What every kind of gamer should play on Xbox Game Pass
If you like shooters
I can’t, in good conscience, talk about a Microsoft-based gaming product and not bring up eitherHaloorGears of War. Luckily both are represented in the Game Pass —Haloin the form of theMaster Chief Collection. If you’re on console, you should have access to essentially all of theGearsgames, including the recentGears 5. As for shooters outside Microsoft’s wheelhouse, I can’t recommend the first twoMetrogames enough — the first in particular. Oh, and if you’re having a bad day and want something a little gorier, PC players can playHotline Miami.
If you like RPGs
Game Pass has a decent variety of kinds of RPGs. If you want to play a first-person RPG in the style of the Bethesda classics you’ve probably played in the past, you can playOuter WorldsorFallout New Vegas(if you’re on console). If you want a 2D real-time hybrid, you can playIndivisible, a personal favorite of mine. If your tastes skew more towards JRPGs, the library includes a fewFinal Fantasytitles, such as the originalFFVIIandFFXV. If you’re a console player, you also have access to the entireKingdom Heartsseries.
If you like strategy
Game Pass players have a few strategy options, including the excellentBattletechon PC. Both consoles also have the first twoWastelandgames. I will confess that some of my preferred strategy games are available for the PC only, such asAge of Empiresand the aforementionedBattletech. However, console players have access to some pretty great strategy games too, such asHalo Wars,Frostpunk, andAge of Wonders Planetfall.
If you like platformers
Good, old platformers — giving us the best gaming memories since 19-whatever. Game Pass has a few options, though I have a particular soft spot for theOrigames. Of the two, I preferOri & the Will of the Wisps, if only becausethere are characters in itother than little Ori, thoughBlind Forestis still supreme. Console player have access toHollow Knight, a fantastic 2D Souls-like platformer that will punish you in the best possible way. If you’re in the mood for something a little more slow-paced, I can recommend the beautifulGrison PC.
If you like survival/sim games
I was very tempted to do a horror category on this list, but figured that’s a bit too narrow of a genre compared with the others on this list. Luckily, as a thalassophobe, I can listSubnauticahere instead. Like all crafting-based survival games, it allows you to explore an expansive space and terraform it to your hearts content. The other big survival game available on both PC and console isARK: Survival Evolved. If you want something a little more lighthearted, there’s alsoOvercooked 2.
If you like action
This one is almost a gimme, considering Game Pass now includesYakuza Kiwami,Yakuza 0, andYakuza Kiwami 2. There you go, that’s all the action you could ever need — though I may be biased because I’mbasically marriedto the series protagonist. If you play those, I’m not sure you’d have a lot of the time left in the trial to do much else, but just to be sporting, here are some more options:Saints Row IV, a guiltless power fantasy cheesier a fettucine alfredo;Crackdown 3, the video game equivalent ofpure sugar injected in the veins; andDarksiders III, a hack-n-slash involving a whip.
If you like a good story
Keep in mind that not being in this category doesn’t mean that the previously mentioned games have bad stories. On the contrary, I wholeheartedly endorse the story of theYakuzagames orOrior… well, any of them. But some of you will be looking for a story specifically, and I need a place to mention a few games that don’t fall into the other categories. I can’t recommendAlien Isolation, a horror game with the best singular enemy I’ve ever encountered, enough.A Plague Tale: Innocenceis a rather underrated historical horror-adventure. And if you’ve not yet playedHellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice— you should, full stop.
And that’s it! Hopefully you’ll have enough information to find a game on Game Pass you’ll enjoy. Good luck!
Story byRachel Kaser
Rachel is a writer and former game critic from Central Texas. She enjoys gaming, writing mystery stories, streaming on Twitch, and horseback(show all)Rachel is a writer and former game critic from Central Texas. She enjoys gaming, writing mystery stories, streaming on Twitch, and horseback riding. Check her Twitter for curmudgeonly criticisms.
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