Race dirt bikes, solve murders, and slay monsters in January’s Xbox Games with Gold

By Will Fulton December 23, 2014

start new year right free xbox games gold the witcher 2 assassins of kings — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Just when you might have caught up on the deluge of major games that came out over the last few months, Microsoft has announced another round of free Games with Gold for Xbox 360 and Xbox One in January 2015.

All month, Xbox One gamers get a masterclass in alliteration: D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die, an episodic time-traveling mystery game from Hidetake Suehiro (aka “Swery”). You play as David Young, a PI whose wife was murdered. The trauma left David unable to recall the past, but with the ability to travel back in time and change events. He goes back to try and unravel the mystery of his wife’s murder and stop it from happening in the first place. The game features cel-shaded graphics and utilizes the Kinect for voice and motion controls.

Xbox 360 gamers can grab MX vs. ATV Alive from January 1 through 15. This racer features motocross, supercross, and off-road freestyle races for dirt bikes and ATVs.

For the remaining half of the month Xbox 360 owners can grab The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings. This gritty, deep role-playing game from Polish developer CD Projekt Red takes familiar fantasy tropes and gives them a unique spin in a world where petty human lords vie for control while elves and dwarves struggle to survive as a ghettoized underclass. The sequel, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, comes out on May 19, 2015, so here’s a great chance to catch up.

All three of these games will be available as free downloads for a limited time only to paying Xbox Live Gold subscribers.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

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