Top 5 Games From the Xbox Game Pass List
For a monthly fee, Xbox Game Pass grants access to a huge library of quality titles on console and PC. From the acclaimed Gears of War series to the all-consuming time sink that is Persona 5, Microsoft’s service has an excellent selection of games.
These include Play Anywhere games that work on Xbox and PC, as well as backwards compatibility for older Xbox devices. We’ve put together a list of the best pc game pass games to check out.
Halo: Master Chief Collection
When it comes to FPS games on PC, few do it better than the Halo series. This Master Chief Collection anthology is a must-have for any fan. Despite legacy issues and a handful of bugs, this is a superb package that offers a lot of value at its price point.
It includes remastered versions of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3 and Halo 4, plus the digital series Halo Nightfall. Using the all-new Master Menu, players can easily play through the campaigns in any order they like. Plus, cross title campaign playlists offer new fun and challenging experiences.
The MCC also comes with Season 5 of the game, which contains a whole host of additional rewards. These include new armor and weapon skins, as well as player profile nameplates. Most of these are obtainable through unlocking tiers with season points, but there are some unique items that can only be earned through specific gameplay challenges.
Dishonored 2
The successor to the 2012 game, Dishonored 2 picks up after Empress Emily Kaldwin is dethroned by Delilah Copperspoon and the player takes control of either her Royal Protector or her grizzled father Corvo Attano. The two protagonists have their own supernatural abilities and the game’s nonlinear nature allows for a variety of ways to approach missions, from nonlethal stealth to purposeful violent conflict.
Arkane Studio is masterful at designing spaces that are complex without feeling overtly engineered and threading together satisfying gameplay moments with bits of narrative. But they’re equally skilled at allowing players to creatively experiment with the myriad possibilities of their powers, weapons and gadgets.
Performance on PC is solid with no sign of microstutter, which is probably a result of Arkane using Void Engine and not the much more demanding idTech 5, plus they’ve learned a lot since the first Dishonored. The maps are also bigger and often have a more broarder feel than the original’s which makes them more difficult to traverse but still offer a lot of verticality in how one can approach missions.
The Outer Worlds
The Outer Worlds is the award-winning RPG from Obsidian Entertainment and Private Division. Explore a vast system of planets and strange alien creatures in this first-person sci-fi RPG.
Discover different worlds across the Halcyon system, each with its own unique biomes and inhabitants. The Outer Worlds is a hero-driven game with multiple endings, based on decisions made during the main storyline and in companion quests.
Combat is played in real time, with enemies spawning on the fly until killed. Each weapon has a specific damage type and certain enemy types are stronger or weaker against those types of damage. Players can also use the tactical time dilation ability to slow down time and aim more precisely.
The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition includes the base game and both expansions bundled together at a discount. Each expansion adds more missions, devious characters, and outlandish weapons to the universe of The Outer Worlds. Each expansion also has its own unique trophies and achievements.
Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master
Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master is a side-view rhythm game featuring a wide variety of songs, ranging from popular anime and video game music to classical and pop. Players can compete with friends in local multiplayer matches, reach euphoric levels of rhythmic synchronization in Score Battle mode or challenge other players in online ranked competitions.
Using coins earned in-game, players can purchase customization items like outfits and name plates for the protagonist Don-chan. In addition, there is a rich selection of instrument options, from conga drums to humorous fart noises.
One major oversight for this release is that it does not support the use of dedicated drum controllers, a feature that was present in previous games on consoles and PC. This can be a deal-breaker for some, especially since the higher difficulties of certain songs are nearly impossible to play on a controller. However, there are workarounds available.