Xbox's Games With Gold program gets a lot of hate, and most of the time it ends up with fans feeling robbed and angry. To date, we have received over 100 games from Microsoft in the program, and with such an immense audience it's hard to appeal to everyone, but sometimes Microsoft hits the nail on the head and gives gamers a freebie they can be truly happy with. We can't throw all the blame onto Microsoft either, as it ultimately comes down to an agreement between them and the developers or publishers for the title to be included in the first place. While most will complain that these "good games" are old, outdated or some that were such commercial successes you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't own it in the first place, it's not to take away from the fact that they were in themselves, exemplary games. Yes, some of the best Games with Gold we have been given are on the older side, but it gave consumers a chance to experience a title simply everyone should have in their collection. Complaints about these games are nothing more than moaning for the sake of it; is the program worth the money? That's for you to decide, but here are what should be considered the best of what's been offered so far, both old and new.
10. Halo 3
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Released: September 2007Month Offered: October 2013 Back in the beginning, Games With Gold was looking to be shaping up to be a pretty decent program. It saw us getting a decent amount of AAA titles, albeit old ones. Halo 3 falls into that list of old, six years old to be exact. That was one of the things that hurt it when it was given to Xbox users, as by the time it was given away, anyone invested in the Halo storyline had already bought the game to find out the "conclusion" of Master Chief's saga. On the opposite side of the story was multiplayer; one of the things Halo games (alongside Call of Duty) are known for. Unfortunately, four map packs had already been released for the game that were paid-for DLC. To make matters worse, if you didn't own these, you were barred from certain playlists. While the giveaway of this game did shortly revamp interest in its online population, it was only in certain areas. Had the DLC - which at the time was at the the earliest three years old - been given away as well, it would have just added to playability all-round. While it was old, it was still a hell of a lot of fun, and anyone who missed it surely enjoyed receiving a free copy. Getting such a reputable game, especially one from Microsoft's number one selling franchise, was a breathe of fresh air.