I know I said I couldn’t bring myself to buy Crackdown 3 because of its missing party support. I haven’t changed my mind, I just might try to enjoy the game through Xbox Game Pass instead.
So hear me out. Crackdown 3 hits all the red flags for me. It’s been years since Microsoft announced the game. It’s gone through what seems like a few iterations, the most recent of which added Terry Crews to its playable characters. Despite spending years in development, it is launching without the ability to pull members of your party into its online mode, which is kinda like boasting to your slightly younger high school friends how incredible college parties are on your first break since starting college. On top of all that, I’m a bit wary of spending $60 on another open-world game so soon after all the other open-world games I’ve played in the past and so close to all the open-world/RPG/adventure games set for launch in the next month or two. (The Division 2 and Anthem, I’m looking at you.)
So what’s a guy like me to do? I’m hungry for an exclusive I can’t get anywhere else but Xbox, and I want to give that destructible buildings thing Crackdown 3 has a try. Easy, I spend $9.99 for a month on Xbox Game Pass and I’m home free. I can experience the excitement of launch — all Microsoft-made games come to Game Pass on the day they launch. I can still earn achievements, and, thanks to Play Anywhere, I can still try the game on my Windows 10 PC.
In fact, when you think about it, there’s no way to lose. If I don’t like the game, I can cancel the subscription. If I do like the game, I can buy it digitally on Xbox in a few months and get it at a discount thanks to Game Pass.
That sound you hear is the bomb going off in my head as I realize I may never have to buy a Microsoft-made Xbox game ever again. Please excuse me while I put this debit card back in my wallet, climb back into my car and drive home from this GameStop where I almost pre-ordered a game I said I wouldn’t.
