🔗 Share this article

Following the recent cost hike for Game Pass Ultimate, the initial uproar has subsided. While it might not be considered the absolute best offer in gaming now, the platform has introduced several big-name launch day releases lately, including Ninja Gaiden 4 and The Outer Worlds 2. Those additions only enhance a massive library of numerous games perfect for weekend-long marathon sessions.

Our current picks include a cathartic action game, an award-winning indie gem, and a essential HD-2D RPG.

Resistance: Sniper Elite

From time to time, everyone needs a bit of release. For 20 years, the Sniper Elite franchise has provided exactly that. Rebellion Developments' long-running shooter line offers players ultraviolent mayhem targeting Nazi forces. Recently, the studio launched Sniper Elite: Resistance, a well-timed addition to the franchise. While it doesn't reinvent the gameplay, Resistance remains a well-constructed serving of simulation World War II open environments packed with enemy targets. The long-range combat is as brutal and satisfying as always, with the game's signature killcam displaying every bullet's effect in gory, testicle-crunching clarity. It's a violent thrill for any pacifist wanting to let off steam in the security of a virtual world.

Resist 1000x

1000xResist tells an award-winning story touching on life after a pandemic existence, family pain, and much more. It approaches these themes through a sci-fi lens; you play as Watcher, a member of multiple clones of Iris, the only survivor of a global outbreak that wiped out humanity. Watcher and her fellow clones delve into Iris's memories from when Earth was ravaged by that terrible plague, along with memories of her school and home life, neither of which were easy for a teenager. Watcher discovers Iris is not all that she seems, and the plot develops from there. If all that intrigue isn't enough to hook you, the game does begin with a murder. What could be a more gripping start than that?

Octopath Traveler 2

Yes, finishing a extremely long RPG in just over a week is a challenging task, but if there's any game worth trying the grind for, it's Octopath Traveler 2. Square Enix's visually striking masterpiece is leaving Game Pass at the end of November (as is the original game, which is also included). But, with a holiday in the midst, at least for players in the U.S., it's technically doable. Octopath Traveler 2 follows 8 protagonists, each embodying a different story style. You'll find a procedural story about a cleric investigating the death of his cathedral's archbishop. A trader striving to solve poverty through the force of commerce headlines a frontier-inspired adventure. There's even a enigma about an apothecary with amnesia (because all great RPGs require a hero with an unknown background, of course). Some of these stories connect in surprising, intriguing ways, as you play through a gorgeous 19th-century themed world. And the combat is excellent — stat-focused gameplay boiled to its purest form.