3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (August 16-18)

Xbox has only received five new games so far this August, but three of them share a theme. The connective tissue between all of these additions is that they’re new versions of older classics. With collections for some bombastic first-person shooters and cartoony platformers, and a remake of a crime action game, Xbox Game Pass‘ classics catalog has just been fleshed out with some excellent titles that come easily recommended. If you’re looking for something to play on Microsoft’s subscription service this weekend, consider checking out one of these three games.

Mafia: Defintive Edition

Mafia: Definitive Edition is a full-on remake of the 2002 mafioso crime action game Mafia. It’s a Grand Theft Auto alternative set in a fictional 1930s city based on Chicago that follows the Italian mob in control of the city at the time. While Mafia never reached the heights of GTA, all the games in that series are creative and interesting in distinct ways. When it comes to the first Mafia specifically, the city of Lost Haven is an intricately detailed setting and provides a solid backdrop for a mob story that fans of movies like The Godfather or Goodfellas will enjoy. A fourth Mafia game is in development too, so now is a good time to get a better idea of how the series started. Mafia: Definitive Edition is available to play across PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Cloud Gaming via Game Pass Ultimate. It’s also available on PS4.

Doom + Doom II

The first two Doom games need little introduction, as the hellish first-person shooters are responsible for putting the game genre on the map. This is the definitive release of those games. Doom + Doom II not only comes with previously remastered versions of those two titles but several additional episodes (including a new one called Legacy of Rust), remixed soundtracks by Andrew Hulshult, mod support, and 16-player online support for Deathmatch and co-op. If you’ve never played Doom or Doom II before, this just gave you the perfect reason to do so ahead