Thanks!
One other question: on either the Xbox One or PC, are multiple gamertags able to access the Game Pass library with one subscription? Or is it one sub per user?
Possibly dumb question: does Xbox Game Pass allow you to play any game available there on the PC? Or only games specifically ported to PC?
It's anything that's included in Game Pass that's also an Xbox Play Anywhere game, which is their PC/Xbox cross-buy program. Specifically, that's currently:
- We Happy Few
- Crackdown 3
- Disneyland Adventures
- Forza Horizon 4
- Gears of War 4
- Halo Wars 2
- Halo Wars: Definitive Edition
- Hello Neighbor
- ReCore
- Ruiner
- Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure
- Sea of Thieves
- Snake Pass
- State of Decay 2
- Super Lucky's Tale
- Zoo Tycoon
In the near future, this will also include Halo: The Master Chief Collection plus Halo: Reach.
Thanks!
One other question: on either the Xbox One or PC, are multiple gamertags able to access the Game Pass library with one subscription? Or is it one sub per user?
Pretty sure (but haven't tested) that anyone logged in to a "Home" Xbox that has GamePass has access to all GamePass games. I don't know about PC.
I wrapped up my time with Crackdown 3 last night. Which is not to say I completed the game, just that I decided I'd played enough of it that I didn't want to play more. I completed enough missions to take on the AI boss who you fight after claiming all the little monorail stations. The boss fight was quite uninspired. You're in a very vertical space, taking out a wave of enemies, either climbing a flight of stairs or doing an extremely light platforming puzzle to get to the next level, repeat that about 5-6 times, and then fight the boss, which is basically just a shoot-the-weak-points objective while a bunch of enemies chase after you. Bleh. My first hour or two with the game I thought I might get into this very old school video game-y vibe, but none of the components, even the agility orbs and the jumping, were good enough to make it worthwhile.
I also decided to try the multiplayer mode, given that the much touted destruction tech was supposed to be tucked away in there. Boy, is that a weird and bad mode! First, it's pretty clear that basically no one is playing this--it took about 5 minutes matchmaking in the main mode for it to find enough players to start, and that was only 7 players loaded into what was supposed to be a 5-on-5 mode. I was on a team of 4 against a team of 3, and then one of the 3 bailed shortly after the match started, so there was not much tension in our 4 on 2 deathmatch. I thought this would take place in more or less the world of Crackdown 3 but with destructible environments, but it turns out it's more like a little holographic battle arena? It's definitely nothing that looks like a city, it looks like a very tall version of what I would imagine the X-Men's Danger Room might look like. Yes, you could shoot through walls, but it didn't seem to have much effect. There are all these towers on the map, and I tried shooting through the base with the hope of knocking them over, but it just seemed to make holes that didn't have any physics effects. I completed the match so I could earn the achievements for winning one match and for getting one melee kill, and then promptly deleted the game from my harddrive.
I'm glad Game Pass exists to let me dip my toes into something like this, a game I was interested in that turned out to be, in my view, a complete failure, without requiring me to spend any extra money. But hoo boy, Crackdown 3 is not good.
beanman101283 wrote:Thanks!
One other question: on either the Xbox One or PC, are multiple gamertags able to access the Game Pass library with one subscription? Or is it one sub per user?
Pretty sure (but haven't tested) that anyone logged in to a "Home" Xbox that has GamePass has access to all GamePass games. I don't know about PC.
OG Xbox1 downstairs, set as “home”. XB1X upstairs. 1 XB live subscription. 1 GamePass subscription. My son and daughter both have accounts. I can play online with my kids. We can play GamePass games with any of our accounts on both XBoxen. Though for multiplayer, my kids have to be downstairs on the “home” Xbox.
Hope that helps.
Thanks!
So on a whim I checked out Head Lander this weekend. While I didn't play a bunch, what I did play was surprisingly fun and funny. It's an Adult Swim game, which should tell you something.
The premise is you are the last human in the universe (maybe?). Well, not quite. You are a disembodied head in a helmet. The game mechanic is that you fly this head around the screen, landing on and attaching to various ports to control robots, machines, etc. It's a platformer, which I generally don't enjoy, but I had fun during the intro levels and will put a bit more time into it.
I almost dipped into Head Lander on Sunday morning. But changed my mind and went for Life is Strange instead. Just a few minutes in I had to turn it off to do some unexpected real life stuff. But I saw enough to make me question playing it any more. I didn’t realize that it’s a high school teen drama story. I was hoping for something a little more sophisticated than that.
I should have played Head Lander.
I didn’t realize that it’s a high school teen drama story.
Well, it's also a time travel sci-fi story about fate and an apocalyptic storm. But yes, the protagonist is a teenage girl.
RawkGWJ wrote:I didn’t realize that it’s a high school teen drama story.
Well, it's also a time travel sci-fi story about fate and an apocalyptic storm. But yes, the protagonist is a teenage girl.
So maybe I should give it a fair shake. I was literally basing my assumption off of 5 minutes. I wanted to keep playing but real life happened. Then I guess I overthought the whole thing.
RawkGWJ wrote:I didn’t realize that it’s a high school teen drama story.
Well, it's also a time travel sci-fi story about fate and an apocalyptic storm. But yes, the protagonist is a teenage girl.
That's not a game that I would probably ever play anyway, but it's funny that Rawk's description makes me go "Ugh, don't need that!" and yours makes me say "Hold up, that is right in my wheelhouse!" 
Yeah, my wife played all the way through Life is Strange and liked it. It is quite a bit more than just a teen drama thing.
(You should still try Head Lander though, I am curious if anyone else digs it)
Head Lander is on my list. I just weirdly have a huge backlog of Game Pass games? I didn't expect that.
Head Lander is surprisingly great. I'd recommend at least giving it 20 minutes of your time.
I played Head Lander a while ago, and it was really fun and goofy.
Life Is Strange was phenomenal, and is way more than teen drama. Was my GOTY last year once I finally got around to playing it, and I don't even like slower-paced games as a rule; I have a stack of Telltale games I'll probably never play because I get bored, but Live Is Strange hooked me so hard.
More of a puzzle game with a limited time travel mechanic that's really telling a unique story about friendship and loss. So damn good.
Mar. 21:
- Deux Ex: Mankind Divided
- What Remains of Edith Finch
Mar. 28:
- The Walking Dead: Michonne
- Vampyr
Mar. 29:
- Operencia: The Stolen Sun
Apr. 1:
- Marvel vs Capcom Infinite
Apr. 4:
- Minecraft
I wish they'd divide the games list into thematic channels, like Netflix.
Also, I'm sorry to see that Kingdom New Lands is going.
I wish they'd divide the games list into thematic channels, like Netflix.
Also, I'm sorry to see that Kingdom New Lands is going.
They kind of do in the Xbox GamePass app. (Because of course there's an app).
It's decent, you can view and search/browse for games, as well as install to your console from the app.
I started playing Metro 2033. At first, I thought "this game sure feels old," but I stuck with it. A couple hours in and I think it's fantastic. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is now available. The season pass is also currently discounted to $3. It has two weapons packs and two "narrative DLCs", whatever that means. I don't know if they're any good, but they are only $3.
I dipped my toes into both Headlander and Hellblade over the last couple of days.
Headlander seems interesting. I played the initial mission that seems like a tutorial area. The mechanics are unusual and the design is neat. I don't like the shooting when you're in active combat--it gets so hectic, it's hard to tell what's happening and to aim at enemies--but I do enjoy detaching from my body and just popping the heads off of enemies. I might play more, not sure.
Hellblade was extremely impressive. I played through the first combat sequence (which you have to lose, right?). I followed the game's advice of putting on headphones to play, and it was quite an experience. I'd heard the praise for this game and for whatever reason the idea of it didn't particularly connect with me, but in practice it was quit affecting. I hope to find the time to complete this eventually.
So happy to see that What Remains of Edith Finch is added to Gamepass. I've really wanted to play that game for ages, but haven't gotten around to it. I'll be sure to play it soon.
What Remains of Edith Finch is amazing. I really love that game.
I played through the opening area of We Happy Few last night. It's a pretty unusual game. Definitely some potentially problematic ideas with mental health, but I'm still playing for now. I'll probably start over because I forgot to turn off permadeath. 
My daughter and I played What Remains of Edith Finch together and it was great. She was immediately asking for another game of that type we could play together. It was fun having something to connect with her over. 
It seems like there is a lot of good stuff on Game Pass and more coming. I'm debating picking up a One S to take advantage as I do not buy that many games but I do like to try them to see what sticks with me. Looks like I can get one new for about $250, do you all think the value is there for me? Have you guys been happy with the program so far? I know a bit of selection bias in this thread but I'd like to hear opinions.
Obviously some selection bias here, but I really like Game Pass. For two reasons:
1.) It's a really good way to graze. I'm notoriously super easy to please with games and am happy with just about anything, so I cast a pretty wide net of interests. The great thing with Game Pass is that I can play an hour or two from a whole lot of different games without being out a bunch of money if something doesn't suit my fancy. So instead of buying copies of Halo, Tomb Raider, Just Cause, or Doom, I can just download them, play an hour or two, and decide if I want to play more or not without feeling pressure either way.
2.) Those ID@Xbox games are great. I like the back catalog games that are on Game Pass, but the real gems for me have been the indie games that have released day-and-date on the service. Ashen, Below, Mutant Year Zero, and forthcoming Operencia, Afterparty, Void Bastards... these are games I'd want to play but wait for a discount and never get to, but now I can play them right away. And the good news is that Microsoft is planning to make this a major part of Game Pass going forward, including a regular stream for showcasing upcoming games.
I am loving GamePass. I never seem to finish games but I love to sample a lot so it is great.
In the past I would spend more time bargain hunting on the store pages than I would actually playing games. It wasn’t fun. It was a sick obsession. Now I just graze on gamepass. So much better.
Now I just
grazedownload everything available on gamepass and ignore 90% of it. So much better.
It's been the best non pc gaming value yet.
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