Noteworthy 360 Games Now Backwards Compatible on Xbox One

By on March 1, 2016

At the end of 2015, to the delight of many gamers, Microsoft began to roll out the backwards compatibility feature for the Xbox One. After starting off with a batch of titles through its beta program, they’ve gradually added to that number over the months following the public release. Now, Microsoft has started to highlight its potential with their Games With Gold program, which increases their subscribers’ monthly freebies with select 360 games that can also be played on their next-generation console.

The number of available titles is still fairly slim — under 150 — but it already includes a few hits that everyone should check out if they haven’t already: Mass Effect, Gears of War, Fallout 3, and others. Along with those, there are also a few other great titles on the list that might have been overlooked at release, or simply deserve a second look.

Here, we’ve rounded up eight of these other must-play titles that are worth those precious Xbox Live gift card bucks.

Get Ready With an Xbox Gift Card from Amazon

Beyond Good and Evil HD

beyond

Ubisoft

A cult hit from two console eras ago, this gem from Ubisoft received a well-deserved HD overhaul in 2011. Set a few hundred years in the future on a remote planet covered in water, Beyond Good and Evil focuses on a female photographer, Jade, who investigates the link between the planet’s oppressive military force and their constant alien invaders. Standard third-person controls are boosted by smart puzzles, unique weapons, and taking snapshots with the in-game camera, complimented by one of gaming’s best soundtracks as Jade unravels the truth. Who knows if we’ll ever get that sequel, but at least the updated original remains available for this generation.

Beyond Good and Evil HD at Xbox Marketplace

Braid

braid

Number None

Often considered to be one of independent gaming’s masterpieces, Number None’s temporal journey is a wondrous example of what can be achieved with the proper blend of storytelling and innovative design.  Featuring a character named Tim who’s searching for his princess through shifting environments and dangers, the game’s novel use of moving back and forth through time weaves together with a plot that has sparked different interpretations over the years. Everything about Braid looks traditional on the surface, but its deliberate twist on classic ideas and the beauty of its painterly visuals entwine into a memorable experience.

Braid at Xbox Marketplace

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Eidos Montreal

Eidos Montreal

Prequels usually don’t reach the quality of the originals that inspired them, but Deus Ex: Human Revolution comes close to doing so, in its own augmented way. As we follow a modified human, Adam Jensen, through an earlier version of the cyberpunk world from the original Deus Ex, Eidos Montreal unites familiar role-playing and first-person concepts into a glimpse at the world of transhumanism: using mechanical body parts and the heady discussion of where man ends and machine begins. Stealth, tech, and combat ability get Jensen through attractive semi-futuristic areas across the globe, which generate tense action and foster numerous solutions to moving through the spaces. It’s the reactive dialogue options and the choice between lethal and non-lethal attacks on enemies that deserve recognition, though.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution at Xbox Marketplace

Mirror’s Edge

EA DICE

EA DICE

Early on in the life cycle of the Xbox 360, EA and DICE announced that they were developing a project that would break away from what’s expected of first-person genre. The result was Mirror’s Edge, the story of covert message carrier Faith and her fight against government surveillance. Instead of rewarding deadly force, DICE’s realistic graphics focus on her fast, parkour-style sprints through a dystopian city. Since slowing down to aim or rack up a body-count works against the courier’s objectives, the pipes, ladders, and walls in front of her become tough obstacles that she must quickly conquer to keep moving. While the narrow (color-coded) solutions might take away from the freedom of Faith’s movement from Point A to Point B, landing on the answers and timing things just right becomes a brisk and rewarding rush. The superb music doesn’t hurt, either.

Mirror’s Edge at Xbox Marketplace

The Secret of Monkey Island

LucasArts

LucasArts

Originally released in 1990 by LucasArts, The Secret of Monkey Island blends lovable characters and a deft sense of humor in the antics of Guybrush Threepwood. The tale of this wannabe pirate proving himself to the pirating community and earning the love of a governess, Elaine, led to a delightful point-and-click adventure series, one with enough of a reputation to bring it into the HD generation. Polished graphics and voiced dialogue add something new to an otherwise faithful copy of the ’90s experience, including the offbeat puzzles and their amusing solutions.  Both the first and second chapters are playable on the Xbox One, which provide the kind of swashbuckling  nostalgia that’s well worth paying juuuuust under $20 bucks for both. Guybrush would be proud.

Secret of Monkey Island at Xbox Marketplace

Shadow Complex

Epic Games

Epic Games

Chair Entertainment and Epic Games smartly combined action designs both old and new within Shadow Complex, still one of the best examples of the “Metroidvania” subgenre on the market.  Mixing a 3D layout for a high-tech underground facility with the shooter styling of classic side-scrolling adventures, the game sends a capable hero, Jason Fleming, into the headquarters of a military resistance group out to spark the next American civil war. What starts as a search for his missing girlfriend through the compound turns into an investigation and takedown of the group, fueled by gradual improvements to Jason’s gear that grant access to elusive areas within his sight.  Lots of tense action  goes down in the mentally-engaging complex, which leads to tough battles and a few big set pieces that defy the game’s two-dimensional appearances.

Shadow Complex at Xbox Marketplace

Torchlight

Runic Games

Runic Games

For a while, fans of isometric dungeon crawlers like Diablo and Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance dealt with a dry spell on the 360, where they had to settle for other action-RPGs that couldn’t quite fill that void. Thankfully, Runic Games came to the rescue with their console port of Torchlight. As the camera tilts in that familiar angle and a charming artistic style surfaces in the hack-‘n-slash framework, the game explores randomly generated caverns underneath the city of Torchlight, a mining community built atop a deep supply of magical ore. The player selects from a trio of predefined characters and begins their descent into expansive levels filled with monsters, sidequests, and tons of loot for perfecting their adventurer. Once you dig into the fierce action and switching out of gear, playing Torchlight feels like the gaming equivalent of comfort food.

Torchlight at Xbox Marketplace

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

CD Projekt Red

CD Projekt Red

Before CDProjekt Red took the current generation by storm with The Wild Hunt, the open-world third installment in the saga of Geralt of Rivia, the studio delivered a phenomenal second entry with The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. A more political tone than its successor guides the famed monster hunter throughout several large areas during his search for Letho,  the brawny killer who framed him for murdering a king. Natural developments in a well-paced plot force Geralt to lug his pair of swords along branching story paths, where the player makes big choices in the fate of the realm that result in quite a bit of replay value to experience the many outcomes. Combine that with the building of skills in magic, alchemy, and swordplay and tactical third-person combat involving dodges, parries, and trap-setting, and you’ve got a ton of variety built into a mature role-playing adventure.

The Witcher 2 at Xbox Marketplace

About Thomas Spurlin

Film, home-media, and videogame scribe who digs green tea and walking his dogs.

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