We have arrived in November 2020 with Games with Gold, which despite everything continues to follow its classic approach since the basic subscription for access to the Xbox online features is still very present, despite having been given up for already several months ago. . Nothing to do, therefore: Microsoft does not seem willing to remove the first and historic paywall that has characterized the online adventure of its consoles since the beginning, with Xbox Live Gold still alive and well, beyond all the evolutions in terms of services that the Xbox world has been experiencing in these years.
There are those who continue to guarantee that Live Gold will soon be removed, moving everything towards the Game Pass and its various interpretations, but for the moment there is no confirmation signal in this sense from Microsoft, which indeed seems happy to continue the traditional subscription, considering the revenues that the services division continues to bring to the company, quarter after quarter. The problem is that, beyond the anachronism of the subscription to play online, the famous free games continue to be not exactly a marvel recently: if before they could have been a driving force for the subscription, now they seem rather an old legacy of the past wearily carried forward from month to month. In any case, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth and in any case something interesting can always be found, let's see how it will go in this November 2020.
Aragami: Shadow Edition - November 1 to 30
The world of ninja will always remain a source of inspiration for video games and various other forms of popular culture given the undeniable charm of the silent and lethal Japanese fighters, all the more so if you think of all the possible reinterpretations and hybridizations that can derive from the classic imaginary filtered in a modern perspective. Aragami does this a bit, staging the adventures of an undead assassin engaged in various missions in which he displays his ability to act in the shadows and silently. Although the ninja and all the reference universe to which they are connected are not explicitly mentioned, the source of inspiration is quite clear: the hooded protagonist acts in a stealth manner by exploiting elements of the scenario and his own extraordinary skills of movement and attack, and even in clothing it cannot fail to recall the mythical shadow fighters of the Japanese tradition. The setting is also reminiscent of feudal Japan, with the dark city of Kyuryu to be explored while battling present threats and trying to uncover the truth about the mysterious aragami, but with a certain insistence on the use of shadow-based magic, which in contrast with the light they determine characteristic elements of the gameplay. The Shadow Edition includes both the original chapter and the Nightfall prequel, for the full experience.
Swimsanity! - From November 16th to December 15th
The indie proposal of the month is represented by Swimsanity! that is an underwater shooter with multiplayer elements and cooperative and competitive modes all action, which can be faced both online and locally. As the heroic Mooba, we doubtless dive into the game's bizarre scenarios and face a host of marine-looking threats, using all sorts of unique weapons and upgrades to survive in a livelier aquatic world than you might expect. Developed by Decoy Games, the game has the classic look of a scrolling shooter, but characterized by the particularity of being set entirely in underwater scenarios, where we find ourselves fighting against a large amount of bio-mechanical enemies that take the forms of various marine creatures but presenting themselves decidedly more aggressive, large, disturbing and armed. This is for the single or cooperative multiplayer mode, but Swimsanity! it also offers the possibility of fighting against other players, offline or online, in various structured levels such as arenas, or in various other game modes that take advantage of the progress made with your character and the most powerful weapons.
Full Spectrum Warrior - November 1st to 15th
The classic game of the month is represented by Full Spectrum Warrior, a shooter that returns to the scene from the time of the first Xbox, directly from 2004 in backward compatibility. Developed by Pandemic Studios, the game is a shooter with tactical elements in a war setting, with rather technical and realistic characteristics, at least in intentions. In the game we find ourselves assigning commands to the two teams Alpha and Bravo, each of which is led by a captain and with other members each characterized by specific tasks, equipment and different weapons. This determines a tactical approach to the battle, because each member of the two teams can take part in the fight by playing a specific role and the player's task is precisely to assign different objectives to complete the missions, setting the actions to be performed from time to time. In general, it is about bringing the teams forward through a tactical approach that involves alternating assignments between suppression fire and movement, in order to be able to achieve the various objectives and advance within the scenarios full of enemies and various threats. At the time, Full Spectrum Warrior was also one of the first games to take full advantage of online cooperative multiplayer via Xbox Live.
Lego Indiana Jones - November 16-30
At this point, it is difficult to remember exactly how many and which chapters of the long series "Lego Something" have been distributed on Games with Gold, but those who have followed the program slavishly downloading practically everything, at this point should already have several titles like that in their own collection. Lego Indiana Jones is a fundamental addition to this collection, both because the subject in question always deserves, and because the association between the famous archaeologist-explorer of Spielberg and Lucas and the world of Lego bricks takes on a considerable sense in this game of TT Games. To be precise, in this case it is Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, therefore it traces the best of the series with Raiders of the Lost Ark, The cursed temple and The Last Crusade, obviously all revised in the typical ironic and absurd style. of Lego video games, but still broadly proposing the original plots and various historical moments of the films. It is possible to face each of the three chapters in any order, switching from one to the other without having to play them in sequence and there is also the inevitable drop-in drop-out cooperative multiplayer that has made the history of Lego video games. The structure is typical of this genre, that is action adventure that alternates rather funny and frenzied combat phases with puzzles to solve and platform and adventure situations that obviously require you to build something to move forward.
