New Xbox Game Pass Game Is One of 2023's Biggest Surprises

Xbox Game Pass just got its biggest surprise since Hi-Fi Rush.

By Tyler Fischer

This week, Xbox Game Pass subscribers on Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC were treated to one of the biggest surprises of 2023. And unlike some surprises, this one is not locked behind an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, but is rather available to every and all Xbox Game Pass subscribers, no matter the tier. As for the surprise, it comes the way of Xbox-owned Bethesda and its studio id Software. 

This week, the aforementioned trio released a remaster of a classic first-person shooter from 1997, Quake II. The remaster has been released via Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series, pc, as well as PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. However, if you have Xbox Game Pass you can bypass it's $9.99 asking price, which nets you not just the game but a new expansion pack called Call of the Machine. Quake 64 has also been bundled in.

As for the remaster, it takes the original game and boosts it to a 4K resolution and adds widescreen support. In addition to this, there is also enhanced models, improved enemy animations, new gore, improved and restored AI behaviors, enhanced cinematics, dynamic and colored lighting, anti-aliasing, depth of field, cross-play, and a new and original heavy rock soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem. 

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"Mankind is at war with the Strogg, a hostile alien race that attacked Earth. In response, humanity launched a strike on the Strogg homeworld...it failed, but you survived," reads an official blurb about the story of the remaster. "Outnumbered and outgunned, fight your way through fortified military installations and shut down the enemy's war machine. Only then will the fate of humanity be known."

Xbox Game Pass is available via Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC at various price points. For more coverage on the subscription service and all things Xbox -- including all of the latest news, all of the latest rumors and leaks, and all of the latest deals -- click here. Meanwhile, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think.

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