Monthly Free Games (October 2016)

Pretty much exactly what meets the eye, but still good.

This is officially the latest I've ever gotten the Monthly Free Games up, I think. Especially given that the first Tuesday (when the Sony stuff drops) wasn't that deep into the month. Especially sad given the paucity of good stuff this month, although a bunch of you get to enjoy the best game here for the first time, while I already owned it.

Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China (XBox One)

Sorry - you've only got like two days left to grab this if you want it. This is a 2D stealth platformer set in the Assassin's Creed universe. It's competently done, with OK stealth mechanics, nice graphics, and a lot of polish, but there's nothing particularly inspiring about the chunk of it I played.

Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings (XBox One)

This is mostly just irritating. Superdeformed, but in that indie game crappy 3D cartoon way rather than anything special. Basebal mechanics are pretty basic stuff too, for something claiming to be super, mega, and extra. But hey, it's by "METALHEAD", so enjoy crunchy generic guitar riffs during the whole thing.

MX vs. ATV Reflex (XBox 360)

The "reflex" in the title refers to the Rider Reflex system, which allows you to use the right stick to shift your weight for better handling. The tutorial explains this, then punishes you brutally, over and over, for not using it correctly, so, you know. Fuck this last-gen racing bullshit.

I Am Alive (XBox 360)

I covered this one when it was free on the PS3 earlier this year. It's surprisingly compelling despite being inferior to The Last Of Us in almost every way. But it's take on post-apocalyptic survival isn't too fiddly with resources, so it's actually entertaining.

Resident Evil (PS4)

Has any game been reworked and remastered more than the original Resident Evil? A game from the early days of the original grey-box top-loading Playstation, it's had every bit of it replaced or upgraded over the years as it's shown up on every console known to man. There's nothing I can tell you about Resident Evil that you don't already know.

Transformers: Devastation (PS4)

I bought this cheap last November and liked it quite a bit. It's a third-person brawler in roughly the same family as your Devil May Crys, but cartoony and cel-shaded and steeped in Gen 1 Transformers nerdery. Biggest problem is that effective fighting is so specific that when I tried picking up the game again after a several month break, I couldn't remember how to play it.

Mad Riders (PS3)

Five years ago, I'd have been enraged that this game didn't have local split-screen. It's a super-arcadey ATV racer with crazy tracks, big jumps, and an old-school feel. Now, unfortunately, it's just ugly as fuck, with very, very last-gen textures and tracks that are way too easy to fall off of.

From Dust (PS3)

Time to play Which Arty Indie-esque Game Was This Again?! Turns out I hadn't played this one before. It's basically a mashup of Populous and Lemmings with an arty nativist tribal element going on. It's not awful if you're into sort of RTS-puzzle hybrids, but if you're burned out on the trappings of art-games, this one isn't gonna help.

Code: Realize -- Guardian of Rebirth (Vita)

I'm not sure why they even bother labeling Vita games as Vita games if they're just going to keep giving them the kind of titles that only Vita games get. I went into this expecting long stretches of dialogue between school-age anime characters, but I was wrong. It's long stretches of dialogue between 1890's anime characters.

Actual Sunlight (Vita)

This is a top-down 8-bit looking game about depression and suicide made with something called Adventure Creator and is the most niche free game in the history of niche free games.