Microsoft's subscription service for all things Xbox – Xbox Live Gold – has provided players with some excellent titles across the years with its monthly free games through Games with Gold. Whether it's picking up an older game that players hadn't managed to get their hands on the first time, or trying out a title they might otherwise have passed on, Games with Gold give gamers a chance to download a whole host of games. However, with speculation around Microsoft's commitment to the service, the quality of games on offer throughout 2021 in comparison to previous years did come under some scrutiny.
Players have wondered whether Microsoft was perhaps prioritizing its other subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, instead of Games with Gold, and with newer subscription services available for gamers, Games with Gold may be in danger of being overlooked not just by Microsoft but by gamers in general. The selection may have had its ups and downs throughout 2021, but there were still examples of excellent games on offer, with 10 that stood out more than the rest.
Conker: Live and Reloaded
Fans of the cheeky and satirical Conker's Bad Fur Day were pleased when it was announced that Rare's platform game for the Nintendo 64 was coming to Xbox, but it wasn't quite the game as they knew it. Conker: Live and Reloaded is a remaster of its predecessor's single-player mode, but it also utilized the Xbox Live feature to include an online multiplayer mode with games like Capture the Flag. Although not technically a remake, this re-envisioning lets players jump back into the wacky world of the quasi-alcoholic squirrel and adds a heap of additional content if gamers have only experienced the original N64 version.
Microsoft's inclusion of the Xbox title on Games with Gold re-introduced the game to another generation of players, and let them experience the story for themselves. When it first came out, Conker's Bad Fur Day blew players away with its unique tongue-in-cheek humor and gameplay.
Dead Rising
Capcom's action-adventure Dead Rising is a violent free-for-all in a shopping mall, with endless waves of rotting corpses for players to contend with along with aggressive fellow survivors and other challenges. Playing as photojournalist Frank West, gamers have a dizzying array of weaponry and items available to them as they explore the overrun mall. The unapologetically incessant gore and increasingly ridiculous outfits that gamers can clothe their protagonist in adds to the chaotic fun, and fans of mindless violence will be well entertained.
Gears 5
The main series Gears of War games follow various protagonists as they battle the Locust Horde – a race of subterranean hominids that threaten humanity. With the original trilogy featuring popular hardman Marcus Fenix and the fourth installment focusing on his son JD Fenix, Gears 5 was the first game in the franchise to predominantly feature a female protagonist. The Coalition's 3rd person shooter Gears 5 was praised for its gameplay, campaign, and amount of content, and was seen as a return to form for the series after some missteps in Gears 4.
Players were happy to play as Kait, who was previously a supporting character in Gears 4 but is now front and center for the majority of the campaign. Her interesting backstory and refreshingly unique presence in a series that is well-known for its hyper-masculinity were a welcome feature. Overall, the latest installment is a solid example of what makes action shooters great and is well worth a playthrough.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
When it comes to fighting games, developers have a surefire way to pique the interest of a large swathe of gamers – use already established characters and licensed properties. No matter the gameplay mechanics, settings, or various modes on offer, players will want the chance to see Batman face off against Wonder Woman, or Lex Luthor square up to Bane. There's something undeniably fun playing as fan-favorite characters and indulging in far-from-canon clashes, and Injustice: Gods Among Us does just that. Building on already familiar aspects of the Mortal Kombat franchise, NetherRealm Studios injects a hefty dose of DC into its fighting game structure, with extremely favorable results.
The story sees Superman compromise his typical good-guy schtick after the Joker tricks him into destroying Metropolis, causing him to adopt a far more hard-line and tyrannical approach as he sets up a kind of totalitarian regime. Batman calls upon various famous faces to help him take down the Kryptonian powerhouse, creating high-stakes confrontations between heroes and villains. The mixture of popular comic book characters, challenging combat, and a surprisingly in-depth story for a fighting game makes Injustice: Gods Among Us an enjoyable brawler. But more than that, the game is an ode to fans of DC and celebrates some of the most classic heroes and villains of all time.
Lego Batman 2 DC Super Heroes
On the whole, the LEGO games are fun and accessible, and even though some suffer from problems of by-the-numbers gameplay and slightly lifeless storytelling, Lego Batman 2 DC Super Heroes isn't one of them. It builds on the strengths of Lego Batman: The Videogame and offers players more of a challenge than some of its fellow bricky predecessors. Lego Batman 2 manages to shake things up while still remaining true to what works for LEGO games. It adds impressive voice acting to cutscenes, replacing the charming but slightly simplistic slapstick scenes of previous games, and tightens up on other elements of gameplay for a slightly more sophisticated experience.
The plot may be fairly standard superhero fare, and plenty of elements of gameplay are copied and pasted from other LEGO games, but when the formula is so solid and enjoyable, this is hardly problematic. Lego Batman 2 also widens the net of characters to include more well-known DC characters that join Batman and Robin on this joyous romp around Gotham City. Combining LEGO's trademark slightly silly but undoubtedly hilarious hijinks with Justice League characters guarantees fun for DC and LEGO fans alike.
Little Nightmares
In Little Nightmares, players control a small girl in a yellow raincoat as she attempts to traverse a frightening and intimidatingly large world, crawling and climbing through disturbing and dreamlike scenery. With gameplay reminiscent of other puzzle-platformers like Inside and Limbo, Little Nightmares similarly treads the line between the grotesque and the charmingly fairytale in terms of design.
Little Nightmares is unique, visually stunning, and nuanced. It doesn't rely on jump scares or cheap shocks–it has a creeping, insidious dread that's hard to shift, even after players have finished the game. The tiny Six is also the perfect protagonist to navigate this world; her diminutive size is representative of the peril and fragility the player experiences as they attempt to make their way through the sinister underwater vessel.
Metal Slug 3
Originally an arcade game, Metal Slug 3 has been ported to various consoles over the years, allowing new gamers to access this classic run and gun game. SNK Playmore's side-scrolling shooter is just as challenging as the rest of the games in the series, as well as arcade games which typically rely on fast-paced action and subsequently lead to a high death count. But as far as 2D arcade shooters go, players can't go wrong with Metal Slug 3.
While not the perfect port, the game is arguably the best in the Metal Slug series and a worthy addition to any game library. With its classic arcade style and nostalgic 2D hand-drawn design, the game still packs enough of a punch to entice gamers back or even intrigue new ones. It's a fairly short game that warrants a few playthroughs, but for players craving a reminder of simpler times surrounded by flashing arcade machines and the sounds of coins slipping into slots, Metal Slug 3 does the job.
Resident Evil
Resident Evil has been a stalwart go-to for gamers since the first game was released in 2002. Effective scares, gruesome enemies, hair-raising moments, and cheesy dialogue characterize this series, and the original Resident Evil still holds up compared to later entries. Setting the entire game in the confines of a creepy mansion (and its secret laboratory) adds to the claustrophobia and helps to create a tight structure for horror gamers.
Backtracking frequently through already explored spaces could become tiresome for some, but the rambling zombies that remain and the multitude of secrets and items to solve and find make the most of the locations. The remastered version holds up pretty well on more modern consoles, and even if players are familiar with specific scares, these moments can still make heart rates climb and palms sweat. This game has a special place in the heart of many gamers, and it's not hard to see why. Sequels like Resident Evil 4 may have taken on a more action-based style of gameplay, but it's when the series goes back to basics that it makes a real impact.
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
Released on the original Xbox (as well as PlayStation 2 and PC) in 2003, The Collective's Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is an action-adventure game following the titular archeologist through his adventures in 1935, just prior to the events in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Traversing jungles and plundering tombs in the Far East in search of a mysterious pearl, the adventurous professor of archeology Indiana Jones undertakes his usual sequence of globetrotting interspersed with battles against Nazis and doublecrossing employers. Like every classic Indy tale, there's romance, action, and history in spades.
There are plenty of locations for players to explore, from underwater palaces in Istanbul to the tangled jungles of Ceylon. With running, leaping, swimming, and swinging across impassable areas with Indy's whip, the game feels like a precursor to games with Jones' fellow tomb explorer Nathan Drake and a fun licensed version of early Tomb Raider games.
Despite being almost two decades old, players found Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb held up surprisingly well, most likely thanks to Xbox One's Auto HDR when it was released on GWG. Games with Gold was a perfect platform for it as a result, as it's a game players could enjoy over a weekend and then probably not revisit, but as a free download, it's a no-brainer.
Zone of the Enders HD Collection
Hideo Kojima may be more famous for the Metal Gear series and his more recent Death Stranding, but he also tried his hand at space combat, with giant mechs called Orbital Frames battling it out in a sci-fi setting. Zone of Enders, the 3rd person shooter, was remastered and combined with a never-before-released-in-the-US version of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner to make the Zone of Enders HD Collection. In addition to the high definition upgrade, the collection includes a new opening cinematic and a trial version of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance in a charming echo of the original game, which featured a playable demo of Metal Gear Solid 2.
The original game was a mere few hours long, providing a taster for gamers to see how impressively-designed mecha looked in combat, and it's Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner that provides most of the meat in the HD collection. On its own, the first Zone of Enders is a little clunky and awkward, but by combining it with its much slicker and more ambitious sequel, it makes the HD Collection a solid mech combat game, perfect for science fiction, anime, and Kojima fans.