Chicory: A Colorful Tale (Xbox Series X|S)
We think we surprised a few people when we wrote about Chicory: A Colorful Tale being the 13th highest rated video game of 2021 when the game was first announced for Xbox Game Pass. Yes, this is an extremely well-received title that beat some of the biggest AAA behemoths in terms of its Metacritic rating a few years ago!
In the game, you'll use painting powers to "explore new places, solve puzzles, help your friends, and change the world", with over 10 hours of gameplay on offer - either in single-player or local co-op multiplayer. Give it a try!
Chivalry 2 (Xbox Series X|S)
If you're looking for a fun multiplayer game which features battles for up to 64 players, Chivalry 2 is for you. This is a brilliant hack-and-slash title inspired by "epic medieval battles", throwing you into its gory action complete with a fully featured mounted combat system. Although it went somewhat under the radar when it first arrived on Xbox in 2021, Chivalry 2's Xbox Game Pass launch saw over 500,000 players joining the battle within just a few days, and it's been getting a lot of positive attention ever since. Definitely worth a download!
Citizen Sleeper (Xbox Series X|S)
Jump Over The Age's Citizen Sleeper is a wonderfully unique life sim/RPG that looks and feels like nothing else we've played recently.
In this fantastically evocative and stylish game, you assume the role of a Sleeper, a low budget synthetic being, on the run from the corporation that built you. Stowing away in a cargo hold during a genuinely claustrophobic opening sequence, you soon find yourself washed up on Erlin's Eye, a decrepit space station that's jam-packed full of interesting characters, places, and secrets to get stuck into exploring.
With multiple endings to mop up as you peel back layers and dig deeper into Eldin's Eye and its inhabitants, Citizen Sleeper is a unique and thought-provoking adventure that's truly taken us by surprise, and one the best things to hit Game Pass in 2022.
Crusader Kings 3 (Xbox Series X|S)
The critically-acclaimed strategy game Crusader Kings 3 actually launched on PC Game Pass all the way back in September 2020, and that's probably still the best place to play it (it works best with a keyboard and mouse), but it's also now been remade for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S with a brand-new control scheme for consoles.
There's a real tough learning curve to Crusader Kings 3, but if you can get past that, you'll find yourself immersed in a deep and fulfilling grand strategy experience unlike any other, in which your goal is to lead your dynasty to greatness in a Middle Ages epic that spans generations. And even if you're on Xbox One (which the game hasn't been ported to), you can play Crusader Kings 3 through the magic of Xbox Cloud Gaming, so everyone's a winner!
Death's Door (Xbox Series X|S)
Acid Nerve has followed up the wonderful Titan Souls with this Zelda/Souls inspired action adventure that looks sublime and plays even better.
Death's Door is a beautiful, intricate little thing with surprisingly tough and moreish combat, clever puzzles and a world that's chock full of secrets and hidden areas for you to find as you blaze through its bosses, unlocking new skills that allow you to access more areas as you go.
There's so much style here, so much atmosphere, and it also doesn't outstay its welcome. Death's Door is a perfectly formed bit of magic from a developer everyone should be starting to sit up and take notice of! Seriously, this is one of the top few games on Xbox Game Pass.
Deathloop (Xbox Series X|S)
We waited a whole year for Deathloop's PlayStation exclusivity agreement to finally expire, and now it's here! Arkane's masterpiece is officially available to play on Xbox Game Pass, and we've been falling over ourselves ever since it was added, even giving it a rare 10/10 score in our review:
"Get busy unlocking new powers, blinking in behind bad guys, stabbing and shooting and skulking around, scouring environments for clues, choosing which lead to follow next as you push and pull and probe every corner, every wrinkle of this labyrinthian puzzle box. And it's on Game Pass too? You're spoiling us, Microsoft."
This is one of the best additions to Xbox Game Pass in ages, and you owe it to yourself to try it out!
Dead Cells (Xbox One)
We've been playing and enjoying Dead Cells ever since it first appeared in early access on Steam way back in 2017. A heady mix of classic Metroidvania, roguelite and Dark Souls difficulty, Motion Twin has served up one of the truly great platformers of the last decade here, an atmospheric, slick and addictive experience that's grown and expanded over the years into something really quite special.
With content and improvements constantly being added and new DLC, The Queen and the Sea, just recently released, this is a game we can see ourselves playing for some time to come and an experience you absolutely need to try for yourself. Dead Cells is a modern classic.
Dead Space (Xbox 360)
You don't really need us to explain why this one's made the list, do you? Included as part of the EA Play library, the original Dead Space is still a masterpiece of survival horror nearly fifteen years later, and its continued popularity has led to EA commissioning a reboot of the franchise..
For now, you can enjoy the first Xbox 360 game in all its glory as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and if you end up enjoying it as much as us, you can also try the second and third games as part of the service as well.
DiRT Rally 2.0 (Xbox One)
Codemasters' sequel to its critically acclaimed 2015 racer quickly established itself as the premier rally game on Xbox, improving on the fantastic original with a brand-new weather modelling system, upgraded My Team mode, enhanced vehicle handling and over 50 fully-licenced historic and modern-day cars.
DiRT Rally 2.0 prides itself on its simulation-heavy gameplay, making this a racer you'll need to spend many hours with in order to truly master its mechanics, and with the game running at a slick 4K/60fps on newer Xbox consoles, they're hours you'll absolutely savour.
Dishonored 2 (Xbox One)
One of the very best Bethesda games that arrived on Game Pass in the wake of their deal with Microsoft, Dishonored 2 really needs no introduction at this point.
Arkane's outrageously slick and clever 2016 action-adventure gets the nod over its predecessor here because it refines and adds to everything we loved about that game - indeed Emily and Corvo Attano's escapades in this outing make for one of the truly great interactive experiences of the last decade. The narrative setup may be a little too similar to the original but, in the massive amount of choice and freedom to play as you please served up by a wealth of cleverly designed powers and levels, Dishonored 2 delivers in spades. This one is, quite simply, a must-play.
DOOM Eternal (Xbox One)
DOOM Eternal takes the hugely solid foundations laid down in id Software's excellent 2016 franchise reboot and adds more of absolutely everything. This is a bigger, faster, funnier and more relentless game than its predecessor, and it's one that gives you a ton more variety in how you go about dishing out death to the hordes of hell that await you across its meaty single player campaign.
It adds more systems, more upgrades, more guns, more enemies and bigger, more varied arenas and then cranks the speed and carnage to eleven. Once you're in the zone here, you're part of an intricately choreographed and impressively strategic death dance where every movement, every weapon swap, gunshot, explosion and melee attack is a carefully considered choice made in a blood-soaked instant. DOOM Eternal is, quite simply, one of the most strategic, intense and hugely satisfying first-person shooters we've ever played.
Comments 30
You don't have any of the Dishonored games or Prey on here.
That's illegal I tell you! (No Arkane love)
Again, this is another of those guides where everyone should feel free to throw suggestions in the comments — we'll add to it accordingly in the future
Hollow Knight is my favourite 'picked up on a whim on game pass' game. One of the greats and not just within its genre in my opinion.
Nier Automata and resident evil 7 would round out my top 3 suggestions, but others are dead cells, tetris effect, the forgotten city, nobody saves the world, halo collection, deaths door, pyschonauts 1 + 2, dead space, dragon age, mass effect trilogy, fallout 3/NV, doom + eternal... Basically a lot 👍.
Edit: I forgot what remains of Edith Finch, lumines and Limbo.
Forza Horizon 5 has pretty much been a desert island game for me, I already logged hundreds of hours, one of those games I could play forever. Halo Infinite is another obvious hit, best FPS I have played in a long time. Outside of that I just love to check out some of the occasional indies, but I have also loved playing No Man's Sky.
Prey and Dishonored 2 are truly 2 gems that deserve to be in this list
I would add Remnant from the Ashes. It is even better than Outriders in his genre.
Artful escape is amazing. Easy to play and what an experience.
Yakuza 3, 4, 5 and 6 say hello.
@homme_parametre besides both being third person shooters they're hardly the same? Typing this the complaints about Outrider's difficulty sprang to mind, something which I definitely didn't mind and sure as hell wouldn't make me class it as a soulslike, the way remnant from the ashes is. But it is a great game and should definitely be in this list.
@Kurt101 you're right about that, it's short, pleasing to the eye and jam full of good songs. My goty of last year, such a surreal experience.
@PureXbox You should have us rank ‘em with some votes. Always fun to see how NSO games rank on NintendoLife. I think it’d get really interesting.
Not agreeing with every game on this list, obviously - so many people and so many tastes - but in my book, the first Gears of War and Forza Horizon 4 should absolutely be in this list.
@Nf157 What Remains of Edith Finch is beautiful indeed, despite the terrible performance in the first stages of the game.
@Bartig I forgot about the performance issues until you mentioned it. Probably a telling sign of how good it is.
@Cherip-the-Ripper Sure both games aren't exaclty the same (Remnant is basically a Souls-like with guns...) but i would put them both in the "looter shooter" folder imo.
Dovahkiin and Streets of rage.
GamePass has a huge value, still I consider it as a "try" platform: if I play a game on the service and I like it, I will eventually buy it using the 20% GP Offer or another sale due to respect and incentive to the developers.
Can we rate the games ourselves so the list is based on community preferences like the lists they make on NL and PS?
Really want them to add some 360 games like The Witcher 2
@everynowandben I remember the ac list on p+ being terrible so maybe not that good of an idea.
@everynowandben Yes, it's something we want to look at doing at some point - bare with us!
@Chaudy The Witcher 2 on 360 was awful. Loads of framerate issues and fog everywhere. I had a PC by the time it released so I played it there but for consoles we need the superior Xbox One X Enhanced version of The Witcher 2 on Game Pass, not the 360 version.
Im currently playing banjo tooie again. On my phone with xcloud gamepass. Having a great time! I just have to wait till nobody is in the house as xcloud won't work very well
I finished or played for a good chunck (at least 5/10h until I retired them) 22 out of those 75 although some of them I completed on other systems prior (for instance desde cells, dragon quest or Skyrim). Let's see If the number evolves with time
@EliJapan Great spot, thank you!
Chorus is one of my favorite game this year , beautiful graphics, fast action with all the powers you acquire dog fighting is a blast to play unlike other flying/space games, if you like space shooter you will fall in love with chorus.
Good list. Personally I’d also add - Tinykin, Hellblade, Forza Horizon 4&5, Halo Wars (both), Master Chief Collection, Halo Infinite, GRID Legends & Dishonoured
Will there be a review for The Legend of Tianding? I’m curious as to whether or not it will make this list.
Few more games added to / removed from the list!
@FraserG I would like a series of weekly brackets of 10 games each poll us on our three favorites and the top 5 move on to the next round
@themightyant Love Arkane. (Dishonored 2 is on the list, PREY should've been on it also.)
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