Get Ready for Halloween Scares with October’s Games with Gold

Halloween is coming – and that means a little bit of scariness, thrills, and maybe some free treats from your neighbors. Well guess what? Games with Gold has you covered on all fronts. This month, both Xbox One and Xbox 360 Xbox Live Gold Members receive the entire first season of The Walking Dead – A Telltale Games Series, a terrifying and harrowing zombie adventure series, completely free. Additionally, Xbox One Gold Members get Valiant Hearts The Great War, an adventure game set amongst the real-life horrors of World War I.

Xbox 360 Gold Members get Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, the exciting prelude to the smash hit Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, out now for Xbox One and Xbox 360. As usual, all games are available only for a limited time, as part of the ongoing Games with Gold program.

* Valiant Hearts The Great War ($14.99 ERP): Available from October 1-31 on Xbox One
* The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season ($24.99 ERP): Available from October 16 – November 15 on Xbox One
* Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ($19.99 ERP): Available from October 1-15 on Xbox 360
* The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season ($24.95 ERP): Available from October 16-October 31 on Xbox 360

Set in the world of Robert Kirkman’s groundbreaking comic-book series, The Walking Dead is the perfect game to play to get yourself ready for the scariest night of the year. It’s about making choices – often selecting from a series of lesser evils – in a world where horror lurks around every corner. While the titular zombies are certainly a major threat, the truly scary element to The Walking Dead is discovering just what people are capable of doing to each other when they’re up against the wall with no rules. The Walking Dead isn’t a “shock” frightener; instead, it’s the kind of game that builds a growing sense of dread and horror with an intricate plot, characters you truly care about, and difficult choices to make. This one will keep you up at night in ways you wouldn’t imagine. The good news is that both Xbox One and Xbox 360 gamers get to enjoy the excellent writing, innovative gameplay and disturbing scares of this game of the year award-winner – and just in time for Halloween, too.

For Xbox One Live Gold Members, Valiant Hearts The Great War is scary in an entirely different way: What if a war you knew nothing about – and could do nothing to stop – completely overturned your world? What would you do? How would you confront it? That’s the challenge facing a group of disparate strangers in Valiant Hearts The Great War, whose paths cross in unlikely ways through the horror and despair of World War I, across the entirety of Europe. It’s based on real letters written by soldiers and civilians during the conflict, and festooned with real photographs, curios, and historical information. Valiant Hearts is part adventure, part puzzle game, part history lesson, and part warning to future generations about the true horrors that men can perpetrate upon each other when circumstances get out of control. This challenging title’s story will stay with you long after you put your controller down.

Finally, in October, Xbox 360 Live Gold Members get to experience Metal Gear Solid V in all its glory, with the exciting series prelude Ground Zeroes. Set in the same world as the recently released Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes sets the stage for that game by introducing characters, key plot elements, and – most importantly – game mechanics. A tidy balance of stealth, action, and improvisation are at the core of Metal Gear Solid, and Ground Zeroes brilliantly puts that combination on display, tasking players with some critical rescue missions behind enemy lines. The game is a challenge in and of itself, but is sure to whet appetites for the thrilling The Phantom Pain.

So get ready for some good scares, some harrowing adventures, and a whole lot of deep and engaging gameplay in October. Of course, like any good trick-or-treat, Games with Gold is always free! Check out the full details on our Games with Gold program, and make sure you get in on the action while you can!

* Titles are available as free downloads for a limited time, for qualifying paid Xbox Live Gold members in all markets where Xbox Live is available. Some regions may offer different titles depending on market availability. See Major Nelson’s blog for additional details.