Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun stomps onto Game Pass soon
And for your kids, there's Bluey: The Videogame and Maneater coming
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, Microsoft are bringing Maneater back to Game Pass. Yesterday they unveiled the next batches of Game Pass additions and two are returnees, with the delightful fighty platformer Indivisible accompanying brutal shark 'em up Maneater. What's more important is that it's adding the game with the cutest little Nurglings, grimdark retro-styled FPS Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun. The rhetoric of 'purging xenos and heretics' surely doesn't apply to these darling babies. Read on for all the games coming to (and going from) Game Pass over the next few weeks.
Return To Grace - available now
I haven't played the retrofuturistic first-person explore-o-story which pokes at the fractured remains of a godlike AI, but I know Alice Bee talked about it on the podcast and has—for RPS supporters only, sorry—written about that 60s style.
Tales Of Arise - available now
"It takes a little time to warm up to Tales of Arise's main characters (ironic, when two of them wield the powers of hell itself), but once you're over that hump, you're left with a charming JRPG powered by a battle system that never slows down," said our Tales Of Arise review in 2021.
Bluey: The Videogame - February 22nd
I know little about this but resident child-haver Graham had a lot of praise for Bluey: The Cartoon Which Inspired The Video Game when it launched last year. "Do I have a reasonable expectation that any of this will make for a good video game when it releases on November 17th?" he wrote. "No, not really, but thank goodness I finally have an excuse to write about Bluey."
Madden NFL 24 - February 27th
It's like Madden NFL 23 but a bit newer. Look, if you're interested, you already know.
Maneater - February 27th
Honestly, I'm installing this just to check out the pretty underwater scenes. Might as well do a few cool sharkmurders while I'm there, though I probably won't stick around. Nate's Maneater review called it "an ecstatically violent simulation of being a fool's idea of a shark, which long outstays its welcome when stretched into a repetitive open world game." It has been on Game Pass before, leaving in June 2023.
Indivisible - February 28th
Coming from ill-fated Skullgirls developers Lab Zero Games, Indivisible merges that fighting game heritage with platformers and action-RPGs for skillful violence with oodles of party members. Our Indivisible review said, "It won't change your life, but it's a pleasant romp, extremely pretty, and clearly made with a lot of love."
Space Engineers - February 29th
Ten years after the sandbox space craft-o-building game entered early access (and four after its full launch), our readers declared it your 22nd favourite space game. I have also enjoyed reading about scrappy creations and the cataclysmic betrayal when Alice, Nate, and Matt played together.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun - March 5th
Ooh nice for me! I've kept meaning to buy the retro-styled FPS, as a fan of both 40K and Rahul Kohli (who voices the protagonist, Spice Maureen) so yes thanks go on. Our Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun review last year declared, "It's a highly entertaining shooter that had me grinning from ear to ear on many an occasion, and is one of, if not the best representation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe available on your personal cogitation device." Even better than the grimy guts of Darktide's hive city? I'll have to see about that.
Those are mostly in the future so if you're looking for a Game Pass pick to play right now, I strongly recommend Brotato, my secret favourite game of 2023. The roguelikelike arena survival shmup is so moreish that I had to uninstall it and try to forget, for my own good.
Microsoft's blog post also announced two games will leave Game Pass on the 29th of February: Madden NFL 22 and Soul Hackers 2.