Xbox Game Pass Impressions

If you haven’t heard yet, Microsoft announced Xbox Game Pass a few weeks ago, exclusively for Xbox Live Gold Members. For a very reasonable price – about the cost of a Netflix subscription – Xbox Gold owners can download and play 100 Xbox 360 and Xbox One titles on their Xbox One units. The obvious question is: are the games provided worth the investment? Well, after many hours using Game Pass, and playing a number of the games, we are ready to let you know what we think!

If you are brand new to Xbox One, then yes, Game Pass is 100% worth it. You will get instant access to some great Xbox One exclusive titles like Halo 5, Gears of War Ultimate Edition, and many more. With 100 games to choose from, you are guaranteed to find something you like. All the Xbox 360 games included are some of the best from the last generation, and all 100% backwards compatible. What I realized, however, that the longer you have owned your Xbox One, the less valuable Game Pass becomes. Lets take a quick peak at a few of the titles I personally would be interested in, but already own in my library.

Halo 5, Gears of War Ultimate Edition, Banjo Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, Borderlands, Fable 3, Mad Max, Sunset Overdrive, are just a few of the games I would play, but already own.

The only games on this list that I want to play RIGHT NOW would be the Bioshock series, which I have never played. So for a few bucks a month, I’ll definitely get a few months of value out of just those games. What I think shouldn’t be lost here is that Microsoft will ultimately add more games to this list, and there are probably a few gems on here that I’m not interested in now, but might play later.

It will be hard to determine the value here, as it will differ for everyone. If you never bought the Rare Collection, for example, a lot of these games are available here. For myself, the value is here for a few months at least, but for many long time fans, there is little to no value in this system.

If you play tons of games in any given month, and haven’t touch many of the titles available in this package, this might be a good value. For roughly 120$ a year, you get access to tons of games that you might not otherwise be able to buy, or that would ultimately cost you more than 120$ a year.

We will maintain our subscription with the service as we have high hopes for the future of this platform, but whether or not it’s a good value for you will ultimately be a personal decision.

Xbox One

• Blood Bowl 2
• The Book of Unwritten Tales 2
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
• D4: Darks Dreams Don’t Die
• Defense Grid 2
• Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition
• Electronic Super Joy
• Farming Simulator 15
• Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
• The Golf Club
• Halo 5: Guardians
• Halo: Spartan Assault
• IDARB
• JumpJet Rex
• Knight Squad
• Kyub
• Layers of Fear
• Lumo
• Mad Max
• Massive Chalice
• Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
• Mega Coin Squad
• Mega Man Legacy Collection
• NBA 2K16
• OlliOlli
• Payday 2: Crimewave Edition
• Pumped BMX+
• Resident Evil 0
• Roundabout
• Saints Row IV: Re-elected
• ScreamRide
• Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse
• Steredenn
• Strider
• Sunset Overdrive
• Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings
• Super Time Force
• The Swapper
• Terraria
• WWE 2K16

Xbox 360 (Playable on Xbox One)

• A Kingdom for Keflings
• A World of Keflings
• Age of Booty
• Alex Kidd & Co. (Sega Vintage Collection)
• Banjo-Kazooie
• Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
• Banjo-Tooie
• Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2
• BioShock
• BioShock 2
• BioShock Infinite
• Borderlands
• Bound by Flame
• Braid
• Capcom Arcade Cabinet
• CastleStorm
• Comic Jumper
• Comix Zone
• Dark Void
• De Blob 2
• Defense Grid
• Dig Dug
• Double Dragon Neon
• Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
• Fable III
• Final Fight: Double Impact
• Flock
• Galaga Legions DX
• Gears of War
• Gears of War 2
• Gears of War 3
• Gears of War: Judgment
• Golden Axe (Sega Vintage Collection)
• Grid 2
• Hexic 2
• IDARB
• Iron Brigade
• Jetpac Refuelled
• Joe Danger: Special Edition
• Joe Danger 2: The Movie
• Joy Ride Turbo
• Kameo
• King of Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match
• Lego Batman: The Video Game
• The Maw
• Metal Slug 3
• Monday Night Combat
• Ms. Splosion Man
• MX vs. ATV Reflex
• N+
• Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
• Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
• Pac-Man CE DX+
• Pac-Man Museum
• Perfect Dark Zero
• Sacred 3
• Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space
• Sam & Max: Save The World
• Samurai Shodown II
• SoulCalibur
• SoulCalibur II HD
• Spelunky
• Splosion Man
• Stacking
• Streets of Rage (Sega Vintage Collection)
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2
• Toy Soldiers
• Toy Soldiers: Cold War
• Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown
• Viva Pinata
• Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
• XCOM: Enemy Within