PixlBit

After I quickly bailed on a few games, I looked through the free-2-play games list in the Xbox store and found some fun ones that took up the rest of my game time on the weekend. 

Microsoft Flight Simulator:

I was psyched to try this once I got my Xbox Series S since it's only playable on Xbox Series consoles and PC, however, I immediately crashed my first flight into Mount Everest. The controls weren't readily manageable to me. I kind of figured this would be the case but I gave it a shot anyway. I think I'll keep it installed for likely Game Pass rewards quests. When those come up, I'll try a bit harder to figure out those realistic controls. 

Crown Trick:

I played until I died. I was doing well when a monster surprised me while at low health. The fog of war got in my way but I should've healed up after the previous battle royale. My fault, but I was kind of not in the mood to continue. 

Now the free-2-play games begin. 

Battle Islands Commanders:

This is a lot like the turn-based XBLA game Panzer General I used to have on Xbox 360, but it's in real-time. The field looks like a board game and you drop in WWII equipment and troops to destroy the other side's pill boxes and warship. I played the practice missions until I got the hang of it and then went online, where the real game happens and you earn item boxes for winning. I kept getting beat, though, by the higher level commanders out there. It was fun for a while. 

Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms:

A D&D officially licensed game. It feels a bit like a runner game you'd find on phones. On the left is your party and on the right march enemies of all sorts. The game never stops until you beat an entire adventure which is pretty long. You eventually come to a boss. You gain gold as you battle and use it to level up your characters and add new ones as you go. If you lose to the boss you just go back a screen and fight as long as you want until you improve, then advance up to the boss again and give it another shot. 

As with most F2P games, there comes a time when the game grinds almost to a stop as you just don't make enough coin to level up. This is where they expect you to start spending money, but for me, it's time to quit. I got some good hours of fun out of this though. 

Crackdown 2:

I noticed Crackdown 1 and 2 were on the free list. I have 1 so I downloaded 2. I also downloaded Too Human which was also free. Why not? Anyway, I played Crackdown 2 and noticed the online is still active. I was in there playing the campaign with two and then three other players. It was fun. I also noticed that my last save file for this game was November of 2005, which is impossible because the Xbox 360 wasn't even out then. 

Anyway, I really enjoyed Crackdown 2 again and will likely be playing more next weekend. My friend will likely join in as well. 

That be a weekend.