The holidays may be over, but Game Pass is the gift that keeps on giving. So wrap up warm, hunker down, and place your cup of joe on the USB-powered coaster gizmo that mom panic bought you for Christmas, because it’s time to fend off the January blues with some mid-winter gaming.
January is another fine month on Game Pass, featuring the return of some not-so-friendly spectral faces, as well as a Day One release for one of gaming’s unlikeliest heroes.
Hell Let Loose
January 4
As a counterpoint to Battlefield’s glossy, glorified take on the First and Second World Wars, Hell Let Loose is an FPS that takes itself a lot more seriously. The 50-vs-50 online WWII shooter leans much more into simulation and realism, so a single bullet can kill you, and you often won’t know where it’s coming from.
Beyond the intense, measured gunplay (where teamwork is vital), there are interesting mechanics here like constructing garrisons and tactical planning that distinguish Hell Let Loose from its more arcadey peers.
Read more in Morgan Park’s review, where he says the game “really sells that you’re a small cog in a larger machine.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
January 9
The epic latest outing in the history-spanning, Templar-stabbing action-adventure series may have come out over three years ago now, but it’s still one of the biggest games out there, with tons of side-quests to complete and map markers to clear as you stomp around southern England Viking-style (which, yes, means a lot of bloodshed).
At the core of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, however, is an excellent story that’s reactive to player decisions, and a cast of excellent characters in the form of kings, warriors, even Gods, so whether you want to get embroiled in that or go to the coast and take photos of the Seven Sisters cliffs, Valhalla’s got you.
Steven Messner loved Valhalla in his review from 2020, when he called it “Ubisoft’s best Assassin’s Creed to date.”
We Happy Few
January 11
‘Bioshock but in a retrofuturistic ’60s England’ is as great an elevator pitch as we’ve heard for a game, and while We Happy Few may not quite match the seminal storytelling chops of Irrational Games’ classic, it’s improved quite significantly since its shaky release five years ago.
Set in the town of Wellington Wells, where an oppressed populace wearing creepy white masks is forced into drug-infused ‘happiness’, you take control of three characters, whose stories interweave as you figure out the mystery of this weird, visually stunning world. Stealth, survival, and a smattering of combat offers plenty of freedom in how you tackle this dystopia.
Resident Evil 2
January 11
The first game in Capcom’s recent Resident Evil remake project is arguably still its best—reimagining the survival-horror classic, with its fixed camera angles and tank controls, into a terrifying, gorgeous over-the-shoulder horror experience. The remake deserves credit for making zombies scary again, as they stalk you through doors, drag themselves towards you if incapacitated, and take a lot of hard-to-find bullets to truly die.
The legendary Raccoon City Police Station, where much of the game takes place, is a satisfying and scary puzzle box, Mr. X is brilliant as he dynamically chases you through the station, and the dual-hero setup of Leon and Claire makes playing through as each of them feel genuinely worthwhile.
It’s a “super reimagining of a survival horror classic” according to our own Andy Kelly.
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
January 18 (Day One release)
A turnip committing tax evasion never seemed like the most likely premise for one of the best old-school Zelda-like adventures in recent years, but back in 2021 that’s exactly what Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion delivered us.
Well, this month we get the long-awaited sequel, which sees the titular Turnip Boy link up with his old team of pickled pals to perform a bank heist. It looks a little more twin-stick-shooty and faster-paced than its predecessor, with a roguelite element too, but if the original’s anything to go by then it should be one of the most effortlessly funny games of the year.