Game Pass gives subtitles the chance to find an audience and give people the opportunity to discover new experiences.
There is a strong argument that Game Pass does not excuse bad games. The point is, you should not endure bad games and endure them simply because it is the service you are already paying for. Time is valuable and you do not want to spend it on something that does not enrich you in some way. Game Pass does not suddenly make a rope-wise attention worthwhile. What it does do is give divisive games a better chance of finding an appreciative audience. The Medium is such a game.
I rather enjoyed Bloober Team’s horrors, slow-running-sim-like horrors, and the double world mechanic added a new flair in a rather old school game. But not everyone thought so. Reviews are everywhere, and it is absolutely certain that the division of opinion will be conveyed to the game audience that gives The Medium a whirl.
The Medium is not a complete price release, but it’s still $ 45, which is a lot of money to spend on something you’m not sure about. Before the Game Pass, many people simply never played The Medium. These may be their kind of games, but a digital version with limited refund options is a risky buy. Bloober titles have been pretty mixed so far (I enjoyed Layers of Fear, but did not think much of the studio’s other titles), so you can not count on their games being up to a certain standard – at least not yet not.
Game Pass essentially removes the need for your brain to have a meaningful examination of your expenses. The medium and other AA, B or even C tiger games can now be tried out risk free. Like I said at the beginning, I do not suggest throwing all warning on the wind and pumping hours in the trash (although the games on Game Pass are largely at least decent), but games that were on the edge, on the line between buy and not buy suddenly becomes an easy option when they are on Game Pass.
This is not rocket science. I did not find the hidden secret of Game Pass. It’s just that Game Pass is often seen as a service with which you can play heaps of games, while it really is a service with which you can play heaps of different games, many of which you would never have bought, but ultimately enjoyed a lot. Maybe even loving.
Microsoft announced this year that a load of games will be coming to Xbox consoles, many of which will hit Game Pass, but most of them are not what you would call being caught on security when it comes to reaching a large audience not. Flight Simulator is available over the course of the summer, which could very well be the most divisive game to consoles. My sensible head tells me that I have bought several flying games throughout history, and that each one of them was extremely dull – even those with guns. But a part of my brain that loves fancy graphics really wants to know about my home, my old school, my university, the place I was on vacation when I was 12, the cities in Project Gotham Racing 2, and more, fly.
I do not pay $ 50 for Flight Simulator, but download it on Game Pass and fly over Edinburgh. Who knows, I might find that I now love flight sims and end up spending money on extensions. It’s a win for me and a win for Microsoft.
This is the beauty of Game Pass. If something seems a little interesting to you, you can give it a try. You do not have to spend your gaming life safely with the big hits, the at-the-numbers, polished-by-focus groups, 10-studio-co-developed 8 / 10s. They will still be there, but maybe try something different now and then.
Elsewhere on the site, we have enough guides to guide you through the difficult parts of The Medium. How to get into the Niwa Resort, solving the door code number puzzle, past the water tanks in the pump station and the solution to the Vase puzzle.