Microsoft’s Game Pass service is easily worth the price of admission. Many might balk at the concept of having their video game library locked behind a subscription service, but the fact is subscribers get access to an incredible selection of titles spanning from indie darlings to triple-A blockbusters for a surprisingly affordable monthly fee.
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Xbox Game Pass: How To Subscribe And What Games Are Available
Xbox Game Pass packs a lot of value into its subscription model — here are all the details you need to know, from price to recently added games.
With such a dizzying array of fantastic titles on display, it can be a daunting task deciding which ones are worth a player’s time. Given that the cost of entry is taken care of with the subscription fee, the most pressing matter is determining the best use of your hard drive space. Thankfully, the diamonds of this collection are readily apparent. Here’s a look at the greatest games that Xbox Game Pass has to offer.
The selections listed here will include games available on EA Play, which is included with a subscription to Game Pass Ultimate.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
The adventures of the Master Chief have never been as accessible as they are in the Master Chief Collection. This gathering of Halo games is the definitive collection of 343 Industries’ endeavors to immortalize the series. Not only is every mainline Halo game (not counting Halo 5: Guardians) included, but the fantastic Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach were added as well.
From beloved campaign co-op to thrilling Firefight matches to iconic multiplayer modes, the Master Chief Collection has it all. Anyone who thinks of themselves as a Halo fan should consider it a must-play from Xbox Game Pass. And for those who have never completed the Master Chief’s saga, there is no better way to finish the fight.
The Ascent
The Ascent mashes together several elements that get along swimmingly — the charm and action of a twin stick shooter meet the loot-heavy shenanigans and progression elements typical of isometric action-RPGs in a delightful cyberpunk setting. Players control “Indents,” so-called employees of a massive corporation as they work to pay off their contract’s debt. Up to four players can roam the gritty arcology of the planet Veles, engaging in shootouts with rival gangs or mechanized ferals.
Combat in The Ascent is intuitive and never feels like a grind. If anything, despite the raucous, neon nature of the world, lighting up the streets of the metropolis with a handful of friends is simultaneously relaxing and exciting. The Ascent keeps players riveted with the entertaining gunplay without bogging them down in hard-to-learn systems. It’s everything one could want in a cyberpunk-themed game.
Rise Of The Tomb Raider
The “Survivor” trilogy, as the newest Tomb Raider games are colloquially known as, is one of the best ways to experience Lara Croft’s story and character. And if we were to pick out the jewel of this trilogy, it would have to be Rise of the Tomb Raider.
This middle entry improves upon the foundation the original laid down and avoids the mistakes its eventual successor makes. Narrative-wise, it focuses on Lara’s drive to uncover the secrets her father first delved into and her need to overcome the guilt she feels at both disregarding her dad’s theories as well as dragging her friends into these dangerous endeavors. What follows is an awe-inspiring, and often harrowing, adventure into the secret of immortality.
You’ll solve puzzle rooms a la Indiana Jones-style treasure caves and shoot your way past Trinity goons who are trying to reach that eternal-life-giving secret before Lara. Rise of the Tomb Raider combines the adventure you’re used to seeing in this series with a more emotionally impactful story, and it succeeds in giving us the kind of journey you can only experience in a Tomb Raider game.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
It’s about time that Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time made it to Xbox Game Pass. Several Crash games, including Team Racing and the N. Sane Trilogy, are on Game Pass already. Us Crash fans were basically twiddling our fingers until Crash Bandicoot 4 came along too. The most recent installment in this legendary game series marries the nostalgia of the past with the polish of the future.
Crash and Coco are back in 3D platforming goodness, jumping and running through various levels, all new, but all hearkening back to the style of platforming from Crash’s heyday. Expect to die a lot in some of the harder levels, especially if you’re looking to collect everything. But as with most Crash Bandicoot games, there is such a degree of replayability here, that it’s worth your while to take up install space for this instant favorite.
The Alters
Xbox Game Pass is on a winning streak, and they just keep on coming! The Alters is the latest in a series of great games to launch on Microsoft’s premier subscription service, and it is a phenomenal gem of a game, another notch in the belt alongside the likes of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Oblivion Remastered, and Doom: The Dark Ages. In The Alters, you play as Jan Dolski, the only survivor of a spaceship/station that’s been stranded on a dangerous planet. And with just one man around, the only way to get back-up is to use alternate copies of himself.
Using alien elements Jan is able to pull up versions of himself that possess the skillsets he requires. So if he needs a medical doctor around, he can “generate” the alternate-universe version of him that became a doctor. Sounds strange? IT IS. But its unique take on the base-building and management sim genre is unparalleled, especially in how it explores its narrative themes of what is and what could have been.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition
If you’ve stuck with us through the literal years of curating and adding to this list of the best games on Xbox Game Pass, you might have sussed out that we’re massive Warhammer 40k fans. Whether we’re talking Boltgun, Rogue Trader, or Darktide, we’ve played and loved them all. Same for Saber Interactive’s Space Marine 2.
So, of course, logically, we thoroughly love Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition. Bearing in mind this is a remaster of an aged game, this is such a fun glimpse into the series’ past. Don’t expect the polish of its sequel, but consider this an enjoyable hearkening to the days of the Xbox 360.
You step into the mighty Space Marine boots of Titus as he deals with an Ork invasion on an Imperial Forge World. He’s got his OG squad with him (ugh, freakin’ Leandros), and they’re on Graia to slaughter through the horde. The star of the gameplay is clearly the melee combat, with level design and gunplay both feeling fairly basic compared to what we see in the sequel. But it’s a blast from the past that we both enjoy to no end. The Codex Astartes DOES support this action.
Dredge
If a cozy fishing simulator coupled with an unsettling, Lovecraftian-lite story sounds right up your alley, you and I are not alike. I had no clue this strange genre pairing was exactly what I needed until I played Dredge. However, if you did have the foresight to think relaxing with a trawler, collecting fish and avoiding fog-driven horrors, would be the perfect game for you, let me say Dredge is the game for you.
With fantastic art design and one of the most satisfying gameplay loops I’ve experienced in a simulator-type of game (second only to PowerWash), Dredge tasks players with navigating murky waters alongside relatively friendly towns and shorelines. As you meet the folk living on various islands, you’ll uncover more and more of the mysteries guiding you toward the story’s conclusion. But let’s be real. We’re all here for the satisfying fishing and inventory management, am I right?
Metaphor: ReFantazio was one of the biggest games of last year (2024), and it’s a happy day indeed when Xbox Game Pass subscribers get to play a title like this. Metaphor’s developers, Atlus, are the titans behind the illustrious Persona games. Metaphor isn’t exactly a carbon copy of the last game in the Persona series, but if you’re a fan, you are most definitely going to find something to love.
And better yet, it also suits people who have never played the games before. If you have been the kind of player who has hesitated to dive into the Persona library because it’s an established series of games that feels daunting, Metaphor is the perfect standalone title to dip your toe into the genre. Story-wise, it’s got a royal tournament gone deadly, a kingdom in turmoil, and a nameless protag you can fully immerse yourself in (especially as you form your party of companions). Xbox doesn’t always get a lot of JRPG love, so embrace it while you can!
Doom: The Dark Ages
Let’s get one thing straight. We’re huge fans of Doom. From the classics to the rebooted stuff we’re getting now, huge. We knew before we played the game that Dark Ages would have a place on this list. But integrity kept us from adding it until we had finished the game. Now that we’re done, we can happily add Doom: The Dark Ages to this ever-growing list of best games to play on Xbox Game Pass.
The Dark Ages is particularly suited for anyone who felt trapped by Eternal’s awesome-yet-prescriptive handling of ammo and weapon management. While that title was challenging and required expert precision, The Dark Ages relaxes into a “pick a weapon you like and stick with it” approach. In addition to that, now more than ever, Doom encourages you to be wholly aggressive in your playstyle, pushing you to get closer to your enemies with Dark Age’s generous parry system.
It’s a metal-as-heck good time, and though Mick Gordon’s genius soundtrack is sorely missed, Doom: The Dark Ages is a must-play in the Xbox Game Pass library.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
The whole world’s gone to hell, and the Empire’s at risk of being swept away in a tide of voracious rat-men known as the Skaven — but not if the Ubersreik five have anything to say about it. Being brutally honest, the Vermintide games play almost exactly like Left 4 Dead with a Warhammer paint job. And continuing in the vein of brutal honesty, they really don’t need to do much more than that to be fantastic games.
Fatshark got it right with Vermintide, and swung for the fences with this sequel. All of the frantic, whiteknuckle rat-slaying shenanigans are still well afoot, alongside a revamped loot system, new careers for each of the five core classes to pursue and progress, and new enemy types to maim, crush, kill, stab, and shoot.
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