‘Banner Saga 2,’ ‘Tron: Evolution’ free for Xbox Live Gold subscribers in July

By Danny Cowan Published June 28, 2016

Indie developer Stoic’s tactical role-playing game The Banner Saga 2 will make its Xbox One debut in July as a free download for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, Microsoft announced Tuesday.

The Banner Saga 2 headlines next month’s Games With Gold lineup, joining other promised freebies like Tron: Evolution and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.

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Funded by a successful Kickstarter project, Stoic’s The Banner Saga premiered in 2014 for PC platforms and mobile devices. Like the original game in the series, The Banner Saga 2 features a branching storyline that changes depending on the choices players make in battle and in conversations with their party members.

Xbox One owners with an active Xbox Live Gold subscription will get an early look at the console version of The Banner Saga 2 when it premieres as a free download via Games With Gold on July 1. The Banner Saga 2 was previously released for Windows and Mac platforms via Steam, and a PlayStation 4 edition will launch on July 5.

Also premiering as a free Games With Gold download next month is Tumblestone, an Xbox One competitive puzzler that Microsoft compares to genre classics like Tetris and Puyo Puyo. Initially slated for release across multiple consoles and PC platforms, Tumblestone will debut as an Xbox One exclusive on July 16, and Gold subscribers can pick up a copy free of charge until August 15.

Xbox 360 titles available as part of next month’s Games With Gold lineup include Ubisoft’s tactical first-person shooter Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 and Disney’s Tron: Evolution, an action game featuring a storyline that ties into the 2010 film Tron: Legacy.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will be free to download for Xbox Live Gold subscribers between July 1 and July 15, while Tron: Evolution will be up for grabs from July 16-31. Both games are playable on legacy Xbox 360 consoles and on the Xbox One via the platform’s backward compatibility feature.

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Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 ending, explained: What happens to Senua?

Senua stares ahead wearing war paint.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was released on PC and Xbox Series X/S last week and stood out as a captivating narrative-driven adventure starring a character with psychosis. It’s a tale about Senua getting revenge on the slavers who destroyed her village and killed her partner, Dillion, prior to the events of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. After a shipwreck, though, she’s swept up on a quest to defeat the giants plaguing Midgard while continuing to learn how to live with her condition.

Because of how Hellblade 2 aims to portray Senua’s psychosis realistically, the game is intentionally a bit disorienting to play. You might have come away a bit confused by what exactly happened over the course of this seven-hour adventure. That’s why we're laying out what exactly happened over the course of Hellblade 2 and how the game literally and thematically wraps up.
How does Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 begin
Hellblade 2 starts an undisclosed amount of time after Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. After defeating Hela, accepting the death of Dillion, and conquering the inner darkness represented by her father, Senua decides to take the fight back to Midgard and the raiders who destroyed Dillion’s village and sacrificed him. She got herself caught as a slave, The Northman-style, but at the start of the game, a fierce storm causes a shipwreck. Emerging from that, Senua slowly climbs and fights her way out of a rocky beach.

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Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 shows the limits of photorealistic graphics

Senua stares ahead wearing war paint.

Out of all the photorealistic visuals in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, there’s one that genuinely left my jaw hanging. It’s a simple shot. Deep in the sequel’s back half, I find myself trotting up a hill toward an enormous tornado. While I’d seen plenty of detailed images throughout my adventure, those few seconds made me feel like I was watching real footage, not an intricate animation. I watched in awe as a fierce storm whirred, debris flying in the distance as Senua’s rough skin was dimly illuminated by the cloudy skies above.

Minutes later, my eyes were glazing over again as I ran through yet another rocky landscape.

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3 Xbox Game Pass games to play over Memorial Day weekend (May 24-27)

Senua carries a torch in Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.

This was a big week for Xbox as it received its first console-exclusive first-party game of the year in Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. We're also approaching a holiday weekend where you'll have a lot more time to play video games if you so choose. As such, there's one really easy recommendation I can make to people looking for what to play this weekend. Hellblade 2 is a very dark and mature game that depicts what it's like to have psychosis, though, so my other recommendations are a little more lighthearted.

The first is an indie game that launched in Xbox Game Pass earlier this month, where players control a cat exploring a city. The other is a collection of classic Pac-Man games that is leaving Xbox Game Pass very soon. Those two are worth checking out if you want some more relaxing, gameplay-focused fun this weekend after the intense experience Xbox Game Studios' latest offers.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2