2016 is here and with it comes a whole ton of new games. But it’s quite possibly the older stuff that will get Xbox owners salivating the most with those being given away for free with the Xbox Games With Gold scheme amongst the most mouth drooling.
After a bit of a poor end to 2015, the Games With Gold scheme needs to make up for things with the 2016 offerings. Whilst we still aren’t seeing the likes of Ryse and Dead Rising 3 drop for free (will these ever be gifted to Gold members?), the four free titles this time round are, on paper at least, real tempters.
With the Xbox 360 offerings also now available to Xbox One owners thanks to the Backwards Compatible scheme, it’s the owners of the latest machine which really get treated this month. Killer Instinct Ultra Edition will be free throughout January 2016, and whilst this may seem like a bit of a poor offering, it’s just a bit of a taster for what is to come. We can’t ever complain about a game going free, but KI has been around since the Xbox One’s inception as a free-to-play title. What is different now? Well, I guess we get to finally experience the whole damn thing, with all the characters from the first season included for nothing. Seeing there is a bit of a drought in decent fighting titles on Xbox One, at least it’ll scratch an itch for those who need to kick and punch their way to glory. For others though? I’m not too sure.
Zheros is this months’ ‘new’ title and the one that will be a bit of a mystery to most gamers. A side scroller, it’s all about racking up the combos, discovering secret areas and hopping and jumping from platform to platform. It should be a decent solo title, but we’re desperately disappointed that the local co-op feature that has been included doesn’t appear to stretch out to the online world. If one thing the Games With Gold scheme has proven, it’s that a decent, free, online multiplayer title will always go down well…Knight Squad anyone?
Over on the 360, it’s quite possibly the strongest month yet. Hot on the heels of Dirt 3, Dirt Showdown comes along to prove that the series was by no means a one hit wonder. Admittedly, it isn’t of the quality that 3 ever was, but Showdown is a good way to hit the track with a few friends and go all out throughout some classy destruction derbies. If you’re in need of a racer, then for free, this could well be it.
Deus Ex Human Revolution meanwhile ensures that the month ends with an absolute bang, bringing one of the 360’s best ever titles to the masses for free. Whether you’ve played it previously or not, you’ll no doubt be clamouring for the chance to get in touch with your inner Jensen once more, especially with the next Deus Ex title following up later on in the year.
With both of these titles available as BC games, what may be lacking slightly for Xbox One owners with their original Games With Gold choices, certainly gets picked up a fair bit with the inclusion of these two titles.
January is a great month for the Games With Gold scheme, with the 360 games amongst the best yet…let’s just hope that the rest of 2016 keeps the bar as high.
Games With Gold for January ratings:
Xbox One – 3/5 (4/5 with the BC titles)
Xbox 360 – 4.5/5
I don’t know what is wrong with you, Neil Watton, but you must live in fantasy lala land. Zheros is TERRIBLY BAD I mean really really really bad. Monotonous, boring, always the same enemies, no variety, always the same background. OMG what a bad game. Full of technical glitches, checkpoints too far away from each other, what a ***tty game. Killer Instinct also, for free? Like this game was offered in games with gold already months ago. Now again? Why? It’s not really that great. They only give us like 8 fighters, all the other fighters are locked. BIG DEAL. I’ve only played both these games 1 time and probably will never play them again. Very poor month. Dirt Showdown and Deus Ex are decent. Not very good.. Just regular games, not too bad, not too good. Deus Ex is getting old fast. There are plenty of stealth games out there with better graphics and more modern. Like Metal Gear Solid, Hitman Absolution, etc. How can you say this was one of the best months? It was one of the worst months. You don’t know how to be a reviewer or critic or whatever you are. Change jobs. Go buy yourself a brain. And do your homework. You didn’t even know what Zheros was all about, how can you write about it? Lol ridiculous, how amateurish of you. Not professional at all. At least read about it before you talk nonsense. All Zheros reviews are bad.
I don’t know either Nuno Anjos – there must be something wrong with me.
To answer your issues though…
Not really sure how ‘terribly bad’ Zheroes is but not at any point did I say it was great. In fact, this post was written way before it released on Xbox One – but hey, I get you don’t like it.
Killer Instinct free with Games With Gold previously? I don’t remember seeing it but please feel free to point me in the right direction. Always happy to be enlightened.
Deus Ex and Dirt Showdown are also ‘very good ‘ games. In fact, Deus Ex is imo a must play 360 title. I’m not sure if you are comparing it to MGS on Xbox One, but that would obviously be a very bad idea.
Please tell me which of the Games With Gold offerings you prefer? I don’t remember many of the 360 free games bettering the ones given away in Jan.
I will now go and buy a brain. And do some homework. And know exactly how good each and every game is before they are released.
Speak soon xxx
[…] Read Full Article → […]