Microsoft has announced the Xbox Games with Gold for April, and the two-fer looks pretty good this month. Nintendo is pushing Mario and Metroid onto the Wii U this month, while Sony’s got the indie game Mercenary Kings coming to PS4 and Batman: Arkham City headed for PS3. Microsoft’s heavy-hitter for the Xbox Games with Gold for April, Agent 47, will do his best to put those competitors out of their misery.
The Xbox Games with Gold for April is anchored by Hitman: Absolution. In the game, players portray Agent 47 after he’s been betrayed by the Agency and is now hunted by the police. Agent 47 finds himself pursuing redemption in a corrupt and twisted world where he can blend into plain sight, kill with his bare hands or fashion a weapon from almost anything.
Hitman: Absolution will be available for free via the Xbox Games with Gold for April from April 1 to April 16.
On April 16, the Xbox Games with Gold for April will turn to a much lesser-known hero, Randall Wayne. Wayne is the protagonist in Deadlight, a game that follows his search for his family during what for all intents and purposes is a post-apocalyptic 1980s Seattle. In Deadline, described as a “survival platformer,” there is no hope and no new beginning, only survivors.
Microsoft’s billing of Deadlight says the platformer “will challenge you to run, jump, climb and struggle for your life as you look for answers and the ones you love.”
It’s interesting to see the Xbox Games with Gold for April take such divergent paths. On one hand, both Hitman: Absolution and Deadlight showcase men fighting for survival. It’s just that they do so on very different terms and with different motivations.
It’s not just the esoteric parts that differ; the gameplay experience in each of the Xbox Games with Gold for April is quite different as well. Hitman: Absolution is geared toward action (which can be done stealthily), while Deadlight is more in the white-knuckle variety.
You can get both of the Xbox Games with Gold for April for free, but only during the two-week periods outlined above. Remember that the Xbox Games with Gold for April will only be available on Xbox 360. A similar Xbox One program is still in its formative stages at Microsoft.