🔗 Share this article

Following the latest price increase for Game Pass Ultimate, the initial uproar has calmed down. Although it might not be considered the absolute best offer in gaming anymore, the service has welcomed several high-profile day-one releases recently, such as Ninja Gaiden 4 and The Outer Worlds 2. These additions further enrich a massive collection of numerous games ideal for weekend gaming binges.

This week's recommendations feature a cathartic shooter, an prize-winning indie gem, and a must-play HD-2D RPG.

Sniper Elite: Resistance

From time to time, everyone needs a little release. For 20 years, the Sniper Elite franchise has delivered precisely that. Rebellion Developments' long-running shooter line offers players intensely graphic carnage targeting Nazi targets. This year, Rebellion released Sniper Elite: Resistance, a timely new entry to the franchise. Although it doesn't revolutionize the formula, Resistance remains a polished serving of simulation World War II open environments packed with enemy objectives. The long-range combat is as visceral and gratifying as always, featuring the series' signature killcam displaying each shot's effect in graphic, explicit clarity. It's a violent excitement for every peace-lover wanting to let off steam in the safety of a digital world.

Resist 1000x

1000xResist presents an critically acclaimed story exploring life after a pandemic life, generational trauma, and other deep themes. It examines these themes through a science fiction perspective; you assume the role of Watcher, one of several clones of Iris, the sole survivor of a pandemic that wiped out human life. Watcher and her fellow clones delve into Iris's memories from the time Earth was ravaged by that horrific disease, as well as experiences of her education and family life, both of which were easy for a teenager. Watcher discovers Iris isn't all that she seems, and the story unfolds from there. If all that intrigue fails to grab your interest, the game indeed start with a murder. What could be a more gripping opening than that?

Octopath Traveler 2

Yes, completing a gazillion-hour RPG in just nine days is a tall order, but if there's any game worth trying the effort for, it's Octopath Traveler 2. Square Enix's visually striking masterpiece is leaving Game Pass at the close of the month (along with the first game, which is also included). But, due to a holiday in the middle, at least for players in the States, it's technically doable. Octopath Traveler 2 features eight characters, every one representing a distinct genre. There's a investigative story about a cleric looking into the murder of his cathedral's archbishop. A merchant striving to eradicate poverty through the power of capitalism stars in a frontier-inspired adventure. There's even a mystery about an herbalist with memory loss (because every good RPGs need a hero with an mysterious past, of course). Some of these plots intertwine in surprising, intriguing ways, while you progress through a stunning 19th-century themed setting. And the combat is excellent — “number go up” boiled to its essence.