Starting with Rare Replay in August, and ending with Rise Of The Tomb Raider, Phil Spencer has called this time period the greatest line up of Xbox games in the 14 year history of the company. That is a huge statement to make, and a statement that could easily backfire on Microsoft if the games are not well received. There has been three games released under the “greatest line up in history statement” Rare Replay, Gears Of War Ultimate Edition, and Forza 6.
Microsoft tried to go for the stacked Xbox One exclusive promotion route last year, and it didn’t go so well. They offered Forza Horizon 2 which was a great game, Sunset Overdrive which was a good game that just didn’t get the attention, and Halo The Master Chief Collection which was a complete disaster in terms of Online. This time however Microsoft have been a lot more careful using established brands like Tomb Raider and remasters that would be well received rather than risking their claims on a new IP that could be critically panned. Lets just hope Halo 5’s online isn’t a complete mess or that would be disastrous.
The Metacritic average for each game (in order) is 85, 82, and as of right now 88 for Forza 6. Microsoft deserve credit for those averages as not one game has slipped under 80, and in the current generation of video gaming the difference between a 79 average and 80 average is quite big. I personally don’t agree with it, but it’s the way many gamers judge video games today. I understand two of the games are remasters, but not all remasters are guaranteed great scores like Rare Replay and Gears Of War Ultimate Edition got.
Forza 6 was the first brand new and exclusive to Xbox One title in this line up, so it had to be a hit or else “the greatest line up in Xbox history” would have been mocked before it had really truly began. It was also important that Forza 6 had to be hit as Forza 5 was a major decline in eyes of reviewers and fans with the game getting the lowest average score in the history of the series. It was a big gamble for Microsoft but it paid off and Forza 6 has now become the highest rated Xbox One exclusive ever.
It’s a great start for the line up that Phil Spencer has called the greatest line up in Xbox history. It’s only really just begun too as there is still Halo 5 and Rise Of The Tomb Raider to come, and both are expected to be huge hits for the Xbox One. Failure is not an option for these next two titles, and to really put a stamp on this Fall 2015 line up some 90+ scores might be needed to really give some validity to this claim of being such a great line up.
The truth however is Microsoft had one of the greatest line ups in their 14 history already, and it would be extremely hard, almost impossible now for them to top it. In 2007 the Xbox 360 in a 6 month period released Bioshock, Mass Effect, Forza Motorsport 2, and Halo 3. All four ended up getting 90+ average scores with Bioshock being regarded as one of the greatest games ever made so I seriously doubt this 2015 run of Xbox One games can come close to topping that unbelievable run of games in 2007.
If Tomb Raider and Halo 5 manage to get great scores then you can make a serious argument that 2015 had the best run of Xbox games since 2007, and should be recognized as one of the best years an Xbox console has ever had in terms of quality video games.
What do you guys think? Let us know in the comment section below
HgGamer
OP STFU you fuckin moron and keep away from writing you are garbage
Tobias Spears
Microsoft is garbage. I’m glad their losing the console war. Keep doing your thing Sony
James Anthony
Like indy’s and reeboots. Keep doin your thing sony lol
Tobias Spears
Like Sony selling 25 million compared to Xbox one 13 million and it’s just the beginning. Yeah keep doing your thing Sony lol
James Anthony
Yep crack sell well too. I guess that’s good too. lol I have a Ps4 never turn it on. my tag is LUCIFERSHELPER3. Not too many games.
Tobias Spears
I had an Xbox one and I never turned it on. They haven’t had one exclusive over 90% in two years lol. Ps4 has more games this year including great indie titles (DIVERSITY). Xbox one don’t have no games bro its a complete joke and they really shouldn’t be in the gaming industry anymore. They can’t rely on Halo and Gears forever LMAO
John Nemesh
Nope. “The Greatest Lineup in History” is marketing bullshit, straight up. Tomb Raider is a TIMED exclusive, no matter how much MS is advertising it as a full exclusive…and it’s going up against (the multiplatform) Fallout 4…THAT isn’t going to end well for Lara!
Everything else is just another rehash of what you see every year…Gears remaster (also on PC), Halo 5 (early previews haven’t been kind), ANOTHER Forza (yay for annual franchises!). If that’s “The Greatest Lineup in History”…they need help….badly.
They are going to get buried by Sony this fall…special edition console bundles with Star Wars, Destiny Taken King, and the non-special edition bundle with the Uncharted Trilogy will cement the idea in most gamers heads that the Xbox isn’t competing AT ALL with the Playstation…they are lucky to compete with the WiiU!
Tobias Spears
I totally agree with you. I know Tomb raider is a timed exclusive but I have a feeling its gonna get buried by Fallout 4. Its stupid for Microsoft to release it on the same day LMAO
John Nemesh
Don’t get me wrong, I think TR will sell well…to existing owners of Xbox hardware…it’s NOT going to move systems though…and THAT is what the game is about for the first few years. MS isn’t even CLOSE to making a dent in the gap that the PS4 established. They are holding their own in North America…but that’s it. They are getting BURIED in Europe…and they are already holding the funeral in Japan!
Tobias Spears
Well said!
Rubix99
Not sure to be honest.
According to chart estimates……
Tomb Radier (2013) has sold 1.83 million copies on Xbox 360 since its release in March 2013. Xbox 360 is said to have a global install base of 84 million+ now.
The Xbox One version released in January 2014 and so far has only sold 0.36 million copies. Xbox One is said to have an install base between the 13-14 million mark globally now.
It really is not a great deal better on the Sony systems either. It only really saw a brief sale surge when it went on a special PC Steam offer for $5 !!!
Given the overwhelming majority of Xbox gamers past lack of enthusiasm for Tomb Raider…..added in with games like Fallout 4, Halo 5 and Call of Duty: Black Ops III arriving around (or at) the same time….I don’t really logically see Rise of the Tomb Raider being a big seller.
I think Phil Spencer has also kind of realized this to some degree. In a recent interview he spoke of how they are not focused anymore on third party exclusives and said something to the effect of “it’s great to have Tomb Raider and all but we want to focus on our first party games.”
He also said competing against PS4 is “not his priority”…a complete turn around from his Spring 2014 statement:
“We are in this to win and to compete, compete on all levels; functionality, games, value. All of those things are incredibly important to us”.
I think Microsoft know now that its going to be more and more impossible to make offers to third party developers for exclusive deals as the sale gap between the 2 consoles continues to mushroom.
Many third party games are now selling over double the amount on PS4 than Xbox One. In the UK market, the latest Metal Gear Solid game……72% of all copies sold were on PS4.
Bethesda have now just announced the PS4 version of Fallout 4 will be getting the mod thing. It’s going to be really interesting to see how things develop between Bethesda and Sony if Fallout 4 sells over double the amount on PS4.
Bethesda have in the past…..have given the 360 versions of Elder Scrolls IV, Elder Scrolls V, Fallout 3 and New Vegas preferential treatment. Not unlike how Activision did with the Call of Duty games. And we saw how quick they jumped ship.
avi
lol…these comments.
Tha-Truth
I’m sorry but if that lineup is the “Best in Microsoft’s history” then that just speaks volumes about what a pathetic, weak lineup of game franchises they have. Sony have completely owned 2015 with games like the Uncharted Collection, Tearaway: Unfolded and Bloodborne, which got a better score on Metacitic than ANY of the cheap shovelware on the Xbox.
Halo is not a system seller, the Master Crap collection proved this last year when it came out and did nothing. Forza has had 3 different games release for the Xbone, all of them mediocre garbage and all of them failed to move consoles. Even the Gears Of Bore Ultimate edition didn’t sell half as many consoles as Microsoft were praying it would.
Sony have been the only company releasing quality games for the past 22 months and that’s why the PS4 has been the only console that people have been buying for the past 22 months. Meanwhile the Xbone rots down at the bottom of the sales charts like the cheap, dead, unwanted, last – gen POS it truly is.
Forza, Halo, Gears and Fable are dead franchises. Mediocre shovelware that haven’t been relevant for the past 10 years. The longer Micro$oft keeps relying on trash games like those to save the console then the longer their console is going to flop at retail.
Tobias Spears
Lol I just love your comment!
myXB1LackVariety
True, had my Xbox One and PS4 a yr and half. Microsoft have not released anything I prefer. More Halo, Forza, Gears, Fable like everyone that owns an Xbox One play those franchises. I don’t, never could get into them now as for my PS4 it has the kind if games I perger horror/supernatural/crime/thriller/suspense/mystery. Sony doing an incredible balancing act with variety.
ImOnaDrugCalledSheen
Depends on rather or not you drank the Kool-Aid.