9 – Layers of Fear
Bloober Teams Layers of Fear is a bonafide mind screw. This psychological (or moreover, psychedelic) horror puts you in the mind of a mad painter on his quest to create his ultimate masterpiece. Navigate your way through a constantly changing and evolving house and try not to lose your nerve… if you dare. Still in early access, Layers of Fear is around 75% done but still good enough to be included on this list.
8 – Elite: Dangerous
Space… the final frontier… wait, that’s not right. Space, the place where you can trade, mine, bounty hunt, assassinate and pirate your way to success! Coming in at a solid 80 over on Metacritic, Elite: Dangerous is one of the best (if not only) open world, online multiplayer space epics for the Xbox One.
7 – Rare Replay
30 hit games, one epic collection. Such was the tag line for Rare Replay this compilation of Rare’s contributions to the world of gaming and they were spot on with epic. While our reviewer didn’t drink too much of the Rare Koolaid it seems that almost everyone else did. From Battletoads to Conker’s Bad Fur Day to Banjo-Kazooie, there was something for retro gamers of every kind in this killer compilation.
6 – Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
I can’t lie, I love seeing indie games rank this high up the list. Part of the ID@Xbox program, this action/platforming gem from developer, Asteroid Base was one of the year’s best surprises. Charming gameplay, an absolutely gorgeous aesthetic and even better played with a friend, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime might have escaped your radar in 2015. Do yourself a favour and go back to it, you won’t be disappointed.
Click on thru to the last page for our top 5 Xbox One exclusives of 2015…