[Xbox, PC] Xbox Game Pass Ultimate - What are you playing?

[coopasonic]

I signed up for Ultimate a couple weeks ago and have played a few things, but the library is kind of overwhelming. What have people been playing and enjoying?

My list so far:

Bomber Crew - I have a love/hate relationship with this one, but I am sure I will get back to it as it is pretty fun if somewhat brutal.
Metro Exodus - I put a couple of hours into it, but it just isn't grabbing me. I may go back to it at some point.
Recore - Similar to above, I put some time in and while it was fun it didn't really grab me. I may give it another look.
The Outer Worlds - Played to completion and loved it.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Played to completion and loved it despite my claim of not liking platformers or metroidvania games.
Crackdown 3 - Installed it, but got distracted by a non-game pass shiny.

What have you tried?

[TheMix]

Signed up last week. Proceeded to knock out Metro Exodus. I'm a huge fan of the STALKER and previous Metro games. I enjoyed it. I liked the story. I felt it was a satisfying end to the trilogy. Assuming they don't try to add more.

Currently I'm working my way through The Outer Worlds. Definitely getting the Bioshock meets Firefly vibe. A little bit of a Fallout vibe, but not too strong yet. Certainly enjoying it.

After that, I'm not sure. I saw Gears 5 there. I've never played any of those. But I also don't have a strong opinion. I've heard good things about Crackdown (hat tip to Dubious Quality). Or I could go back and play one of the gazillion in my Steam backlog.

[Jag]

Got the pass for PC only

Finished
Gears of War 5
Outer Worlds
Metro Exodus

Planning on playing:
We Happy Few
Crackdown 3
Vampyr

Open to suggestions.

[disarm]

I saw Gears 5 there. I've never played any of those. But I also don't have a strong opinion.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Gears 5 (via GamePass), and its a very solid entry in the series...same great action as the rest, along with one of the best stories so far. The entire series is available through GamePass (on Xbox at least), and even if you haven't played the previous games, I think it's worth a shot. I'm sure you can find a recap video for the original trilogy on YouTube, and Gears 5 has its own recap of GoW4 that you can watch. The two most recent games take place 25-30 years after the first three, so you could get away with ignoring the early ones and not miss too much.

[TheMix]

Got the pass for PC only

Finished
Gears of War 5
Outer Worlds
Metro Exodus

Planning on playing:
We Happy Few
Crackdown 3
Vampyr

Open to suggestions.

Get out of my head!!

Seriously, I was looking through the available games earlier, and that is exactly my list (though I think there may have been one or two more that I'll likely add to it).

[Buatha]

I wonder how the developer is compensated for Game Pass? Does MS get with Obsidian to say "Okay, we're going to assume you will lose X number of sales units for your game, so here is X number of units times $60"?

I've only started playing The Outer Worlds so far.

[hepcat]

I took advantage of the recent upgrade special and was able to get about 2 1/2 years of game pass ultimate for about 100 bucks. Since then I've been pecking away at their library. So far I've played:

We Happy Few - This was a pleasant surprise for me. I wasn't expecting much, but I'm diggin' the story. It's like Bioshock meets The Prisoner.

Outer Worlds - I need to get back to this as soon as I get over my State of Decay 2 obsession.

Metro: Exodus - But I haven't really played yet. Just watched the intro. I seem to have some weird notion that I'll go back and play the first two games in the series first.

[TheMix]

Metro: Exodus - But I haven't really played yet. Just watched the intro. I seem to have some weird notion that I'll go back and play the first two games in the series first.

I enjoyed the first 2, but they are definitely not required. You won't be confused at all. Or not for long enough to matter. There is a brief run-in with one of the other factions from the first games, but you get past that pretty quickly. Then none of the early stuff matters.

[Daehawk]

Metro: Exodus - But I haven't really played yet. Just watched the intro. I seem to have some weird notion that I'll go back and play the first two games in the series first.

I enjoyed the first 2, but they are definitely not required. You won't be confused at all. Or not for long enough to matter. There is a brief run-in with one of the other factions from the first games, but you get past that pretty quickly. Then none of the early stuff matters.

Love this series. Something about Russian / Ukrainian games. Ive finished all the Metro and Stalker games at least 3 times through. If this 3rd Metro ever goes on sale Im betting it would be something to break my gaming funk. But they take forever to go on sale now that they have their own sales service. Only 2 places sell Exodus online.

[TheMix]

Or you could do what I did and pay $1 to play it on XBOX for PC (beta).

Heck, with a month for that $1 you could easily play it through 3 times.

Oh... except that I believe it requires Win10. And since that's an update you refuse to do.... Sorry.

[Lorini]

I wonder how the developer is compensated for Game Pass? Does MS get with Obsidian to say "Okay, we're going to assume you will lose X number of sales units for your game, so here is X number of units times $60"?

I've only started playing The Outer Worlds so far.

It turns out that the players who subscribe to Game actually buy more games than those who don’t so everyone is happy

[coopasonic]

Finished Crackdown 3 campaign in a day. Very short, but a lot of fun.

[TheMix]

Finished up my Outer Worlds run, but then decided to install Rage 2 next instead of GoW5. I don't remember what the consensus here was regarding Rage 2, but I had a lot of fun. Enough that I was disappointed it was over when I dropped the final boss last night. It was like a cross between the recent Far Cry/Just Cause formulas with a bit of Saint's Row IV super powers thrown in. And some of the most interesting weapons that I've used in a long time. The only thing I missed was a good sniping option. Haven't decided whether I'll keep it around for a while to dabble with.

Next up.... maybe GoW5. Though first I'll probably knock out the new season of Diablo 3 so that I can pick up another Stash tab.

[coopasonic]

The Rage 2 response around here was silence.

I'm playing Vampyr now and having a lot of fun with. I have to remember to check out Rage 2 the next time I have a gap. With most of next week off I should finish Vampyr pretty quickly and maybe squeeze it in before Phoenix Point drops.

[Skinypupy]

So, I've completely ignored this Gamepass thing because I thought it was only for Xbox users, and I don't have one. But since Coop mentioned it in the Vampyr thread, I gave it a look.

If I understand correctly, it's basically the same thing as Origin, where you pay them a few bucks a month and get access to all the games as long as you're subscribed, right? And I don't need to have an Xbox to do it? If so, I'm signing up right now!

There's a ton of games in there that I've been interested in trying, but not interested enough to actually pull the trigger and buy the game. Banner Saga 3, Bard's Tale IV, Vampyr, We Happy Few, Wargroove, Stellaris, Rage 2, Pandemic, ARK, Bloodstained, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Creature in the Well, Gears 5, Crosscode, Momodora, etc., etc.

[coopasonic]

Yes. It requires Windows 10 and the xbox app on your PC, but no xbox required.

[TheMix]

Caveat: You may want to rethink Kingdom Come: Deliverance. I may be giving up shortly and waiting for a Steam sale. Not being able to save easily (yes you can get the item, but at the beginning it's not that easy) has resulted in a lot of replaying. And frustration. Not sure I've ever had this much of a hate/love/hate/hate/dislike strongly/like/hate/love.... relationship with a game. Apparently you cannot mod the games. So just an FYI word of warning on that one. Otherwise it's been great. I had a great time with Metro Exodus, The Outer Worlds, and Rage 2 so far.

[Pyperkub]

xBox Games:

Have played:
Pandemic
Slay the Spire
Agents of Mayhem

Currently playing:
Remnant from the Ashes (could use some OO friends help with this one Co-op if anyone's interested - Pyperkub)

Planning:
AoW: Planetfall
Gears 5

[coopasonic]

Finished up my Outer Worlds run, but then decided to install Rage 2 next instead of GoW5. I don't remember what the consensus here was regarding Rage 2, but I had a lot of fun. Enough that I was disappointed it was over when I dropped the final boss last night. It was like a cross between the recent Far Cry/Just Cause formulas with a bit of Saint's Row IV super powers thrown in. And some of the most interesting weapons that I've used in a long time. The only thing I missed was a good sniping option. Haven't decided whether I'll keep it around for a while to dabble with.

Next up.... maybe GoW5. Though first I'll probably knock out the new season of Diablo 3 so that I can pick up another Stash tab.

Just finished Rage 2 myself and I agree. It was much better than I expected.

Currently playing:
Remnant from the Ashes (could use some OO friends help with this one Co-op if anyone's interested - Pyperkub)

Sadly this doesn't appear to be on gamepass for PC or I would be all over it. The xbox is up in the media room where I rarely venture. It is too disconnected from the family up there.

Phoenix Point is coming next week and it is supposed to be on gamepass so I am looking forward to that. I'm not sure what I'll do this weekend to bridge the gap.

[YellowKing]

I've been having a blast playing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition with the Enhanced Graphics DLC. I tried AOE 1 first, but even with improved graphics it still feels a bit janky and dated. AOE2, however, feels much more modern and I'm having a ball with it. I forgot how much I missed real-time strategy gaming.

[Jag]

Finished Darksiders 3 on PC. Game was way much more fun than expected. My favorite Darksiders game by far. Perfect timing for the new Genesis game to drop. Although it is a huge departure from the series format, it's getting rave reviews. Really great franchise.

[Isgrimnur]

I've been having a blast playing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition with the Enhanced Graphics DLC. I tried AOE 1 first, but even with improved graphics it still feels a bit janky and dated. AOE2, however, feels much more modern and I'm having a ball with it. I forgot how much I missed real-time strategy gaming.

I've been working on Company of Heroes for about the last week. Finally beat the stupid hilltop counterattack mission that I got stuck on the last time, years ago.

[disarm]

I'm playing Quantum Break now... middle of the second act and enjoying it quite a bit. The shooting mechanics aren't the best, but it's fun enough when combined with the time manipulation powers. The story is solid so far, and the live-action episodes that change based on your choices in the game are an interesting and unique addition. I don't remember this one getting much attention at the time, but it seems like a shame that games from Remedy never seem to be big hits.

[gbasden]

I'm playing Quantum Break now... middle of the second act and enjoying it quite a bit. The shooting mechanics aren't the best, but it's fun enough when combined with the time manipulation powers. The story is solid so far, and the live-action episodes that change based on your choices in the game are an interesting and unique addition. I don't remember this one getting much attention at the time, but it seems like a shame that games from Remedy never seem to be big hits.

Couldn't agree more. I've played through QB twice now and I think it's brilliant.

[YellowKing]

Just a heads up that AOE2: Definitive Edition is still a bit buggy. A video driver upgrade fixed one of my crash-to-desktops whenever I loaded a Joan of Arc campaign, but I've had random crashes to desktop since then. May wait for a patch before diving back into this one, as I'm getting tired of losing progress.

[coopasonic]

Confused yet?

Yes. I can join Xbox Game Pass for PC beta, where I need an app for $4.99 for??? Or I can join Xbox gamepass for 3 months for a $1 which is Xbox Ulitmate and comes with 6 months of spotify premium and appears to maybe have XBox Game Pass for PC. Also I could just buy the game for $40 through MS? Wait what?

Still, 3 months for a dollar and quit very well could see me playing this over the holiday break.

ultimate is cheaper to start with the first 3 months for $1 vs gamepass for the PC which has the first month for a $1. Ultimate jumps to $15/mo, PC jump to $5 per month (while still in beta, with the regular price $10/mo). If you are going ultimate and you might stick with it a while, it may be worth creating an xbox live account and add a year or two with 12 month cards for $60 each, then convert the account to ultimate so you end up with the $5/mo price until that plus the initial 3 month sub runs out.

Also the spotify thing will only happen if you have never had spotify premium or used a spotify trial. Apparently I was not eligible for that reason.

[Kurth]

I'm playing Quantum Break now... middle of the second act and enjoying it quite a bit. The shooting mechanics aren't the best, but it's fun enough when combined with the time manipulation powers. The story is solid so far, and the live-action episodes that change based on your choices in the game are an interesting and unique addition. I don't remember this one getting much attention at the time, but it seems like a shame that games from Remedy never seem to be big hits.

Couldn't agree more. I've played through QB twice now and I think it's brilliant.

Another vote for Quantum Break. It's not perfect, but it's a damned good game. I really enjoyed it, and it got me fired up for Remedy's Control, which I haven't played yet but am planning to as one of the first games I try out on the XBOX Series X.

[Kurth]

I think in anticipation of the new consoles coming out, I'm cranking through my back list of Game Pass games I was always interested in or started but never finished. My latest was Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

Finished this up last night. It's a pretty short game, but it packs a punch, telling a really compelling story involving the protagonist (a female Pict warrior from the 8th century) and her battle with mental illness. Weaves a ton of Norse mythology into the story, covering a lot of the same territory as the latest God of War, but in a very different style.

The game is brutal and dark (and beautiful), but I thought it was well done and absolutely worth playing. Looking forward to the next-gen sequel whenever it comes out.