After the Xbox Games Showcase, play these Game Pass greats this weekend (June 14-16)

We’re coming off a fantastic week for Xbox. Although this has been a rough year for the company and game reveals don’t make up for all the developers Microsoft has laid off, the Xbox Games Showcase did feature lots of promising games and helped reaffirm the feeling that Xbox is here to stay in gaming. As I returned from Summer Game Fest and wondered which Xbox Game Pass games to recommend this weekend, I looked to games that will give you more context to some of the best announcements from 2024’s Xbox Games Showcase.

One is a remaster of the first game in a hallmark Xbox franchise that’s getting a prequel soon. After that, there’s the Dragon Age game that you need to check out so you’re all up to speed whenever Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches later this year. Finally, we have a retro first-person shooter from Rare that still holds up today, getting a revival by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

The final announcement of 2024’s Xbox Games Showcase was Gears of War: E-Day, a prequel that will go back and tell the story of when the Locust Horde first attacked the surface of Sera. Gears of War is one of the pillar franchises of Xbox, so if you’ve somehow never played one before the announcement of Gears of War: E-Day, it gives you the perfect excuse to revisit the original. While the game still holds up on Xbox 360, the Xbox One and PC remaster Gears of War: Ultimate Edition that released in 2015 will be your best choice to experience this classic.

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No other third-person shooter quite matches the intensity and brutality of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, and its story is surprisingly gripping. Although we don’t know how long we’ll have to wait to see the series come full circle with Gears of War: E-Day, it’s always a great time