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Lords of the Fallen, Borderlands free with Xbox Live Gold in March

Microsoft will hand out another batch of free games for Xbox Live Gold subscribers in March, including the Dark Souls-inspired action-RPG Lords of the Fallen and an Xbox One-compatible version of Borderlands.

The full Games With Gold lineup will be free to download throughout the month of March for Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners with an active Xbox Live Gold subscription.

Related: Lords of the Fallen review

From March 1st through the end of the month, service subscribers can download a free Games With Gold copy of Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments for the Xbox One. Developed by Frogwares and originally released in 2014, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments is a mystery-themed adventure game in which players guide the renowned detective through six cases of increasing complexity.

Detective work plays a major role throughout Crimes and Punishments, as players will need to interrogate suspects, investigate crime scenes, and identify guilty parties as they navigate the game’s challenges.

Also making its Games With Gold debut in March is Supreme Commander 2, an Xbox 360 real-time strategy game from Square Enix. The free release will also mark the first time that Supreme Commander 2 will be playable on the Xbox One via the platform’s backward compatibility feature.

Another backward-compatible release Xbox Live Gold subscribers can look forward to in March is Borderlands, a co-op first-person shooter featuring a distinctive otherworldly setting and loot-based gameplay mechanics. Multiple sequels followed in the wake of Borderlands‘ 2009 release, including the series compilation Borderlands: The Handsome Collection for the Xbox One.

March’s final Games With Gold title is the Xbox One version of Lords of the Fallen, a dark fantasy action-RPG inspired by From Software’s notoriously difficult Dark Souls series of games. Lords of the Fallen will be free to download for Xbox Live Gold subscribers between March 16th and April 15th.

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