I'm feeling festive for the first time this year! What's all that about? I'm going to visit home, enjoy Christmas, and see my siblings who both live abroad! My brother is actually very excited about me bringing the Xbox home because we'll be able to play FIFA against each other for the first time in years. It'll be like the good ol' days where he'd stand a metre in front of the screen and I'd get grumpy and claim that gave him an unfair advantage.
When I'm done with that, though, I kind of want to see some freebies. And good lord does the festive period deliver. I'm getting everything from Aliens and ravenous sharks to backstabbing intrigue and a constant daily stream of free gifts. Let's get into it, shall we?
We Wish You An Epic Christmas
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Epic Games are running a fancy pants festive treat for you! You get a free game every day, so you'll have to be on the ball to get it! Today it's Shenmue III, a hugely divisive game and the finale to the Shenmue trilogy. Mike had a lot to say about it in his review back when it was released in 2019:
"Shenmue III is the most wonderfully enigmatic video game of 2019. It's a title perfectly of its era, of this era."
However, it's not the sort of game he'd recommend if you haven't been all over the Shenmue series since 1999.
"Unlike most modern games, which would more comprehensively set the scene before dropping you into the action, it simply begins where the last game ended. Didn't play Shenmue II? Too bad."
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If you've been planning on getting into the series though, it's worth getting Shenmue III into your library for when you do pop back and dive into the world of Ryo Hazuki and his story of vengeance and martial arts. See for yourself whether it justifies Mike's "IDK/10" score!
Insert Among Us Joke Here
Everyone knows Among Us. It took the world by storm and transcended the gaming landscape back in 2020. From Among Us chicken nuggets selling for thousands of dollars to US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez playing the game with Jagmeet Singh and Pokimane, everyone knows it, and everyone loves it.
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If you're yet to play Among Us outside of your laptop or mobile though, it's now available on Xbox Game Pass for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. With wintertime fully upon us, there's no better time to jump back onto voice chat with your friends and enemies, hop into the vent, and lose trust with those you thought you loved all over again. It's free, why not?
Firewatch For Free
Firewatch is a genuinely lovely game to play. Its peaceful nature combined with an unnerving personal story make Campo Santo's mystery compelling from the start, and when you start digging deeper you won't want to put this game down.
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It's visually gorgeous and connects with the player just as well as it did back when it was first released back in 2016.
If you haven't given it a try yet, Firewatch comes highly recommended, and despite delays to Campo Santo's future releases, it's exciting to think of what the studio will come up with next.
It's available on Xbox Game Pass for cloud, console, and PC, and you'd be a FOOL to miss it.
Mortal Kombatted
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Are you a fan of fighting games? Figuring out intricate combos for hours on end to get your opponent in an infinite loop of constant suffering?
Mortal Kombat 11 is available on Xbox Game Pass for cloud, console, and PC right now, and if you've been looking for a fighting game to get into, now is a good time.
You can play as Rambo, Robocop, and The Joker in the ultimate edition, but if you're not sure whether to splash out just yet, definitely download the Game Pass version. All your favourite MK icons like Liu Kang and Johnny Cage are well represented here, and the community seem pretty chill. They started a petition to get Shaggy from Scooby-Doo into the gruesome fighter, and eventually, Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon shared a video in which Shaggy beats up MK icon Scorpion. What a treat.
And who knows, maybe you'll get to see Ryan Reynolds in the next installment.
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Right, it's high time I headed off. I'll need to grab a bit of dinner and head out to go grocery shopping. I'm going to make a stir fry and haven't got beansprouts in. I don't want to miss Pointless this afternoon either, so I'll catch you later.
Oh, and maybe I'll redownload Among Us so I can force my friends to despise me as soon as possible. Have a lovely weekend, and I hope you're feeling as festive as possible! Don't let dwindling PS5 and Xbox Series X stocks ruin your Christmas cheer, and keep your eyes on the Epic Games Store for those daily drops!
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros. / Campo SantoTopics: Free Games