Another month, another set of four free games to download for Xbox gamers. July saw Xbox One's biggest Games with Gold title to date in the form of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, and Xbox 360 also managed to have a decent showing, with Gears of War 3 available as a free download for Gold subscribers in the second half of the month.
Now Microsoft's Major Nelson has revealed the next batch of Games with Gold titles. Once again, Xbox One will receive two games and Xbox 360 will receive two games, and overall, August's offerings aren't too shabby.
That being said, Xbox One owners do seem to be getting the short end of the stick compared to 360 gamers. On Xbox One, Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes will be made available for free beginning August 1st. Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes is the most recent game in the series, and serves as a prologue to the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, itself set to release on September 1st.
Due to the fact that Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes can be completed in 10 minutes, the best way to enjoy the game is probably as a free Games with Gold download. It's also nice that the game is being made available right before the release of The Phantom Pain, as it can help those that decided to skip Ground Zeroes get up to speed in time for the new game. It's worth noting, however, that PS4 gamers have already received Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes as a free game back in June on PS Plus.
The other free Games with Gold game for Xbox One, to be made available from August 16th to September 15th, is a digital only title called How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition, which is a top-down survival-horror game in which players must make it from one end of a zombie-infested island to the other. The game has been available on other platforms for a few years, but released to lukewarm critical reception.
Xbox 360, meanwhile, is getting two fantastic games, and both in the same series. This should be especially exciting for those that have yet to play the Metro titles, two moody, atmospheric horror shooters that both released to high praise. From August 1st to the 15th, players will be able to download the first game in the series, Metro 2033, and then from the 16th to the 31st, they can download the sequel, Metro: Last Light. Way back when, 4A Games promised that Metro: Last Light would fix the mistakes of the original, and for all intents and purposes, it mostly did (read our Metro: Last Light review for more).
Those with Xbox 360 systems still lying around should definitely take advantage of downloading the Metro games while they're free. Even if one never plans on plugging in their Xbox 360 again, Microsoft has been making Xbox One backward compatible with Xbox 360 games, so there's a chance that one or both of the Metro games could become playable on Xbox One in the near future.
Most of July's Games with Gold titles will be available until Friday, the 31st, with the exception of So Many Me on Xbox One, which will be available until September 15th. July 31st will mark the final day that players will have a chance to download games such as Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and Gears of War 3 for free, so Gold subscribers should make sure to take advantage of the free games while they can.
Source: Major Nelson