Highlights
- Xbox Game Pass continues to be a great deal with a lineup of big titles like Starfield and The Lamplighters League.
- The Lamplighters League, inspired by action-adventure serials, offers a fresh art style and intense turn-based battles.
- Players can recruit new Lamplighters, purchase upgrades, and strategically choose missions in this XCOM-like game.
While it's always been considered one of the best deals in gaming, Xbox Game Pass has really gone out of its way to prove that over the last few months, and the service is absolutely thriving right now. After a surprisingly solid August, Xbox Game Pass' September 2023 line-up knocked it out of the park with huge day-one titles like Lies of P, Payday 3, Party Animals, and the biggest of the lot, Starfield. But Xbox Game Pass isn't backing down just yet, with a total of eight games already confirmed for October 2023, and one of the most intriguing is Harebrained Schemes' The Lamplighters League.
Announced back in March of this year, The Lamplighters League heads to Xbox Game Pass on October 3, 2023. Wearing its XCOM influences on its sleeve, The Lamplighters League sees players control a team of 1930s scoundrels and adventurers as they attempt to save the world from supernatural threats in a series of intense turn-based battles. With a fun alternate universe premise, a fresh art style, and some engaging turn-based combat mechanics, Lamplighters League may just end up being one of the most exciting hidden gems of the entire year.
Xbox Game Pass' The Lamplighters League's Story Explained
Heavily inspired by the action-adventure serials of old, The Lamplighters League sees players control the titular group of unlikely heroes as they attempt to save the world from an ancient evil cult known as the Banished Court. Set in an alternate version of the 1930s, The Lamplighters League features an almost Pixar-like art style, with characters having cartoonish qualities, while the environments feature heavily stylized lighting and architecture all reminiscent of the old adventure movies that have inspired the game.
Xbox Game Pass' The Lamplighters League's Gameplay Explained
Fans of XCOM or similar turn-based strategy titles know exactly what they're getting into with The Lamplighters League in terms of gameplay. At the start of the game, players get just three agents to play as. Each of these agents has its own set of unique abilities and weapons, requiring different strategies to remain effective during battle. Before combat starts, players will move their team in real-time, exploring the environment for collectibles and stealthily defeating as many enemies as possible, but once they're spotted, the turn-based action begins.
Between encounters, players will return to the Lamplighters League's home base. From here, players will be able to recruit new Lamplighters, and purchase a number of upgrades for their team. Much like Marvel's Midnight Suns, these upgrades come in the form of cards that both grant some kind of bonus ability or stat boost to the Lamplighter, but also bring about some kind of negative trait, such as lowered health. If players take the same team on multiple consecutive missions in a row, their stress meter will increase, which can drastically affect their performance during a combat scenario. Instead, players are encouraged to constantly swap out their team members, giving each character a go.
Again, much like XCOM, players will mostly choose their missions manually via a world map screen in The Lamplighters League. On this world map screen, each of the game's three enemy factions can be seen, and players will need to strategically pick and choose which missions they undertake in order to keep the peace across the globe. On this screen, players will also be able to send out agents to complete side missions, which will in turn reward them with more card upgrades for their Lamplighters.
The Lamplighters League is set to release on October 3, 2023 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.