15.Armed and Dangerous
Prefer your games on the less serious side?Armed and Dangerousprovides plenty of third-person shooting action, mixed in with tons of jokes featured throughout its single-player campaign.
14.SSX 3
Remember snowboarding games? Outside of Ubisoft’s mountain-sports simulatorSteep, they’ve pretty much fallen by the wayside. Which is why it’s worth revisitingSSX 3even to this day because it still plays well and it’s easy to jump into for a snowboarding fix.
13.Dead to Rights
If you’re looking for an encapsulation of the Xbox/PlayStation 2/GameCube generation in a single game,Dead to Rightsis it.
It’s plenty fun to play, but even more fun to examine as a sort of gaming time capsule. This neo-noir third-person action game would go on to influence many future games.
12.Jade Empire
Another one of BioWare’s game,Jade Empiretakes elements fromStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicbut moves to an action combat system. It also wasn’t restricted by any dependence on a third-party license. Had it sold better, it could have been the start of an amazing franchise.
11.Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
Unreal Championshipwas basically a straight port ofUnreal Tournament 2003. And then cameUnreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict. This game was built specifically for the Xbox and optimized for the system, resulting in gameplay and performance that exceeded its predecessor.
Related:The Best Shooter Games on Xbox Game Pass, Ranked
10.Full Spectrum Warrior
Full Spectrum Warriorhad an image problem when it was released: it was a strategy game at heart, but it looked like a shooter game.
The gamers for who it was intended rarely made it past the cover to discover the great gameplay within. But for a select few, they found an in-depth tactics game with awesome online co-op.
Related:The Best Strategy Games on Xbox Game Pass, Ranked
9.Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
WhileCrimson Skieswas originally a PC game that didn’t make much of a splash,Crimson Skies: High Road to Revengecertainly made waves when it arrived on the original Xbox.
Unfortunately, much of that was due to its online multiplayer, which is no longer available. It’s still worth playing single-player, though.
8.Panzer Dragoon Orta
There aren’t many facts to back this up, but given the amount of Sega properties on the Xbox, there was an assumption that most Dreamcast owners had moved on to the Xbox.
For those who fell into this group,Panzer Dragoon Ortawas exactly the game they needed with its stunning arcade shooting experience.
7.Black
This shooter from Criterion Games aimed to “do for shooting whatBurnoutdid for racing.” It didn’t; sadly,Blackwasn’t a huge hit at all. But it’s still a solid first-person shooter experience for players who prefer their shooters to have old-school trappings.
Related:The Best Shooter Games on Xbox Game Pass, Ranked
6.Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
A full generation beforeRed Faction: Guerrilla, Pandemic Studios’Mercenaries: Playground of Destructiondid nearly the same thing. This open-world game featured destructible environments in a way we hadn’t seen much before. It’s too bad the game’s lackluster sequel killed the franchise.
5.Psychonauts
Psychonautsrepresented one of the two chances we got (at least on the original Xbox) to see what Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Entertainment could do with a serious budget. Even if you aren’t a fan of platformer games, this one is worth playing just for the environmental storytelling alone.
Related:The Best Platformer Games on Xbox Game Pass, Ranked
4.Ninja Gaiden Black
Team Ninja’s reworking of theNinja Gaidengames was divisive, with some players claiming it was too difficult while others saying it wasn’t difficult enough.
Ninja Gaiden Blacksolves this by adding easier and harder difficulty settings, plus new enemies, costumes, and other touches.
Related:The hardest video games of all time
3.The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
WhileSkyrimis the most popular ofElder Scrollsgames—so much so that it’s pretty much a household name these days—there are many who’d disagree with anyone who says thatSkyrimis the bestElder Scrollsgame.
Even though its engine and tech are insanely dated, most would say thatThe Elder Scrolls III: Morrowindis the best and most important title in theElder Scrollsseries—and one of the best video games of all time.
Related:The Best RPGs on Xbox Game Pass, Ranked
2.Splinter Cell
Ever wonder where theSplinter Cellseries got its start? In this game, you can see Sam Fischer when he was considerably less old and grizzled—although to be honest, he’s still pretty seasoned even in this first entry of the acclaimed stealth-action series.
1.Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republicis the exact point where BioWare’s transition fromBaldur’s Gatedeveloper toMass Effectdeveloper started. But unlikeMass Effect,Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republichas a proper ending—and that’s just one of many aspects that made this game so good.
Related:The Best Backward Compatible Games for Xbox Series X|S
