There are some mighty big games coming out this month that’ll likely be occupying the attentions of Xbox users – Resident Evil, Mass Effect, and a new open-world RPG in the same month? Yes, please! – so this would be one of those months where a lack of noteworthy Games With Gold could be acceptable. Unfortunately, this also happens to be another in a string of underwhelming lineups for the subscription service’s free titles, in which the most recognizable, highest profile offering is … a LEGO game from a decade-plus ago that’s doing the heavy lifting alongside three strategy/management games.

There’s still some hope that Xbox Live will turn things around and start dishing out more noteworthy freebies, but that’ll have to wait for a later month.  Let’s take a closer look at what’s here, but be sure to Grab a 3-Month Subscription of Game Pass Ultimate at Amazon to have access to both these games and the bountiful roster of quality titles through Xbox’s other sub platform.

Xbox One

Armello – May 1-31

Creating a tabletop game to be played on a digital interface has a few unique challenges. For the most part, those interested in that kind of thing likely either want digital replications of some of their favorite standard boardgames – Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Pandemic have all been popular — or want a game that kinda-sorta feels like a boardgame while concealing that it’s operating like a boardgame. You get the attitude of the tabletop experience from war strategy and tower defense games, but under an illusion of “realism”.

Armello pushes that concept to the edge. It’s a stat-based, grid-based RPG with obvious “pieces” that move between spaces, those being large humanoid animals that visually tower above hexagon cities, forests, and other areas. The goal? To engage in combat and become ruler of the area, by way of making decisions that are enacted in the gamespace through turn-based action and stat checks / dice rolls. Along with a soundtrack that sounds like a fusion of Skyrim and Game of Thrones, Armello is a hodgepodge of ideas combined in a well-received package deemed to be a worthy tabletop substitute.

Dungeons III – May 16-June 15

Those who’ve played the role of dungeon master understand the joys and plights of being the one who has to, essentially, “control” how the gaming landscape operates, making it exciting and reactive for those who enter locations. By way of the “god game” method of design, the folks at Realmforge essentially gave players the chance to do this whenever they want with Dungeons. Designed with clear influence from Bullfrog’s Dungeon Keeper, the game swings on the player’s ability to design an alluring dungeon that adventurers would want to explore and, ultimately, get trapped in.

Dungeons III marks 10 years of development around the concept, and the folks at Realmforge have evolved the franchise into something that knows exactly what it wants to be, honing its dark humor and real-time strategy aspects. By all measures, it’s the most warmly-received entry in the series, too, both by critics/players with experience with the franchise and new players.  

Xbox 360

Lego Batman – May 1-15

It may be hard to believe, but the first Lego Star Wars game was released over 15 years ago now, and it doesn’t seem like an exaggeration to say that its arrival reshaped how folks view “family friendly games”. Since then, Travelers Tales has cranked out roughly 20 titles from across a plethora of franchises, from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings to Pirates of the Caribbean and even Marvel. Among the first titles released after the success of Star Wars (along with Indiana Jones), Lego Batman: The Videogame tests the waters of those same gameplay philosophies in a different setting.

For those who might not want to let their kids control Batman in a combat-heavy setting like Arkham Asylum, this one finds a way of capturing the essence of the Caped Crusader’s escapades without the hard-hitting violence. That’s not the limit of its appeal, though, as the satirical depictions of the character’s universe – as well as straightforward controls — makes for an enjoyable gaming atmosphere for both younger audiences and those older folks with marginal interest in games. The Lego games have advanced in variety and polish since this one, but the entertainment value’s still there.

Tropico 4 — May 16-31

This month, you’re not getting one title from Kalypso Media, but two! The Tropico series has been cranking out titles for 2 decades now, with Haimemont Games taking over from the third to the fifth installment. During that period, their island business management simulator series maintained a consistently high critical reputation, maintaining enough popularity to, well, keep cranking out installments that possess slight variations from the formula. Under this reign of El Presidente, this fourth installment would likely be considered the best of that lot, regarded as an improvement over Tropico 3 without much innovation or additional gameplay depth. Players who struggle to get into other management simulators still seem to click with Tropico’s setup, so it’s worth giving it a shot.

May’s Uneventful Xbox Games With Gold: Dungeons, Dice, Legos

School’s starting back for a bunch of people this month, and it’s a complicated and mentally exhausting time for both parents and kids this year, which certainly merits some love from Xbox and their Games With Gold freebie program. What they’re offering this month isn’t impressive, but at least there’s some potential for both lengthy creative gaming sessions and quick, new bursts of outlandish battling. The legacy titles are, admittedly, pretty blah: one’s an enjoyable but outdated racing game, and the other’s often considered the weakest link in a strong, underappreciated franchise.  At least the Xbox One titles get some sparks flying, even though the absence of a robust blockbuster title (yet again) leaves something to be desired. Before squaring off with these titles, be sure to Grab a Year Xbox Live Membership Card from Amazon to pop in on the good times.

Xbox One

Portal Knights (August 1-31)

It’s hard not to look at Portal Knights and immediately think of other games, specifically one that’s been very popular for a long time now. The nuts-‘n-bolts of it are very similar to Minecraft, in that crafting resources and structures largely drives the incredibly open, vibrantly cartoonish world laid out for the players to explore, with or without an objective. Whether it does enough to really be different is a tough one, though, but an argument can be made for it.  There’s more of a propulsion to complete tasks in Portal Knights through a routine storyline, and while it might not be the most complex of systems, it also provides a role-playing experience through character creation and class selection. The visual presentation differs from it, too, in that the graphical polish and interconnecting “blocks” are more traditionally attractive. Once you get into the thick of Portal Knights, most players and critics agree that the similarities grow more profound, so those subtle differences could make or break one’s enjoyment.

Override: Mech City Brawl (August 16 – September 15)

Whether it’s defending the world from Godzilla-like monsters or taking on each other in head-to-head battles, people just enjoy seeing robots beat up on things and demolish the environment around them. That’s been a popular thing since the ‘80s, whether it’s Transformers and Mobile Suit Gundam or on a portable game scale with Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots, and that lineage feeds directly into what makes Override: Mech City Brawl an absorbing concept. There isn’t much more to it than being a 3D fighting game involving huge robots and landscapes that respond to their fights, and it doesn’t need to be much more when it executes the concept as soundly as developer The Balance has done here.  Players and critics do have issues with the depth and longevity of the game, though, where it seems like a night or two playing with friends – either on the couch through split-screen or online – is about all that can be assembled from this brawler, despite the concept.

Xbox / Xbox 360

MX Unleashed (August 1-15)

In the grand scheme of things, racing games tend to hold up better than most other genres. Whether it’s because the speed of racing controls were fine-tuned early in the history of videogames or because racing games don’t have to focus much on making realistic human bodies, gamers can go back a few generations and still get plenty of real enjoyment out of legacy titles. Modern advancements have made games based on off-road racing much more realistic, but the likes of MX Unleashed still holds onto enough genuine exhilaration and authentic movement to be worth a spin in the modern era … but only as a freebie, really. While the graphical advancements and precise controls made MX Unleashed a successfully immersive execution of the concept in its time, there isn’t much of a reason to choose it above modern titles still cranked out by Rainbow Studios, and you get the added ATV aspect of ‘em too.

Red Faction II (August 16-31)

Before they were known for the folks behind the outlandishly satisfying Saints Row line of sandbox games, Volition were responsible for cranking out one of the strongest, yet often overlooked shooter franchises out there: the Red Faction series. While it shifted from first to third person perspectives across the series’ evolution, its signature “Geo-Mod” tech of destructible environments remains its most impressive and attention-grabbing aspect. This installment, Red Faction II, differs from the others in that it takes place on Earth instead of Mars, while also focusing the game’s strengths into a more robust multiplayer experience. The streamlining – which also limits the destructible environments and made the game feel more zealously action-oriented – hasn’t been as kind to Red Faction II since it came out, where the other installments receive generally unchallenged praise and this one catches flak for minimizing unique features.

Xbox Games With Gold for August: A Fizzle of Crafting and Bot Battling

Thoughts of October generally gravitate toward horror movies, Halloween-themed parties or other outdoor activities that come with the change of the season: camping, corn mazes, baseball games, heated debates about pumpkin spice flavoring. This October also comes saddled with other time-sinking temptations for gamers, though, from the release of a Call of Duty multiplayer game to a new sandbox RPG from Obsidian, leaving numerous bases covered. It’s understandable, to a degree, that Microsoft’s lineup of Xbox Games With Gold are somewhat underwhelming due to these considerations, but this month seems like little more than fulfilling obligations. From the included horror title to the collection of mediocre kid-friendly titles, there isn’t much worth screaming over with this roster.  Let’s get to it.

Click Here to Grab a 12-Month Xbox Live Gold Subscription at Amazon

Illfonic

Xbox One

Tembo: The Badass Elephant (October 1-31)

There it is, folks: proof that using a word like “badass” is acceptable for “E for Everybody” … well, ten-plus years or older. Beyond the quirky name and accompanying art style, Tembo: The Badass Elephant aims to attract those with an inherent desire for the platforming experience of yesteryear, as the rolls, jumps, and level navigation and destruction are heavily influenced by the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog. What’s different lies in the general aura around the elephant himself: a grumpy-ish, Rambo-lookin’ hero who gets his name from the Swahili word for the animal. Once you’ve gotten past the cute design and the rush of nostalgic adrenaline from the 2D side-scrolling gameplay, however, both critics and players have noted that Tembo: The Badass Elephant runs out of steam and into the pitfalls of other platformers, slowing down with repetition and uninventive level design.

Friday the 13^th: The Game (October 16-November 15

Horror movies are notorious for receiving iffy to outright bad reviews from critics, even though it turns out that audiences still have great time with them, or at least a tolerable one, regardless of the press. The same occasionally applies to survival horror video games as well, though certain objective aspects of the gaming medium make it tough to overlook and continue playing through an experience.  Friday the 13^th: The Video Game spends a lot of its energy capturing the experience of being inside of its source material movies, whether you’re playing from the perspective of one of the counselors – read: victims – or from that of Jason Voorhees himself. Whether it’s effective as a video game seems about as divisive as opinions about many horror movies, though: while the chase aspects can be fun and thrilling, the moving parts outside of that tension feeling too clunky and repetitive to justify its minimal scares.

Team Ninja

Xbox 360

Bolt (October 1-15)

While I remember feeling generally positive about the movie Bolt, the thing that sticks out the most to me would be Rhino, the hamster with attitude who eventually joins up with the titular heroic dog.  Naturally, the video game tie-in focuses most of its attention on the dog, sending him through loosely adapted levels that are only tangentially tied to the film itself. Bolt received about what you’d expect from critics with it being a standard 3D action-platform game, providing just enough control engagement for youngsters to stick with it. What we all actually need, of course, is a game like Super Monkey Ball or Katamari starring our true hamster hero; and they kinda delivered on that idea with the DS version of the game, which features a maze-like rolling level for Rhino.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge (October 16-31)

The name Ninja Gaiden will conjure many different memories for gamers of all stripes out there, but for me, it instantly drudges up the satisfying yet almost maddening challenges of Ninja Gaiden Black. Everybody has their gold standard – most look to Sigma 2 for that – yet compared against just about any of ‘em, Ninja Gaiden 3 fails to stack up. Team Ninja deserves some credit for trying to stay with the times, incorporating an entirely new combat system and tailoring the narrative into something more … cinematic.  Execution ends up being the killing blow here, though, as critics and players have both nailed Ninja Gaiden 3 for a laundry list of issues.  From a subpar story to unsatisfying enemies and stripped-down combat, Ninja Gaiden 3 dragged the franchise into the shadows of an identity crisis from which it never really escaped, not even with this Razor’s Edge stab at improving it.

Subpar Xbox Gold Titles For October: Ninjas, Elephants, Jason Voorhees

Microsoft likely has a strong grasp on what’s going on during the month of September in terms of their catalog of Xbox games and elsewhere, what gamers will be absorbed in and not. This month, they’re releasing another proper Gears of War sequel, and with that will come marathon session — the equivalent of this industry’s “binge-watching” — of the entire franchise to revisit what folks know and love about the exclusive third-person shooter. And then, shortly after, there’s another lengthy, time-sinking shooter across many platforms that’ll again draw people’s attention away from much of anything for the rest of the month.  Therefore, it isn’t much of a shock (though still underwhelming) that their Games with Gold roster isn’t packing a lot of heat in September, in which they attempt to provide lower-tier, alternative experiences to those AAA new releases and end up missing the mark. Let’s take a look.

Click Here to Grab a 12-Month Xbox Live Gold Subscription at Amazon

Xbox One

Hitman: The Complete First Season (September 1-30)

No, this isn’t a Telltale-style interactive novel version of the popular stealth franchise, and no, it isn’t a complete, blunt-force reboot as the simplicity of the title might suggest. Hitman: The Complete First Season does attempt to bring Agent 47 to modern consoles after about a half-decade out of service, though, and with that comes a concentrated effort to both update the infrastructure and sidestep what’s gone rogue in previous iterations, cobbled together in an episodic fashion with story accessibility and stealth competitors (Dishonored, Far Cry) in mind.  The result from iO Interactive sneaks around the linear design of the most recent installment in the series and gets back to more open maps and availability, allowing the player to execute missions in a variety of ways while continuing Agent 47’s story in the current era. High praise has followed this complete Hitman package that contains all prior released episodes, with critics celebrating it not only as one of the best Hitman entries, but among the finest stealth games, period.

We Were Here (September 16-October 15)

It’s been a while since Microsoft has delivered an entirely new game as one of their free Gold titles, so there’s a natural amount of built-in excitement with We Were Here, a first-person exploration game from developer Total Mayhem Games. Granted, this is a port of the PC release from a few years ago, one whose iteration on Steam can be downloaded and played for free there already … but the effort and initiative involved to provide a new experience entirely for free to Xbox users is to be commended. Two players must be involved to engage in the We Were Here experience, fulfilling different roles as arctic explorers who must communicate over radio to solve the puzzles with an eerie castle that they discovered. It’s a novel spin on the legacy of first-person adventure games, though the shortness of the We Were Here experience is often cited as a notable drawback.

Xbox 360

Earth Defense Force 2025 (September 1-15)

A sprawling, deep narrative shouldn’t be what you’re looking for in the Earth Defense Force series, as each installment revolves around once straightforward description: giant insectoid aliens are invading, again, and it’s up to the player’s organization to kill ‘em all before it’s too late. With each entry, the team at Sandlot refines the grandeur of the monstrous warfare to degrees that make this relative absence of narrative pretty easy for its fans to swallow, reaching a high point for EDF 4, or Earth Defense Force 2025. Despite the franchise’s dated graphics, the reactivity of the big-creature chaos from the battles is routinely celebrated by both devotees and critics, though this entry did get some heat for the sagging performance and same-old, same-old BDAM (Big Dumb Action Movie) aspects of it. Those who’ve enlisted against the bugs before should know what they’re in for, though, and enjoy it.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (September 16-30)

It may be hard to believe, but the Tekken franchise of fighting games has been around for almost as long as the more mainstream heavy-hitter competitors. That has resulted in an expansive cast of characters they can be used for future installments, and the sprawling nature of a fighting game’s roster is, essentially, what defines its interest levels: the variety of techniques and aesthetics that interact with the game’s assumedly engaging combat system.  Tag Tournament 2 brings together nearly the entire cast of characters from nearly two decades worth of games — totaling almost 60 choices — while operating around the game’s on-the-fly tag mechanic, where a selection of three total fighters can sub out at any point during the match and can chain off with tag-team combos. Bandai has been doing this for a long time, so it’s no surprise that Tag Tournament 2 was met with a strong reception.

September’s Xbox Games With Gold Freebies Aren’t Heavy Hitters

A new way to buy an Xbox One arrived today and it’s called Xbox All Access. Utilizing a 0% payment plan over 24 months, new Xbox One owners have the option of an Xbox One S console at $22 a month or an Xbox One X at $35 a month. That includes 24 months of Xbox Live as well as Xbox Game Pass.

When compared to MSRP, Xbox All Access appears to be a decent discount. For instance, total MSRP for 24 months of Xbox Live & the Xbox One Game Pass would be $360.

The retail cost of an Xbox One S is $300 ($660 total), Xbox One X is $500 ($860 total). Xbox All Access for the S would be $528 ($132 less than MSRP) or $840 ($20 less than MSRP) for the X. Of course, when sale prices are factored in, the pricing advantage on Xbox All Access falls apart.

Here are the typical sale prices you can find throughout the year:

• Xbox Live 12-year card: $40 (Example)
• Xbox Game Pass 6-month card: $30 (Example)
• Xbox One S: $185 – $200 (Example)
• Xbox One X: $350 – $400 (Example)

Based off the last decade of our historical deal data, you will see these type of deals increase in frequency as we get closer to the holiday shopping season. During November, expect these deals every week with peak volume between November 19 – November 26 2018.

Xbox Live & Game Pass are stackable, so you can buy all 24-months during a single sale if you want. You will end up paying $200 total ($160 less than MSRP). When added everything up, you will end up paying $400 total for the Xbox One S (at worst) and $600 for the Xbox One X. That’s $128 cheaper than Xbox All Access for the S and $240 cheaper on the X.

Also, be aware that the financing for Xbox All Access runs through Dell Preferred Account. While they won’t charge you interest if you make all payments on time and pay off the balance by 24 months, you will get charged interest if you miss a payment or there’s a balance remaining after 24 months. APR on these accounts is typically an astronomical 19.24% to 29.99%.

Xbox All Access is here and it’s a terrible deal

There may have been experimentation in the last generation, but now we can say that free has finally come to consoles. Arguably, Microsoft has embraced the strategy in a way that Sony still seems afraid to. The result is a collection of free-to-play games on the Xbox One Store that aren’t completely barebones.

The simple advantage of the free-to-play model is the non-existent barrier to entry for curious gamers. There is another commodity you’ll be spending – your time. So, in the interest of not spending your youth on thankless experience grinding and so-so DLC plans, you should be asking: where to start? That’s so crazy, because I wrote this whole thing to answer that very question.

Search Xbox on Ben’s

AirMech Arena

Did you ever wonder it would be like if you mixed Starcraft with League of Legends? No? What about Transformers with Command & Conquer? No to that to? What if you didn’t predicate all of your joy on your predisposed comfort with a given piece of entertainment? Yes? Okay well here’s AirMech Arena, whether you want it or not.

Now that you understand everything about the game after looking at that screenshot, you should just go download it.

The tutorials, of which there are an alarming amount, do a much better job of explaining things, but here it goes: You control an Airmech unit (surprise) and work to overtake bases over the distance of the playing field, making your way from your base to the enemy’s. But you don’t do it on your own. In addition to one or two more teammates, it’s your ability to create and direct an army of diverse minion-like units that sets the whole game apart. Or, it’s the combination of that and the MOBA-like base crawl and character upgrading that sets it apart.

Frankly, since the game’s launch on PC way back when the developers have been tweaking and balancing all along the way, and they haven’t quite reached a place where the army of units feels acceptably balanced. Still, it’s an engaging and, more importantly, unique experience, especially with cooperative friends and decent competition in PvP. The slow process of unlocking and purchasing new units, through in-game or real cash, is surprisingly satisfying.

Killer Instinct

It’s rare that a reboot truly outdoes its predecessor. What’s more baffling is how Killer Instinct came to triumph in the new world and not falter in a futile desire to recreate the old. That’s my fancy way of saying that the game takes great advantage of its time, from a business standpoint and a development one, all without making you want to rip the cords out of your wall in frustration at the monetization.

At quick glance Killer Instinct looks nothing more than a Street Fighter clone. Once it’s under your thumb, though, you’ll realize the game is a much more visceral treat, visually and mechanically. Not to mention – and maybe this does have something to do with the reboot nature of the release – a sweet throwback narrator that calls out all your delicious combos.

The best part about Killer Instinct is it isn’t going to die anytime soon. Instead of putting out a new version year-over-year, the base game is being supported by multiple seasons of roster updates, meaning all that investment and time put into it won’t go wasted on an obligatory Killer Instinct 2. Instead, Killer Instinct: Season 2 just ups the ante on the original game. It also affords the developers a viable long-term business plan that doesn’t involve building an entirely new game every year. So many kinds of games would benefit from such an outlook. Sadly, very few do (I’m looking at you, Madden).

Project Spark

I can’t say that I personally enjoy this game, but I also can’t say I enjoy Minecraft, Disney Infinity or LittleBigPlanet, so clearly I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. Create-a-thons the likes of these games might have been called a niche genre had they not exploded into popularity. The fact that Project Spark survived this long the face of such competition means it’s got something to say for itself. Also, there’s Conker.

While the aforementioned titles are used as equally for creating game experiences as they are for creating pretty objects, Project Spark was created under the explicit ideal of creating little games inside this big one. It’s still growing and it suffers from s severe case of complexification. But it’s a fertile farm arming burgeoning creators with a waterfall of tools. Also, there’s Conker.

Happily, the free part of this game comes with access to a lot of the games created by other players, so you won’t need a builder’s spirit to have fun. Unfortunately, if Bob did inspire you as a child, the creation tools come at a price. It’s a strange way to make a book, and so far unproven. But, like I said, the game still exists for a reason.

Also…

Conker.

Pinball FX 2

Pinball simulation might not be the most exciting template for a game, but you won’t remember that when you’re actually playing Pinball FX 2, which offers up one free pinball table and an ever enlarging collection of Marvel, Star Wars and other themed tables.

What sets Pinball FX 2 apart from all those other simulators is its stringent reliance on realism bolstered by surprisingly creative table design. It’s almost like the 1980s aren’t over and your life hasn’t devolved into an ongoing trip of depressive nostalgia.

The point is, these guys would have been making great tables back in the day. Instead, they’re doing the digital thing and reaching a much wider audience because of it.

Future Potential: Smite

Smite is our representative of the ultra-competitive MOBA category, a rival to League of Legends and DOTA 2 that’s doing something neither of those two games dare to do: try for consoles. It’s already on Xbox One, sort-of. The closed beta is accessible through a sign-up on their website (with only a chance at being invited), or through purchasing a pricey Founders Pack ($30) that will net you each of the 60+ playable Gods. For this reason, it belongs on the potential part of this list for now.

Though it doesn’t do too much differently from those other games – from a layman’s perspective, at least – the camera dropped into a third-person perspective lends itself well to the Xbox One controller. Testimony to such is the fact that the Xbox 360 controller is used prolifically by players of the PC version. Also in the game’s favor are the playable heroes themselves, which aren’t so much random video game archetypes as they are literal Gods ripped from the more colorful mythologies of past civilizations. In other words, you get to pit Zeus against Thor and Ra against Cupid.

It’ll be a while until Jesus joins the ranks, though.

Future Potential: Gigantic

Microsoft scooped this game up as it was being developed. Now it’s touted as a Windows 10 and Xbox One exclusive, featuring cross-platform play and a whole host of other features only a partnership with Microsoft will net you. Here’s a quick preview:

As with many MOBA-inspired games, the objective here is, alongside four teammates, to topple the base at the other end of the playing field. It just so happens that base is a gigantic creature that acts more like a boss fight than a pile of bricks. Hopefully this one turns out as whimsical as it looks.

Free Stuff: The Best Free Xbox One Games

It took an extra day or two for Sony to get the news out, but now we have the full list of free games available to members of both Playstation Plus and Xbox Live Gold. As always, this news comes directly from Sony and Microsoft, and it’s expected that the following games will only be free for the month of March. There have been exceptions in the past, allowing for certain games to go free for an extra month. You shouldn’t make that your excuse not to download these games immediately though. March’s selection is one of surprising quality across all five consoles.

Let’s start with Xbox Live, since Microsoft was so kind to get its information out far in advance.

Xbox One

Microsoft consoles aren’t really known for their local multiplayer games. Maybe that’s changing with the Xbox One.

Rayman Legends

Ubisoft hit it out of the park with Rayman Origins back in 2011, embracing a beautiful hand-drawn style in collaboration with an emphasis on music and air-tight platforming. Rayman Legends, originally meant as a Wii U exclusively, just couldn’t be held away from every other console. Now Xbox One owners can get their hands on this $40 title for free, marking the best deal of the bunch.

#IDARB

Here’s one of those exceptions we talked about, a very indie, very simple twitch-multiplayer game that was free in February as well. Up to eight players can rumble over the possession and subsequent scoring of a ball in a goal. That’s it. It’s soccer coupled with the insanity and good execution of a very simple set-up. You can pass, shoot and tackle each other. And play as a bacon. The screaming is optional.

Xbox 360

Don’t forget, Xbox 360 games are only distributed during half of their free month. There’s a reason for this; I don’t know what it is. In any case, this March we’re reminded of the Xbox 360’s great character-driven phase late in the generation, one half-month at a time.

Tomb Raider – Available March 1 – 15

Rebooting Lara Croft as a gritty, character-driven story adventure was always going to be a risky move. It payed off, though, and now we’re getting a sequel exclusive to the Xbox One sometime in the future. Naturally, Microsoft wants to make sure nobody forgets this, so the original is going free. Strangely, the HD remaster released on Xbox One last year isn’t part of the deal. Yet.

BioShock Infinite – Available March 16 – 31

On the second anniversary of its release, the trans-dimensional mind warping, sociological, psychological explanation for why a city is floating in the sky tries once again to make its case for never becoming an alcoholic with a death wish. There’s shooting and a whole bunch of dialogue that either makes a lot of sense or none at all. You choose. Or don’t. Or can’t.

PS4

Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee – New ‘n’ Tasty!

Sony is running a nasty little trick here by making this PlayStation remake free for March. The game is set to come out on the Xbox One by the end of Q1 2015. Thankfully, in healthy competition the consumer benefits, assuming that consumer prefers his or her controller with a square and a triangle on it.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

If Microsoft is getting Ubisoft’s AAA artsy game, Sony is getting its faux-indie artsy game. Here’s a unique tale of World War I participants, soldiers and medics alike, connected through some classic 2D puzzling gameplay and a loyal canine companion. It’s also the beneficiary of some of the best video game trailers ever produced.

OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliworld

This sequel celebrates its release day with a discount of 100 percent. There are many who might argue for it as the absolute best title available free this month. The mechanics at play in this 2D, high-score chasing skateboarding game are so satisfyingly intuitive, the combo-system so deceptively deep, IGN said there’s basically “no limit to how good you can get” in its review, granting it a 9/10.

CounterSpy

With a noir, comic book-driven art-style, CounterSpy is a mix of stealth, gunplay and James Bond impressions that bends the divide between 2D platforming and 3D shooting. The trailer does a far better job of explaining things.

PS3

Papo & Yo

A young boy guides his behemoth, monster friend through some puzzle/platformer challenges. That’s just the surface of things. Finding out who is creating this story, and why, is what makes the game worth your time.

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments

Solve crimes as Sherlock Holmes, because indulging in that fantasy in real life will only result in disappointment and possible incarceration. This is why video games exist. To prevent wannabes from filling up our jails.

CounterSpy

(available as a cross-buy purchase across all PlayStation platforms)

PS Vita

OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood

(available as a cross-buy purchase between the PS Vita and PS4)

CounterSpy

(available as a cross-buy purchase across all PlayStation platforms)

Here are the Free Games for PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold Members in March

If you enjoyed the first entry into this series (a collection of logo ideas from the Reddit community), you are going to love part two. Showing off the work of the fine folks over at Honest Slogans, this collection of twenty logos applies a humorous and highly truthful slogan attached to each brand.

Targets for this batch of logos include Apple, Barnes & Noble, Ben & Jerry’s, Bugles, Campbell’s Soup, Chick-Fil-A, Crest 3D White Strips, Google, Grey Poupon, Hidden Valley, Hot Pockets, Kool-Aid, LEGO, Linkedin, MTV, Nyquil, Paypal, Pepsi, Waffle House and Microsoft’s Xbox Live.

These are our 20 favorites logos of the bunch, but you can find more on the Honest Slogans tumblr page. Check out the collection below:

If Major Companies / Brands Used Realistic Slogans: The Sequel