We have now almost reached the end of this 2020 and we are therefore facing the last Games with Gold of the year, with the free games of December 2020 for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. The oldest of Microsoft's subscription-based services in the gaming sector does not seem to want to give way to reorganizations of any kind: despite the numerous rumors about the possible cancellation of Live Gold and the killing of the paywall for access to the basic online mulitplayer, which would be a truly historic initiative, it seems that the company has no intention of proceeding down this path, as on the other hand it was legitimate to expect.
revenues from the services section, on the other hand, it is not easy to think that Microsoft intends to cut anything, if anything continuing to invest and enrich the offer, rather than streamlining it. In all this, however, the result is always what we have been recording for several months now: the commitment put into the proposal of games through Games with Gold continues to be rather low compared to what we saw a few years ago and how much competition with the corresponding service is still doing. In the face of a truly unbeatable Game Pass, Live Gold in the game offer continues to struggle in terms of appeal: this especially with regard to the freshness and exquisitely monetary value of the games, because in terms of quality also this month however, there are certainly some very interesting proposals.
The Raven Remastered - From 1 to 30 December
The gem of this Games with Gold release is probably The Raven Remastered, a revised and corrected version of the King Art Games title, which definitely deserves a thorough test. It is a classic-style investigative adventure, so classic that it is based on the writings of Agatha Christie, which is the quintessential source of crime stories full of charm and atmosphere. This is precisely reflected in The Raven, which stages the adventures of a modest and quiet Swiss police officer named Anton Jakob Zellner struggling for once with much bigger and more important personalities, such as the famous Inspector Legrand and what appears to be. the great acrobat thief who somehow returned to life after his untimely death: the Raven. The occasion is given by the journey on the Orient Express of a very precious ruby that is part of the Eyes of the Sphinx, which should arrive in Cairo for an entirely dedicated exhibition, and it is the duty of the agents to ensure its safe landing. The problem is that such a situation is practically an invitation to act for a thief, after the other ruby belonging to the couple was also stolen only a few days before: but who is it who carried out the heist and who now threatens the safety of the treasury? If the Raven was really killed by Legrand in a previous fight, how is it possible that the new thief re-proposes precisely its characteristics and ways of acting? The Raven Remastered is an excellent investigative adventure that makes the narration and characterization of the characters its cornerstones, as in an excellent classic thriller.
Bleed 2 - Dal December 16 to January 15
In the historical and nostalgic reenactment that has long characterized the gaming market, Bleed 2 fits perfectly into the recovery of the action vein with platform elements in the traditional 8 and 16-bit style. The most famous source of inspiration could be Mega Man, recalled by the level structure with continuous challenges including environmental, by the cleanliness and simplicity of the graphic system and by the presence of numerous bosses to be faced within the various settings, but it is still evident a large mix of elements from various other titles within this interesting zibaldone action. It is about shooting, of course, but at the same time also about dodging, jumping and deflecting attacks continuously, in a gameplay that does not leave a moment of breath and with a truly extraordinary concentration of bosses, considering that there are about 25 in a total of 7 levels. The protagonist of the game is Wryn, a heroine who doesn't really look like a super fighter but who with her shocking pink hair is flashy enough to always be recognized well at the center of the scene, considering the chaos that surrounds her all the time. For those in the mood for arcade action in classic scrolling 2D, Bleed 2 is an ideal and quite original answer, also containing a two-player cooperative multiplayer mode. Saints Row: Gat out of Hell - December 1st to 15th It's been five years since its release on the market, but Saints Row: Gat out of Hell still represents considerable madness from Volition and High Voltage Software , therefore it may still be interesting for those who have not yet played it. This is a very broad and distributed expansion as a stand-alone title, so to fully understand it it would be necessary to know a little about the series to which it refers but it is not really necessary, also considering that the coherence and the narrative logic do not they are properly the building blocks of Saints Row, especially in more recent chapters like this one. Just to clarify: the story stages the events of Johnny Gat following the conclusion of Saints Row IV, with our hero trying to save the leader of the Saints from Hell, after he has been captured by Satan himself. In this sort of hell, a bit Dante and a bit decidedly not, Johnny Gat has to contend with all the enemies he has already faced in the past, in a sort of final and metaphysical showdown in which the previous nightmares return to put an end to them for good and arrive in fund to the saving mission. It is clear that we are faced with another madness of the Saints Row series, also in this case proposed as an open world action game that takes place within the hellish world of New Hades, consisting of five large islands and characterized by madness. even more than usual.
Stacking - December 16th to 31st
It came out almost ten years ago and for this reason there is a high probability that you you have already played, but if not then don't miss the chance to download Stacking for free in December. It is a real pearl, coming from that hotbed of ideas that responds to the name of Double Fine Games, now an integral part of the Xbox Game Studios with the acquisition of the team of Tim Schafer. It is the result of an ingenious idea of art director Lee Petty: to create a strange world a bit 'in Art Deco style, set in the industrial age of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and populated by matryoshkas, or the typical Russian dolls that can be stuck inside each other. The idea is as fascinating as it is strange and the beauty is that it works really well also for game design purposes, being an adventure that bases most of its puzzles on the particular mechanics of "stacking", or rather inserting a character into the other according to the typical dynamics of the dolls in question. Charlie Blackmore, the protagonist of the story, must face a long series of vicissitudes to save himself and his family from the clutches of the Baron, an evil unscrupulous captain of industry who has practically reduced them to slavery. As Charlie is particularly small, he can enter inside other characters and take on specific characteristics and abilities, paving the way for numerous game situations and gameplay solutions.
