One of my favourite soulslike shoot-'em-ups—Remnant 2—just quietly dropped on PC Game Pass, and it's a really good time to subscribe anyway

A fey knight with multiple arms and jagged spears punts some poor sod in Remnant 2.
(Image credit: Gunfire Games / Gearbox Publishing)

Remnant 2 is an absolute banger. We gave it a solid 84 in our Remnant 2 review, and I've personally been an ambassador for this thing since day one. It's a multiversal romp with some weird builds and creepy monsters to shoot, and it's also received some really solid post-launch support.

Now you can play its standard edition for the price of a good burger. Remnant 2 has dropped along with its previous entry, Remnant: From the Ashes, onto PC and Xbox Game Pass. The only downside is you won't be getting access to the DLC (unless your mate has it, of course). 

As it stands, Remnant 2's standard edition is $50 (£42) on Steam. Meanwhile PC Game Pass is $10 (£8) a month, or $1/£1 for 14 days if the trial's available for you. You could pick this thing up and blast through it in a couple of weeks for the price of a chocolate bar. I don't need to tell you that's a good deal.

Contrary to how we felt about Game Pass back in May, there are actually some other really solid offerings online right now. Persona 5 Tactica got a 90 from reviewer Lewis Parker, and it's a new release too, having dropped earlier this month. Spirittea, which I'm told is the cosiest of cosy, is also available to download and play. Warhammer: 40k Darktide is also in much better shape nowadays. All in all, it's a good time to drop some dosh on it.

The only caveat I'd add here is that it's probably not worth it to play Remnant: From the Ashes, not because it's a bad game by any means, but because Remnant 2 is pretty much the first game, but better. 

While Remnant 2 shoves you into weird, alien landscapes about an hour in, From the Ashes makes you slog through a ruined brown city for a few hours before you get into anything really interesting, and unfortunately suffers for it. Remnant 2 only has you wading through brown town for like, an hour, tops.

Remnant 2's build diversity is just also a lot better, upping the number of rings you can equip from two to four, letting you have two whole classes (archetypes) equipped at any time, and getting even zanier with the mods and special equipment.

But hey, if you've already torn through Remnant 2 and want to check out the series' history, who am I to stop you. Either way, if you enjoy soulslikes, difficult RPGs, or third-person shooters at all, you should absolutely pick this thing up. You will not regret it.

If you already bought the game, you can go ahead and enter in this PC Gamer giveaway for some Remnant 2-themed goodies, including codes you can foist on your mates in case they somehow don't want to part with a solitary dollar-slash-pound. Don't say I never gave you nothin'.

Harvey Randall
Staff Writer

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

Read more
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
This month's PC Game Pass offering features sweet RPGs and brutal actioners from the Far East
Obsidian's Avowed
A long-awaited RPG release hits PC Game Pass Day One this month
Grab the brilliant Doom 2016 for its lowest price ever
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black review
Beyond Citadel
Beyond Citadel is a horny, ultra-violent retro FPS that I want to recommend to everybody and nobody
Zombies attacking
The OG Dying Light is giving away its first DLC in more than 4 years for free, and it's very shiny
Latest in Games
gta 6 trailer
Publishers 'don't want to be anywhere near' Grand Theft Auto 6 when it launches: 'It's proving to be very stressful'
A female Zoi making two hearts with her fingers.
Following 24 hours of Denuvo-based backlash, Inzoi is taking a surprising step and removing it entirely: 'We want to sincerely apologise for not aligning more closely with player expectations'
Sphene applauds in Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story.
I'm not yelling 'we're so back!' yet, but Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story could be the first sign the MMO is returning to what made it so critically-acclaimed
An image of a Helldiver from Helldivers 2 shooting at a red dragon from Dungeons & Dragons.
'Ok, so dragon builds are a thing now': galaxy-brained Helldivers 2 player incinerates a bile titan with a hover pack and a flamethrower
An ancient, angry stone mech from No Man's Sky's new Relics update
No Man’s Sky lets you unearth ancient, angry mechs in the astro-archaeology filled Relics update
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Latest in News
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year
A woman wearing a VR headset with dramatic, colourful lighting across the background
'World’s smallest LEDs' could lead to accurately lit screens with 127,000 pixels per inch and much more immersive VR
The NES themed 8BitDo Retro mechanical gaming keyboard on a blue background
I love the 8BitDo Retro C64 keyboard but I'd pick its cheaper NES-themed model near its lowest price ever during Amazon's Big Spring Sale
gta 6 trailer
Publishers 'don't want to be anywhere near' Grand Theft Auto 6 when it launches: 'It's proving to be very stressful'
Microsoft's iconic Bliss wallpaper
From pixels to pinot: The Windows XP 'Bliss' wallpaper hill was real and this is what it looks like now
A female Zoi making two hearts with her fingers.
Following 24 hours of Denuvo-based backlash, Inzoi is taking a surprising step and removing it entirely: 'We want to sincerely apologise for not aligning more closely with player expectations'