At the risk of sounding like an advertisement for the service, I really like Xbox Game Pass. There are so many games I’ve considered buying that I get to play for the one subscription price. But the ability to play them not only on my console but also on my PC is a welcome addition to the game subscription space.
Recently, I found myself home sick from work with a lot of downtime. Unsurprisingly, I filled this time with a lot of gaming. I also recently got my hands on an Xbox Series X and was excited to try out some of the games marked as optimized for the system. As part of a new weekly series from me, here’s what I played on Game Pass this week.
The Gunk
Released late last year for Xbox consoles and Windows by Image & Form and Thunderful Publishing, the developer and publisher of the supremely good SteamWorld series, The Gunk is unlike any game I’ve ever played before. You control Rani, one of a pair of hapless space scavengers who land on an alien world in search of fuel and resources. Upon landing, Rani discovers a moving, seemingly intelligent slime (the game’s titular gunk). Rani takes it upon herself to clean up the planet and discover the mysteries the gunk is hiding.
Moving Rani across the extraterrestrial expanse is a breeze. Controlling her is incredibly fluid, and I enjoyed the simplicity of the level designs and the way the game constantly provides you with environmental clues to lead you forward.
There are parts of The Gunk that don’t quite stick the landing, but they are quickly covered up by the charm of the characters, the beauty of the scenery, and the tight level design that always pushes the player forward. It’s a short game, but the ease of exploration and presentation made it a game I wanted to fully complete.
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order
Following the release of the teaser trailer for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, I decided to replay the Respawn Entertainment’s first Star Wars title and the game which relaunched the Jedi series of games, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. In the game you play as Cal Kestis, a Jedi hiding in obscurity, working as a scrapper in and around the remnants of Clone Wars. After being forced out of hiding by the Imperial Inquisition, your job is to rebuild the Jedi Order while hacking and slashing your way through various planetary locales.
All in all, I’ve enjoyed most of my time with Fallen Order on this second playthrough. The game controls feel weighty and at times imprecise, which can make positioning in combat difficult. If anything, it feels like Cal’s controls were weighted more toward exploration rather than combat. Moving around the planetary levels, wall-running, and rope swinging feel very fluid and natural.
This fluidity is occasionally interrupted by the combat, especially fighting enemies in large groups. One-on-one encounters feel more thought out and strategic, even if there are some large, annoying difficulty spikes. Having played the game before certainly helps with some of the “Where do I go?” feeling I recall from my first playthrough.
What about you, what have you been playing on Game Pass? Let us know in the comments! And be sure to check in next week to see what new titles I’m playing on Game Pass!
