What’s new in August for Xbox Live Gold members?

Xbox Live Gold members will have access to four new games starting in August. It’s a weird bag this month. What’s worth your time?

Every month, it’s always a surprise to see what Microsoft and Xbox will come up with for the monthly Live Gold offerings.

Below are the offerings for August,  the systems they’re on, and the dates they’re available to download:

• Portal Knights, August 1-31 on Xbox One
• Override: Mech City Brawl, August 16-September 15 on Xbox One
• MX Unleashed, August 1-15 on Xbox 360 and Xbox One
• Red Faction II, August 16-31 on Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Here’s the official announcement from Microsoft:

These are … interesting choices. There’s nothing super awesome in this bunch, and certainly nothing that would warrant you running out and buying into a Live Gold membership — that’s for sure. But let’s dive in.

Portal Knights originally came out in 2016. It’s a survival action RPG. Honestly, think of it as a Minecraft spinoff, just with more of a focus on combat and side quests. You almost want to explore over crafting and building things. It’s definitely a game you can waste some hours on and just let your brain shut off.

Next up is Override: Mech City Brawl, which is the most recent in the Override series. It’s in a similar category as Overwatch, but that’s not necessarily a fair comparison. It’s not exactly on the same level as that sort of fighting game — the execution isn’t quite there. But brawling it out in sprawling futuristic cityscapes? It’s still a fun time.

Want to play the best motocross game of 2004? Check out MX Unleashed. The graphics are insanely dated and a fun throwback. (I can’t talk, I was just playing Donkey Kong Country the other night.) Career mode lets you straight-up race through all of the tracks, and the one fun thing about this iteration is that you can preload your suspension, making jumps in the game even more fun.

Lastly, we have Red Faction II, the first-person shooter offering this month. The main campaign of the game is short, but there is also a PVP event mode where you can verse bots. There’s not too much to this game, really, and I’d say it’s probably the weakest offering in August. Still, if you want a retro FPS, you can check it out. It’s free!

Don’t forget that July’s offerings of Dunk Lords is still available to download through August 14. What do you think of August’s offerings? Sound off in the comments below.