This month’s Games for Gold games aren’t terrible

Microsoft’s certainly trying (Rather trying, some might say). Their free games system, Games for Gold hasn’t quite lived up to the competition’s offering; instead of six month old games, they’ve been giving away ones that are years old; some like Halo 3  and Gears of War very nearly being a decade old. It’s getting better though, and the latest batch of free games for Xbox Live Gold subscribers aren’t absolutely horrible.

Already available to download is Techland and publisher Deep Silver’s Dead Island. The zombie-slaying action RPG lacks a bit of polish and finesse, and is mindlessly unfun if you play it alone. Bring in 3 friends though, and you’ve got a grin-inducing undead slobberknocker of a sandbox. It’s very much a Marmite sort of game that you’ll either love or hate, but it’s also the sort of thing many of you may have passed on at full retail price “Free” is a fantastic price point. South African Games for Gold folk get its sequel, Dead Island: Riptide instead. 

The other game, that’ you’ll be getting later this month is actually the better game, though it’s a smaller downloadable title that you very probably missed is Toy Soldiers: Cold War. An action-strategy game that brings those little plastic soldiers to life on a diorama battlefield within a child’s bedroom is a bit of a gem. It’s especially good if you like Tower Defense games, and 1980’s action movies.

Xbox Live’s Games for Gold was meant to be a limited-time promotion, but has now been continued indefinitely, to compete with PlayStation Plus a little.  It doesn’t quite do that just yet – PlayStation 3 gamers just got Bioshock Infinite and Metro: Last Light – but it’s getting better. It’s worth mentioning that a key difference with Games for Gold is that once you’ve downloaded a promotional game, it’s yours for perpetuity, even if your Xbox Live subscription runs out.

Last Updated: February 3, 2014