It’s been a strange console generation for Team Xbox so far. It started during a pandemic and resulted in supply chain issues that made the Xbox Series X hard to get for months, the potential-killer-app launch title (Halo Infinite) suffered an embarrassing but much needed yearlong delay, Microsoft tried to buy Activision-Blizzard for SIXTY-NINE BILLION DOLLARS only to see regulatory agencies around the world challenge it before the deal ultimately went through, the company shipped one bona fide Game of the Year (Forza Horizon 5) and also started publishing its first-party games on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer even confirmed that a handheld Xbox is in the works, even if we might not see it during this hardware generation.
All the while, outside of a kickass 2021 that saw the release of the aforementioned Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 along with Psychonauts 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Tunic, Xbox players have been waiting (and waiting) for a steady flow of first-party games. And it was looking a bit bleak this year – again – with Avowed getting pushed to February 2025 and the potential-packed pixel-art indie action-adventure exclusive Replaced slipping out of 2024. But Microsoft turned in all its homework right as the bell rang at the end of class, with STALKER 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle all landing in the final six weeks of the year – and all three getting A’s on the assignment. Let’s discuss the honorable mentions, runners-up, and Best Xbox Game of 2024.
Honorable Mentions
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 and Dungeons of Hinterberg both just missed making the top of our list but are very worthy of honorable mentions. The psychologically focused sequel to Hellblade was the first-ever officially announced Xbox Series X game, and when it finally shipped this year, it can lay claim to at least one title: best-looking Xbox game ever made. Ninja Theory’s Unreal Engine 5-powered narrative-driven adventure is a technical showpiece, a powerhouse of pixels that leverages all 10.2 teraflops of power that the Series X is packing. It’s a bit light in the gameplay department – more akin to a walking simulator than a proper action-adventure – but it is nevertheless beautifully acted and stunningly presented. It’s very much worth taking the time to go on this journey with Senua.
Meanwhile, Dungeons of Hinterberg’s hooky concept – a European town becomes a hotspot for visitors to come and make friends and drink beers at night after a long day of monster slaying in the dungeons below – translates into a super enjoyable mix of action-RPG and social sim gameplay. Its comic book-style visuals only enhanced the entire experience. This was a refreshing summer release in a season where we typically complain about the lack of interesting new games to play. But this year’s virtual summer trip to Europe to crush a bunch of monsters and collect loot while chatting with the locals about it at the pub afterwards proved to be just the kind of vacation we needed.
Runner-Up: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
It may not be an Xbox exclusive, but Microsoft owns Call of Duty now, and the biggest first-person shooter franchise in the world bounced back in a big way this year. And Xbox owners did get to play Black Ops 6 on day one via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, so there’s that.
More importantly, Treyarch, Raven, and the myriad Activision support studios that put in yeoman’s work on this series every year came together to craft the best single-player Call of Duty campaign in years. Historically underrated developer Raven understood that the key to a great Call of Duty campaign is variety, and in Black Ops 6 you get to do all kinds of incredibly fun stuff, from going undercover at a casino to freely roaming an open-world desert to hobnobbing at a Bill Clinton fundraiser and so much more. Its story doesn’t quite punch you in the face with a twist as good as Black Ops 1’s JFK moment, but it’s a damn fine story nevertheless that positively reinforces the excellent and unpredictable campaign gameplay.
Add in a great, focused multiplayer mode and an excellent return of Zombies, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is one of the best overall gaming packages you can get in 2024.
Runner-Up: STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl
The developers of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl went through a literal version of Hell on Earth in order to get this deeply personal game about their home country of Ukraine made after Russia invaded it midway through development. That it got done at all is an incredible testament to their perseverance and human spirit, and how lucky we are that they did finish it, because it is fantastic. (Side note: the 90-minute documentary about the making of this game is an incredible human story that’s well worth watching. Find it on Xbox’s YouTube channel.)
This first-person shooter sequel mixes punishing survival gameplay with brutal combat in a brooding sci-fi atmosphere to create a gameplay loop that feels refreshingly old-school yet delightfully new and modern all at the same time. Though its initial launch was marred by a host of technical issues, its fixes and updates came so frequently that it’s impossible to hold its launch day against it. And if you’re just jumping in now, you’ll only ever see the current, more polished version of the Exclusion Zone. Enjoy playing in the world it creates, as its developers clearly did when building it.
Runner-Up: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
A rough takeoff put passengers in a sour mood, but things quickly smoothed out as developer Asobo Studio reached cruising altitude with the latest version of its masterpiece aviation simulator. The team somehow made Flight Simulator even more gorgeous, rendering an even more beautiful and realistic Earth than the one from 2021. They also added a lot more to do, from wildlife photo shoots to inconceivably dotting the in-game planet with every single helipad in the real world. Physics were improved, as were numerous other under-the-hood systems.
In all, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 may not be a “game” for everyone (hence the “simulator” in the title), but what it sets out to do it does brilliantly. It is a love letter to anyone and everyone who loves aviation, in the same way that Forza Horizon 5 was a love letter to anyone who loved cars and driving.
Winner: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Lucasfilm chose wisely when partnering with MachineGames to make a AAA Indiana Jones video game. The talented studio revived and modernized Wolfenstein, and before that made one of the greatest licensed video games of all time and one of the best original Xbox games ever in The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. And so it is high praise when we say that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is the best game this group of developers has ever made – not to mention the best Indiana Jones anything since The Last Crusade, 35 years ago.
Some gamers were skeptical when we found out back in January that Indy’s latest interactive adventure would be played primarily in first-person. But once everyone played it, MachineGames’s choice was quickly validated. The Great Circle completely immerses you as Indiana Jones, from the shadow of your fedora on a wall to the versatile whip in your hand to the leather jacket that squeaks as you walk – not to mention the absolutely S-tier performance of veteran voice actor Troy Baker, who completely disappears into the role of Indiana Jones and convinces your ears and brain that you’re somehow anachronistically listening to a 40-something Harrison Ford.
The Great Circle has action, sure, but that action occurs as a complement to the real heart of it: adventure. Your whip can be used to stun enemies – or knock the gun out of their hands – but it’s mostly used for traversal as a makeshift rope to help you navigate the crypts, tombs, cities, and dig sites you’ll visit around the world. And the swelling orchestral score makes the big moments feel extra big, just as it did in the Indiana Jones movies. The writing is also spot-on, with humor being used to punctuate various scenes and make sure the tone always stays fun without ever getting too dark or serious. Oh, and you’ll be solving puzzles too. So, so many puzzles both big and small. And they’re all really enjoyable to figure out.
In short, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle isn’t just the best Xbox game of the year, it’s the best game that Microsoft has shipped under any of its banners since IGN’s 2021 overall Game of the Year winner, Forza Horizon 5. It’s a globe-trotting adventure-action romp that eschews shooting in favor of punching, puzzles, whips, quips, story, sidequests, and setpieces. It is brilliant, impossible to put down, and it plays unlike any other first-person game out there. It easily and deservedly wins IGN’s Best Xbox Game of 2024 award.
For more discussion on all of your favorite Xbox games, don’t miss our weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked. And for everything else in the world of video games, you’re already in the right place right here at IGN.
