Game Pass Q4 2022: 5 Games You Should Pre-Install

Xbox Game Pass is proving its worth now more than ever, with day-one exclusives blocking up the pipeline from now right through to 2023 and beyond. As of this moment, the subscription-based platform boasts hundreds of quality titles, a lot of which come through its EA Play side handle. Together, providing subscribers have a ticket to Game Pass Ultimate, Microsoft's empire harbors one of the best money-saving cloud services on the modern market.

At the time of writing, Xbox Game Pass has a wide selection of games on the back burner, with plenty more yet to be announced. The question is, which games that have already been announced are worth pre-installing as we embrace the fourth quarter of the year? Well, if we had to nudge just five into the spotlight, then we'd highly recommend bagging these for your library.

5. A Plague Tale: Requiem

A Plague Tale: Requiem is the direct sequel to Asobo Studios' award-winning action-adventure, A Plague Tale: Innocence. Picking up with Amicia de Rune, Requiem will take the huntress on a brand new quest across the French countryside in search of a cure for Hugo's rat-riddled curse.

A Plague Tale: Requiem brings satisfying combat and stealth-based gameplay to a rich and engrossing story-driven world. Fleshed out with a vibrant yet strikingly elegant design and hearty narrative, Requiem will be sure to give its predecessor a run for its money. And that's saying something. With that, anyone who's interested in epic journeys full of tear-jerking theatrics should definitely give this one a try. Because if there's one game that can compete against Elden Ring for GotY, it's this one.

A Plague Tale: Requiem comes to Xbox Game Pass on October 17, 2022.

4. Scorn

Scorn is an atmospheric first-person survival horror game that incorporates a rich and immersive biopunk setting. Similar in design to games like DOOM and Agony, players are hurled into a somber city that's built entirely on flesh, bone, and the remnants of a forbidden civilization. As lone wolves in the hollow world, you must traverse the dream-like planet and make an understanding of its history.

With the unruly world boasting a unique nexus of secrets, mysteries, and unlockable pockets of lore, you will have the opportunity to shovel through its every nook and cranny in a non-linear fashion in search of clues, answers, and eye-opening revelations. But, as this is a first-person shooter at heart, players can expect to unearth a lot more than just secrets.

Scorn comes to Xbox Game Pass on October 21 2022.

3. Humankind

Humankind is a turn-based strategy 4X game by Amplitude Studios, a firm best known for its contributions to the Endless Space and Endless Legends 4X sagas. In the latest venture, players are tasked with navigating the human race through seven major eras of civilization, starting from the Neolithic Era and running right through to the Contemporary Era.

Like other 4X games, Humankind employs an in-depth city-building section, which of course asks that you research and revolutionize the components needed to turn a small encampment into a thriving monopoly, complete with a fully functioning global population and militia to boot. In short, if turn-based strategy and world management is your thing, then you should definitely think about pre-installing Humankind before its November release.

Humankind comes to Xbox Game Pass on November 4, 2022.

2. Hello Neighbor 2

Hello Neighbor is back, and it's bigger than ever, thanks to Dynamic Pixels broadening its horizons and making the stealth-based chapter into a full-blown open world action role-playing game. In this upcoming sequence, players will not only investigate a neighbor's home, but an entire city, one where mysteries are commonplace and its bearers are anything other than willing to share their darkest secrets.

Hello Neighbor 2 brings a fresh layer of stealth-based gameplay to a much wider and more immersive world. As budding investigators, you will have the freedom to delve into one of the city's many unsolved conundrums. Just as before, you can expect plenty of nail-biting chases, puzzle-solving elements, and eye-opening revelations. Think Hello Neighbor, but forced into maximum overdrive with 200% more content to boot.

Hello Neighbor 2 comes to Xbox Game Pass on December 6, 2022.

1. High on Life

From the creators that brought you Rick & Morty comes High on Life, an absolutely bonkers first-person shooter with an outrageously high-octane story involving talking guns, slime-smothered cities, and mohawk-sporting balls of glop. Think Rick & Morty, but with a major Sci-Fi twist involving otherworldly realms and boggle-eyed knives with suicidal tendencies. That's your basic outline for High on Life, and it looks sickeningly sweet.

In High on Life, players take on the role of a bounty hunter on an alien planet. As such, you must travel far and wide to rescue an army of smooth-talking guns, all of whom carry names, personalities, and agendas. Along the way, you'll have to throw down with a planet that's absolutely brimming with outlandish life forms and unbelievable treasures. There's comedy, chaos, and a ridiculous amount of craziness. Basically, it's everything we've come to expect of its tongue-in-cheek creators.

High on Life comes to Xbox Game Pass on December 13, 2022.

So, what's your take? Will you be picking up any of the above five? Are there any Game Pass titles we should know about? Let us know over on our socials here or down in the comments below.