The Xbox 360’s Games with Gold program is going to deliver some narcoleptic canines in January … or maybe I misunderstood what Sleeping Dogs is all about.
Microsoft revealed today that it will give Sleeping Dogs, plus Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, away to its Xbox Live Gold subscribers next month. Xbox 360 gamers who pay the monthly or yearly fee for the premium online service can head to the Xbox Games Store on Jan. 1 to get Square Enix‘s open-world crime game Sleeping Dogs at no additional charge. Starting on Jan. 16, they can do the same with Lara Croft’s 2D adventure.
Both games will have a window of two weeks where Gold subscribers can download them for free.
Sleeping Dogs has players taking control of Wei Shen, an undercover cop in Hong Kong. Shen is trying to take down the notorious Triads gang that is terrorizing his old neighborhood and the rest of the city. While playing as a good guy, Shen must engage in shady acts and can focus primarily on corrupt behavior if players choose to do so.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a different take on the classic Tomb Raider series. It has players working through puzzles with another character that a friend or the computer can control. In a first for the franchise, the camera takes an isometric view on the action.
Sleeping Dogs typically retails for $20 on the Xbox Games Store while Lara Croft is available for $15.
Microsoft started its Games with Gold program in June. Since then, it has given away older titles like Fable III, Crackdown, and Rainbow Six: Vegas. Sleeping Dogs, which debuted in August 2012, is the newest game to appear on the service. That doesn’t compare very favorably to Sony’s PlayStation Plus service, which, in January, is giving away 2013 releases BioShock Infinite, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and Don’t Starve.
