Destiny 2 is a more attractive proposition than ever, with the release of a free trial of the game being released November 28.
Unlike the Beta that was released before the official launch, the free trial is much more like the full-game experience.
You’ll be able to play single-player and multiplayer modes, join a clan, earn clan points, and work your way up to level 7. What’s better is you can take that progress with you if you end up buying the full game.
Enter the dead zone
Available across PS4, Xbox, and PC, the trial will give you access to Earth’s European Dead Zone and Titan, and will be able to go head-to-head with other players in the Crucible’s Quickplay rotation.
This isn’t the first time that Bungie has offered a trial of this kind, it did pretty much exactly the same thing with the first Destiny.
This free trial is coming out just in time for the DLC pack Curse of Osiris that’s launching December 5.
One of the main benefits of being an Xbox Live Gold subscriber is definitely the fact that each month you get access to a range of free games across the Xbox One and Xbox 360 platforms. If you’re an Xbox One owner, backwards compatibility means you get to take advantage of the Xbox 360 titles too.
This is a great way to try games you might not otherwise have played, whether because they're indie titles that slip under your radar or simply because you don’t have the funds to buy several games a month.
Even if you don’t have the console memory or the time to spare right now, we’d say it’s always worth claiming them every month anyway as you’ll then have free access to them for as long as you have an active Xbox Live account.
Since this is a monthly event, we’ve decided to create a one-stop shop where you’ll be able to find the newest free games, as well as scroll back and see which games were featured in previous months. That way you’ll know whether it’s worth holding out for a game to appear in an upcoming Games with Gold month or if it's already been offered.
So without further ado, here are the free Xbox Live games in North America, Europe, and Australia for December 2017.
Don't forget some of the November titles are still available too!
December 2017
Xbox One
Back to the Future: The Game - December 16 to January 15 (usually £19.99/$19.99/ AU $33.45)
Telltale Games have been popular choices for Games with Gold in recent months and Back to the Future is the latest addition. This is the 30th anniversary edition of the game which means that alongside all story and choice driven narrative you'll have access to behind the scenes videos and interviews.
Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide - December 1 to December 31 (usually £31.99/$39.99/ AU $69.95)
Looking for an addictive first-person co-op shooter set in a fantasy universe? Look no further than this surprisingly addictive title. The story revolves around the impending end of the world and you and three friends must team up to push an invading army from your city. It's worth noting this game runs in native 4K on the Xbox One X so this is a great opportunity if you've purchased the new console.
From the mind behind Rez, Child of Eden is a rhythm action game. It actually acts as a prequel to Rez, focusing scientists efforts to turn the memories of the first person to be born in space into a living entity in the Earth's locus of knowledge - Eden. Like Rez, players must shoot at various objects which come on screen and create a musical sound when they're destroyed.
Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death - December 16 to December 31 (usually £9.99/$14.99/ AU $14.95)
Quite different from Child of Eden, this is a hack and slash action adventure starring smokejumper Marlow Briggs, who comes back from the brink of death to save his codex-deciphering girlfriend Eva from the clutches of an evil archaeologist Heng Long.
November 2017
Xbox One
Tales from the Borderlands – November 16 to December 15 (usually $14.99/ £11.99/ AU $19.95)
One of the strongest titles from Telltale Games, Tales from the Borderlands is a narrative and choice-driven episodic game set after the events of Borderlands 2. Head to the harsh world of Pandora and play Rhys, a Hyperion ‘suit’ with big dreams, and Fiona, a con artist looking to earn big. These unwilling partners must travel together to recover a huge sum of money they both think is theirs, encountering bandits, hunters and gangsters along the way. This bundle contains the complete season so you can enjoy the story from beginning to end.
Looking for an arcade racing experience unlike any other? Then you want Trackmania Turbo. This game incites you to test your driving skills across a bunch of crazy tracks, and even invites you to design your own. You can play solo in campaign mode, team up with a friend in local co-op mode or play against up to four friends in local multiplayer.
Xbox 360
NiGHTS into Dreams – November 1 to November 15 (usually $9.99/ £6.75/ AU $9.95)
This is a game that's been around for a while. Originally published by Sega on the Sega Saturn in 1996, NiGHTS into Dreams is an action adventure game that follows two teenagers, Claris and Elliot, in a dream world called Nightopia. It's up to Claris and Elliot to team up with Nights to stop an evil ruler known as Wizeman from destroying Nightopia and their own world. This game is an example of Sega at its most creative and weird. It's difficult but well worth trying out.
Deadfall Adventures – November 16 to November 30 (usually $39.99/ £34.99/ AU $69.95)
This is one of the more expensive Games With Gold this month. Deadfall Adventures is a first person action adventure game which puts you in the shoes of a treasure hunter in the WW2 era. Indiana Jones, anyone? Through the game you fight Nazis across environments that range from Egypt to the Arctic, solving puzzles and finding hidden treasures along the way.
The only problem with this level of success, however, is that it breeds scarcity.
To that end, finding the SNES Classic Mini (and even the Nintendo Switch) on store shelves has been an ongoing battle. Thankfully, there’s an interesting alternative if you’re in the mood for some retro gaming this holiday season.
It’s called the Retreon 3 and it can switch between SNES, NES and Genesis games, as it has three cartridge slots in the top of this retro console. All of your 8-bit and 16-bit needs are met. That means Mario and Sonic on the same console in games made before 1999.
Also, instead of a short cable that connects the controllers to the console, the Retreon 3 uses 2.4Ghz wireless controllers instead … which is pretty handy if you don’t want your mother to yell at you for sitting too close to the TV again.
If you’re looking for the real deal, check out eBay
Of course, while we really dig the Retreon 3 for its ability to play three different consoles’ games, it’s not quite as svelte or as nostalgia-inducing as Nintendo’s proprietary hardware.
While you most likely won’t be able to find the SNES Classic Mini on store shelves this year due to limited production runs, there’s a reputable store on eBay that’s offering the console new-in-box for just $104.
Now, it should be said up-front that we’re very much against the practice of price-gouging. It’s evil, malicious and, if you ask us, straight-up mean.
But, all that said, if you’re going to pay a markup for Nintendo’s new retro system, $104 isn’t the worst price you’ll see. It’s actually only $24 more than the recommended retail price of $80.
It’s not the best deal on the market, but if you’ve got a hankering for 16-bit era gaming that only A Link to the Past can cure, this is the way to go.
If the 12-inch MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops sure are nice to you, but you still just crave the feeling of a MacBook Air, do we have a deal for you.
This Cyber Monday deal through eBay will get the latest version of the laptop in your mitts for the cheapest price we've seen. We're talking a steep, 25% off of Apple's normal list price of $999.
That will get you into a 13.3-inch MacBook Air with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory and a 128GB SSD inside – all behind a 1,400 x 900-pixel display.
When you consider the specs and its nearly 12-hour battery life, this offer starts to look more like a steal. Check out the deal below!
Now, eBay had to come along and surprise all over again this Cyber Monday with what's likely the best Microsoft Surface Book deal to date.
For today only, you can get the original Surface Book – with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD inside – for a huge 51% off the $1,499 list price.
That's $729 for a 2-in-1 laptop that was asking for $1,499 just a few weeks ago. Check out the deal below!
