Xbox Games With Gold for March includes 'Evolve,' and 'Borderlands 2'

By Gabe Gurwin February 22, 2017

Xbox - March 2017 Games with Gold

The world and other planets can be miserable, dark, and violent. Microsoft apparently wants us to remember this, as March’s Xbox Games With Gold offers a heaping helping of death in a variety of flavors.

From March 1 through March 31, Xbox One owners can acquire the “psychedelic horror” game Layers of Fear. Originally released for the console last year, it was praised by reviewers for its scares and atmosphere, and it offers a more subdued take on horror than some of its contemporaries.

Also available for Xbox One owners in March — March 16 through April 15 — is Evolve Ultimate Edition. The asymmetrical multiplayer shooter from Turtle Rock Studios contains the base game as well as the “Monster” expansion pack and two “hunting seasons” containing additional hunters and monsters. The whole package typically retails for $50 on the Xbox store. If you just want the standard version, however, and don’t subscribe to Xbox Live Gold, you can find it at GameStop for just $10.

From March 1 through March 15, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download Borderlands 2. As with all new Games With Gold picks, it’s also fully playable on Xbox One, but doesn’t contain the enhancements seen in the Handsome Collection version of the game, nor does it pack in any downloadable content.

Following Borderlands 2 from March 16 through March 31 is Heavy Weapon, a cartoony shoot-’em-up originally released in 2007. Though a tad older than some of the other games we’ve seen given out via Games With Gold, its retro-inspired action appears to have aged better than much of the Xbox 360 library.

With a selection of old releases and inexpensive indie games, March isn’t the strongest lineup we’ve seen Xbox give us through Games With Gold. What do you think of this month’s games? Are you satisfied, or are you hoping for newer games like Quantum Break and Halo 5 to make the list? Let us know in the comments.

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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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