Even though we all appreciate the social interaction and connectivity in our daily lives, thanks to the different mediums such as social media, chat services, and multiplayer online gaming, there are times when we just want to be isolated in our own space and enjoy a good single player story in video games.
If this is one of those times when you just want to kick back, relax, and immerse yourself into a fictional universe, where you assume the position of a character and experience their journey, then you have made the right decision to read this article.
In over 3 years of its existence, Xbox One has made a great library of games that focus on an immersive single player experience. Here we talk about the 15 best single player games currently available for the Xbox One:
1. Rise of the Tomb Raider
After the success of the Tomb Raider franchise reboot, the developers, Crystal Dynamics, continued the story of Lara Croft who survived the brutal journey in the first game that only hardened her to the point where she is officially on her way to becoming the “Tomb Raider”; archaeologist-adventurer that she was always destined to be. In this sequel, Lara Croft decides to continue her late father’s research to find the lost city of Kitezh but later realizes that this journey would be much more dangerous than she anticipated, as another secret organization has also been in search for it.
Much like the first game in the rebooted series, Rise of the Tomb Raider offer lots of interesting set-pieces, enemy battles and one of the best puzzle platforming in recent games. The game offers players tons of weapons and gadgets, which can be upgraded to be more useful and deadlier. The gameplay also allows much deeper options for stealth attacks as compared to the prequel.
Availability: Xbox Live ($39.99)
2. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt is an open world RPG and is the final entry in The Witcher Saga created by CD Projekt Red and based on the famous fantasy novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. The game features a huge world that consists of Novigrad, Velen and Skellige Isles. The game looks beautiful, as each part of the map is hand-crafted by the developers.
The best part of The Witcher 3 is its story and how the players decide to tackle it. It’s a story of the main character named Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher (a monster hunter) by profession which is a dying breed in this universe. The story is about Geralt looking for his adopted child, a girl named Ciri, who is also wanted by not just an evil emperor of another state but also the riders of the night from another world, who haunt our planet in the hunt for this special girl.
Unlike most of the video games, our decisions change the course of the story throughout the game. If a player gets a bad ending, it’s because the player made some terrible choices. Due to the nature of its realistic story-telling in a fantasy setting with the added tension of making the right choices, this is one of the most detailed and immersive single player games of this or any other generation.
Availability: Xbox Live ($39.99)
3. Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V is an open-world sandbox game created by Rockstar Studios that features not one but three different main protagonists and tells a story of how their characters meet each other to form a crew, to pull the biggest heist of the century.
Grand Theft Auto is known for its amazingly detailed open world, and the high-level of freedom it offers to the players in its gameplay. GTA V takes place in the city of Los Santos (Los Angeles) and the surrounding countryside and offers the players hundreds of cool land, air and sea vehicles, as well as a range of different weapons and gadgets to play with.
The main story features 3 main characters as mentioned above, who can be selected at the tap of two buttons at any time, except for the story missions. The first main character is Michael, a retired robber who is currently under witness protection program by FIB (FBI), living a comfortable life, thanks to his previous robberies and a deal with FIB. The second main character is Trevor, who is a nutcase and is not in a good place financially or mentally. The last main character is Franklin, who is our usual GTA protagonist starting a career in the criminal world.
Availability: Xbox Live ($59.99)
4. Hitman (2016)
It is safe to say that IO Interactive studios have learned from the mistakes they made with the direction of Hitman Absolution. Hitman (2016) is not just a step in the right direction, but it is actually in contention with Blood Money to be the best Hitman game.
The game features different levels in different locations all around the world, where Agent 47 has to carry out the assassinations contracted to him by his employers; the ICA. Even though the fans were a bit uncomfortable with the all-new episodic release of each level at first, the episodic model has actually turned out to be really good decision for this game, as it thrives on its replay-ability and gives the players time to master each level before they can get their hands on the next mission.
Apart from a single player story missions, IOI has also added modes such as Escalation Mode; which challenges player to assassinate a target in different and harder circumstances, Elusive Targets; which is a live mode where a target is available for a limited time as the player looks to eliminate him within the given guidelines and a returning mode called Contracts Mode, where the players can create and share different assassinations contracts.
Availability: Xbox Live ($59.99)
5. Fallout 4
Fallout 4 is an open world role-playing game created by Bethesda Software that lets the player create their main character and give them the skills and attributes of their choosing. The game is set in an alternate universe, where the people are dealing with the fallout of a nuclear war. The main story focuses on the protagonist, an army veteran who survives nuclear war thanks to the cryogenic technology and wakes up hundreds of years later to avenge the death of his wife and to search his baby boy who had been kidnapped.
The main story can be a hit or miss, but the gameplay of Fallout 4 is where it shines the brightest. The game offers a deep level of customization, ranging from clothing, appearances, armors, weapons, power armors and even your very own settlements that you can create from the ground up, using the ton of resources you can loot and craft.
The looting and crafting systems of the game are highly addictive and keep the player busy. It is fun to invest hours in the hunt for the best armors or weapons with the highest stats.
Availability: Xbox Live ($59.99)
6. Dark Souls III
Dark Souls III is the third entry into the Dark Souls franchise created by From Software. It is an action RPG that takes pride in its high difficulty and challenges the players to beat its boss battles. Like every RPG, the game lets the player create their main character, skills, and attributes. However, in Dark Souls III, you must think wisely before investing in each attribute with your hard earned points into.
The game lets the player choose their fighting style and choose the weapons of their choice. Upgrading weapons and armors as well as collecting estus flasks (health potions) and other important usable collectibles is just as important as defeating enemies. The game tells a story in a very subtle fashion. As you keep progressing in this world, you will keep on learning about the culture, religion, and people’s everyday lives.
If you miss the good old days, where the in-game deaths come at a huge cost and you feel sick by the hand-holding of the developers that walk you through the game mechanics by numerous tutorials, easy boss battles, then Dark Souls III is what you should be playing for the challenge.
Availability: Xbox Live ($59.99)
7. Metal Gear Solid V
While Hideo Kojima, the mastermind creator of Metal Gear Solid series from Konami, moved away from the company amidst controversy, he still managed to make his last Metal Gear game dubbed Metal Gear Solid V, which is one of the best video game titles to arrive in 2015.
Metal Gear Solid series is considered one of the best stealth espionage action games in its genre and Metal Gear Solid V not only adds to that reputation, it even raises the bar higher. The beautiful graphics and buttery-smooth gameplay make this game a must play. The game features a lengthy single-player story, which features a legendary soldier Venom Snake recuperating from a deadly attack and re-creating his private military army called Diamond Dogs and its mother-base.
The game features tons of weapons with a deep level of customization to add/remove mods, as well as managing your mother-base to unlock different perks and high-end items, which can be used to infiltrate heavily guarded enemy bases without even letting anyone know you were there.
Availability: Xbox Live ($59.99)
8. Sunset Overdrive
Sunset Overdrive is an open world third-person shooter created by Insomniac Games, exclusively for the Xbox One. The game is set in a near-future post-apocalyptic Sunset City, which has been plagued with a virus accidentally created by an energy drink company which turns people into mutants. The City has been quarantined and secretly shut down by the authorities. The main character and a group of his friends plan on leaving the city to inform and warn the rest of the world.
Sunset Overdrive has a Punk-Rock style colorful graphics to portray its dynamic and vibrant world with intensity. Also, the game features some fun gameplay elements that along with a casual but compelling story-telling.
Availability: Xbox Live ($29.99)
9. Dragon Age: Inquisition
Dragon Age: Inquisition is a third person RPG with a segmented open world map. The game is set in a fictional fantasy universe, where the history is recorded as the age of whatever defines that era. Currently, the world is going through Dragon Age.
Like its predecessors, the players control their customized Inquisitor (the main character) and the companions they choose to run with. The Inquisitor and the three companions of his choosing can go on this journey to defeat enemies with swords and magic, complete side quests, companion side-quests, interact with non-playable characters, and progress through the long and engaging main story.
The game features deep customization options for clothing, equipment, and other items, to change their appearance based on who it is assigned to, depending upon which party member has equipped it. For instance, a piece of armor automatically adjusts its shape and aesthetics in order to fit a particular character (companion or inquisitor) while it still maintains the character’s identity and their styles.
Availability: Xbox Live ($39.99)
10. Ori and the Blind Forest
In Ori and the Blind Forest, the players take control of a 2D main character called Ori, a guardian spirit, who has the ability to jump walls and teams up with a spirit called Sein, who is able to shoot Spirit Flames. The game focuses on the players to move between platforms , solve puzzles and defeat enemies to progress through the game. The game also features a system called “soul links”, which allows players to an upgraded system that gives players the ability to strengthen Ori’s skills and allows the player to save their progress at will.
The colorful art, great music and fluid gameplay make this game a well crafted, beautiful single player experience that every Xbox One player must try.
Availability: Xbox Live ($19.99)
11. Quantum Break
Quantum Break is a third-person action-adventure game, where the players play as Jack Joyce, who has time manipulation powers. The game is set in Riverport, where a time travel experiment goes wrong. Chronon radiation is the material which makes time travel possible for both the main protagonist and antagonist. Both of them are granted time-based abilities such as freezing time and moving at faster speed, however, the main antagonist can also see into the future and decide which choices to make in the present.
Players face a variety of enemies, including Monarch security guards; Strikers, who are equipped with specially-designed suits which allow them to manipulate time and Juggernauts, heavily-armored enemies equipped with very strong firearms.
Different enemies have different behaviors, and the game requires the players to use different strategies and tactics in order to defeat them.
Availability: Xbox Live ($59.99)
12. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Just like every other Assassin’s Creed game, Syndicate is also set in a fictional history of real world events. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is set in the brand new location of Victorian London in the last years of its Industrial Revolution.
The game features the long drawn war between the Assassins and Templars that has been going on for centuries, but this time Templar’s have completely taken control of the London and Assassins are seriously outnumbered. The twin protagonists Evie and Jacob Frye take matters into their own hands and decide to get a train to London and exterminate the Templar Boss Crawford Starrick and free the city of his corruption.
The game also adds lots of improvements such as zip lines to their already deep parkour system, to speed up the gameplay and make it even more fun than before.
Availability: Xbox Live ($49.99)
13. Watch Dogs
Watch Dogs is an open world in third person perspective video game, where we play as a vigilante who is a highly skilled hacker known as Aiden Pearce. He hacks into the Chicago city’s centralized operating system called “CTOs”, in order to extract revenge against the people who killed his niece, as well as clean his city.
Thanks to Aiden Pearce’s hacking skills, we can do half of the work on a smartphone while standing right in front of the cops/enemies. The game features lots of unique and fun gameplay aspects such as peeking into the houses of civilians, getting to see the personal information of every non-playable character in its world, hacking traffic signals, gas pipelines, bridges, trains and even kill the electricity of the entire city for a few seconds.
The game is the most fun when we mix all the gadgets, hacking skills and weapons we have at our disposal to counter an intense situation.
Availability: Xbox Live ($29.99)
14. Batman Arkham Knight
Batman Arkham Knight is the third and final entry to the Arkham Series based on the Batman Universe, made by Remedy Studios. Unlike the previous games, Arkham Knight is set in an open world and fully realized Gotham City. The game features the returning fan-favorite combat system, abilities, detective mode and all of the amazing and useful gadgets that every fan craves.
The game also introduces the Bat-Mobile in the game, which can be used to not just travel from point to point but is also featured in many chase sequences and puzzle solving, both in the main missions as well as the side missions.
As the title suggests, the game doesn’t only offer a ride in a Bat-Mobile but also introduces a completely new villain to the series by the name of Arkham Knight, a much more serious, deadlier and determined character whose primary goal is to end the Batman.
Availability: Xbox Live ($19.99)
15. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a third-person open world video game, where the player controls a ranger by the name of Talion who seeks revenge on the forces of Sauron. The game offers a big map segmented into two and the second part of the map can be accessed after a point in the story. Players can travel across locations in the game through parkour, ride animals or by fast traveling.
The story of the game takes place after the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Talion was killed by the Black Hand of Sauron and his spirit gets stuck with the wraith of the Lord Celebrimbor, who was also wronged by Sauron. Enemy of an enemy is always a friend, Talos and Celebrimbor learn to co-exist, and together they try to avenge the death of those they lost.
Players can engage in melee combat, and utilize some of the wraith abilities to fight against enemies. The game uses the Nemesis System, which allows the artificial intelligence of non-playable characters to remember the death of the game’s protagonist and react accordingly.
Availability: Xbox Live ($19.99)
SEE ALSO: 15 Best Backward Compatible Games for Xbox One
Get immersed with the best single player games for Xbox One
Even though there have been more than 15 Xbox One titles that offer good single player experiences, we can assure you that as of the writing of this article, the above-mentioned games are worthy of the title “Best”. So, try them out on your Xbox One and let us know your favorite single player game in the comments section below.
