pboreham
Kick. Snare. Hat. Ride.
Well, had a good long session on the XB1 last night, some early thoughts...
1) Hardware is amazing. Smaller and lighter than I was expecting, runs absolutely silent and I put it through a tough time last night - didnt hear a peep. Kinnect is also smaller than was expecting and controller - well, thoughts below.
2) Controller is a mixed bag for me. I do think its great, but its actually quite different to the 360 pad so its gonna take a while to get used to it. The haptic triggers though ARE the future!! Needs patching into COD though and utilised more in other games for sure.
3) The UI experience is also a mixed bag - and very much the WIP I was expecting. If you dont use Kinnect voice commands, its actually VERY frustrating to find a lot of things that should be to hand - settings for one. But, using the voice commands is great and very quick - I'd say if you careful what and how you say stuff, then kinnect works 99% of the time.
I actually think the times it doesnt work is down to the UI lagging, rather than any voice recognition. Sometimes it seems like its 'locked' and not able to listen? Weird.
Snapping stuff is cool (though IE didnt work for some reason yesterday) - but i think yea, overall, room for improvement which I'm sure will come.
4) Multiplayer... only tried FIFA so far and jesus - SHOCKING implementation of online, was really disappointed. To play multiplayer in FIFA, you have to snap in (or already be in) party chat with who you want to play (if you wanna play a friend this is) and then in the game, it groups who is in your party.
You then pick one of those to play. A message pops up their end saying "X has invitied you to play" and thats it?! You cant immediately jump to that open game - you have to navigate to Ultimate Team for example, then PLAY then the little window that says "Play a friend" has a "1" on it.
Really, really poor and needs sorting out.
That was the biggest let down for me so far with the XB1, but hopefully its something that either can be fixed, or will never happen again for future games...
5) THE GAMES! Thankfully, this is a positive experience!
Forza 5 - AMAZING! Anyone who has said this isnt 'next gen' is clearly mental. Its unbelievably good. Graphics are amazing, super sharp and smooth. The effects are great, sound immersive and the feedback through the triggers is better and more helpful than you can imagine.
The sense of speed in this game is also insane! Compared to Forza 4 (or GT) where you get all excited at the start, then dumped in a Renault Clio or something, this starts off allowing you to pick up a decent car right away and christ its fast! Was sweating palms on the first few tracks as its just so fast and the concentration needed under braking etc.
The 'Drivatar' feature is brilliant too. Genuinely fun racing now and so unpredictable. Out of 16 cars, I was regularly finishing 13-16 on the medium level avatars, but it felt fair and the racing was intense - just trying to catch and stay with the pack is so much fun.
I doubt there is a better next gen game around at the mo, nor a better console driving game on any platform...
FIFA 14 - oooooo jury's out for me!!! Didnt think I'd be saying this as I love it on current gen - maybe thats why. There is something just 'off' with it - and I think its just the differences, both in the controller and the way the game feels now, both of which I'm sure I'll get used to.
Aside from the gameplay (which IS quite different to CG), the rest of the game falls a bit flat with modes removed and stuff. It shows as the menus look a bit barren now too me?
Plus the issue with the party multiplayer stuff... dont know. On the pitch and the presnetation etc is excellent really, probably the best football game I've played maybe ever, but something nagging away says 'rushed'.
Definitely need to spend more time with it and fall in love with it all over again.
Marvel Lego - got this one to play with the GF as she loves Lego games. Its really well done, not totally my cup of tea those games, but can definitely appreciate it for what it is and we had a good hours fun on it last night.
Powerstar Golf - pretty much the hidden gem of the launch. Nothing particularly next gen about it nor anything that couldnt be done on the 360 I'd say (though it does look quite nice, some nice effects like individual blades of grass etc), but its just a fun game and the fact you get constant XP chucked at you and there is always something to do means it holds your attention. Love it!
Peggle 2 - Only picked this up this morning. Again, not a 'next gen' title at all and its basically "More Peggle" with nothing added. Still fun for a change.
Killer Instinct - Only had one quick go and I'm shite at these games. Can have fun button mashing, but to be any good, you have to be very technical and thats just not something I'm good at. Dont think I'll bother buying the addons, but for a freebie its a good showcase of what the XB1 can do as it looks amazing.
So, overall its definitely a positive, though I've picked up some negative things. Its a long term investment, but getting my hands on one makes you realise where we are with the XB1 - its a LONG road to get to what we are coming from with the 360, but thats also why I chose the XB1 over the PS4, knowing that MS will want to improve it and make it a better experience as we go along, and thats quite exciting.
1) Hardware is amazing. Smaller and lighter than I was expecting, runs absolutely silent and I put it through a tough time last night - didnt hear a peep. Kinnect is also smaller than was expecting and controller - well, thoughts below.
2) Controller is a mixed bag for me. I do think its great, but its actually quite different to the 360 pad so its gonna take a while to get used to it. The haptic triggers though ARE the future!! Needs patching into COD though and utilised more in other games for sure.
3) The UI experience is also a mixed bag - and very much the WIP I was expecting. If you dont use Kinnect voice commands, its actually VERY frustrating to find a lot of things that should be to hand - settings for one. But, using the voice commands is great and very quick - I'd say if you careful what and how you say stuff, then kinnect works 99% of the time.
I actually think the times it doesnt work is down to the UI lagging, rather than any voice recognition. Sometimes it seems like its 'locked' and not able to listen? Weird.
Snapping stuff is cool (though IE didnt work for some reason yesterday) - but i think yea, overall, room for improvement which I'm sure will come.
4) Multiplayer... only tried FIFA so far and jesus - SHOCKING implementation of online, was really disappointed. To play multiplayer in FIFA, you have to snap in (or already be in) party chat with who you want to play (if you wanna play a friend this is) and then in the game, it groups who is in your party.
You then pick one of those to play. A message pops up their end saying "X has invitied you to play" and thats it?! You cant immediately jump to that open game - you have to navigate to Ultimate Team for example, then PLAY then the little window that says "Play a friend" has a "1" on it.
Really, really poor and needs sorting out.
That was the biggest let down for me so far with the XB1, but hopefully its something that either can be fixed, or will never happen again for future games...
5) THE GAMES! Thankfully, this is a positive experience!
Forza 5 - AMAZING! Anyone who has said this isnt 'next gen' is clearly mental. Its unbelievably good. Graphics are amazing, super sharp and smooth. The effects are great, sound immersive and the feedback through the triggers is better and more helpful than you can imagine.
The sense of speed in this game is also insane! Compared to Forza 4 (or GT) where you get all excited at the start, then dumped in a Renault Clio or something, this starts off allowing you to pick up a decent car right away and christ its fast! Was sweating palms on the first few tracks as its just so fast and the concentration needed under braking etc.
The 'Drivatar' feature is brilliant too. Genuinely fun racing now and so unpredictable. Out of 16 cars, I was regularly finishing 13-16 on the medium level avatars, but it felt fair and the racing was intense - just trying to catch and stay with the pack is so much fun.
I doubt there is a better next gen game around at the mo, nor a better console driving game on any platform...
FIFA 14 - oooooo jury's out for me!!! Didnt think I'd be saying this as I love it on current gen - maybe thats why. There is something just 'off' with it - and I think its just the differences, both in the controller and the way the game feels now, both of which I'm sure I'll get used to.
Aside from the gameplay (which IS quite different to CG), the rest of the game falls a bit flat with modes removed and stuff. It shows as the menus look a bit barren now too me?
Plus the issue with the party multiplayer stuff... dont know. On the pitch and the presnetation etc is excellent really, probably the best football game I've played maybe ever, but something nagging away says 'rushed'.
Definitely need to spend more time with it and fall in love with it all over again.
Marvel Lego - got this one to play with the GF as she loves Lego games. Its really well done, not totally my cup of tea those games, but can definitely appreciate it for what it is and we had a good hours fun on it last night.
Powerstar Golf - pretty much the hidden gem of the launch. Nothing particularly next gen about it nor anything that couldnt be done on the 360 I'd say (though it does look quite nice, some nice effects like individual blades of grass etc), but its just a fun game and the fact you get constant XP chucked at you and there is always something to do means it holds your attention. Love it!
Peggle 2 - Only picked this up this morning. Again, not a 'next gen' title at all and its basically "More Peggle" with nothing added. Still fun for a change.
Killer Instinct - Only had one quick go and I'm shite at these games. Can have fun button mashing, but to be any good, you have to be very technical and thats just not something I'm good at. Dont think I'll bother buying the addons, but for a freebie its a good showcase of what the XB1 can do as it looks amazing.
So, overall its definitely a positive, though I've picked up some negative things. Its a long term investment, but getting my hands on one makes you realise where we are with the XB1 - its a LONG road to get to what we are coming from with the 360, but thats also why I chose the XB1 over the PS4, knowing that MS will want to improve it and make it a better experience as we go along, and thats quite exciting.
