Tomb Raider, ‘Army of Two’ arrive in January’s Xbox Games with Gold

By Gabe Gurwin December 22, 2017

Xbox - January 2018 Games with Gold

After the holiday season, you likely have a huge mountain of new games to play, and if you’re especially lucky, you may have even received an Xbox One as a gift. But if you’ve already blown through your stack of games and need something new to play, January’s free Xbox Games with Gold have you covered.

For the entire month of January, Xbox One owners will be able to grab The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III for free. This is the first time the action-role-playing game has been released on Xbox One, and it comes with Xbox One X support. The original The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing was free in December 2015 through the program.

From January 16 through February 15, Ubisoft’s survival-horror game Zombi will be free on Xbox One. Originally a Wii U exclusive called ZombiU, the game uses slow combat and resource management to separate it from the more action-oriented horror games we see today. With a world that persists after your character dies and classic, dumb zombies in England, it’s an underrated and atmospheric adventure.

Two Xbox 360 games will also be available in January, playable on Xbox One systems, as well. From January 1 through January 15, players can get Tomb Raider Underworld. It’s a bit campier than the newer titles, but it still has plenty of puzzle-solving, platforming, and third-person combat.

Lastly, from January 16 through January 31 Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners can snag Army of Two. The cooperative third-person shooter features plenty of intense action and “a conspiracy so vast, it threatens the entire world.” Mostly, however, you will just be shooting people in the face with a buddy, which is often all you really need.

At $69 in total value, Games with Gold is a fairly nice deal in January, but it pales in comparison to what was offered in December. Last month’s freebies included Back to the Future: The Game and Warhammer: End Times — Vermintide on Xbox One, as well as Child of Eden and Marlow Briggs on Xbox 360. We hope Microsoft has some big-name games planned for February’s freebies, as very few new AAA titles are releasing before March 2018.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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Ever since the original Xbox hit the market to compete with PlayStation, the two systems have more or less been at a graphical stalemate. Yes, the Xbox One suffered slightly behind the PS4, but with this generation, Microsoft decided to split the difference and offer players two choices for jumping into next-gen. There's the Xbox Series S, which can run every game the X can, only at slightly lower visual fidelity, while the Xbox Series X makes no sacrifices in terms of graphics or performance.

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