Xbox Games With Gold August 2015 Edition

Last month we had the pleasure of playing Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, So Many Me on Xbox One, and Plants Vs. Zombies, Gears of War 3 on Xbox 360.

For Xbox Games With Gold August 2015, their official website announced an action-packed month, and I gotta say, it’s one fantastic line-up of free Xbox games.

If you never played a Metal Gear Solid title, this is the perfect time to do so. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zero which is a prologue to the highly awaited Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain set to be released this September, comes in the nick of time. Be warned though, you will probably get addicted to the franchise.

How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition follows Metal Gear Solid V, and its set in an open-world filled with zombies. It comes packed with all the expansion packs.

I’m thinking of adding Survival to the Xbox Games With Gold August 2015 title, because the following two games are all about surviving, and discovering the mystery that plagues the world – Who set the Apocalypse in motion?

Metro 2033, and Metro: Last Light are the last titles available for free this month. As a piece of advice, keep the audio in Russian, and set your preferred subtitle. Trust me, the Russian voice-actors make the whole game – along with a gripping story line, and more than enjoyable gameplay mechanics.

Xbox One Games With Gold August 2015

• Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zero, which usually costs $19.99 will be available for free on Xbox One from 1-31 August.
• How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition which usually costs $19.99 will be available for free on Xbox One from the 16th of August, until the 15th of September.

Xbox 360 Games With Gold August 2015

• Metro 2033, which usually costs $19.99 will be available for free on Xbox 360 from 1-15 August.
• Metro: last Light, which usually costs $19.99 will be available for free on Xbox 360 from 16-31 August.

Xbox Games With Gold August 2015 #1

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zero

Released just about last year in March, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zero is a short, but challenging MGS title. It’s not the best one in the franchise, but it sticks true to its roots. It comes right in the nick of time  for those who have been wanting to try the MGS franchise, but didn’t have the opportunity. Now that it’s free, Ground Zero tries to entice some gamers to see what one of the most loved video-game franchises is all about.

It doesn’t feature your usual twists in the plot line, nor does it have long cutscenes, or shockingly long, and tough boss battles. This isn’t to say that Ground Zero is terrible. In fact, it’s highly addictive, and enjoyable just because it’s short, and sweet. It’s the perfect title for newcomers.

You’ll need about two to three and a half hours to finish the main campaign, but you’ll be playing Ground Zero more than that. You see, it has a wickedly fun replayability factor, even though the big finale disappoints a little bit – but just a little. It feels to me like Hideo Kojima thought it would be great if the game had a heartbreaking moment, but instead it made me think of a cheap shock value, and more like look at us, and how controversial, and daring we are.

Stealth is a key element to the franchise, and Ground Zero rewards players who prefer to wait, and not dwell in their primal urges. You are rewarded with unlockables for no-kills, and no-detections. After each mission, the game ranks you, and it gives rewards based on your merits.

Got the D rank? Welp, it’s time for you to polish your bludgeoning skills to a more humane level, like not killing anything at all. Some may find the game really unappealing just because stealth poses as a crucial element in the game. If you don’t like hiding about, and instead, just going on a killing spree, Ground Zero might not be the droid you’re looking for.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zero is available on Xbox One for free from 1-31 August.

Xbox Games With Gold August 2015 #2

How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition

How to Survive: The Storm Warning Edition may feel a little bit lackluster to the die hard How to Survive fans who have been collecting DLCs subsequently, but this little survival horror games has some pretty nice perks, and I think it fully deserves to be on the Xbox Games With Gold August 2015 list.

It’s the opposite of Dead Nation where fast-paced zombie who just got a smell of your eau de toilette are ransacking your tracks so they can dismember your body. The dismembering, limb from limb, still remains, but you won’t need to employ a quick shotgun to the head so they stop chasing you. How to Survive is based more on actually surviving by scavenging, and being creative.

No, it won’t feel like your carrying a dead carcass, and you’ll be needed to react quick, and decisive if you want to continue with your playthrough. How to Survive doesn’t have a plethora of zombies, but don’t let this fool you into thinking that you’re going to see the same old zombie over, and over again.

It also employs the need for stealth, and your plan of escaping the series of islands can be soon abolished by a zombie who was hiding in the background. The game focuses more on scavenging, crafting, and finding other survivors, and items.

Exploring is of the essence, and if you want to go all Marco Polo, be warned that the more you explore, the more zombies you’ll encounter. The more zombies you’ll meet, the tougher they’ll get. Stockpile on resources, because you’ll never know when your flint will come in handy.

Though it gets annoying when you’re prepared to tackle that butt ugly zombie with a flaming stick, but the weather says no.

How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition is available on Xbox One for free from the 16th of August, until the 15th of September.

Xbox Games With Gold August 2015 #3

Metro 2033

You see, the first time I played Metro 2033 I didn’t know what to expect. A buddy of mine told me that he read the books, and played the game, and I must buy it off Steam and play it with Russian audio, and English subtitles. I’m so glad that he told me this, or I would have missed on one of the most well-built mediums developed for the gaming industry. 4A Games developed it as close to Russia as they could get – in Ukraine of all the places.

The story is based on the novel Metro 2033 written by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where Russia was targeted by nuclear bombs, Metro 2033 tells the story of survivors living their daily lives underneath radiation riddled Moscow.

Travelling on the surface is almost impossible due to radiation mutating animals, and turning them into Lovecraftian beasts.

You are Artyom, a 20-year old’ish man born somewhat before the bombs fell – pre 2013. Mysterious creatures named The Dark ones ravage your brethren, tearing them limb from limb, and terrifying the whole underworld metro community. Artyom embarks on a journey where he seeks help from fellow Rangers.

Metro 2033 is available on Xbox 360 for free from 1-15 August. 

Xbox Games With Gold August 2015 #4

Metro: Last Light

It continues a year later to where you are left off in 2033, with Artyom, now a Ranger, and his journey to save the Russian community.

I won’t go to deep into spoiler territory, because then it will defeat the purpose of even playing Metro 2033.

Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, although working closely with developer 4A Games, notes that Metro: Last Light doesn’t follow suit to the plot-line in the books, and Metro 2035 will be based on Last Light, but the dialogue, and events will be more in-depth.

Metro: Last Light is available on Xbox 360 for free from 16-31 August.

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