Another year is coming to a close, and it was one with no shortage of excellent Xbox Game Pass games. Whether you’re into RPGs, rhythm games, survival horror, or niche historical murder mysteries, Game Pass probably had something for you this year. With so much to choose from, it’s hard to sit down and decide what to actually play We managed to do it anyway, though, and listed some of our picks for the best Game Pass games of 2022.
Immortality
Immortality is a multi-layered FMV that, on the surface, is just about an actress, Marcel, whose career has fallen on hard times. Once you start digging deeper into her films and her life, though, you gradually start to learn more about Marcel and reveal hidden sides to her personality. It’s a tangled web of mysteries and an absolute thrill to unravel.
Pentiment
Pentiment comes from Obsidian, makers of Fallout New Vegas, among other blockbuster hits, and it’s about as far from Fallout as you can get. You live in medieval Germany at the time of a string of murders, and it’s up to you to solve the mystery. Your choices, including your background, determine how you go about gathering information and relating to the people around you. The attention to detail is meticulous, and no playthrough is likely to be the same twice.
Obsidian also said Pentiment could never have been made without Game Pass.
Metal Hellsinger
Rhythm platformers are nothing new, but rhythm FPS games? Metal Hellsinger is one of the first of its kind, combining DOOM-like shooting with a proper banger of a metal soundtrack. It’s a brilliant combination and earned a place on our best games of 2022 list because of it.
High On Life
High On Life’s brash humor definitely isn’t for everyone, but if you can look past it – or adjust the settings so the guns talk less often – there’s an unexpectedly well-built platformer-FPS hybrid here. High On Life makes smart use of your hero’s weapon powers, as you swap between them to explore High On Life’s lush sci-fi worlds. The shooting is a bit wonky, which is surprising for an FPS game, but if you’re after something a bit different, High On Life is worth looking into.
Norco
2022 was the year of the adventure game, and Norco is one of the best. You head back to Louisiana after a death in the family and try to find your lost brother, but this is far from your typical mystery game. Norco is a clever blend of social commentary, sci-fi, and thriller and one that will linger in your mind long after you roll credits.
Vampire Survivors
Vampire Survivors is deceptively simple, as the only thing it has you do is walk around minimalist 2D worlds and defeat waves of enemies. The waves get bigger and more threatening and the power-ups gradually get flashier and deadlier. By the end of a run, the screen is a writhing mass of magic and monsters that’s almost impossible to keep up with. It’s exhilarating, and the simplicity makes it easy to jump back in to try again after a failed run.
Citizen Sleeper
Citizen Sleeper is another narrative adventure, but unlike Pentiment, this one is set in a distant, dystopian future. Capitalism has ravaged the world, and if you want to escape to find a better life, you’ll need to think carefully, make smart choices, and trust the right people – assuming you can tell who really has your best interests at heart.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Indies headline our list of picks, but there were still some traditional big-budget games that caught our attention too, especially A Plague Tale: Requiem. It’s a bigger and better version of the original, as you’d expect from a sequel, and best of all, it digs deeper into the relationship between Hugo and Amicia as the two navigate grief and growing up in a brutal, hostile world.
Signalis
Signalis is a bold blend of old and new. It pays homage to the survival horror classics of old, including Resident Evil, but is still far from just being a pale imitation of the established greats. While Signalis’ backtracking is a bit much at times, it still ended up as one of our favorite games of 2022.
As Dusk Falls
As Dusk Falls won the Games for Impact award at The Game Awards 2022, thanks to its deep, difficult portrayal of two families whose lives are intertwined – for better and worse. What starts as a botched robbery turns into a complex tale whose outcome depends on the choices you make along the way. Happy endings are not the order of the day here.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
