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Game Pass allows fringe titles to find audiences and people to experience new experiences.
There is a strong argument that Game Pass is no excuse for bad games. The point is, you shouldn’t endure and play bad games just because they’re on the service you’re already paying for. Time is precious and you don’t want to spend it on something that doesn’t make you rich in some way. Game Pass doesn’t suddenly make a game of chords worthy of your attention. What it does, however, is give games that divide a better chance of finding a grateful audience. The Medium is one of those games.
I really rather enjoyed the slow-burning, walking simulated Bloober Team horror, its two-world mechanic adding a next-gen flair to some rather old-school gameplay. But not everyone thought about it. Critics are everywhere, and it’s absolute certainty that this split of opinion will spill over to the gaming audience that gives The Medium a whirl.
The Medium isn’t a full-priced version, but it still costs $ 45, which is a lot of money to spend on something you’re not sure about. Before Game Pass, a lot of people just never played The Medium. It might be their kind of game, but a digital version with limited redemption options is a risky buy. Bloober titles have been pretty mixed up to date (I enjoyed Layers of Fear but didn’t think much of the other titles in the studio), so you can’t expect their games to hit a certain level – at least not yet.
Game Pass essentially removes the need for your brain to check your spending. Medium and other AA, B or even Level C games can now be tried risk-free. Like I said at the start, I’m not suggesting that you throw all caution to the wind and pump hours in the trash (although games on Game Pass are largely at least decent), but games that were on the fringes, on the borderline between buying and not buying, suddenly becomes an easy option when on Game Pass.
It is not rocket science. I haven’t found the hidden secret of Game Pass. It’s just that Game Pass is often seen as a service that lets you play lots of games, whereas it’s really a service that lets you play lots of different games, a lot of which you wouldn’t. never bought but who might end up really appreciating. Maybe even love.
Microsoft has announced a truckload of games coming to Xbox consoles this year, many of which will be available on Game Pass, but most of which aren’t what you’d call stuck on certainties when it comes to reaching audiences. massive. Flight Simulator is slated for the summer, which may well be the most controversial game to come to consoles. My sane head tells me that throughout history I have purchased several flight sets, and found each of them to be extremely dull, even the ones with guns. But part of my brain that loves fancy graphics is very eager to fly over my house, my old school, my university, the place I went on vacation when I was 12, the cities featured in Project Gotham Racing 2 , and more.
I’m not paying $ 50 for Flight Simulator, but I’m going to upload it to Game Pass and fly over Edinburgh. Who knows, I might find out that I love flight sims now and end up spending some money on expansions. It’s a victory for me and a victory for Microsoft.
That’s the beauty of Game Pass. If something seems the least interesting to you, you can try it. You don’t have to spend your life as a gamer playing it safe with the big hitters, the numbers, the polite focus groups, the 8 / 10s co-developed in the studio. They will always be there, but maybe try something a little different every now and then.
Elsewhere on the site, we have plenty of guides to walk you through the tricky parts of The Medium. How to enter the Niwa Resort, solve the puzzle of the code number of the door, pass the water tanks of the pumping station and the solution to the puzzle of the vase.