Crackdown and Dead Rising 2 going free on Xbox Live

Microsoft is to make Crackdown, Dead Rising 2 and DR2 prologue Case Zero free to download next month as part of its Games with Gold program. Announced at E3 in June, the program will provide every Xbox Live Gold member access to two free Xbox 360 game downloads per month until December 31.

Games with Gold kicked off in June with Fable 3, which was followed by Defense Grid: The Awakening and Assassin's Creed 2 in July. New games become available on the 1st and 16th of each month, with Crackdown available from tomorrow and Dead Rising 2 and Case Zero from the middle of August. Halo 3 is also set to be included in the program at some point.

In our Crackdown review, we said the open-world game’s superhero powers and coop mode alone made it worth recommending. In our Dead Rising 2 review, we said the zombie gorefest offers crazy, imaginative fun in abundance, and in our DR2 Case Zero review, we said the title has hiccups in its ability to entertain but also awesome weapons and a good deal of humour and charm.