The Best Xbox Games of 2021

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – January 4, 2022

Which Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One games impressed professional reviewers the most during the past year? We rank the best-reviewed titles released between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 by Metascore. Games must have at least 7 reviews from professional critics to be eligible for inclusion. If a game appears on both Xbox platforms, only the version receiving the higher quantity of critic reviews (typically the Xbox Series X/S version) is eligible for inclusion. (All scores listed here are from January 2, 2022.)

3 of 14 photo by Xbox Game Studios

#11-20

(#20) 83 Subnautica: Below Zero (XBX)

(#19) 84 Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (XBX)

(#18) 84 Tails Of Iron (XBX)

(#17) 84 Life is Strange: True Colors (XBX)

(#16) 85 Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection (XB1)

(#15) 85 Judgment (XBX)

(#14) 86 The Forgotten City (XBX)

(#13) 87 Halo Infinite (XBX)
(pictured above) Microsoft's flagship franchise returned in late 2021 with its highest-scoring release in nine years.

(#12) 87 Tales of Arise (XBX)

(#11) 87 Death's Door (XBX)

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