A new Xbox Game Pass day one is getting rave user reviews and reminding Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers of legendary Valve series, Half-Life. The new day one Xbox Game Pass game just released on July 22, and is already proving to be a fan-favorite with subscribers, as evident by it shooting up the Xbox Game Pass charts and by its various user review scores. On Steam, for example, the game has an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating after 24,457 user reviews. This is the highest rating classification a game can earn on Steam, and is thanks to a 96 percent approval rating. Meanwhile, on the Microsoft Store it has four out of a five possible stars with Xbox users.
The new Xbox Game Pass day one game in question is Abiotic Factor from developer Deep Field Games and publisher Playstack. If you have heard of this game before it is possibly because it has been around for a bit via early access. It did not fully launch though until this week, and the moment it did, it became available via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC.
For those unfamiliar with the game, it is open-world survival crafting game with a 90s sci-fi setting that can be played solo or with up to six players via multiplayer. This billing is obviously nothing like the aforementioned Half-life, a single-player first-person shooter series, but its sci-fi backdrop is reminding Xbox Game Pass subscribers of Half-Life.
“I haven’t seen anyone talking about Abiotic Factor, it just released on Game Pass and it’s a crazy mix of half life and grounded,” reads one of the top posts on the Xbox Game Pass Reddit page right now. “This game’s great! Honestly it’s a personal contender for Game of the Year. It’s a great mash up of Half-Life, Grounded, and Control but with a little pinch of Lethal Company. My girlfriend and I have been loving it.”
“Home to the world’s greatest minds, GATE operates a global network of secretive research laboratories, spanning every field of scientific study – and the realms beyond,” reads an official story synopsis of the Xbox Game Pass game, for those who want to know more. “As a GATE employee you extend the bounds of human knowledge, and seek to explain the unexplainable – including anomalies and paranormal entities: from gravity-distorting artifacts to supernatural creatures with an unbridled instinct for violence. Safety, security, and secrecy are of the utmost importance… usually.”
How long Abiotic Factor will be available via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC remains to be seen. As long as it is though, subscribers to the Microsoft subscription service can pay $27.99 for the game rather than $34.99 thanks to the exclusive Xbox Game Pass discount.
