{"id":29518,"date":"2017-08-04T17:02:12","date_gmt":"2017-08-05T00:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/?p=29518"},"modified":"2017-08-04T17:02:58","modified_gmt":"2017-08-05T00:02:58","slug":"xboxs-games-with-gold-mine-ranch-and-whip-its-hair-in-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/bens-bytes\/xboxs-games-with-gold-mine-ranch-and-whip-its-hair-in-august\/","title":{"rendered":"Xbox Mines, Ranches, Whips Its Hair in August’s Games With Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Last month\u2019s Games With Gold took an uncharacteristically disappointing turn for Xbox consoles, offering up games similar to previous month\u2019s freebies and others with less-than-stellar reputations. The positive to this, of course, is that the following month will automatically appear better and more satisfying by default \u2026 right<\/em>? Microsoft puts that assumptions to the test with a second month of shrug-worthy free titles, again imitative and middling-reviewed, propped up by one very strong, satisfying — last-generation — game. It\u2019s a marginally better slate, but there\u2019s certainly room for improvement.\u00a0 Let\u2019s check out what\u2019s available this month.<\/p>\n

Click Here to Grab\u00a0a 12-Month\u00a0Xbox Live Gold Subscription\u00a0at Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"slime

Monomi Park<\/p><\/div>\n

Xbox One<\/h3>\n

Slime Rancher<\/h4>\n

Ever notice how there aren\u2019t many kid-friendly games from the first-person perspective? That\u2019s because most of them involve operating a weapon of some form or fashion, and, of course, it\u2019s hard to imagine too many E-rated, first-person type of games where the main character runs around and aims a gun-like device, due to the inherent violence involved. Hoping to till ground in the same proximity as that of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare<\/em>, Slime Rancher<\/em> presents a vibrant and soothing experience where the main character navigates a beautiful Western atmosphere — on a distant planet — and wrangles little globs of sentient jelly. A ranching simulation game, the player also maintains the \u201clivestock\u201d with food and upgrades for the farming equipment. This is, in essence, a point-and-shoot game without much violence that\u2019s a good substitute for kids, released on August 1st for Xbox\u2019s Games With Gold.<\/p>\n

Trials: Fusion<\/h4>\n

The Trials<\/em> series stuck its landings in the last console generation while attempting something novel, producing a consistent run of stylized, trick-based games hinged on completing elaborate courses while riding a dirt bike.\u00a0 Trials: Fusion<\/em> brings the familiar formula to current-gen hardware with a new slate of tracks, a retooled storytelling atmosphere based in a futuristic environment, and some beefed-up functions involving level creation and multiplayer.\u00a0 At its core, however, Fusion<\/em> plays to the strengths of the previous iterations, garnering satisfaction through the completion of levels and doing so with style. Some critics have said that it feeds too\u00a0much off the successes of the other Trials<\/em> games, delivering more of the same without enough added on for a newer generation, but those who found themselves enthralled by the breathless tricks and platforming progression will find much of the same here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"bayonetta

Platinum Games<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Xbox 360<\/h4>\n

Bayonetta<\/h4>\n

Almost a decade ago now, Platinum Games started its development endeavors with a real bang. While Mad World<\/em> garnered moderate praise for its harsh grayscale aesthetic and visceral aggressiveness, it was the furious, challenging hack-\u2018n-slash combat and confidently embellished style of Bayonetta<\/em> that put \u2018em on the map. An exaggerated, nudge-nudge wink-wink heroine combats the forces of evil in this upgrade progression brawler, where innovation in the combat mechanics aren\u2019t as much of a draw as how blitzed and demanding the action becomes within each boldly-designed level.\u00a0 A big part of the fun of Bayonetta<\/em> comes in how bonkers everything continues to get throughout, where Bayonetta<\/em> gobbles down lollipops and lashes her hair while double-jumping, slowing down time, and earning medals based on the player\u2019s performance. After conquering the insane, metaphysical final climax, Platinum Games cemented their reputation as a studio who\u2019s in the game to really make games.<\/p>\n

Red Faction: Armageddon<\/h4>\n

The Red Faction<\/em> shooter franchise has been demolishing environments with its \u201cGeo-Mod\u201d game mechanic since the early 2000s, bouncing between Mars and Earth throughout roughly a century of storytelling. Jumping ahead 50 years and descending underground due to the hostility of Mars\u2019 terraformed surface, Red Faction: Armageddon<\/em> shifts its perspective to a third-person shooter while telling the story of the grandson, Darius, from the previous Red Faction<\/em> installment, Guerilla<\/em>. The sci-fi atmosphere and destructive mechanics of the gameplay remained true to the series, but critics had a difficult time unearthing many noteworthy elements from the plot or the remainder of the linearized design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month\u2019s Games With Gold took an uncharacteristically disappointing turn for Xbox consoles, offering up games similar to previous month\u2019s freebies and others with less-than-stellar reputations. The positive to this, of course, is that the following month will automatically appear better and more satisfying by default \u2026 right? Microsoft puts that assumptions to the test […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":29520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1261,25,372,378],"class_list":["post-29518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bens-bytes","tag-games-with-gold","tag-video-games","tag-xbox-360","tag-xbox-one"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29518"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29524,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29518\/revisions\/29524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}