By Fred Williams
Although there is no doubt that PlayStation have been doing better than Xbox as far as sales is concerned (110.4 mil to Xbox’s 50 mil), Xbox is far ahead when it comes to services. The main service of course being Game Pass. This service allows subscribers access to over 200 games with new ones being uploaded every month, giving it the nickname ‘the Netflix of video games’. While having that reputation comes with its positives and negatives, I believe everyone that owns an Xbox One who doesn’t have it should get it ASAP.
So why should you get Game Pass? One reason that will get the attention of many people is the value for money. As of writing this, Game Pass currently has 245 games available to download, and its only $9.99 a month. That blows my mind that you can get all of that for less than $10, at best that might get me Mass Effect: Andromeda from the bargain bin (I do actually quite like the game, warts and all). What’s more is that if you have a gaming PC as well you can pay $14.99 to get Game Pass for Xbox and PC and Xbox Live as well. So, if anything, it’s good value for money.
Now quantity is all nice and good, but it means little if there’s no quality, luckily Game Pass has it in spades. For those who have an RPG itch there’s the fantastic Outer Worlds and Dishonoured 2, for your sweeping spectacle type of games you’ve got Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Witcher 3 (both of which everyone should play). If you like your JRPGs there’s Dragon Quest XI and all of the Kingdom Hearts games. Want to have a race? You’ve got Dirt 4 and Forza Horizon 4. I could keep going on, but just know that there really is something for everyone here.
Those are all good reasons, but what really makes me love Game Pass is that it gets me to try something new. Because of it I got to play Star Wars KOTOR, which was incredible and is without a doubt one the best Star Wars games ever made. I played a small indie game called Afterparty about two teenagers challenging the devil to a drinking games to get out of hell, which was hilarious (I highly recommend). It even got me to play Alien: Isolation, and I am terrified of horror games, but it was there so I tried it (I could not finish it). So, the thing I like most about Game Pass is it encourages me to try things I just wouldn’t otherwise, whether it be an indie or a triple A game, it keeps me doing different things which is really refreshing.
Unfortunately, there is a downside, there is more than one reason that it’s called the Netflix of video games. This means that while they do put games up every month, they also take them down. This can be seriously disappointing if you’re in the middle of a game and it’s suddenly not there the next day, and it’s also a stark reminder that you don’t own anything you play on, which for me isn’t a nice feeling. But it does still encourage me to go and buy those games that I’ve started, which in turn helps the developers, which is always a good thing.
At the end of the day, it really depends what you want. If you just use your Xbox for COD or one game a year and that’s all you want, then Game Pass might not be for you. But if want a larger library of games than there’s definitely something readily available for you.
Written by Fred Williams
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