March is almost here, meaning Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass subscribers will have a new set of titles to play. The Games with Gold program offers up four games that users can add to their collection each month, with February's Games with Gold including both classic titles and modern indies to pick up.
As always, the four titles for March have been curated by Microsoft to cover a range of genres, styles, and gameplay mechanics, possessing a combined retail value of $89.96 and a 4000 gamerscore spread. With the titles being a mix from older generations, including the Xbox One and Xbox 360 era, this month's Games with Gold offers experiences that fans of all ages should be able to enjoy.
The Flame in the Flood
The first of the quartet of releases that will be available to Games with Gold subscribers this March is The Flame in the Flood. Originally developed and released for Windows, Mac and the Xbox One in 2016, The Flame in the Flood is a roguelike survival adventure game published by The Molasses Flood and Curve Games. Players take control of a young girl with a canine companion, in a struggle for survival while traversing down a procedurally generated river.
Set in an eerily lonely post apocalyptic America, players must travel by raft and by foot to outrun the ever-present looming threat of lethal rains and aggressive wildlife, by collecting resources, crafting, and rationing items in their bid for survival. Being a member of the increasingly popular roguelike genre, death in The Flame in the Flood is permanent. However, if being played in the campaign mode, there are certain checkpoints that players can choose to respawn from if they wish. The game is extremely stylistic and visually stunning, being created by the art director of BioShock and a slew of other industry veterans.
The game has a download size of only 4.33 GB, and contains a full, but albeit difficult to perfect, 1000 gamerscore. With an original retail value of $19.99, this replayable and unique title is absolutely worth picking up during its limited-time free availability.
The Flame in the Flood will be available from March 1 to March 31.
Street Power Soccer
The second game that Games with Gold users can get their hands on in February is Street Power Soccer. Originally released in August 2020 for the Xbox One, Street Power Soccer is a whacky and highly-stylized addition to the street soccer genre. Published by Maximum Games, Street Power Soccer is powered by Unreal Engine, and has a surprising variety of game modes to choose from.
Taking inspiration from the close-knit and stylish culture of street soccer, players can choose to freestyle, enter trickshot competitions, partake in 3v3 matches, play elimination modes, engage in panna matches, or play through the story of the Become King mode. Fans of street soccer will be extremely impressed with the cast of real-life legends of the sport that are involved in this title, with Sean Garnier and a slew of other high-profile names being available to play with or against. With zany and over-the-top finishers and moves akin to Mario Strikers Charged, the game is a high-octane experience that has a lot to offer.
The game is 2.86 GB in size and boasts a full 1000 gamerscore, with an original retail value of $29.99.
Street Power Soccer will be available from March 16 to April 15.
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
Originally released all the way back in October 2008 for the Xbox 360 and accompanying consoles, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is a classic addition of the action role-playing game genre. Published by cdv Software and Deep Silver, Sacred: 2 Fallen Angel is a prequel to its predecessor, taking place 2000 years before the first Sacred, released in 2004.
The game is rather unique in that it has two separate campaigns to choose from, each telling different stories of good and evil akin to the morality options of the Fable franchise. The plot of the game sees the various races of the fantastical world of Ancaria embroiled in a power struggle concerning a powerful and volatile enhancing substance known as T-Energy. When this T-Energy begins rapidly destabilizing, and begins mutating creatures and the land, players can choose to embark on either the Light or Shadow campaigns, either aiding the land or increasing the chaos respectively.
The game boasts many elements of the fan-favorite RPG genre, having a multitude of quests to embark on, an array of classes to choose from, mounts to ride, and an NPC-rich sprawling world. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel surprisingly also possesses multiplayer capabilities, with players being able to fight alongside a friend by completing quests and progressing through the campaign, or even engaging in larger-scale PvP combat.
The game is 7 GB in download size, and also boasts a complete 1000 gamerscore for players to strive towards. At a retail value of $19.99, this classic title is worth a revisit.
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel will be available from March 1 to March 15.
SpongeBob's Truth or Square
The last of the four Games with Gold titles that will be available this March is SpongeBob's Truth or Square. Originally released in October 2009, SpongeBob's Truth or Square is one of the many officially licensed SpongeBob games that have released over the years, with this specific title being an action-adventure platformer. Published by THQ, and featuring many of the famed voice actors of the show reprising their roles, SpongeBob's Truth or Square is based off of the episode of the show by the same name.
The plot sees players take control of SpongeBob, who is distraught at the fact that he has forgotten the Krabby Patty formula with the looming "eleventy-seventh" anniversary of the Krusty Krab coming up. In order to remember, SpongeBob cautiously accepts the help of Plankton and his memory machine, with the game's levels being explorations of memories from fan-favorite episodes of the show.
With Plankton inexorably double-crossing SpongeBob and invading his memories with robots, players will have to utilize platforming as well as combat mechanics to progress through the story. The game also possesses co-op capabilities, where a second player can take control of Plankton, although in the capacity of an ally and not a foe. With the success of recent SpongeBob games, this one is also worth booting up.
SpongeBob's Truth or Square is 4.46 GB and is complete with 1000 gamerscore, with an original retail price of $19.99 prior to its Games with Gold discount.
SpongeBob's Truth or Square will be available from March 16 to March 31.