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0 December is here and we’re all well into the festive season. Whether you’re planning to party it up or snuggle up cosy, Game Pass has plenty of holiday cheer to go around with a packed first wave of games for December. Here are the seven (yes, SEVEN!) titles available in December so far:
Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled
Genre: Racing
Longevity: 5 – 35 hours | Achievements: 47
Metacritic: 83 | OpenCritic: Strong
Available: Now (on Console)
Tiers: Ultimate, Standard, Core
Released: 21st June 2019
The beloved bandicoot kart racer returns and is more juiced up than ever! Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled brings back the tracks from the PS1 classic and all other Crash racing titles. Zoom across chemical labs, ancient Aztec pyramids and slippery ice caves with 8 classic series characters and 48 unlockable characters. Unleash an arsenal of wacky weapons to scupper your opponents’ chances. Customise your karts and take on the world with new online multiplayer mode. Fancy taking things up a notch even in adventure mode? Try ‘Nitro-Fueled’ mode and change your character and difficulty in between races. Time to start your engines!
EA Sports WRC
Genre: Racing
Longevity: 11 – 38 hours | Achievements: 26
Metacritic: 80 | OpenCritic: Strong
Available: Now (on Cloud and Xbox Series X/S)
Tiers: Ultimate, PC
Released: 3rd November 2023
Want a more real-world racing experience instead? From the team behind the DiRT Rally series, EA Sports WRC throws you into the high-octane world of the World Rally Championship. Go to town with Builder Mode and design your dream rally car from top to tyre. Experience peak immersion as you traverse difficult terrains and battle the elements, tailoring the handling system to match your skill level. Take on over 200 stages across the world from Monte Carlo to Kenya and put your skills to the test with cross-platform multiplayer. From careers to clubs, championships to time trials, the track is yours to ride!
Overthrown
Genre: City-Builder
Available: Now – Early Access (on Cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC)
Tiers: Ultimate, PC
Released: 5th December 2024
Do you play city-builders and wish they had a little more kick and chaos thrown in? Enter Overthrown. As a Monarch with a powerful soul-stealing crown, you must establish a kingdom in an unforgiving continent and defend it vigorously. Construct buildings anywhere you like to produce food or advance industry and have your villagers maintain them. Don’t like your placement? Pick the whole thing up and throw it somewhere else. Literally. Group together in up to 6-player co-op and fight with the prowess of an anime warrior. But fail to keep your villagers happy and they may defect to the outlaws eyeing your throne.
You can check out our PC Preview of Overthrown here
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Genre: Action-Adventure
Longevity: 12 – 35+ hours | Achievements: 45
Metacritic: 87 | OpenCritic: Mighty
Available: Now (on Xbox Series X/S and PC)
Tiers: Ultimate, PC
Released: 9th December 2024
The legendary fedora-wearing whip-cracking archaeologist is back on the virtual scene for the first time in fifteen years with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. And this time you’re fully in Indy’s shoes! In the first Indiana Jones game played in first-person, immerse yourself in a globe-trotting escapade taking place between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. Solve puzzles of the ancients and discover treasures buried for centuries. Use your trademark whip to both navigate your surroundings and disarm enemies. Combine this with stealth, gunplay, fisticuffs and environmental elements to take down the Nazis hot on your trail. Already scoring high with critics, this adventure is not to be missed!
Wildfrost
Genre: Card-Battler
Longevity: 12 – 48 hours
Metacritic: 80 | OpenCritic: Strong
Available: 10th December 2024 (on Xbox Series X/S and PC)
Tiers: Ultimate, PC
Released: 12th April 2023
Winter is coming in this cartoony roguelike card-battler. Wildfrost puts you as the only hope against an endless winter threatening to engulf the world. Plan your route across the frozen wastes and assemble a deck of mighty card companions. Experiment with different combos to find your winning formula and upgrade your faves by adding an array of powerful charms to give them an edge. Engage in initiative-based combat where counters dictate when you attack; intercepting enemy counters with a well-timed strike may just turn the tables in your favour. The town of Snowdell is the last bastion of hope – will you rebuild it and prevent an icy apocalypse?
For the King 2
Genre: Tactical RPG/Tabletop RPG
Longevity: 40 – 100+ hours
Metacritic: 76 | OpenCritic: Strong
Available: 12th December 2024 (on Xbox Series X/S and PC)
Tiers: Ultimate, PC
Released: 2nd November 2023
While your cards are on the table, make room on there for a sequel inspired by the tabletop greats! For the King 2 returns to the world of Fahrul where the queen has turned tyrant and enslaved her people. Journey across diverse biomes with procedurally generated maps to ensure each playthrough is unique. Be a lone wolf or gather your party for 4-player co-op and coordinate the best approach with your teammates. Want to put your mettle to the ultimate test? Experience “Infinite Dungeon Mode” and take on the Dark Ringmaster’s devious Carnival; death is inevitable but see how many floors you can conquer before you succumb.
Hunt: Showdown 1896
Genre: Shooter
Longevity: 40 – 100+ hours | Achievements: 36
Metacritic: 80 | OpenCritic: Strong
Available: 12th December 2024 (on Xbox Series X/S and PC)
Tiers: Ultimate, PC
Released: 27th August 2019
There’s evil lurking in the backwater places of the world and it’s up to you to send it back to hell! Step into the boots and spurs of a supernatural bounty hunter in Hunt: Showdown 1896. Take on grotesque supernatural horrors and rival hunters who stand in the way of claiming your bounty. Master an extensive arsenal of weapons from crossbows to elephant guns and manage your ammo to emerge victorious. Use other hunters to your advantage to find and dispatch bosses and find strength in numbers with up to two teammates. Don’t let anything come between you and the Hunt as the prize is ripe for the taking!
A hefty list for a first wave and that’s not all. Not only have some January titles already been locked in, but the Standard and Core tiers also have some solid new additions available now. Forza Motorsport, Hauntii and Humanity are now on Standard while DayZ and Goat Simulator come to Core.
That’s our virtual stockings already stuffed!
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