After the recent cost hike for Game Pass Ultimate, the earlier commotion has subsided. While it may not be seen as the absolute best deal in gaming now, the platform has welcomed a number of high-profile day-one releases lately, including Ninja Gaiden 4 and The Outer Worlds 2. Those titles further enrich a vast library of hundreds games perfect for weekend-long gaming binges.
Our current picks feature a therapeutic action game, an award-winning indie masterpiece, and a must-play HD-2D RPG.
Resistance: Sniper Elite
Every so often, we all require a little catharsis. For 20 years, the Sniper Elite series has delivered precisely that. Rebellion Developments' long-running shooter series offers players ultraviolent mayhem targeting enemy forces. This year, the studio released Sniper Elite: Resistance, a timely new entry to the series. Although it doesn't revolutionize the gameplay, Resistance is a polished serving of simulation World War II open environments packed with enemy objectives. The sniping is as brutal and gratifying as always, featuring the game's trademark killcam displaying every bullet's impact in gory, testicle-crunching detail. It's a bloody excitement for every peace-lover wanting to let off steam in the security of a digital space.
Resist 1000x
1000xResist presents an critically acclaimed story touching on life after a pandemic existence, generational trauma, and other deep themes. It examines these subjects through a science fiction lens; you play as Watcher, a member of multiple clones of Iris, the only survivor of a global outbreak that eradicated humanity. Watcher and her fellow clones explore Iris's memories from the time Earth was ravaged by that horrific disease, along with experiences of her school and home life, both of which were easy for a teenager. Watcher learns Iris isn't what she appears, and the story develops from there. Should all that intrigue fails to grab your interest, the game indeed begin with a murder. Is there a more compelling opening than this?
Octopath Traveler 2
Yes, completing a gazillion-hour RPG in just nine days is a tall order, but if any game deserving trying the grind for, it's Octopath Traveler 2. Square Enix's HD-2D masterpiece is leaving Game Pass at the end of November (along with the first game, which is also included). However, with a holiday in the midst, at least for those in the U.S., it's theoretically doable. Octopath Traveler 2 features 8 protagonists, each representing a distinct story style. There's a procedural story about a priest investigating the murder of his cathedral's archbishop. A trader striving to eradicate destitution through the force of capitalism headlines a western-themed adventure. There's even a mystery about an herbalist with amnesia (because all great RPGs need a hero with an unknown past, naturally). Some of these stories connect in unexpected, intriguing ways, while you progress through a stunning 19th-century themed setting. And the battle system is superb — “number go up” distilled to its essence.
