Summary
WhenMicrosoftentered the console marketwith the launch of theoriginal Xbox, they were able to have a hand in publishing some of its best titles. Yet many of them, like its competitors during the sixth generation of consoles, were designed to target an older, more mature audience of teens and young adults, rather than the “kids” who were supposedly the biggest gamers out there. These were games that attempted to change what had come before, by being not just more grown up, but tougher.
As a result, Microsoft published games across a wide variety of different genres. Racing games, fighting games, RPGs and many other genres were represented by Microsoft, and many of them can be quite tough. From the harsh edge of theHalo: Combat Evolvedcampaign, all the way to how surprisingly difficultFablecould be, the library of the original Xbox was anything but ordinary, something evidenced by these tough and challenging experiences.
Fablewas one of the Xbox’s greatest games, spawning two sequels with a franchise reboot on the way. But for all of itswhimsy and comedic charm,Fableis a surprisingly difficult game at times and can be quite trying for players during some of its later quests.
As the Hero of Oakvale, players travel across the world of Albion and fight numerous creatures, beasts, and humans. The main quest line ofFableis a great example of building difficulty over time, with the infiltration of the Twinblade bandit camp and the final confrontation with Jack of Blades being some of the game’s toughest challenges.
Sudekiwas originally planned for both the Dreamcast and the PlayStation 2, but a series of delays brought it to the attention of Microsoft. ThisXbox exclusive action RPGis built around four distinct characters, featuring a swordsman, a sorceress, a hunter, and a gun-wielding fighter.
With a robust leveling system and a world brimming with danger,Sudekichallenges the player to learn all the characters and how best to utilize them. As with most great RPGs, the battles get bigger and more challenging over time.Sudekiis one of the most overlooked games on the platform, but also one of its most rewarding in terms of its difficulty and its ability to challenge the player.
AlthoughStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicwas a runaway hit and one of the best reviewed games of 2003, BioWare opted to hand the sequel duties off to Obsidian and chose to create an entirely new IPfor their next projectcalledJade Empire. Influenced by Chinese myology and wuxia,Jade Empireis a tough action RPG based around hand-to-hand combat.
Plenty of RPGs from this era were built around guns or fantasy settings, butJade Empireintended to put players right in the middle of Chinese mythology. Like so many of BioWare’s efforts, it’s a game that has a heavy focus on a wide swathe of different enemies and challenges to face. From humans to monsters and creatures, they all offer a great variety of different and unique challenges.
Seeking some big time exclusives for their new console, Microsoft published the Xbox version ofShenmue 2,as the Dreamcast version never made it out of Japan. While the firstShenmuefocused on Ryo’s ongoing struggle inside the village of Yokusuka, the second game expanded the locations to anurban city known as Kowloonand upped the level of difficulty significantly from the first game.
Shenmue 2features a larger number of high-energy chase scenes, one of the best aspects of the first game. With a larger play area,Shenmue 2benefits by increasing the scale of these sequences and adds in tougher hand-to-hand fights than the first game had.
As one of the first big Xbox exclusives for the console,Halo: Combat Evolvedhad to make a good first impression. One area whereHalosucceeded was in its campaign, set across ten levels and featuring brutal firefights against the Covenant forces.Halodidn’t just accomplish its goals, it demolished them withsome of the toughest encountersthat the console saw over its lifespan.
While Master Chief’s eternal conflict with the Covenant made for its most compelling and challenging fights, the battles against the Flood also rank pretty high on the difficulty scale. Just a mere mention of the library level is enough to stir up memories ofHalo’stoughest level, just one of the many in this stone-cold classic.
The two-year wait forHalo 2lasted for what felt like a lifetime, but it resulted in one of the best sequels of all time and one of the original Xbox’s greatest games.Halo 2took every aspect of the first game and sought ways to either fix or improve it, not the least ofwhich was the difficulty.
Enemies inHalo 2feel faster and more direct, aggressively pursuing Master Chief and finding ways to make the player’s life tougher in every single level. The Flood also return, in one of the game’s toughest missions set aboard the Delta Halo, known as Installation 05.
Among the variety of genres that the original Xbox explored, perhaps one of its most undervalued was the racing genre.Forza Motorsportis not only one of thegreatest racing games evermade, it’s also one of the most challenging and difficult to master.
While arcade-style racing was massively popular during this time,Forzaopted to go more into the realm of simulation. While other racers were keen on challenging the player in some sort of game-focused way,Forzaput a focus on simulating the challenges and hurdles of actual racing. The phrase “easy to learn, difficult to master” immediately comes to mind regardingForza.
What began as a racing series on the Dreamcast,Project Gotham Racingwas a launch titlefor the Xbox and showcased exactly what the machine was planning to bring during this generation. This richly-detailed, high-octane racer put an emphasis on four cities with a fantastic selection of tracks.
Project Gotham Racingfeatures tracks set in San Francisco, New York City, London, and Tokyo. As players achieve better times and earn more kudos points for more daring and tricky moves, new tracks become available. The progression is great, requiring the player to learn the ins and outs in order to get the most out of the game.
