It’s the middle of the month, just about, which means a fresh wave of Xbox Game Pass games, this time around including the best Watch Dogs.
A smaller crop than the batch of games that dropped on Game Pass in the first half of the month, but we’ve got a good mix of small and big titles to choose from (via Xbox Wire). The first set of games for the latter half of July will arrive tomorrow, July 19, which is where you can get stuck in with some interactive drama, and some stylish hacking.
First off is As Dusk Falls, which is a day one release on Game Pass. This one comes from developer Interior/ Night that “explores the entangled lives of two families across thirty years,” and will be available on cloud, console, and PC. It got shown off at last month’s Xbox Games Showcase, and in it you’ll make choices that can have big impacts on the character’s lives.
Next is Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation, coming to just PC. “A massive-scale, real-time strategy game where you command entire armies on a dynamic battlefield,” reads the description for the game. There are a number of single-player campaigns to dig through, or you can play with friends in online multiplayer.
As for Watch Dogs 2, it’s the best game in the series – and it’s not even close. The first one, starring white bread made human form in Aiden Pearce, failed to live up to one crumb of its GTA rival status. It set a nice, intriguing world full of hackers, dystopian surveillance narratives, and interesting ideas, but Watch Dogs could never make the world feel anything other than a stack of rained-on cardboard boxes with a few CCTV cameras embedded in them.
The most recent one – in which the UK divorces itself from the EU, vilifies a group of activists guilty only of protesting the corrupt goverment, and fails to create one memorable character despite boasting you can “play as anyone” – is good for a few hours of touring a virtual London. Beyond that, it’s an uninventive cut-and-paste that’ll quickly fade into obscurity.
Watch Dogs 2, though, nailed the assignment: great hacking, compelling puzzles, a central cast of altcore weirdos that are way out of their depth in the hacking world, and a bright, sunny San Franciso to play Driver in. No, wait, to play driver in. Supported by some snarky comments on Silicon Valley, a genuinely likeable cast, and some really quite surprsing set-pieces, it’s not just the best Watch Dogs game, but maybe one of the best of the PS4/Xbox One era (at least in our Features Editor’s opinion, anyway).
Watch Dogs 2 is also available July 19, on cloud, console, and PC.
Then later in the week, from July 21, you can play the next selection of games. Starting off there’s one for the racing fans, MotoGP 22. There’s over 120 riders to choose from, and more than 20 official circuits you can race towards your dreams on, building towards the “most immersive and authentic MotoGP gaming experience ever.”
Then, on the same day, there’s Torment: Tides of Numenera. “Explore Earth one billion years in the future in the science-fantasy setting of Numenera,” is a description that will probably get you feeling some sense of existential dread.
You’ll be able to make “thousands of essential choices,” face consequences for said choices, and meet “death incarnated as you seek the answer to the ultimate question: What does one life matter?” Heavy. Torment will be available on both cloud and console.
Lastly, there’s the instant classic Inside, “a dark, narrative-driven platformer combining intense action with challenging puzzles.” The art style on this one is incredibly atmospheric, and you can almost guarantee that you’ll be left feeling uncomfortable. Better to go into this one without looking anything up, if you want our opinion.
The first batch of games to drop this month included some fan favourites like the first few Yakuza games, as well as the immensely satisfying PowerWash Simulator.
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