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The Games with Gold August 2015 Offering is Full of Ups and Downs

By on July 28, 2015

Microsoft is playing a little catch up with Sony in August. Its Games with Gold promotion, originally conceived as a match for Sony’s Playstation Plus free games, maintains a struggling position in the final month of summer with an offering of four games that run the gamut from underwhelming to satisfying for a niche audience, with just one title of any realistic broad-spectrum appeal. And now that I’ve undoubtedly raised your excitement level to a record high, here’s the list, thanks, as always, to Xbox Wire.

Xbox One Games with Gold August 2015

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Free from August 1 – 31)

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Games with Gold August 2015

What was originally released as a glorified demo (the glorified part translating into a price point), publisher Konami is clearly not done using as promotional material for the final release. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes went free for Playstation Plus members in June. The two hour, $20 preview for this fall’s full-fledged Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is most certainly best experienced for free, saving players from a solid gameplay-less week of regret.

How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition (Free from Aug. 16 – Sept. 15

An upgrade in the most minimal sense, How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition is just the original How to Survive republished on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC, with all DLC previously released included in the package. Don’t know what How to Survive is? You’re forgiven. It’s a straightforward twin-stick shooter zombie survival game, with light scavenging and RPG systems that is, by many accounts, fairly repetitive after the first couple of hours. Those same accounts will also tell you the game is much better with a cooperative buddy, so if you’ve got like-minded, zombie-hunting peers, it may be worth the time.

Xbox 360 Games with Gold August 2015

Metro 2033 (Free from Aug. 1 – 15)

Metro 2033 Games with Gold August 2015 Xbox 360

Here’s the rare game based off an existing intellectual property that doesn’t completely forgo that IP’s essential appeal. Rarer still is Metro 2033 is based on a Russian novel of the same name. Praised for its devotion to the tone and themes of the book, Metro 2033 was a surprisingly successful experiment in first-person storytelling, and likely and strong influence on today’s influx of first-person horror games. But was it good enough to get a sequel? Well…

Metro: Last Light (Free from Aug. 16 – 31)

It was. Metro: Last Light is a direct sequel, though unrelated to the second book in the series. Developer 4A Games took this opportunity to improve upon the original’s visuals, AI scripting and lack of variety/length. As a result, Metro: Last Light appealed even more to critics and established the brand as a verified franchise.

An aside: most frustrating about the Games with Gold promotion in general is Microsoft’s tendency to offer free versions of Xbox 360 games that are already represented on the Xbox One (as a port or a remake). The Metro games stand out most sorely in this way, as just last year we saw the Metro Redux Bundle for the Xbox One, including both the above titles remastered for the newer console. Not only does this promote the idea that neither original title will go backwards compatible from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One, but even if they did and you had included both games on your account, playing the older versions would feel like crap.

Compare all that to Sony’s tendency to include cross-play deals whenever possible and you’ve just got more and more reasons why the gaming masses are swinging over to the PlayStation camp. Microsoft instead continues to appear exploitative by nature. Still, we’re getting free games and I clearly have too much free time on my hands. Have a good month.

About Trevor Ruben

Though I contribute to many online publications on a regular basis, including The Checkout, the crux of my writing lies in video games. When not writing, I'm often streaming a variety of games on Twitch.

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