As Dusk Falls is the kind of game that Xbox Game Pass was made for, in the best possible sense of such a compliment; it’s a narrative thriller and adventure that’s easily worth the price of admission, and more importantly, it’s absolutely worthy of your time.
Final Vendetta is a love letter to the late 80’s and early 90’s era of arcade and home console brawlers that fans of Final Fight, Streets of Rage 2 and SNK’s Neo-Geo console, will immediately appreciate, though the high level of difficulty, lack of continues and no online play might make it a hard sell to newcomers.
With a plethora of visual enhancements and quality of life improvements for GTA V and GTA Online leading the charge (60fps performance, ray-traced shadows and significantly faster loading times chief among them), there’s never been a better, easier or more affordable time to visit San Andreas on current-gen consoles, whether it’s your first trip or if you’ve been away for years.
Despite leaning heavily on developer Remedy Entertainment’s impressive Northlight game engine and narrative chops for its brief single-player campaign, CrossfireX is ultimately a poorly-written, half-hearted attempt at reviving Smilegate’s dated CrossFire franchise and is best avoided by all but the most loyal Remedy and CrossFire aficionados
Dying Light 2: Stay Human is a bold, doubling-down of all the elements that made the first game great, while also making ambitious strides in its open-world gameplay and branching narrative elements.
Halo Infinite brings together the best gameplay elements from the Bungie Halo era, doubles down on Halo CE’s sandbox environments to encompass its entire open world structure and brings new gameplay mechanics that will no doubt become a permanent part of its design document going forward, making it an experience no shooter fan can afford to miss.
Unencumbered by the baggage of the upcoming story campaign, Halo Infinite Multiplayer is arguably the definitive incarnation of the franchise’s online competitive component and is strong enough to stand on its own despite its F2P leanings.
A tedious, time-consuming playing card mechanic, frustrating bug crashes and a repetitive, near-endless onslaught of Ridden enemies led by an uninspired AI Director, collectively drags this spiritual sequel to Left 4 Dead down from the heights it could have reached.
As the most expansive instalment in the franchise to date, Far Cry 6 is literally the GTA V of Far Cry games, with a solid story, vibrant, engaging characters and no shortage of things to do alone or online with a friend; for FPS action-adventure fans this is a MUST BUY.
Like the films that inspired it, Aliens: Fireteam Elite is great popcorn fun with a friend or two, but if you’re not a fan of the popular film franchise and/or siege-style game modes like Gears of War’s Horde and Halo’s Firefight, you are likely in for a long grind, especially if you are playing solo.
Players looking for a Souls-borne meets Link From the Past meets Metroidvania experience all wrapped into one need look no further than the delightful Death’s Door; just make sure to pack plenty of patience and don’t let the door hit your face on the way in.
Blaster Master Zero is an excellent reboot of a classic action-platformer, and shouldn’t be missed by anyone who is a fan of the genre, a devotee to the franchise or is simply curious about the Blaster Master name and are looking for an effortless way in.
Scarlet Nexus is the fresh, new Action JRPG that gamers weary of the “Tales of” series formula have been needing to see from Bandai Namco for a while now, and it shines especially bright on next gen consoles.
With its much-welcomed next-gen improvements in framerate, resolution, and load times plus the inclusion of all previously released DLC, the next-gen remaster of Judgment is hands-down the definitive version to own.
Hitman 3's worst and only true offense is that it offers up gameplay that is mostly more of the same, but as the conclusion to the trilogy it is the perfect send-off to both Agent 47 and the franchise in its presentation, tone, and content.
Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition is the definitive way to experience the latest chapter in the DMC saga and makes a fantastic showpiece for your new PS5 or Xbox Series X/S console and TV, and offers plenty of challenge for returning veterans.
The Falconeer is a small but surprisingly ambitious game that will impress those that are curious with its artistry, and if you are willing to pack a little extra patience and tolerance of its more glaring flaws, you're likely to have a good time. Fans of old-school air-combat games such as Ace Combat and Crimson Skies in particular should consider giving it a shot.
On PS4, Kerbal Space Program is a lazy shoehorning of the PC title onto a console with next to no regard as to how it should look, play or control on that platform.
If you're a dedicated fan of all things One Piece, including its previous videogame incarnations, this game will likely satisfy your itch.
Homefront: The Revolution is barely optimized enough, designed well enough, QA tested enough or balanced well-enough from a gameplay perspective to even be declared finished.