Rise of the Tomb Raider gets a free demo on Xbox One

Much of the pleasure of Rise of the Tomb Raider is in feeling a stab of excited guilt at taking something amazing for free, a schoolchild thrill of bad behaviour. Appropriate, then, that we can now get a 21GB(!)-sized chunk of one of the best games of the year for free.

Reboot-era Lara Croft's second adventure got a free demo on the Xbox Store (spotted by Eurogamer) as of this morning - we're still in the process of downloading it, so can't tell you exactly what it comprises, but you can bet your best hiking boots that it will include at least one moment where Lara can die excruciatingly.

It's likely no coincidence that Rise of the Tomb Raider is one of many games heading to the Xbox Countdown sale, which begins tomorrow. Try before you buy and all that.

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Joe Skrebels
Joe first fell in love with games when a copy of The Lion King on SNES became his stepfather in 1994. When the cartridge left his mother in 2001, he turned to his priest - a limited edition crystal Xbox - for guidance. And now he's here.