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Xbox’s November Games With Gold Feature Stealth, Neon, Bold Personas

By on November 10, 2016

There’s nothing ordinary about the characters starring in each of November’s Games With Gold from Xbox. From music-themed knights and ghostly detectives to wannabe pirates and cyborg super-soldiers, they’re a unique bunch of heroes that showcase how odd videogame protagonists can get … while still staying relatively normal in comparison to other, more outlandish characters out there. They lead the charge in a mostly satisfying, diverse group of adventures this time around, many of which have a decidedly retro appeal to them. This also, once again, includes a brand-new game offered for free on its release date, ensuring something fresh for all players. Let’s dig into the games.

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Airtight

Airtight

Xbox One

Super Dungeon Bros (November 1-30)

Those on a quest to find a couch co-op experience similar to those found in Castle Crashers or Diablo will find a familiar buddy in Super Dungeon Bros, the dungeon crawler from React Games. Its influences are immediately recognizable, with four brightly colored knights — named after rock-‘n-roll legends — tearing through colorful top-down levels in pursuit of brawling, gear, and glory. Fast-paced, fanciful graphics enliven the recognizable gameplay elements, given extra spice with its procedurally generated dungeons and on-screen interactivity with the other “bros”. The general reception to Super Dungeon Bros, released at the first of the month as a freebie, has been rather lukewarm so far, though, weighed down by relatively shallow gameplay mechanics and extensive loading times.

Murdered: Soul Suspect (November 16-December 15)

A fusion of Alan Wake and Heavy Rain, this supernatural murder-mystery from Airtight Games arrived in the overlapping period between console generations, and suffers a few of the technical pitfalls of that. It shouldn’t be overlooked, though. The story follows a police detective, Ronan O’Connor, who gets killed while in pursuit of the Bell Killer in a fictionalized version of Salem, Massachusetts, only to discover that his spirit remains in the real world … and that he’s able to continue his investigation in some unique ways. While dodging demons pursuing him in his ghostly state, Ronan lurks and stealthily teleports throughout hallowed graveyards, apartments, and museums in search of clues to solve the mystery. The combat gets clunky and the game suffers from some graphical hitches, but the eerie, hazy atmosphere and the evolving paranormal story make up for it.

 

xbox blood dragon

Ubisoft

Xbox 360

Monkey Island: Special Edition (November 1-15)

Fondness for this point-and-click adventure series from LucasArts led to this remastered edition of the game — and its sequel — to be among one of the earliest Xbox One backwards-compatible titles, covered in our guide: Noteworthy 360 Games Now Backwards Compatible on Xbox One. There, it’s mentioned that this revamped edition of Monkey Island spruces up the graphics while holding onto the classic charms of Guybrush’s journey toward becoming a pirate, adding voiced dialogue and new puzzles alongside the overhauled visuals. It hits the sweet spot between endearment toward the games of yore and contemporary freshness, and remains a delightfully offbeat gaming experience.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (November 16-30)

Bathed in neon, packed with cheesy one-liners, and galvanized by retro cinematics, this standalone gem from Ubisoft speaks to another kind of nostalgia. Set in the nuclear-war ravaged year of 2007 (the game was released in 2012), the player takes control of Rex Power Colt, a half-cyborg American soldier fighting against a rogue government agent with world domination and ruin in mind. The rough template of the Far Cry franchise takes over on the dark-orange and neon-laced island occupied by the agent’s forces, employing both stealth and guns-blazing tactics while reclaiming towers, hunting down animals infused with “dragon blood”, and embarking on what’s essentially a lengthy, over-the-top fetch quest. This is a streamlined version of Far Cry that zeroes in on its goofy ’80s-style attitude, and it’s a Mark 4 blast of a time.

About Thomas Spurlin

Film, home-media, and videogame scribe who digs green tea and walking his dogs.

One Comment

  1. addrienne mertens

    November 19, 2016 at 6:38 am

    im excited for Red Dead Redemption online edition.

    Reply

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