Lonely Mountains: Downhill (Xbox One)
The idea of Lonely Mountains: Downhill is that you're trying to get from the top of a hill to the bottom on your mountain bike in the quickest time possible - without crashing. It might sound easy, but it's not! This game has all the right ingredients for a cosy night in over the New Year period, boasting unique and eye-catching visuals, and always encouraging you to have just one more go, with well-placed checkpoints ensuring that even the hardest levels never get too frustrating to complete. This is definitely a hidden gem.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood (Xbox One)
We never hear anyone talk about Max: The Curse of Brotherhood when pointing out great games on Xbox Game Pass, but we're definitely fans of it! Released back in 2013 (and actually given away with Xbox Games With Gold a long time ago), the game is a puzzle-platform title that challenges you to use a magic marker to complete the game's various puzzles, gaining different powers as you progress. The visuals are excellent for the time, and it's a great family-friendly title - just don't expect it to be easy!
New Super Lucky's Tale (Xbox One)
Like colourful 3D platformers? Then you're going to love New Super Lucky's Tale, which is full of charming characters, bright visuals and cleverly designed levels. The game shares quite a lot in common with the likes of Banjo-Kazooie and Yooka-Laylee, and it's totally suitable for all ages, from 3 to 93! Just make sure you download the 'New' version of Super Lucky's Tale, as this has been majorly enhanced compared to the original Super Lucky's Tale, which confusingly is also still included on Game Pass.
Perfect Dark (Xbox 360)
New Xbox studio The Initiative recently announced that it was working on a reboot of the Perfect Dark franchise, so why not go back to where it all started with the original Perfect Dark! This particular version of the game was ported to the Xbox 360 back in 2010, featuring modernised visuals, extra framerate fluidity and the opportunity for global multiplayer shootouts. It's still a great game to play even in 2021, and if you like this one, don't forget to check out the Xbox 360 sequel Perfect Dark Zero on Xbox Game Pass as well!
Ryse: Son of Rome (Xbox One)
If you missed out on the early days of the Xbox One generation, you still may yet to have experienced the gory Ryse: Son of Rome, which was a launch title back in 2013. Despite its age, it's still a visual showcase seven years later, and while the gameplay is admittedly pretty repetitive, the campaign doesn't outstay its welcome at around six hours. Plus, the story is legitimately engrossing and well acted, and there's even a genuinely enjoyable online multiplayer mode to check out with your friends.
Comments 14
I'm actually currently playing through Gears 5 Hivebusters campaign as well as Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair and both are excellent games. The Gears 5 DLC feels like a throwback to the old Gears of War games when it comes to the characters and the overall vibe. Yooka-Laylee feels like a spiritual successor to the Donkey Kong Country games and I highly recommend checking it out if you're a fan of those games.
Another game that I'm playing right now on Game Pass as well is Peggle 2. This series is a classic at this point and while there hasn't been a new game in over 7 years, Peggle 2 still holds up well to this day. It's such a simple but fun game and something you can enjoy while doing something else, e.g. listening to a podcast in the background. So I highly recommend checking it out as well.
Man gamepass has such a massive library of quality games..
Looking forward to Ryse Son of Rome as part of game club if it is only 6 hours!
I finished Gears 5 Hivebusters yesterday and it was fantastic! I'm now starting Dragon Quest XI S. The last time I beat this game was on PS4 a couple of years ago before the definitive edition released. I'm excited to play the game again and check out the new content. It's one of my favorite games of all time, and it's a JRPG masterpiece, in my opinion.
Dragon Quest XI S looks stunning. Love the art direction, but I need to finish The Outer Worlds first. Let me tell you that both games make great use of the auto HDR!
I’ll admit there are some really good games on GamePass like Gears of War Ultimate Edition, Forza Horizon 4, Dead Space and Master Chief Collection but most of the ones I’d play and enjoy I already own physically.
there are a few little gems though like Lonely Mountains and Streets of Rage 4, I only started to use gamepass because I had a 3 month code with my Xbox and it saved me some money on DLC
@gollumb82 The HDR in DQXIS is incredible. I was seriously blown away just by the water and the background hills and stuff. It's so gorgeous on my Xbox Series X.
@Nerdfather1
Ditto. I only played 1-2 hours of it but what I have seen looked incredible! This coming from someone who is not a fan of jrpgs I have a feeling DQ XI might make me a convert.
@ralphdibny its a fantastic game. My first download on Series X and the first game i played on it. Looks amazing and great story.
I just subscribed to the program. I've waited until now to give my backlog some time.
But now I've done it : I've claimed my All Access offer.
So I'm now a gamepass ultimate subscriber til april 2023 (!!).
So I've made a list. And it's a huge one.
But the very first games I've downloaded :
Nier Automata
Jedi Fallen Order
Dragon Quest XI S
Destiny 2
I think I'm covered for a while just with those four ! ^^
Man, that's such a great list to show a part of what this great service offers us. More interestingly, there's a little for everyone, all styles, some great quality titles, a bunch of AAA titles along with well reviewed indie titles. I can definitely say the money I spend on GP every month has been some of the best investment I've made in my three decade gaming life
@Bobobiwan That's awesome mate and those are very good first choices of games to play! NieR and Star Wars are excellent games and I've heard great things about Dragon Quest as well. Speaking of Destiny 2, I've wanted to get into this series ever since I played the beta of the first Destiny back in 2014. However, when I found out that the game (and its sequel) are online only, I didn't want to pay full price for it. Ever since then I've never played the games, but now that Destiny 2 is free-to-play and all the expansions are free with Game Pass, there is no better time than now for me to finally get into this series! I'm genuinely looking forward to it.
@LtSarge I know what you mean : as a huge Halo fan, I was really eager to finally see this other franchise Bungie has created.
So I bought, a while ago, the first Destiny in its complete edition (with all its extensions on the disc).
And I decided myself to finally play it only a week ago.
And you know what ? Even with its low resolution and its 30 fps (you can litterally feel it's a 360 / ps3 game originally), it's STILL incredible.
I've launched it just to rush the story, without caring about loot or performances. Just to prepare myself for the second one. But the universe, the gameplay, everything is so addictive. Still is.
This game is the reason why I finally made the move to go Ultimate. I needed the Live for one or two raids (some of them are multi only), and it was stupid to pay 7 bucks for one month of live when I had this Ultimate offer just waiting for me.
I just can't imagine what Destiny 2 will feel like, with its next-gen version in 4K / 60 fps !
Maybe I'll see you there, by the way !
The greatest games on Game Pass for me are the games I would otherwise never have played. Biiig recommendations for these surprises:
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