For the Xbox 360’s 20th anniversary, GameCentral reflects on the console’s most influential games and how their impact is still felt today.

Today marks the Xbox 360’s 20th anniversary here in the UK (in the US, it was November 22) and it remains the odd duck in the Xbox line-up, as unlike Microsoft’s other consoles it was the most influential of its generation.

Ask anyone who was gaming during the mid-2000s and early 2010s and they’ll tell you that that despite the PlayStation 3, and Wii, managing to outsell it in the long run, that era belonged to Xbox and cemented the brand as a genuine competitor to Sony.

Since then, Microsoft has thoroughly squandered all the goodwill it accrued, with subsequent consoles enjoying much sourer reputations. The Xbox One failed to reach the same level of sales success and the Xbox Series X/S has done even worse.

Surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly), Microsoft hasn’t acknowledged the 25th anniversary at all, but we wanted to look back at the games that defined not just the console, but that entire era of gaming… for better and worse.

Halo 3

The problem with modern day Xbox is that not only have console sales dried up but most of its biggest game franchises have been run into the ground. Halo’s Master Chief was once the closest thing Xbox had to a mascot, and the release of Halo 3 was such a cultural event that even non-gamers knew about it.

Aside from concluding the storyline that began with the original Halo from 2001, technological advancements meant more people could enjoy online multiplayer, at a time when the whole concept of online play was still relatively new.

After Bungie moved on from the series, Halo’s never managed to reach that level of superstardom again, but it may earn itself some new fans thanks to the upcoming Halo 1 remake and its PlayStation 5 release.

Gears Of War

The Xbox 360 era is often remembered for its oversaturation of dirty browns and greys, with so many games utterly devoid of colour, in what the developers imagined was a more mature and grounded art style. Gears Of War is perhaps the poster child for those types of games.

It’s an approach that paid dividends, though. Gears Of War’s premise of big, snarling soldiers wielding bigger guns, and fighting a gritty war against hordes of grotesque monsters, made it a smash hit and a key Xbox franchise.

Inspired by Resident Evil 4, it popularised the idea of third party shooters in general, while virtually inventing the concept of cover shooters, with even modern titles still taking influence from it.

Just like Halo, Gears Of War has never returned to the highs of the original Xbox 360 trilogy by Epic Games, but it’s hoping to make a comeback with prequel game E-Day in 2026.

Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

A lot of Call Of Duty games released on the Xbox 360 during its lifetime but Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is easily the most important one as it’s what turned the franchise into a household name, selling more than twice the number of copies of any of the previous entries.

Aside from ditching the series’ Second World War setting for a modern day conflict, Modern Warfare kickstarted the series’ propensity for rollercoaster campaign modes full of incredible set pieces, while also perfecting the multiplayer formula that has served as the foundation for the series ever since.

It’s perhaps fitting that Call Of Duty now falls under Microsoft’s umbrella, although it isn’t exactly flourishing nowadays. Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward’s next game is supposedly due next year, but the newest entry – Black Ops 7 – is off to a terrible start, critically and commercially.

Left 4 Dead

We’re sorry to list nothing but shooters so far, but it wasn’t for nothing that the Xbox 360 was nicknamed the ShooterBox, with Left 4 Dead in particular thriving thanks to the rise in online multiplayer – letting friends shoot zombies together without needing to be in the same room.

Between the co-op campaign, competitive multiplayer, and survival mode, there was little reason to play Left 4 Dead solo. That was also influenced by Valve’s PC focus for its titles, which naturally favoured the Xbox 360 and ensured that both the original game and its sequel never came to PlayStation 3.

Left 4 Dead also best encapsulates the era’s zombie obsession. In those days, it felt like every other game needed zombies for mass market appeal. You not only had dedicated zombie games like Dead Island, but other franchises began incorporating the undead, with Call Of Duty’s Zombies mode becoming a series mainstay.

Bomberman: Act Zero

Let us stress that we’re not just highlighting good games with this list. This is about games that best exemplify the Xbox 360 generation and Bomberman: Act Zero encapsulates some of the industry’s worst traits at the time.

We don’t know what possessed Konami to reboot Bomberman into a gritty, armoured super soldier, fighting to the death in a futuristic dystopia, but this sort of extreme edgy attitude dominated games of the time. As with Gears Of War, Act Zero seems allergic to colour, with the colourful cartoon stylings of all the other games transformed into a blur of greys and browns.

Even if Act Zero had played as well as the regular Bomberman games, which it didn’t, the try-hard approach was so off-putting it was a complete flop. Although developer, and series creator, Hudson Soft were later subsumed into Konami as a whole, the series continues today and in full Technicolor.

Kinect Star Wars

Kinect may have been commercially successful but it seems fair to say that it was never actually popular. Despite being the fastest selling consumer electronics device ever, at the time, the Kinect is, perhaps more than any other single thing, directly responsible for the downfall of Xbox.

A motion sensing camera, that sat under your TV, it was Microsoft’s answer to the success of the Wii. The device was ambitious in how it offered games that could be played with just your body, with no controller required, but it never worked as well as the adverts pretended and almost all the games were awful.

Kinect Star Wars – a glorified minigame collection featuring Jedi power fantasies, pod-racing, Rancor destruction, and, of course, dancing – was particularly infamous, not only for its poor quality but the faked live demonstration that Microsoft used to promote it.

Unfortunately, Microsoft was so enamoured with Kinect in general it took its eye off the ball in terms of normal games, just as Sony was finally getting its act together with the PlayStation 3. Microsoft learned nothing from that and their insistence on bundling Kinect with the Xbox One, thereby increasingly the price and lowering the power of the console, sealed their doom as a console manufacturer.

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

The indie game scene as we know it today owes a great debt to the Xbox Live Arcade service. It gave smaller studios and games a place to stand on their own, so as not to be overshadowed by the usual triple-A fare, and was an instant success.

One of the first big hits was Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, which revitalised dual-stick shooters and made them a mainstay of that era of indie gaming, thanks to its old school vibes and colourful visuals.

Other early hits include Limbo and Braid, which were not only great games in their own right but things that would never be released physically by traditional publishers. Indie gaming was already a thing on PC at the time but with Xbox Live Arcade it suddenly became a mass market business.

Dark Void/Quantum Theory

The Xbox 360 era was a disaster for the Japanese side of the games industry. Almost all Japanese companies struggled with the technical leap from the previous generation and suddenly found they had no experience with the dominant genres of the time, particular first person shooters and online titles in general.

There were generally two different responses to the problem: either employan (invariably low rent) American studio to make games for them or try to mimic Western made games themselves.

In Dark Void’s case, Capcom partnered with American studio Airtight Games, to try its hand at a sci-fi cover shooter. It wasn’t very good, resembling almost every other third person shooter on the market, with only a jetpack as a unique hook.

Koei Tecmo, meanwhile, had a go with a Gears Of War knock-off called Quantum Theory. This one was made by a Japanese team but you wouldn’t know to look at it. Even ignoring how it was a pale imitator, it was an amalgamation of every gritty shooter cliché you can think of, without any sense of charm or novelty.

Lost Planet

Sticking with Capcom, the fate of Lost Planet encapsulates the whole story of the Xbox 360 generation, from a Japanese perspective at least. The original was a third person shooter desperate to ape the success of Halo, albeit with giant mech suits you could pilot.

It was a mild success, so Capcom tried to follow that up with a multiplayer-focused sequel, trying to take advantage of the popularity of Gears Of War and Call Of Duty. It was less successful though and so their third attempt was to hire Californian studio Spark Unlimited – infamous for a string of cheap, poor quality games during the era – to make a more story driven sequel.

When that didn’t work out Capcom just gave up on the series altogether and, in the next generation, went back to making games themselves, as they, and the rest of the Japanese industry, found their feet again.

Resident Evil 5 & 6

Resident Evil had already shed most of its survival horror elements to become more action orientated with Resident Evil 4, but after that series creator Shinji Mikami left. You could tell immediately too, as the next two games became listless copies, devoid of the previous games’ innovation.

The fifth game wasn’t too bad, although it’s co-op mode was another obvious attempt by Japanese companies to copy trends initiated by Western developers.

Resident Evil 6 was when the series came off the rails, with Capcom publicly proclaiming they were looking for Call Of Duty levels of success. The game that resulted was a bloated mess, that wasn’t in the least bit scary, with almost no redeeming qualities.

Both games were commercially successful, but Capcom rejected the trivialisation of the franchise by taking it back to its survival horror roots with the soft reboot that was Resident Evil 7. And they’ve been on a roll ever since.

Fable 2

Although Microsoft certainly seem to think so, given how long they’ve been working on the reboot, it’s arguable as to whether Fable counts as a key Xbox franchise or not. It’s only had one really good entry and it’s indicative of Microsoft’s mistakes that they failed to follow-up properly on the successes of Fable 2.

Fable could’ve been Xbox’s answer to The Legend Of Zelda, with its morality system that allowed you to play as a good or amoral character, but instead the immediate follow-up squandered all its good ideas on more restrictive gameplay and an obsession with attracting casual gamers.

Things only got worse from there, with a typically shonky Kinect spin-off, which led to founder Peter Molyneux leaving developer Lionhead and then Microsoft shutting the entire studio down. Which was not a good lead in to the next generation.

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The Friday letters page is starting to believe that Half-Life 3 is real, as one reader lays out who he thinks should win The Game Awards 2025.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Less for more
Seeing the reaction to Steam Machine being closer to PC in price than console, and how desperate people are for the current Black Friday savings on PlayStation 5, I think it’s fair to say that consoles, and video game hardware in general, has got too expensive for the average person.

We all complain about the cost of games but at least there’s ways round that in terms of sales and buying physical. With a console you’re stuck with an up front cost you can rarely do much about, except maybe at one time of the year.

But why have they got so expensive? As the prices have gone up the leap in graphical improvement has gone down, so it seems like you’re getting even less for your money than you were already. Unfortunately, the answers all seem to be very technical and dull.

Partly it’s because of Trump’s tariffs and AI needing more and more horsepower, as another reader said recently. But it’s also the fact that although the leap is small, getting better graphics still requires more expensive components and the level of complexity nowadays is so far beyond 20 or so years ago it’s really pointless to try and compare.

None of which helps anyone trying not to bankrupt themselves this Christmas. As others have said, we don’t need a next gen and I’d much rather spend £500+ on games than the barely improved hardware needed to run them.
Trepsils

Regular comment
It seems we’re never far away from someone else writing in to complain about Bethesda and I can’t believe this time it’s going to be me. But that story about the Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition being a complete disaster… I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Bethesda are so technically incompetent they can’t even re-release a 10-year-old game as a quick cash grab without breaking the entire game. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just pride and arrogance that makes them like this. They think to actually improve their graphics, or do something about their bugs, is admitting they were wrong all along but nobody cares about that, just make the game work from the start!

Nintendo spent a year polishing Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom and it sounds like Rockstar are doing the same with GTA 6. How long does Bethesda take polishing their games? A whole afternoon?

And like one of those comments said in your story, just stop re-releasing and remastering old games. Stop wasting your time and make something new! It’s 14 years since Skyrim (the anniversary was just the other day) and you’ve barely moved forward an inch since then.
Gemu

High-end purchase
The only unsubsidised home console I’ve ever known was the 3DO. Which was very expensive, especially in the USA. Lacking the monetisation model of a console it had to be sold to make profit day one.

Steam’s and Microsoft’s next machines both sound like they’ll be pricey and not designed as mass market machines.

That doesn’t mean they won’t provide value and find a worthwhile audience. I’m still very interested to see how they turn out. But they don’t sound like direct competition to a console.
Simundo

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Kirby always sucks
One would like to know: will you be reviewing Neon Inferno and R-Type Delta: HD Boosted?

Also, your Kirby Air Riders review… just, ugh. Just kidding. If you feel that the pink cuddly one sucks big time air of joylessness, then in the spirit of subjectivity, I say right on. The maelstrom of malcontent in the comments section was pretty amusing but predictable though.

I’m still looking forward to Sakurai-san’s latest endeavour eventually though, because I quite enjoyed the demo and you could just feel the love and ardour that’s gone into each of its polygonal pores. Just have too many racers on my gaming circuit at the moment with Mario Kart World, Fast Fusion, and Gran Turismo 7 on PlayStation VR2. Sick set of racers, those!
Galvanized Gamer

GC: Yes, to Neon Inferno but we’re not sure about R-Type Delta as we haven’t been able to get hold of the publisher. Also, that’s quite a lot of shade you’re throwing at Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.

Fair-weather friends
Microsoft owning Rare is likely the problem with Nintendo putting N64 Diddy Kong Racing on Switch.

Now Microsoft have gone to releasing their own games on different platforms I was wondering if this means they might greenlight Diddy on Switch?

Even better a sequel.
Goldenlay

GC: Microsoft is always bragging that they get on well with Nintendo, so in theory they shouldn’t have any problem with it or any of Rare’s older games.

Spoiler: they didn’t
RE Bosley. I really don’t think Valve are going to choose the Xbox Partner Preview to unveil Half-Life 3.

I think it’s actually real this time, but I don’t think they need to bury the hatchet with Microsoft to gain traction or publicity and the upcoming Game Awards seems like a more natural fit, if they tie it to an event at all.

Revealing the game at the Xbox show would also mean it will be coming to consoles, and I must say I think the game might be a timed PC/Steam Machine exclusive (if it is coming to Xbox, etc. they’d have to make the previous games available on modern consoles too, surely?).

If Valve are serious about the Steam Machine, I can’t think of a better exclusive to coax players to it. It could even be a pack-in game.

A realise I’m getting ahead of myself, as the game might not even exist, but despite all he false flags over the years it really feels like this time Half-Life 3 is really going to happen.
ANON

GC: We think you’re probably right, including it being PC-only. When it will be unveiled is very hard to predict though. The Game Awards seems possible but just suddenly dropping a trailer out of nowhere, like they did with the Steam Machine, is probably more likely.

Gyro-mite
One thing that makes me excited for the new Steam Controller is the potential to make gyro aiming more mainstream and natively supported by more games.

Gyro aiming has been a revelation ever since I first tried it on my Wii U with Splatoon. It beats even mouse and keyboard for accurate and intuitive aiming. Only why does the controller have to be this ugly?
Ali K

GC: We agree, Splatoon’s aiming is excellent and we don’t know why the DualSense doesn’t offer the same options, as it can do it if the developer wants.

Award favourites
Regarding the 2025 Game Awards and the fact that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 seems likely to be the winner, with so many reviewers giving full marks it seems inevitable! But it’s seemingly well-deserved, though I have not played it myself yet. I would have possibly liked to have seen Silent Hill f given a chance but quite satisfied that the audio design award would be a nice win for the game. Best narrative and performance would be a worthy win also, as Silent Hill f definitely was a very atmospheric and character driven story.

I would also like Indiana Jones And The Great Circle to have a win also, as for me I never really would have thought to have got such a high quality movie favourite from this franchise. It’s literally like having another film in the franchise but being able to be immersed in the game itself, instead of just watching it instead.

I did say Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 would possibly win but I’m not going to discount Death Stranding 2 and the ever impressive Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Both games are so well designed from every angle possible, with story and gameplay design depth inside two very large worlds that are so varied and beautiful to explore, with the very finest of acting.

For me, I’d like to see Hollow Knight: Silksong get the best art direction due to my love of the indie style artwork, which these games do so well in showcasing. Along with Death Stranding 2, Silksong also should be a major contender for best score and music also.

I am glad Donkey Kong Bonanza has been recognised for the best family game, as the game was way better to play than I originally envisioned but definitely up against another well received Mario Kart game, which makes this category interesting.

Another three notable games for me are Hades 2 and Blue Prince for the best independent game award and No Man’s Sky for best ongoing game.

Definitely looking forward to the show, with some of the best games of recent years. 2025 has delivered and excelled in my opinion and given 2026 a hard task indeed, to get the better of a great year for our favourite hobby.
Alucard

Inbox also-rans
That Xbox showcase was pretty good, like you said. What a difference not having to see Phil Spencer’s grinning mug makes!
Boltz

If a Steam Machine is going to be as expensive as a gaming PC, or even just close to it, why wouldn’t you buy that instead. That’s the reason Steam Machines flopped last time and I’m not sure Valve has really learnt its lesson.
Shaggy

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

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MORE: Games Inbox: What will be in the Xbox Partner Preview today?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is the PS5 console still worth getting in 2025?

MORE: Games Inbox: What should win The Game Awards 2025?

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Valve has not only said that they won’t be making a loss on Steam Machine but that its price will be more in line with a PC than a console.

The announcement that Valve is going to give the Steam Machine concept a second go has been one of the biggest surprise announcements of the year. The device is a sort of missing link between console and PC, with the small, cube-like hardware able to connect to any TV or monitor and supposedly capable of playing any Steam game.

That’s great in theory, and very similar to what many expect from the next gen Xbox, but the unveiling earlier in the month was very short on details, most obviously in terms of its price.

If it’s halfway between a console and PC that already gives an indication that it will be more expensive than a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, but according to Valve the price will be closer to a PC than a console.

Valve has given no official comment on the device’s pricing but according to YouTuber Linus Sebastian, who visited Valve for the unveiling, the hardware will not be subsidised, i.e. it will not be sold at a loss, as has often been the case for PlayStation and Xbox devices in the past.

Linus suggests that Valve hasn’t yet decided on the price due to ‘rapidly evolving market conditions’ – a euphemism for not just Trump’s tariffs but the fact that the current obsession with AI is increasing the cost of components and making some hard to source.

According to Linus, ‘They said that while they expect it to be very competitively priced with a PC, it will be priced like a PC, rather than like a console with games subsidising the upfront hardware purchase.’

He speculates that Valve are concerned that someone purchasing a Steam Machine, particularly developers or other companies using them for primarily non-gaming purposes, won’t necessarily buy any games for them, so they have to make money on the hardware itself.

Previously, the only hint as to how much the Steam Machine would cost is the fact that its technical specifications point towards a device that is not much more powerful than a PlayStation 5.

However, tech specs are often deceiving, when viewed in insolation, and Valve themselves have stated that the Steam Machine will be six times more powerful than the portable Steam Deck, whose cheapest model is £349 and most expensive is £569.

Although they’re cheaper at the moment, in the Black Friday sales, the standard PlayStation 5 model is £479.99 and the Digital Edition is £359.99. The more powerful PS5 Pro is £699.99.

How much is the Steam Machine likely to cost?

A price similar to the Digital Edition would make the Steam Machine a very attractive proposition but a decent gaming PC will set you back at least £1,000 and can easy be twice or three times that amount.

If the quote from Valve is accurate then it sounds very much like the Steam Machine is going to be at least as much as the PS5 Pro and probably more.

That alone precludes it from being a mass market device, especially in the current financial climate, but it’s not certain that’s something Valve cares about.

Despite its popularity with hardcore gamers, the Steam Deck has sold only a few million units worldwide and Valve has done little to push it further.

Likewise, the Steam Frame VR headset, which was announced alongside the Steam Machine, is not only going to be expensive but there’s little in the way of a proven market for it – and yet Valve doesn’t seem to care.

The Steam Machine is planned for release in spring next year but there’s no release date yet and no guarantee it won’t be delayed.

It’s uncertain when more information on it might be released, although rumours continue to suggest that Half-Life 3 and/or other significant first party Valve games will be announced this year.

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