PixlBit

I forgot to mention three other games I've played in the last few weeks, F1 '22, Star Wars Squadrons and Screamride.

F1 '22: Every so often a F1 game comes up for Game Pass Rewards and I play it. I always just have to drive 20 laps, but it takes longer than you would think. I played F1 '21 before this and it annoyed me with its refined and unforgiving controls. This is my usual complaint with simulation racers, but F1 '22 was much easier to play. I was able to complete races without crashing or sliding far off the track. I was even able to win a bunch of races. The game is incredibly detailed and visuallly stunning. I loved watching the display of each new location and raceway before I took to the track. There's a ton of customization you can do for your cars, driver, and your crib, which includes a personal super car. It was cool, but ultimately not my thing. I stopped after finishing the set of F2 races, which was just a race or two after 20 laps. I don't know how they count laps, but maybe they don't count the time trial lap you do to determine position for a race. Fun though. 

Star Wars Squadrons: I had a MS Rewards points challenge the week before this one where I had to choose from 5 or 6 games and get three achievements. I thought it was three achievements across all the games and so played three different ones for one achievement each. This didn't work, so I settled in playing Star Wars Squadrons for a longer stretch. It was pretty cool. I played the story mode and a few rounds against real players. You can chose your side and ship and customize your character and ship. Controls work great and there are lots of alternate things you can do besides shoot lasers like: shoot rockets, initiate repairs on the fly, release counter measures against incoming rockets and control your speed for better manueverability. I found it a bit weird attacking a Star Destroyer with a single ship. That I could bring one down seemed a little ridiculous, but fun nonetheless. Ultimately, I wasn't hugely excited to continue past the three achievements. I always hate it when enemy fighters (in any air/space combat game) move around trying to get behind you. I end up flying in circles. Terrible nonsense, I say. 

Screamride: This roller coaster game comes up regularly as a Game Pass Rewards game. It's pretty good too. I've played it several times before. You fly around the track as fast as you can and sometimes try and crash hilariously at the end. All the tracks are created over water so no one is actually hurt by crashes, presumably. I played from the beginning again and surprised myself by beating some of my previous scores. Each race has side objectives too like tilting your car on one rail on a turn and hitting each boost segment exactly. Some tracks also have you make jumps giving you air time. I like this game, didn't mind replaying it at all.