Subscription based gaming is a mixed bag. Sure, you get access to a library of games for a fraction of the cost of any single one – but you don’t get to keep them. And there’s the added uncertainty that the library could change at any given moment. For that reason, I have preferred to buy my games rather than subscribe to them. That is, until I came across Xbox Gamepass.

Gamepass has a large amount of the games I want to play, and it’s reasonably priced at $10 per month. Most importantly, they have loads of great post apocalyptic games. How many? I count 38 at the moment. Here are some of the top post apocalyptic games on Xbox Gamepass.

Fallout 3 (2008)

Winner of several Game of the Year awards, Fallout 3 is a masterpiece set in the post-nuclear apocalypse world. Deviating from the top-down turn-based style of Fallout 1 & 2, Fallout 3 is a first-person-shooter that takes place in (mostly) real-time. In Fallout 3, Bethesda introduces a hybrid of turn-based and real-time combat called VATS which allows you to freeze time and queue actions before unfreezing time and allowing them to play out.

But Fallout 3 has another trick up its sleeve – it is a deep RPG.  Your decisions have a very real impact on the story and on the gameplay. And true to the RPG genre, you customize your character stats to fit your play style, which can be melee, ranged, stealth, or any number of other strategies.

The graphics are superb. Both breathtaking and depressing. But the music really pulls it all together. From the epic cut-scene score to the in-game radio stations, the soundtrack to this game is just unreal.

Even now, eleven years after release, people still play and love this game. Even if you’ve never played Fallout and know nothing of the lore, Fallout 3 is definitely worth picking up.

#2

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden (2018)

This turn-based strategy RPG places you in a nuclear wasteland full of human-animal hybrids.

From a team including former designers of HITMAN and PAYDAY comes Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, a tactical adventure game that combines the turn-based combat of XCOM with a real-time stealth and exploration of a post-human world reclaimed by nature… and Mutants.

Of course the world ends.

It was just a question of time. Extreme climate change, global economic crisis, a lethal pandemic, and increasing tension between old and new superpowers. For the first time since 1945 nuclear weapons were used in armed conflict. Mushroom clouds rose from east to west before the dust settled.

Now it’s over and the Earth is still. Nature has invaded ruined cities. Wind sweeps through empty streets, turned into graveyards.

The humans are all gone. Scavenging through the remains of civilization are the Mutants, deformed humanoids and animals alike, searching for salvation or just something to eat. To survive, you and your companions must venture out to explore the Zone.

Maybe one day you will find the Eden of legends, the ancients’ haven in the middle of hell. That’s where truth awaits, the stories say. Maybe you will find your answers there.

#3

We Happy Few (2018)

If George Orwell made a game, this is probably what it would look like.  In We Happy Few, you attempt to escape a dystopian mind-controlling government.

We Happy Few is the tale of a plucky bunch of moderately terrible people trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial in the city of Wellington Wells. In this alternative 1960s England, conformity is key. You’ll have to fight or blend in with the drug-addled inhabitants, most of whom don’t take kindly to people who won’t abide by their not-so-normal rules.

Discover the retrofuturistic city’s dark history as you play through the intertwined narratives of three quietly rebellious citizens of Wellington Wells. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses as they face their pasts, prepare for the future, and engage in activities that aren’t exactly status quo in the artificially enthused society.

#4

State of Decay 2 (2018)

The dead have risen and civilization has fallen. Not even the military could stop the zombies, and now it’s up to you to gather survivors and build a community in a post-apocalyptic world – a world where every decision matters, and where you define what it means to survive.

State of Decay 2 is the ultimate zombie survival game in an open world where you and up to three friends build a community of survivors. It’s up to you to establish a base, develop your characters’ abilities, and manage resources to survive as a group in a world where choices matter and every decision has lasting consequences.

Every player’s experience is unique – as you play, the open world responds to your decisions, developing in real time and dynamically offering new opportunities for you to demonstrate your own personal survival priorities. These decisions also result in real consequences that affect your community. Send your best scavenger across the map to gather medicine for a sick friend… but know that they might not make it home. Help your neighbors, and you might make new allies… or you could decide that you need their food supply more than they do. In the end, how you survive might surprise you.

This open world zombie survival video game boasts more than three million players and was the best-selling game in May 2018.

Also on Gamepass:

State of Decay: Year One

#5

Sheltered (2016)

Sheltered is a deep and emotional survival & post-apocalyptic disaster management game.

After a global apocalypse, a frightened family find their way to a deserted shelter, where they try to survive. You take on the role of protecting four family members. Their wellbeing and survival is your responsibility. One mistake, one bad decision and a loved one is gone, forever. Sheltered is a world where death is permanent.

Combat claustrophobia, radiation and mental exhaustion as you try to turn the cold and cramped Shelter into a home. And as they cling desperately to life, you must send family members from the scant protection of the shelter, outside into the dangerous, desolate wasteland to scavenge for vital supplies. You’ll come across abandoned towns, roaming factions and feral beasts.

How you handle the many moral choices you’ll encounter could be the difference between the family surviving or dying. It seems a waste to bury a body when the rest of the family is so hungry.

#6

Dead Island (2016)

The game that re-defined the Zombie genre – fully remastered.

Paradise meets Hell!

Welcome to the Zombie Apocalypse experience of a lifetime – and now more beautiful than ever.

Caught in the midst of an epic zombie outbreak on the tropical island of Banoi, your only thought is: Survival!

The Dead Island Experience

Smash heads, crack skulls, and slice ‘em up with visceral astounding melee combat and true story-based 4 player co-op in a sprawling open world just waiting for exploration.

Also on Gamepass
Dead Island: Riptide Definitive Edition

#7

Rage (2011)

After an asteroid impacts Earth, humanity attempts to rebuild. Sheltered in cryogenic lifeboats, survivors emerge years after impact to a devastated planet where some of mankind survived in struggling settlements or murderous bandit clans, while horrific mutants roam the dead cities. And a mysterious tyrannical government is on the hunt… for you.

#8

Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season Two (2014)

The sequel to 2012’s Game of the Year continues the story of Clementine, a young girl orphaned by the undead apocalypse.

Left to fend for herself, she has been forced to learn how to survive in an unforgiving world. Experience what it’s like to play as Clementine, meet new survivors, explore new locations and make gruesome decisions in this five-part game series of choice and consequence.

Also on Gamepass

The Walking Dead: Season One

#9

Gears of War 4 (2016)

Gears of War is the story of a brutal and mysterious enemy that strikes first in an attempt to wipe out humanity. If you like great graphics and gratuitous violence – this is the game for you.

Also on Gamepass

#10

Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut (2015)

From the Producer of the original Fallout comes Wasteland 2, the sequel to the first-ever post-apocalyptic computer RPG.

The Wasteland’s hellish landscape is waiting for you to make your mark… or die trying. With over 80 hours of gameplay, you will deck out your Desert Ranger squad with the most devastating weaponry this side of the fallout zone, test the limits of your strategy skills, and bring justice to the wasteland.

Features:
– One Size Does Not Fit All: Don’t feel like finding the key for a door? Pick the lock, bash it down with your boot, or just blow it open!
– Decision Making… with Consequences: With both short and long term reactivity, your choices ripple outwards, changing the game’s events and forever altering the lives of those in the wasteland.
– Huge & Customizable: Hundreds of characters. Thousands of variations on your Rangers’ appearance. Over 150 weapons. No two players will have the same experience.

#11

Metro: Last Light Redux (2014)

It is the year 2034.

Beneath the ruins of post-apocalyptic Moscow, in the tunnels of the Metro, the remnants of mankind are besieged by deadly threats from outside – and within.

Mutants stalk the catacombs beneath the desolate surface, and hunt amidst the poisoned skies above.

But rather than stand united, the station-cities of the Metro are locked in a struggle for the ultimate power, a doomsday device from the military vaults of D6. A civil war is stirring that could wipe humanity from the face of the earth forever.

As Artyom, burdened by guilt but driven by hope, you hold the key to our survival – the last light in our darkest hour…

• Immerse yourself in the Moscow Metro – witness one of the most atmospheric worlds in gaming brought to life with stunning next-gen visuals at 60FPS

• Brave the horrors of the Russian apocalypse – equip your gasmask and an arsenal of hand-made weaponry as you face the threat of deadly mutants, human foes, and the terrifying environment itself

• Rebuilt and Remastered for next gen – with all previous downloadable content content included, new modes and features, and many gameplay improvement, this is the definitive version of the critically acclaimed classic that fans and newcomers alike will enjoy

• Two unique Play Styles : ‘Spartan’ and ‘Survival’ – approach the campaign as a slow burn Survival Horror , or tackle it with the combat skills of a Spartan Ranger in these two unique modes

• The legendary Ranger Mode returns – dare you play the fearsome Ranger Mode? No HUD, UI, deadlier combat and limited resources combine to create the ultimate immersive experience

Based on the internationally bestselling novel series by Dmitry Glukhovsky.

Also on Gamepass

Metro 2033 Redux

#12

ReCore (2016)

From legendary creator Keiji Inafune and the makers of Metroid Prime comes the “ReCore Definitive Edition”, an action-adventure masterfully crafted for a new generation.

You are “Joule Adams”, one of the last remaining humans on the planet “Far Eden”, a mysterious and dangerous world controlled by robotic foes bent on your destruction. To survive you must forge friendships with a courageous group of “Corebot” companions, each with unique abilities and powers.(2016

#13

Halo 5: Guardians (2015)

One of the most successful video game franchises of all time, Halo is set in a world where an alliance of aliens are attempting to wipe out mankind for… religious reasons. Mankind is basically getting crushed until they invent the Spartans – a group of super-soldiers who permanently meld their bodies with machines.

These Spartans have fought and died to save humanity, and now only one survives – Master Chief. Your role is to kill hordes of aliens while you search for some way to turn the tide against your numerically superior opponent.

With Gamepass, you’ll be able to play every single game in the Halo franchise. From Halo, the game that started it all, all the way through to Halo 5. It’s all there. As well as the RTS spinoff Halo Wars. Then turn to Netflix where several Halo movies are available. After all that, consider reading the Halo books which, I can vouch, are excellent scifi.

Also on Gamepass

Halo: The Master Chief Collection (Halo 1-4)
Halo: Spartan Assault
Halo Wars: Definitive Edition
Halo Wars 2