Check out the top 5 games on the original Xbox which released on November 15, 2001.
With a November 15, 2001 launch in North America, and three to four months later internationally, the Xbox represented Microsoft's confident debut in console gaming. But what good is a games console without games to play on it? Here are five of the best for the original Xbox, showing how Xbox challenged in multiple key genres: shooters, racers, and role-playing games.
1. Halo 2 (2004)
Appetite for the adrenaline rush provided by 2001 launch title "Halo: Combat Evolved" helped drive Xbox adoption, the sci-fi shooter proving a formative experience among a rapidly growing community beguiled by its clever AI-controlled opponents, layered fiction, carefully designed maps, and a compulsive multiplayer experience both online and on the couch. "Halo 2" followed and, in ways almost inconceivable at the time, improved on the original both critically and commercially.
2. Fable (2004)
It may not have delivered on all of its designer's promises -- Peter Molyneux remains a divisive figure among game fans -- but its feature-filled fantasy adventure was nonetheless an engrossing pursuit: the main character's appearance, reputation, and social impact were affected by a multitude of factors, from combat to clothing choices, while players could indulge in a number of optional pursuits such as trade and property ownership in conjunction with the main narrative arc.
3. Project Gotham Racing (2001)
The first of two Xbox racing franchises that delivered a serious challenge to PlayStation tentpole "Gran Turismo," the other being "Forza Motorsport" (2005) from Microsoft-owned studio Turn 10, "PGR" transferred concepts from the acclaimed "Metropolis Street Racer" on Sega Dreamcast, encouraging players to race around meticulously recreated real-world locations in licensed sports cars, and to do so with both speed and style.
4. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
Movie tie-ins have often had a troubled relationship with video games; the most-loved films seldom make for well received adaptations. But "Kotor" delivered in spades, leveraging an existing fictional universe with an acute understanding of what makes it tick, picking the right video game genre and weaving in an original story with skill. A morality system that let players choose to align with the dark or light side of the force, and a well-told story linked plenty of combat opportunities. The same studio followed up with Wuxia-influenced "Jade Empire" and then its own space opera series in "Mass Effect;" "Kotor" is now available on iOS, Android, Mac and PC.
5. Panzer Dragoon Orta (2002)
Equipping players with a laser pistol and ushering them aboard a dragon from where they would fly from near death to a war-ending conclusion, on-rails shooter "Panzer Dragoon Orta" stunned with impressive visuals, a two-perspective storyline, and truly challenging gauntlets. Several other Sega titles, such as the similarly well-received "Jet Set Radio Future" and "GunValkyrie" (both from the "Orta" team) were also released on Xbox as the console manufacturer transitioned to a games-only approach.
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