When you see “Free Game”, you probably picture something that’s far less than great and is used to kill time when you should be working, AAA titles rarely come to mind. Xbox Live Gold Members had those thoughts dashed, smashed, and slashed last month when Assassin’s Creed II popped up as Free on dashboard across the country as part of Xbox’s Games with Gold program. This month games hint that free AAA & AA titles may be a new XBLA trend, right now you can snag Crackdown for the low-low price of nothing until the 15th of August.  You may think, “Yay… a 6yr old game, who cares?” – but Crackdown is still a great open-world, arcade-styled game that gives players near-superhero caliber abilities.

Still not impressed? Well, the 2nd Free Game of the month is a two-fer. Starting August 16th, you’ll be able to pickup Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 2: Case Zero. Zombie mayhem on a massive scale, 7,000 neck-nibblers on screen at a time, drop in/out co-op, and best of all – customizable weapons!

Games with Gold will hopefully continue it’s positive trend, over the next few months, by giving Gold Members more free AAA titles from years past. Curiously, the fine print of the Games with Gold page states, “”Games with Gold” free games offer available 6/10/13-12/31/13 for paid Gold members only.” It’s not clear if this means the GwG program is on a trial run – or if the new year will see new features added. With that question looming, I suggest you grab all the free games while you can – head to XBLA and get yours today.

Game on.