7 Upcoming Xbox One Exclusives We Can’t Wait To Play

In terms of upcoming games, we’ve already had a look at what’s heading to the PS4 in the next year or so, but the Xbox One is also bringing the noise with regards to big-name exclusives. Check out the seven most anticipated below:

Gears of War

Release Date: (TBA)

After making four Gears of War titles for Xbox 360, developer Epic Games has moved on from the franchise, leaving Microsoft to do whatever it wants with it. The new entry is in development at Black Tusk Studios (who now go as The Coalition) and was shown off at the E3 2015 expo. Gears 4 (as it was referred to onstage) was demonstrated with a lengthy gameplay video, which revealed two new heroes to the franchise: JD and an unnamed female lead.

The demo shows the two attempting to survive a brutal storm before encountering some mutated new creatures which haven’t been seen in the series before.

Quantum Break

Release Date: Early 2016

Quantum Break, which comes from the makers of Max Payne and Alan Wake, is a third-person shooter that’s being made alongside a live-action television series. 

The game follows a time travel experiment that has gone wrong. The event not only causes time to start breaking down, but also grants the three main characters – Jack Joyce, Beth Wilder, and Paul Serene – the ability to manipulate time. For example, Serene, the main antagonist, can see into the future to decide which choices to make in the present; while Joyce, one of the two protagonists, can stop time. The two are pursued by Monarch Solutions, a corporation founded by Serene. It’s one of the most interesting-looking games and we can’t wait to see more.

Inside

Release Date: 2015

From the makers of the tremendously gloomy yet gorgeous game Limbo comes Inside, a game that looks… tremendously gloomy, yet gorgeous.

Like its predecessor, the game takes place from a side-scrolling perspective, but here — as opposed to Limbo — other people also populate the game world. Based on the haunting trailer, however, that doesn’t seem to make the game any more cheery. Despite the pall of gloom, you can expect to encounter plenty of environmental puzzles that will leave you scratching your head until you come up with a solution, at which point you’ll feel like a certified genius.

Halo 5: Guardians

Release Date: October 27, 2015

Coming late next year is the next major episode in what is arguably the most beloved first-person shooter series of all time. The Halo franchise is nearly synonymous with Xbox, so Halo 5: Guardians is a huge deal for Microsoft. 

We’ve seen quite a bit of multiplayer footage, but not much is known of the campaign and its cryptic story. What we do know is that the mercenary Spartan Locke will feature heavily alongside Master Chief, but they won’t exactly be buddies, as Locke is hunting down the iconic hero this time around.

Fable Legends

Release Date: 2015

While designer Peter Molyneux has a long history of over-promising and under-delivering, his Fable games have always been the more consistent. Typical to the fantasy genre, in these games you start as a nobody and work your way up to being a major celebrity by doing either heroic or villainous things, depending on the choices you make as you play.

Fable Legends is set in the same fantasy world of Albion, but it’s a different sort of game from its predecessors. Instead of a single-player action role-playing game, the developer calls Legends a “multiplayer online quest adventure game.” To cut through the jargon, four players (or AI-controlled characters) will act as heroes in the game, while a fifth player takes the role of the villain. The villain’s job is to set up the quest, deploy the enemies, and trigger traps as the heroes play. Think Dungeons & Dragons for a new generation.

Scalebound

Release Date: (TBA)

Developed by Platinum Games, the makers of such excellent action games as Bayonetta 2 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Scalebound looks like a fantasy game of epic proportions. You play as an adventurer who travels to a distant world full of enormous monsters. Luckily for you, you soon befriend a dragon who helps you take on these vicious beasts.

Really, that’s about all we know so far about the game, but the trailer looks suitably grand. If the game is anything like that (or like the excellent titles Platinum has made in the past), it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Crackdown

Release Date: (TBA)

The Crackdown series has produced a cult-like fan-base among Xbox gamers. The franchise follows The Agency, who deploy a cybernetic police-force in crime-ridden cities to take down the bad guys using some pretty nifty gadgets, guns and incredible superhuman abilities.

We haven’t seen much of the third installment (which will not be called Crackdown 3, apparently), but we do know that it will offer a cooperative campaign, destructible environments, and will take advantage of the Xbox One’s cloud computing feature. Watch the cinematic trailer to get an idea of what to expect once the game comes out.

What Xbox One game are you looking forward to playing? Let us know in the comments section below…

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