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Explore the puzzling world of The Witness in April 2018’s Xbox Games with Gold

The Witness is Games with Gold's pick of the month, but Xbox 360 sci-fi horror Dead Space 2 is worth revisiting too

Microsoft has unveiled the next batch of old titles it will be making available for free for a month or less. The quality of the titles varies from month to month, but there’s usually at least one game in the mix that’s worth playing if you missed out on its original release. Are April’s offerings enticing enough to upgrade that rusting Silver membership to a glittering Gold?

From 1 April you can explore the puzzle-based investigation game The Witness on Xbox One. It gives players free rein to explore a chunky, cartoonish world filled with beautifully rich island landscapes painted in pastel colours and packed with intriguing mysteries. If you enjoyed Firewatch, this could provide you with your next investigative gaming fix.

Then there’s Ubisoft’s generic rehash of its flagship Assassin’s Creed series, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, updated with a steampunk London skin and not much else. This video game version of Guy Ritchie’s Lock-Stock and Sherlock Holmes films was fairly well slain by fans and reviewers alike, so you’re much better off investing your time in the critically lauded and award-winning Assassin’s Creed Origins – a sublime return to form for the franchise, and currently reduced in the Xbox Spring Sale.

You can also play through the depressing Xbox 360 game tie-in of Pixar’s worst film to date, Cars 2: The Video Game. Why you would subject yourself to such an ordeal, though, is beyond us. If you’re looking for a scary night of sci-fi then Dead Space 2 will supply the requisite amounts of Cronenburg/Carpenter-esque body horror and terrifying outer-space isolation.

Buy Gold today and you can still grab March’s Games with Gold. The best pick of the lot, Superhot, is available until 16 April.

Xbox Games with Gold April 2018

Coming in April

  • The Witness (1 April – 30 April) Xbox One
  • Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (April 16 – May 15) Xbox One
  • Cars 2: The Video Game (1 April – 15 April) Xbox 360
  • Dead Space 2 (15 April – 30 April) Xbox 360

Leaving in April

  • Superhot (16 April) Xbox One

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