This month, Xbox Live Gold members can get their hands on a great range of games. Goats, slick cars, and old-school-hard platforming is all up for grabs, for Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Now, though, Xbox One owners can download the 360 games onto their consoles with guaranteed compatibility. So, members with the latest machine are actually getting four free games each month – not a bad little bonus, right?
Anyway, enough chit-chat.
Xbox One
Goat Simulator
This charming little game is based around the adventures of a mischievous goat. The aim is simple: wreck stuff in as spectacular a style as you can and earn points for the most outrageous moves.
There are multiple environments to explore, plenty of achievements to unlock, and ramming things never, ever gets old. The graphics are pretty impressive, and the bugs Coffee Stain Studios left in for comedic effect really add to the overall atmosphere of silliness.
You can even equip your goat with a jetpack and watch as she tears across the screen. What’s not to love?
The Crew
Here’s a racing game with a difference: the Crew is set in an open world players are free to roam at their own leisure. This is a pretty impressive recreation of the US, with cities like NYC, Miami, Las Vegas, and Seattle all up for exploration (it’s not to scale, though – you can cross from the east coast to the west in around 45 minutes).
The Crew is a totally-online game, with some role-playing elements, allowing players to create their own crews. Together, teams can take part in races or compete against records, carving out a reputation of their own in the online community.
Xbox 360
Super Meat Boy
Are you a fan of hardcore platformers with rage-inducing difficulty? Well, Super Meat Boy could well be for you!
This unique game is based around the exploits of the Super Meat Boy himself, a block of flesh on the hunt for his kidnapped girlfriend (made of bandages). During his quest to rescue his love from the evil Dr. Fetus, a tuxedo-clad foetus in a jar (of course), Super Meat Boy has to navigate more than 300 levels across Hell, spooky hospitals, and factories, avoiding traps of all kinds.
The difficulty level is pretty severe, but the game’s innovative design, characters, and its traditional 2D layouts have helped to build a loyal following. Anyone hungry for some old-school thrills will fall in love with Super Meat Boy, and if you’re skilled/lucky enough to get through the massive campaign, you can also spend hours tracking down secrets and hidden characters.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
This long-running alien-busting franchise is beloved by many, and it’s not hard to see why. Enemy Unknown is a deep, immersive action-strategy experience that puts you in control of a highly-skilled team. Your mission? Defend Earth from the invading hordes of extraterrestrial scumbags using all the technology and resources at your disposal.
You can lose hours upon hours building and maintaining your own base, conducting R&D on captured alien tech, planning missions, and ultimately facing your enemy on the battlefield. For those looking to go deep into a beautifully-built game, you can’t go wrong with XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
Well, that’s it for June – we think you’ll agree, not a bad line-up!
What are your favourite picks from this month’s Games With Gold? Let us know!
