5 Xbox 360 Games That Defined the 2000s

While Microsoft hasn’t had a great run to start the 2020s, it was at the top of its game in the 2000s, thanks in large part to the success of the Xbox 360. That console certainly had its problems (I’m looking at you, Red Ring of Death), but great games weren’t one of them. There were hundreds of great games, but a few of them truly defined the era. Before diving into those games, it’s important to note that the 360 spanned two decades, as it released in the middle of the 2000s. With that in mind, some of your favorite games might not make the list, despite having a huge influence on gaming during the 2010s. These are also not the best games of the 2000s, just the ones that had the most sway.

Here are the five Xbox 360 games that defined the 2000s.

5) Braid

I considered putting Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved in this slot because Braid represents more of an idea than anything. Don’t get me wrong, Braid is an excellent puzzle-platformer that put Jonathan Blow on the map. However, the reason I’m including it here is that it was one of the most successful Xbox Live Arcade games.

Geometry Wars was earlier, but Braid gets the bump for me because it was included in the first Summer of Arcade drops from Microsoft. It’s worth noting Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 was also in that first drop, but either way, you get my point. XBLA quickly became an incubator for indie developers on console, opening them up to a wider audience. That has been a huge boon for the industry, as development has only continued to open up since then.

4) BioShock

BioShock took the world by storm in 2007, giving players an evolution of survival horror and first-person shooters. Beyond that, it’s one of the most effective stories we’d seen to that point, helping bring the bar for storytelling quality to a new level. Not that developers had never spun a great yarn before, but BioShock felt like the next step up.

Add in the inventive powers, incredible atmosphere, and that stunning twist, and you have one of the best games of the decade. Future games in the series might’ve struggled to consistently live up to that high bar, but Ken Levine and his team created a masterpiece. Here’s hoping Levine’s Judas does the same when it eventually launches.

3) Gears of War

Gears of War is an important series for Microsoft for more reasons than one, but the reason I’m putting it on this list is that it stood in defiance of most other high-profile multiplayer shooters being of the first-person variety. That alone helped it stand out from the crowd.

It’s also just a very good video game. You probably don’t need me to tell you that. After all, we’re still getting new Gears games on modern consoles. It stood next to established series like Halo and Call of Duty and proved that it could hang. There aren’t many things cooler than using your chainsaw bayonet to carve up an alien in the middle of a firefight.

2) Mass Effect

Not only did Mass Effect prove that BioWare was a developer to be reckoned with, but it also gave Microsoft another huge exclusive to go along with its roster. It wasn’t quite as seismic as Microsoft securing an agreement for something like Final Fantasy, but it made it an easier sell to players who didn’t love shooters.

Plus, Mass Effect is simply one of the best RPGs of its era, kicking off a fan-favorite trilogy that showed off how far BioWare was pushing player choice. It did eventually come to the PS3, but Mass Effect was an Xbox game through the end of the 2000s. Having yet another system-seller on the 360 was one of the big reasons the system was so popular.

1) Halo 3

Halo 3 has to take this top slot. It is the end of the original trilogy, and for many players, the reason to have an Xbox 360. Heck, Halo 3 was so anticipated that Crackdown sold a lot of copies simply because the Halo 3 multiplayer beta was included in their purchase. That’s real power that most other games wish they had.

Thankfully, developer Bungie more than delivered. Halo 3 did more than $300 million in sales during its first week. For context, that’s double what the entire Xbox 360 library was doing the week before. It wasn’t just a sales juggernaut either. Halo 3 continued to deliver the quality the series had become known for.

Sure, there weren’t too many innovations in the gameplay, but it almost didn’t matter at that point. Bungie was at the top of its game, and fans didn’t need a complete reinvention. Sometimes, more of the same (albeit much prettier) is all you need. That said, Halo 3‘s Forge mode has to get some love, as it gave players so much room for creativity and replay value.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

3 Xbox 360 Launch Titles That Everyone Forgot About