Microsoft’s 4K HDR game console is a beast, and these are the best looking games on it so far.
Since the Xbox One X ‘s release a year ago, the powerful console has changed the limits of gaming — improving game visuals and allowing new titles to true 4K on the console.
We now know of over 250 Xbox One X enhanced games for the new console including new titles such as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Forza Horizon 4 — and there’s more on the way. While we’d love to tell you all of these games are going to ooze visual fidelity when you pop them onto your TV, not all of these games are going to look like they’re fresh out of the developer’s oven.
You see, even though the Xbox One X is capable of 4K / HDR at 60 frames per second along with Dolby Atmos sound, not all games are guaranteed to have all of these improvements. Some will support all of them, while some will support HDR and nothing more.
With this in mind, we’ve created a list of the best Xbox One X games that push the console to its limits. Here you’ll find the games whose patch details confirm they’ll push at least two of the console’s capabilities, whether that’s 4K, HDR or Dolby Atmos.
We’ve also included details on some upcoming titles with confirmed Xbox One X enhancements in the works in an effort to keep you informed of what’s on the horizon for the 4K-ready console.
The vast majority of the Xbox One X-enhanced games on this list, however, have been played by TechRadar staff, either in preview form or in their final retail state. Read on for our in depth impressions of the best Xbox One X games.
It’s also worth keeping an eye on the regularly updated list of Enhanced titles on Major Nelson’s website or Microsoft’s official Xbox One X Enhanced list found on Xbox.com .
While it doesn’t boast the PC version’s cutting edge ray tracing effects, it’s hard to fault what developer 4A Games has accomplished with the Xbox One X version of Metro Exodus.
Locked at 30FPS, the 4A Engine never seems to falter during intense shootouts, with a smooth consistency that keeps the action moving at all times. Of course, there are those who might’ve hoped for a 1080p/60FPS option to be included in the final release, but rest assured, Metro Exodus looks and feels great at 30FPS.
As has become common with all big game releases these days, Metro Exodus offers HDR settings regardless of which Xbox One console it is installed on – from the original base model, to the 4K-ready Xbox One X.
Of course, you’ll find that the game’s high-dynamic range looks best on Microsoft’s premiere console, with its additional resolution allowing you to see more subtle color gradations and an added level of detail within shaded areas.
Although the world of Metro Exodus brutal and unforgiving, there are moments of extreme beauty to be found within the game. During the open-world desert section, we continually found ourselves blown away by the glowing sunlight peering through the clouds or reflecting from the sandy terrain.
Easily the best way to play the game on a home console, the Xbox One X-enhanced version of Metro Exodus’ 4K resolution truly accentuates the immense level of detail in both its claustrophobic interiors and vast, wide-open areas.
More than just an arbitrary number of vertical and horizontal lines, the Xbox One X’s Ultra HD resolution does a fantastic job of fully immersing the player within the greatest world that 4A Games has created to date.
The only word that can be used to describe Forza Horizon 4 is stunning. The latest addition to the open-world racing title is a testament to the power of Xbox One X enhancements. Racing through Great Britain at 4K is a truly breathtaking experience, further boosted by the game’s dynamic seasons.
If the native 4K mode isn’t graphically impressive enough, the new 60FPS mode will blow you away with its smooth transition and its picture perfect take of every pothole, lavender field and pebble dash wall in Britain.
Make sure to check out our full Forza Horizon 4 review .
Assassin’s Creed games are known for being visual masterpieces and Odyssey is no different. Xbox One X enhancements truly bring Odyssey’s Grecian world to life, with higher resolution textures, denser crowds, improved depth of field and an overall richer environment.
Check out our Assassin’s Creed Odyssey review diary for more.
If you’ve previously had a chance to play Rise of the Tomb Raider on the Xbox One X, then you probably have a pretty good idea of what to expect from its follow-up, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, in terms of enhancements.
Like its predecessor, Shadow of the Tomb Raider can be played using settings that favor either Resolution or Performance — the former allows the game to regularly display at a native 4K resolution, while the latter drops the game down to 1080p, but offers much smoother gameplay targeting 60FPS.
Needless to say, Shadow of the Tomb Raider benefits greatly from the additional detail afforded by its 4K resolution uptick. Environments (particularly foliage, water and mud) are utterly jaw-dropping in 4K, making this entry the best-looking in the series to date.
That said, it’s not an entirely flawless presentation, with occasional screen tearing issues and framerate drops cropping up during some of the game’s more graphically intense sections. Still, it’s highly likely that developer Eidos Montreal is working on a patch to iron out these problems — we’ll check back on the game in the near future to see if they’ve been addressed.
While Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s Performance mode shows a noticeable drop in visual fidelity when compared to the game’s Resolution mode, the game still looks exceptional, with its smoother framerate giving the player an additional level of responsiveness, making its controls feel more tactile in the process.
It’s clear that a lot of effort has been put into Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s enhancements, and barring some occasional performance hitches that will likely be addressed in an update, the game really shines on Xbox One X.
Check out our full Shadow of the Tomb Raider review
Though it’s almost ten years old, Red Faction Guerrilla arrives on Xbox One X with some impressive visual enhancements that serve to make the game’s destructive architecture and enormous explosions all the more satisfying. In the game’s display options, you’ll find two video options: High Quality and High Performance. The former sees the game target a 4K resolution at 30FPS, while the latter drops the resolution slightly to 1800p, delivering a smoother 60FPS experience.
To the naked eye, the High Quality resolution benefits aren’t immediately apparent, given that the Xbox One X will automatically upscale to 4K anyway. However, the buttery-smooth framerate of High Performance mode is immediately apparent, looking especially great while driving around Red Faction Guerrilla’s vast Martian landscapes.
As part of its ‘Re-Mars-tered’ package, the game also receives improved textures and lighting — both of which work hard to enhance the game’s visual appeal. Of course, there’s no denying that Red Faction Guerrilla looks like a remaster of a last gen title, with very little color variation in environments and shadows that are just a little too dark (the inclusion of an HDR mode might’ve given the game’s endless browns, reds and oranges a little more life and variety).
Still, this is as good as Red Faction: Guerrilla is ever likely to look on a console, and if you’re a fan of the game from its original release, we heartily recommend that you pick up this stellar remaster and get your ass to Mars again as soon as possible.
A contender for prettiest open-world shooter to date, Far Cry 5 receives a number of impressive enhancements when played on the Xbox One X. Unlike many enhanced games that employ dynamic scaling techniques to keep their resolutions as close to 4K as possible, Far Cry 5 boasts a full and unwavering 3840 x 2160 resolution that never dips. It also manages to retain the temporal anti-aliasing that made Ubisoft’s own Assassin’s Creed Origins look so spectacular on Microsoft’s high-end console.
HDR settings are also available on Far Cry 5, though you won’t be able to tweak them as thoroughly as you could with Origins’ ‘paper-white’ and ‘maximum luminance’ sliders. Still, the game looks and runs gloriously on Xbox One X at 30FPS.
