5 Forgotten Xbox 360 Games That Pushed The Console To Its Limits

While the Xbox 360's hardware wasn't perfect (owners of this console are still having nightmares about the infamous red ring of death), it actually handled a lot of technically impressive games for the time. Launching in 2005, just as home consoles began looking to high-definition presentation, the 360 solidified Microsoft's market presence. It did this through widespread third-party support and marquee console-exclusive franchises like "Halo" and "Gears of War." Many of these titles were among the most advanced of their generation, wowing gamers with their visuals and technical capabilities.

But for as well-remembered as the visuals in games like "Halo 4" or "Rise of the Tomb Raider" are, there are plenty of games that aren't as widely recognized. While largely successful in their own right, gamers today probably forgot or don't remember just how well these titles ran on the 360. We're highlighting games with individual technical achievements that have fallen out of collective memory. These are five forgotten Xbox 360 games that pushed the console to its limits in terms of technical performance.

Xbox has had its own racing franchise for years in "Forza." The final mainline installment released for the 360 was 2011's "Forza Motorsport 4," which features a career mode that follows drivers around the world as they compete in a variety of racing challenges. The game boasts a mix of real-world and fictional racetracks, while players are able to choose from over 500 vehicles. The game's big new addition was Autovista mode, which let players examine the exterior and inner workings of a selection of cars in photo-realistic detail.

Despite several of the best "Need for Speed" games coming out on this console, "Forza Motorsport 4" is the best-looking racing game on the Xbox 360 and a highlight in the series. The meticulous detail that the vehicles are rendered in and the sweeping environments make for a standout racing simulator. The game can also be interfaced with the Xbox Kinect, allowing players to seamlessly look around while in the driver's seat. A visual marvel, even for non-racing fans, "Forza Motorsport 4" deserves more recognition for its technical achievements. 

Though "Battlefield" has had "Call of Duty" in its crosshairs for years, it still feels like the Electronic Arts franchise is vastly underrated. For 2011's "Battlefield 3," EA pulled out all the stops across the board to take its first-person war shooter to the next level. The game's story mode is set in a near-future, with the United States scrambling to stop a paramilitary organization in the Middle East from carrying out terrorist plots worldwide. But where the installment really excels is its multiplayer modes, including matches that support up to 24 players online for consoles. While certainly successful for its time, it doesn't feel like anybody is talking about "Battlefield 3" now.

Player numbers are low compared to similar games, with "Battlefield 3" rarely having more than a few hundred players online at any given time. For comparison, 2011's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" (a near-identical game that came out at the same time) still regularly has several thousand people playing online. Among the forgotten details about the game now is that it was so large it required two discs for its 360 release. This allowed the console to include the game's impressive draw distances and destructible environments without significant technical performance compromises. An underrated highlight in the series, "Battlefield 3" is crying out for a modern remaster.

The first installment in the series not developed by Remedy Entertainment, 2012's "Max Payne 3" shook up a lot of the neo-noir property's conventions. The game has an older and emotionally broken Max leave New York City, eventually taking a private security gig in São Paulo. When Fabiana Branco, the wife of his employer, is kidnapped and held for ransom, Max delves into the city's criminal underworld to rescue her. He gets mixed up with the city's local gangs as he unravels a larger conspiracy at the center of the kidnapping.

Rockstar Games built "Max Payne 3" using its proprietary RAGE engine, allowing for impressive visuals, realistic physics within the gameplay, and reactive enemy behavior. This gaming engine, along with the size and detail put into the game, meant this was another Xbox 360 game that needed two discs. Unfortunately, "Max Payne 3" sold under its publisher's expectations and Rockstar hasn't announced any plans for "Max Payne 4." Though it ended the adventures of its sullen protagonist and didn't live up to its ambitions, "Max Payne 3" is one of the most technically advanced titles of its time.

The "Crysis" series has given us some of the most visually impressive sci-fi first-person shooters ever since it launched in 2007. The franchise's most recent installment is 2013's "Crysis 3," which pushed the Xbox 360 to its limits. Kicking off 24 years after the previous entry in the "Crysis" timeline, the game pits the player character against the sinister CELL Corporation. As a showdown begins in a post-apocalyptic New York City, the protagonist faces an impending alien invasion that could wipe out all life on Earth.

Even by its already impressive standards, "Crysis 3" pushed the franchise's visuals and overall technical performance to new heights. With the game's setting consisting of a set of biomes with distinct ecosystems, the environmental effects are gorgeously rendered. The visuals are even more photorealistic than the game's predecessors, making the most out of the 360 in its twilight months. "Crysis 3" didn't perform to commercial expectations but it still stands as the most visually impressive 360 first-person shooter.

2013's "Remember Me," published by Capcom and developed by Dontnod Entertainment, pushed the Xbox 360 hard. It's set in the futuristic Neo-Paris where humanity is able to share and purge their memories through the Memorize Corporation, who uses them to create an oppressive surveillance state. The game's protagonist, Nilin, is part of a faction trying to topple the megacorporation, navigating this cyberpunk dystopia as she learns her past is connected to the company. Players progress through third-person platforming and engaging in (largely) hand-to-hand combat, drawing from others' memories to proceed.

As part of the last wave of games released for the 360, "Remember Me" really put the console through its paces. Neo-Paris is an extraordinarily detailed setting, immersing players in its futuristic world with the added surrealism of the narrative's memory-based sequences. These memory scenes can be altered by players on the fly as the game's standout mechanic. Lost in the shuffle as a new console generation loomed, "Remember Me" still holds up very well over a decade since its release.