees the player take on the role of a Division agent, caught up in a conspiracy involving man-made viruses and the people behind it. A great blend of third person shooting, open world environments and RPG, The Division is a must have for those who love on-line shooters. Playable in single player, or co-op, matchmaking allows you to join friends or request assistance from other players for your current mission. Conceptually fresh and deep, The Division is ambitious and creative. It can be a bit grind-y at times, and you'll spend plenty of time tweaking your load-outs f that's your thing, but there's so much here to keep you entertained for a long long while.
Dead Rising 3
If driving down hundreds of zombies with a modified steam-roller doesn't already sound amazing (it really is), then chopping together a traffic light and hooking it up with a car battery to make a staff that would make even Gandalf cry is electrifyingly incredible. Dead Rising 3 sees the player take control of Nick Ramos, mechanic and inadvertent zombie slayer. Set after the events of the Dead Rising 1 & 2, it is able to render three times as many zombies on screen than its predecessors. The vehicle combinations are savage and cause devastation and mayhem to all that cross your path, and have seats for you and a plus one. Weapon combinations are deadlier and more hilarious than ever before. Saddle up with a friend and take to the streets for some serious zombie carnage.
Destiny
Destiny provides a unique multiplayer experience in 'shared environments'— each person has their own game, but is able to drop in and drop out of other players games based on proximity alone. This first person sci-fi shooter sees the player becoming a Guardian of the last city on earth. A mixed experience of Player Vs Environment (PvE) and Player Vs Player (PvP), Destiny includes both strikes and raid bosses. If you're after a game that will keep you engaged for the long haul, with lots of content and literally hours of play time, Bungie's newest IP since Halo will have you covered.
Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition
Diablo 3 is great when played as a solo player, but the devil waits for no man and the fun is enhanced up to three more times with other players. Whether you choose to go through this in local co-op or online, there are so many hours of fun to be had. Each character has its own storyline, not to mention customizable attacks and hordes of monsters to kill.
Each time you finish the game, it gets harder, with many different difficulty levels. Kit out your characters with equipment that gives insane stackable buffs, cut through enemies like a knife through water using devastating attacks and explore every nook and cranny of this awesome dungeon crawler. Long time players will feel comfortable and new players will easily get hooked on the search for legendary loot.
Far Cry 4
Genre: Action adventure RPG. Publisher: Ubisoft.
Ajay Ghale returns to the land of his family, deep in the Himalayan mountains. Dangerous wildlife could hinder exploration and the local rebel groups are caught up in civil war. As much as we love having our eyes ripped out by a sudden eagle attack, or throwing meat into an enclosure full of people to attract wild animals to do our bidding for us, saddling up with a partner and exploring the open world environment together adds an extra layer of delicious gameplay. While playing multiplayer, the main storyline is inaccessible, but side quests and everything else are open for two players.