Best Xbox Game Pass Games in 2021 (and how much you would've saved)

Let’s start with some simple math. Game Pass Ultimate on console is a great deal at around 15 bucks a month depending on if your region. However, if you are new to the service you can usually find a promotion for at least one month for a dollar and even sometimes the first three months for a dollar. Although that is a one time deal for new customers only so for this list we will assume that you are already a member, meaning that the average annual cost is around $190, which doesn’t get you very far in todays gaming marketplace buying new.

Everyone that has Game Pass understands just how amazing the service is, but most people don’t stop and smell the roses so for this list we are going to give you our choices for the top ten games that came to Xbox Game Pass in 2021 and how much money you saved by being on the service. This is just a simple how much did the games cost compared to how much you paid subscribing to the service.

This isn’t taking into account all of the intangibles such as the incorporated cost of Xbox Live, which you need to play most online games or that you can find an library of retro games, as they are constantly adding classic titles from Xbox and Xbox 360 to Game Pass allowing you to play games you might have missed or even take a trip down memory lane. Fusion Frenzy anyone?

To simplify the Top Ten Best Games on Xbox Game Pass it seems easiest to break it down into three categories: First Party, Third Party and Indie Games. Now that you know the business, lets get down to it. This week on The VDGMS Podcast

Xbox Game Studios

Halo Infinite

Back when Xbox Game Pass was first announced in 2017 and Microsoft stated that all first party titles would be available on the service on day one, the title that most people immediately thought about was the next Halo title. After being delayed from the launch of the Xbox Series consoles for a year, Halo Infinite returned with a vengeance in 2021. Halo Infinite did some open beta testing, which received strong praise for the level of quality that boded well for the full launch of the game during holiday 2021.

Yes, Halo Infinite multiplayer was going to be free to play, which was a great was to get as many people in the door but the plan was to convert many of the free to play users into campaign purchases or the easier ask, was to get them to sign up for Xbox Game Pass for a month. Once they realized how good of deal the service was and how many other games are available on the service they would just continue the service.

Long story short, Halo Infinite featured a very strong multiplayer arena suite, that will hopefully expand to some larger modes in the coming months and also a great single player mode. Halo Infinite took the magic of what made Halo Combat Evolved fun and infused it into the new open world system that Halo Infinite featured. Is Halo Infinite a revolution in the same way that Halo Combat Evolved was? The answer is no but Halo Infinite features crisp mechanics, fun additions, and great production value that is absolutely worthy of playing as it is on the short list of best games of 2021.

Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon as a series has been driving towards something for a few iterations and they have fully arrived. An open world arcade racing game that is accessible to everyone, racing fan or not. Simply put, Forza Horizon 5 is pure fun from one minute to the next no matter which was your GPS takes you. It also never hurts that Playground knows how to make their game look absolutely stunning in a fictional Mexico, which has much more diversity than the fictional England where Forza Horizon 4 took place.

It seems that no matter what kind of game you are referring to, premium or indie, or what genre Metroidvania, First Person Shooter or racing game, everything seems to be the perfect Xbox Game Pass Game. That is the case with Forza Horizon 5. Not a big fan of racing games, well it won’t cost you anything to try FH5 and odds are good that you will have a good time. Have some friends coming over for the holidays, FH5 will not only show off your new Xbox Series X but it can also show off that new TV you just got.

Being the perfect game for Game Pass comes with the spoils as over ten million players jumped in during the first week, which not only smashes the records of all the other Forza games but is also the biggest launch ever for any Xbox Game Studios Game. The game features a variety of modes in a variety of geological locations thanks to the diverse landscape of Mexico, which is exaggerated in the game, but the variety is what keeps FH5 feeling fresh and accessible to all, no matter which way you want to drive

Microsoft Flight Simulator

First released in 2020, and eventually ported to Xbox consoles in summer of 2021 as a near complete version competing with high end PC’s when looking at the feature list. There isn’t much to say about Microsoft Flight Simulator, other than anyone can play it with a variety of modes tailored to hardcore or casual gamer and pretty much anyone who enjoys traveling will enjoy taking at least one flight every now and then. Microsoft Flight Simulator is a very zen game when playing on casual, when you can travel around areas that you have always dreamed of going or go back to places you have been in the past.

Third Party

Back 4 Blood

It’s been a long time coming for the sequel to Left 4 Dead 2 that gamers have been waiting for since 2009, spiritually at least. Turtle Rock, a now independent studio once again after departing Valve after a few short but fruitful years between 2008 and 2010, most notably was the co-op survival shooter Left 4 Dead. Although, they didn’t work on the sequel, it’s influence lived on for many years with many still wondering a decade later if a Left 4 Dead style co-op survival FPS would still work. Times change and people change with them.

Hype seemed high for Back 4 Blood heading into the year but some of that hype seemed to fizzle out after a few open betas that left people wondering if there was more than just a modern version of a 2009 game. Back 4 Blood featured some notable changes, mostly the card system garnered attention due to how it could alter the landscape of the game the most which could lead to infinite replays.

Announced as part of Xbox Game Pass during the Microsoft Summer Showcase, Back 4 Blood is the quintessential Xbox Game Pass title. Its a game that many people are very interested in but are unsure about the longevity, price or quality of the game. Back 4 Blood seemed to come and go from the spotlight fairly quickly after launch.

Although about a month after release, Turtle Rock did announce that Back 4 Blood has seen over 6 million players, which is great no matter how many of them came from Game Pass because even though many might forget about the game, even a portion of 6 million would be enough to form a strong and active player community. If you have three other friends and are just looking for a good place to hang out and have some laughs, Back 4 Blood is a tough one to beat, especially with cross play.

Outriders

The one other title from this list that is similar to being the perfect Xbox Game Pass game just like Back 4 Blood is Outriders from Square Enix. Released at a slower time of the year can always be beneficial, especially when the game looks like Kirkland Gears of War meets Destiny. Outriders was always a strange proposition to begin with, first it was an online only game, which can be enough to deter most but after you get past that part, its actually only a campaign style game without all the online need.

Outriders featured a formulaic science fiction story that lasted about 15-20 hours, which is played with friends would last about two weeks, which seemed to be exactly how long it took for people to forget about this game, which isn’t a bad thing. There was plenty to love about Outriders including the style, visuals and some of interesting class based combat that encouraged variety among the team similar to Destiny. My preference would always be a shorter and more engaging story as opposed to an overstuffed plot line with too many fetch quest.

Outriders felt like a summer action blockbuster, that used focus groups to figure out exactly what people wanted including classes, loot, multiplayer, co-op, sci-fi, good visuals and more. Despite being on Xbox Game Pass, Outriders placed in the top ten for sales on both the PlayStation and Xbox during its launch month and overall was the third best selling game in the US according to the NPD. There was some good seeds here that hopefully Square Enix can turn into something greater and hopefully return to Game Pass.

Battlefield 2042

After a pretty big hype train during the lead up to its release about how revolutionary this new title would be after a Battlefield hiatus of over 3 years, Battlefield 2042 released in a pretty rough shape. Even though BF 2042 was delayed shortly before launch for about a month, it felt like it needed at least another six months to a year to truly iron out the problems.

What game launches in 2021, without an in game voice chat system? This is extremely confusing considering that trying to capture objectives with up to 128 players requires teamwork. Sure if you are playing with close friends you could use party chat on the PlayStation or Xbox and if you are using the cross play system you could also use something like Discord, but that should be an option, not a requirement. BF2042 was also littered with bugs most notably that happened to me was not having hit registration when shooting enemies and problems with load outs not working. There was plenty of graphical issues as well but that was to be assumed.

As a Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, which includes EA Play, players got early access to a 10 hour trial a week ahead of launch. This means that you were able to play the game with players that purchased the Ultimate Edition which costed closer to 150 dollars. The ten hour trial showed people that this game was not nearly ready and needed more time before it would be worthy of a purchase. The great news is the Game Pass saved many players a full purchase of a game that would be considered broken at launch. Even better news, by the time it gets fixed, it will likely be on sale or even on Game Pass fully. Thanks Game Pass.

MLB The Show 21

One of the closest things that Xbox had for simulation baseball was super mega baseball and while fun, lacks a certain realism. All of a sudden the MLB likely was not happy with the reduced exposure that the sport was seeing from its exclusive license deal with PlayStation and their long running king of baseball, MLB The Show. Not only did MLB The Show 21 expand its publishing to Xbox console but it also came the Xbox Game Pass on Day 1.

Indie

12 Minutes

One of my biggest disappointments of the year came from one of my most anticipated games of 2021. 12 Minutes had been in development for a long time from Luis Antonio, a former Rockstar developer who wanted to develop his own game. The idea seemed very sound, a time loop thriller where you keep living the same 12 Minutes trying to figure out why someone is trying to kill your wife. The aesthetic and design of the game was also very original, which caught the attention of many.

Upon closer look, especially during first person sequences, the game looks extremely rough, almost reminiscent of PS2 era character models, who look bad and constantly clip through each other. 12 Minute was also frustrating at times to control with the most minor error blowing a whole time loop sequence. However, the most agregous problem with 12 Minutes was the story. Spoiler free but the reasoning that the developers made to create the story in the manner that they did is beyond me and some of the decisions you have to make on the way to the wasted twist feel disturbing.

I would happily pay Microsoft one years worth of Game Pass Subscription to have not paid directly for 12 Minutes. 12 Minutes left me disappointed where the story was taken, frustrated by the imprecise controls, but mostly sad that this was such a missed opportunity to create something special, especially with all of the vocal talent aboard.

Hades

Better late than never as the saying goes and that is true for Hades coming to Xbox Game Pass. Hades came to Xbox Game Pass in August, which is a little less than a year after its release in September of 2020 on PC and Switch. Hades would eventually go on and win many outlets game of the year for 2020 as it took the traditional rogue like action formula and added a rich and engaging story that pulled at the fabric of Greek Mythology.

Nintendo enjoyed some nice exclusivity on console, where Indies currently shine the brightest. In August, Hades came to PlayStation and Xbox platforms, and even though Hades is only an indie game at an indie price point, coming to Xbox Game Pass is still a pretty big get for Microsoft. The amount of positive word of mouth and coverage that Hades received during its first year of release likely whet the appetite for many Xbox and PlayStation fans wanting to see what all the fuss was about.

Even though Hades is a smaller indie title from supergiant games, it still swings like premium title worthy of full premium price and getting a game like Hades on Xbox Game Pass is likely a game that many gamers tried or signed up for. Some of the best experiences in gaming are indie titles, whether they are a year late or not.

Unpacking

At around 4 hours or so depending on your proficiency with moving into a new place and putting things where they belong, Unpacking was one of the best indie games of 2021. However, indie games have always had a stigma fo their price points and their ceiling limit that an indie game needs to be cheap. Unpacking is an original idea about moving into different phases of your life, all which are highlighted by the move to get there. From your first bedroom to the university dorm to the first apartment you rented.

Its a very emotionally resonant game, considering that there is no dialogue. The narrative is told through the course of the moves and the things that we take with us and eventually forget about. During the course of Unpacking, I dare anyone to play it and not get nostalgic about a certain time in your life as you are reminded by something that all of us go through at one point or another. Unpacking is also very efficient and can be completed in just a few sittings and even one if you really wanted to.

While my preference would always be quality over quantity, there are still many who would scoff at the 20 or so dollars this game cost for its limited gameplay and short play time. Being on Game Pass allows many people that would have those feelings towards a game with those characteristics to play Unpacking and be extremely happy that it was a game they got to experience and likely would have passed by if not for Xbox Game Pass.

Save Money! Game Pass Makes Sense

As you can see not everything on Xbox Game Pass has to be the biggest first party title to warrant a place on the best games on Xbox Game Pass in 2021. These are also only the top ten games that I would consider based on games to that came to Xbox Game Pass during the year. Their are a plethora of titles that could have easily been used for the list to make the value look higher including anything from Bethesda, all of which came to Game Pass after Microsoft acquired ZeniMax.

The list also could have featured many other first party titles like The Ascent or Psychonauts 2 or more indie titles like Among Us, Curse of the Dead Gods or Cyber Shadow. There were also some headliners like It Takes Two, which would go on to win game of the year at The Game Awards or the remastered version of GTA San Andreas, which would have shown you that the definitive edition trilogy was in rough shape and could have saved you a purchase.

Xbox Game Pass doesn’t just provide great value, but in the case of certain games, it can actually save you from spending your hard earned money on something that is currently in a broken state. Returning to the math, if you subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate you are looking at around 200 per year, which can sound sort of expensive, but when you start adding in the value it becomes simple. First, you subtract the cost of the required service to play online like Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus which is around 70 annually. We are now looking at an extra cost of around 130 to be subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

If you just played the ten best games that came to Xbox Game Pass from this list and didn’t play anything else and bought them outright it would cost you over 650 dollars. This doesn’t include the ten other games or so that could have easily been featured on the list as well or the OG Xbox and 360 titles available. Calculating the cost of the top ten games if you bought them vs if you were subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, you would be saving over 80%.

This bears repeating, if you only played the ten best games that came to Xbox Game Pass in 2021, you would have saved yourself over 80%, which is wild. Obviously 2022, looks to be another amazing year for Xbox Game Pass with exclusive titles like Redfall, and Starfield or day one titles like Rainbow Six Extraction or Nobody Saves The World. The bottom line is simple, Xbox Game Pass is just too good

Prices depend on Region

Halo Infinite - 70-80

Forza 5 - 70-80

Microsoft Flight Sim 70-80

Back 4 Blood 70-80

Outriders 70-80

BF 2042 70-80

MLB 21 80-90

12 minutes 26-32

Hades 26-32

Unpacking 20-26

600-660 Total Cost of Top Ten

Game Pass Ultimate Annual 180-205