In a nice little end-of-the-year twist, one of the more surprising hits of 2023 just stealth-dropped onto Game Pass—and there are some other great games still coming to the Netflix subscription service in the weeks ahead. Soulslike shooter Remnant II is now on the service alongside the first game and just in time for its new The Awakened King DLC expansion.
Gunfire Games’ Remnant II is a third-person shooter where players select a class and earn new upgrades and gear while fighting through procedurally-generated environments on a mission to stop a race of evil plants from destroying the multiverse. It takes the chunky shooting of a Gears of War or modern Resident Evil and mixes it with the vibes, monsters, and world designs of a Dark Souls or Bloodborne.
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The first game was good. Remnant II is even better. It took over Steam earlier this year right before Baldur’s Gate 3 came out and has also been available on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. There were some bugs and other issues closer to release, but many of those have since been cleared up. The Awakened King DLC came out just a few week ago, adding a new class, story missions, and boss (it’s $10 extra and not included in the Game Pass version). All of which is to say it’s a great time to see what one of 2023's best shooters is all about.
Far Cry 6 comes to Game Pass December 14
Microsoft also recently revealed the rest of the games coming to Game Pass in December. The most notable one is Far Cry 6, Ubisoft’s open world shooter about waging a revolution in a fictional version of Cuba. It is very much more of the same when it comes to modern Far Cry’s mix of game bloat and attempted Quentin Tarantino-style edginess, but can serve as a beautiful playground for blowing stuff up and waging dozens of hours of chaotic war against enemy outposts.
SteamWorld Build is another upcoming game worth watching out for. Thunderful Games’ SteamWorld series has tackled Metroidvania and card games and now it’s applying its whimsical steampunk approach to a 3D strategy game. Art director Andreas Persson described it as “city builder meets Dungeon Keeper,” and initial reviews have been generally positive, calling it fun and breezy, if not as deep as some strategy fans hoped.
Here’s the full list of December Game Pass games so far:
- Remnant: From the Ashes (Cloud, Console, and PC)
- Remnant II (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X|S)
- Spirit of the North (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 1
- SteamWorld Build (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 1
- Clone Drone in the Danger Zone (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – December 5
- Rise of the Tomb Raider (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 5
- While the Iron’s Hot (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 5
- World War Z: Aftermath (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 5
- Goat Simulator 3 (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – December 7
- Against the Storm (PC) – December 8
- Tin Hearts (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 12
- Far Cry 6 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 14
Some games will be leaving this month as well. The following will all be gone from Game Pass starting December 15. You can buy them outright for 20 percent off in the meantime:
- Chained Echoes (Cloud, Console, and PC)
- Opus Magnum (PC)
- Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator (Cloud, Console, and PC)
- Rubber Bandits (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Last but not least, Game Pass games are getting some major updates this month. A whole new set of cards is coming to League of Legends’ autobattler with Teamfight Tactics: Remix Rumble. More importantly, Fallout 76's Atlantic City expansion, Boardwalk of Paradise, finally arrives on December 5 bringing new quests, UI changes, and other updates. I’d never encourage anyone to voluntarily visit New Jersey, but curiosity will get the better of me this time around. Bethesda’s Fallout MMO just celebrated its fifth anniversary and I’m curious to see how things are going in its grindy, post-apocalyptic wildnerness.