It’s take your pick time, as two big games arrive on Game Pass. You could play both, but let’s not go crazy.
Option one is Death Stranding, a game that we never thought we’d be mentioning on TheXboxHub. A PlayStation exclusive that’s not quite so exclusive anymore, it’s launched onto the Game Pass service for PC (not quite Xbox, but we can dream). Option two is a lavish new indie called Midnight Fight Express (Cloud, Console and PC), which looks like an ‘80s action movie reproduced, shot for shot, as a brawler. It’s not an easy decision.
We don’t need to say much about Death Stranding. It’s already been said. It’s Postman Pat-meets-Fallout, as you lug towering packages from one end of the apocalypse to another. There are babies in vats, Lea Seydoux from the Bond movies, and Norman Reedus trying to keep a straight face through it all. Of course, it’s also rather brilliant, as most games from the great Hideo Kojima are.
It’s got a high frame-rate in comparison to the PS4 version, it has ultra-wide monitor support. More importantly, it includes PC-exclusive cross-over content from Valve Corporation’s HALF-LIFE series and CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. Grab a baby-jar and hop in!
More of an unknown quantity is Midnight Fight Express. Published by Humble Games (increasingly a seal of quality), this is a city-wide brawler that has you using any weapon, vehicle or limb that happens to be lying around to pummel your opponents. We don’t invoke the masterly Power Stone often, but this feels like a distant cousin. It’s a 3D beat ’em-up romp where rules seem to be at a minimum.
You play Babyface, a street brawler and former member of the criminal underworld who is approached by an AI to fight across the city until sunrise. By the time the sun comes up, the hope is that you’ve stopped various criminal gangs from taking over the city. Good luck with that!
You may not be aware of the other Game Pass launches to grace Console, Cloud and PC over the next week or two. On August 25th we get to grips with Exapunks (PC) and Opus: Echo of Starsong – Full Bloom Edition (Console and PC). Meanwhile, on August 30th, Commandos 3 – HD Remaster (Cloud, Console, and PC), Immortality (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X|S), Ubisoft’s Immortals Fenyx Rising (Cloud, Console, and PC) and Tinykin (Console and PC) arrive. We’re going to need some sick days.
We should discuss those leaving the Game Pass service. On August 31st we lose Elite Dangerous (Cloud and Console), Hades (Cloud, Console, and PC), Myst (Cloud, Console, and PC), NBA 2K22 (Cloud and Console), Signs of the Sojourner (Cloud, Console, and PC), Spiritfarer (Cloud, Console, and PC), Twelve Minutes (Cloud, Console, and PC), Two Point Hospital (Cloud, Console, and PC), What Remains of Edith Finch (Cloud, Console, and PC) and World War Z (Cloud, Console, and PC).
So, what’s it going to be? Beat’em-up or Post’em-up? Let us know in the comments or on our social channels.
