December is almost upon us, and that means a new crop of free games to check out for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. There’s some decent on offer here, but there’s sadly nothing on the scale of this month’s Games with Gold headliner: Battlefield 1. If there is a headlining title this time, it’s probably Q.U.B.E. 2 as the most game on this list. Joining it in the line up are Never Alone, Dragon Age II, and Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. Those last two are meant for Xbox 360, but are also available to download on Xbox One thanks to backward compatibility.
Q.U.B.E. 2 is a first-person puzzler in a vein similar to that of the Portal games. Instead of being stuck in an underground labyrinth of test chambers, players are instead challenged to make their way through an alien landscape in the hopes of finding their partner and safely returning home. Along the way they’re going to have to solve puzzles; a lot of cube-centric puzzles to be exact. It won’t be a cakewalk, but manipulating both the cubes and surrounding environment should make for a good time at least.
Never Alone follows a young girl and her arctic fox on a quest to end a never-ending blizzard. While players guide her through treacherous terrain and dangerous legendary creatures, they’ll be treated to some fantastic artwork and sound design. This is an award-winning game available for free, so why not check it out and see why it earned so many accolades.
Anyone familiar with Bioware will no doubt remember Dragon Age II. Fans of the excellent Dragon Age: Origins were expecting quite a lot from the dark fantasy title’s follow-up, and many found themselves disappointed with this one. Instead of a country-spanning epic, they were instead treated to a game contained to one city, more action-oriented combat, and less freedom of choice. It’s a game that’s inferior to its forebear in many ways, but is still worth playing for any Dragon Age fan out there. Its combat is superior in terms of feel, its story is interesting, and it has at least a couple of characters worth getting to know. Why not give it a try?
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is actually a title from the original Xbox. Don’t expect any subtlety here, as Mercenaries knows exactly what it is. Much like Just Cause, Mercenaries is all about causing as much destruction and mayhem as possible. The actual plot has something to do with bringing down an evil totalitarian regime, but one need not worry about that too much. Causing massive amounts of property damage should be enough to bring it down, right?
As with all Games with Gold titles, accessing these games is as simple as navigating to the “Gold” button on your Xbox and selecting them. Once that’s done, the installation process can begin and you’ll have some new games to enjoy.
Published: Nov 27, 2018 08:02 pm