Welcome to August, one of the hottest months of the year in my area and probably the greatest month of the year where I’d rather stay inside and game than go out and do much of anything.
Of course a new month means a new set of games from Games With Gold, and this month is quite the interesting assortment. Let’s check it out.
Starting off, for the Xbox One, we have Gears of War 4 and Forza Motorsport 6.
I’ll be the first to admit I’ve not played much of the Gears of War series. I’m fairly certain I have all the games, both physically and digitally thanks to cheap prices, a friend giving me codes, or previous Games with Gold offers, so this will be a nice addition when I finally decide to get to really playing the games.
The Gears of War series is pretty highly regarded and was part of what helped the Xbox 360 really take off in the mid to late 2000’s, and while it’s not the constant flood of Call of Duty games every kid keeps begging for, it’s a fine title I’m sure.
Then we get to Forza 6. I’ve made it clear in this series I’m not that big a fan of racing games, but the Forza series is considered top in its class and certainly looks to be an incredible racing experience: so long as I can really “get into” it I might have fun with this one for a while. Maybe.
On the Xbox 360 (and, since I feel I’ve not mentioned it in a while, playable on the Xbox One) we have Torchlight and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
Torchlight is another one of those games that we seem to be getting often that’s done in the same style as Gauntlet, Victor Vram, and Diablo. Not bad, the whole isometric rogue-like experience, but they all feel much the same after a while. I like them, but I can’t stay into them like I can other games. Still, it looks fun enough.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is the other Xbox 360 title this month and, well, that’s something. If memory serves this game is more like Shadow of the Colossus on the PlayStation 2 than it is a typical Castlevania game. Oh, I’d imagine Dracula is in there somewhere and that it’s certainly a Castlevania experience, but I remember this being an “odd” title for the series, at least in how it was reviewed when it was new. I don’t know, I’ll have to try it out.
So that’s that. August looks like a pretty sorted month. Interestingly, it would seem that Gears of War 4 and Torchlight are included specifically to help promote the upcoming release of Gears of War 5 and Torchlight II. This is actually something I approve of — give away the previous game to a specific group in the hopes maybe it will help them wish to purchase the sequel. Makes sense to me, anyway.
Whatever case, this does look like a good month. Happy gaming.