If you managed to bag yourself a Stadia Pro account this Christmas, but aren’t keen on splashing out on any of the paid-for games, you’ll be pleased to hear that Google has unveiled another pair of freebies for January.
December’s free games – Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition and Farming Simulator 2019 – are still available for pro members at the moment, but come January the former will be taken away to make way for two new titles: Rise of the Tomb Raider and Thumper. There’s still time to grab the first Tomb Raider reboot, though, as anybody who adds the games to their account will hold on to them for as long as Stadia is a thing, of course.
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But what of the new games? Well, Sam was a big fan of Rise of the Tomb Raider when she reviewed it back in 2016, praising its “excellent storyline, strong RPG elements, stunning graphics” and abundance of content.
In fact, she was such a big fan that one of the few things she could find to criticise was Lara Croft’s hair physics. “I don’t know whether Lara has her own personal wind machine tucked away somewhere or whether her locks have a mind of their own,” she wrote.
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Broadly, though, it’s more of the same gameplay that made Tomb Raider a hit – but given that’s also available for free on Stadia, you may have had a bit too much Lara already. So what about Thumper?
Well, we haven’t reviewed it ourselves, but the consensus on Metacritic is pretty good, where the game is averaging and impressive 86% score.
It is, however, also a game from late 2016, making the free content feel a touch thin for subscribers. Three-year-old games which could be picked up for pennies on other formats isn’t a great sell for the cost of an £8.99 per month subscription.
This will make the free tier – where players just buy the games they want – more appealing. But currently it isn’t available and we’ve only been told that it’ll be here at some point in 2020. Fingers crossed it won’t be too long a wait.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
