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I've titled this post "Xbox - an opinion". I was going call it "Xbox - a verdict" but that sounds conceited, and gives the impression that my thoughts are final and correct. That's not the case, so I stress that this is my *opinion*. You may agree, you may not; but don't rant at me about it. I do not care if you agree or disagree, I am simply giving my thoughts in the hope that you find them useful in deciding whether or not to buy one for yourself.
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I was looking at screens and videos of Halo on the Xbox all day yesterday, and got a strong urge to buy one.
So, after I got home from work, I went to my local Tesco's and bought one, together with a second controller, Halo and Project Gotham Racing.
I plugged everything in and powered it up. First thing you're presented with is the settings screen - very similar to the PS2's in what it offers, the main difference being that you can set 60Hz mode here, which is then used for all games - pretty cool. My major dislike about the menus and front-end is that it's all in shades of green, but that's just personal taste.
Other minor things I noticed were that (a) the machine is just as noisy as my PS2 (i.e. not very) and (b) there is a constant clickling sound from within - which I assume is the hard disk - but which you don't notice once a game is playing.
First game loaded up was Project Gotham Racing. This is the game that, according to Xbox magazine (not the official one) "makes GT3 look dump".
I can categorically say that this is not the case. The cars are well realised, but they just don't have the polish (no pun intended) that the cars in GT3 have. They're good, accurate models, but somehow don't have that 'real' look to them; they're more 'very lifelike cartoon' than photorealistic. The colours are bold and strong, rather than the subtleties of GT3.
Tracks are well designed, but the scenery again looks a little bland. There's plenty there, but the textures aren't particularly well detailed, with colour used in 'blocks'.
Replays are good, though again not up to GT3 standards. Reflections in the cars are a little blocky, and tend to move quite jerkily overy the surface of the car. And believe it or not, I did see pop-up in certain areas, and jaggies are just as evident here as in GT3; i.e. they are there, but are not significant. In terms of appearance, it probably falls somewhere between Ridge Racer V and GT3.
In terms of gameplay, it's good enough. The handling isn't anything like GT3, but then it's not supposed to be, as this is more of an arcade racer. It falls somewhere between GT3 and Burnout, I'd say. As with GT3, there are only 5 other cars in the race. Driver AI is also similar to GT3 in that cars will hit you if you're in their way - you can turn into a corner nice and smooth, and cars around you don't really deviate from their pre-determined racing line.
I have also found a fairly major bug! Quite frequently, when re-starting a race and having an automatic gearbox, the car suddenly goes into reverse gear and revs the engine without me touching a thing! Then when the countdown reaches "Go!" the car takes off backwards! I have found that some frantic pressing of the left (brake)and right (accelerate) trigger buttons solves the problem, but it gives the other cars one heck of a head start, and many times I've had to re-start the race again immediately.
Over all though, it's a solid arcade racer, similar to MSR on the Dreamcast. The only area this does have an advantage is the sound, because the music is presented as radio stations you can listen to, as in GT3 - but *real* radio stations, such as Capital FM and XFM. But in all honesty, I don't believe the over-all product is a patch on GT3.
Next up is Halo, the reason I bought the machine. The mother of all FPS games, apparently. And it really is rather good. You know how FPS games play, so I won't go into great details. What takes most getting used to is that you can only carry two weapons at any time, adding a significant strategy element to the game. As far as I have played, this hasn't really been an issue, as I've so far only had pistols and assault rifles in various forms; this may well become more of a factor later in the game.
At certain points you must control vehicles - so far I've only encountered the Warthog, and this is proving fairly difficult to control; you control acceleration with the left analogue stick, and steer by rotating the camera with the right analogue stick. Sounds easy, but wait until you try it... it's not!
While Halo certainly is a very good FPS game, I stand by my earlier claim that Edge magazine got it wrong; it's not 10/10 for me. The enemy AI is good - enemies duck for cover behind structures and shields - but it's not perfect; when they do come out, so far they have tended to run pretty much in straight lines and be fairly easy to kill. The main problem comes from the numbers that can attack at any one time. It is a very good game, but so far I wouldn't say that it is significantly better than Medal of Honour: Allied Assault or a few other PC FPS games. It certainly doesn't acheive anything that the PS2 (and probably Gamecube) couldn't do.
And finally, a few words on the controller. It is a little on the large side, and I find it a little painful after prolonged play. It's okay using the analogue sticks (though it feels very odd with them being offset as they are), but when needing to use the A, B, X or Y buttons, I find I have to re-adjust the grip of my right hand, otherwise it stretches the muscle between my thumb and forefinger, which eventually leads to cramp. I get the feeling that they could have reduced the size of the pad by about a third if they'd done away with that bloody great Xbox logo in the middle.
The A, B, X and Y buttons are also too close together for my liking, and I find myself distracted and having to look down at the pad to make sure I'm pressing the right one. When you consider the size of the pad, this seems quite ridiculous. Still, hopefully I'll get used to it.
The 'rumble effect' built into the pad is also not as good as that of the DualShock 2; it is very weak in comparison, and - for example - does not give the same level of feedback in PGR as the DualShock 2 does in GT3.
So, what about the over-all package?
Well, after my first play of both games, I was left feeling a little flat, not really knowing what to think. It certainly didn't 'wow' me as the PS2 did when I first got it. In fact, after an hour, I turned it off to watch some TV, and at one point contemplated returning it.
But after a few more hours playing time, I've pretty much decided against that, although I don't think I'll be buying any more games for it for a while; I'll just have to see what comes along. It *is* a good machine, but I've not yet seen anything that I don't believe could be done on the other platforms.
Others have mentioned that they plan to sell their PS2 to help fund an Xbox. That's their choice, but I would say don't be too hasty. Get some quality play time on some of the games available first, because you may not be as impressed as you think. I am lucky that I could afford an Xbox without trading in; I can tell you in all honesty now that, had I traded my PS2 for the Xbox, I would be kicking myself and regretting it severely.
This is my honest, unbiased opinion as an owner of both machines. Make of it what you will.
-----
I was looking at screens and videos of Halo on the Xbox all day yesterday, and got a strong urge to buy one.
So, after I got home from work, I went to my local Tesco's and bought one, together with a second controller, Halo and Project Gotham Racing.
I plugged everything in and powered it up. First thing you're presented with is the settings screen - very similar to the PS2's in what it offers, the main difference being that you can set 60Hz mode here, which is then used for all games - pretty cool. My major dislike about the menus and front-end is that it's all in shades of green, but that's just personal taste.
Other minor things I noticed were that (a) the machine is just as noisy as my PS2 (i.e. not very) and (b) there is a constant clickling sound from within - which I assume is the hard disk - but which you don't notice once a game is playing.
First game loaded up was Project Gotham Racing. This is the game that, according to Xbox magazine (not the official one) "makes GT3 look dump".
I can categorically say that this is not the case. The cars are well realised, but they just don't have the polish (no pun intended) that the cars in GT3 have. They're good, accurate models, but somehow don't have that 'real' look to them; they're more 'very lifelike cartoon' than photorealistic. The colours are bold and strong, rather than the subtleties of GT3.
Tracks are well designed, but the scenery again looks a little bland. There's plenty there, but the textures aren't particularly well detailed, with colour used in 'blocks'.
Replays are good, though again not up to GT3 standards. Reflections in the cars are a little blocky, and tend to move quite jerkily overy the surface of the car. And believe it or not, I did see pop-up in certain areas, and jaggies are just as evident here as in GT3; i.e. they are there, but are not significant. In terms of appearance, it probably falls somewhere between Ridge Racer V and GT3.
In terms of gameplay, it's good enough. The handling isn't anything like GT3, but then it's not supposed to be, as this is more of an arcade racer. It falls somewhere between GT3 and Burnout, I'd say. As with GT3, there are only 5 other cars in the race. Driver AI is also similar to GT3 in that cars will hit you if you're in their way - you can turn into a corner nice and smooth, and cars around you don't really deviate from their pre-determined racing line.
I have also found a fairly major bug! Quite frequently, when re-starting a race and having an automatic gearbox, the car suddenly goes into reverse gear and revs the engine without me touching a thing! Then when the countdown reaches "Go!" the car takes off backwards! I have found that some frantic pressing of the left (brake)and right (accelerate) trigger buttons solves the problem, but it gives the other cars one heck of a head start, and many times I've had to re-start the race again immediately.
Over all though, it's a solid arcade racer, similar to MSR on the Dreamcast. The only area this does have an advantage is the sound, because the music is presented as radio stations you can listen to, as in GT3 - but *real* radio stations, such as Capital FM and XFM. But in all honesty, I don't believe the over-all product is a patch on GT3.
Next up is Halo, the reason I bought the machine. The mother of all FPS games, apparently. And it really is rather good. You know how FPS games play, so I won't go into great details. What takes most getting used to is that you can only carry two weapons at any time, adding a significant strategy element to the game. As far as I have played, this hasn't really been an issue, as I've so far only had pistols and assault rifles in various forms; this may well become more of a factor later in the game.
At certain points you must control vehicles - so far I've only encountered the Warthog, and this is proving fairly difficult to control; you control acceleration with the left analogue stick, and steer by rotating the camera with the right analogue stick. Sounds easy, but wait until you try it... it's not!
While Halo certainly is a very good FPS game, I stand by my earlier claim that Edge magazine got it wrong; it's not 10/10 for me. The enemy AI is good - enemies duck for cover behind structures and shields - but it's not perfect; when they do come out, so far they have tended to run pretty much in straight lines and be fairly easy to kill. The main problem comes from the numbers that can attack at any one time. It is a very good game, but so far I wouldn't say that it is significantly better than Medal of Honour: Allied Assault or a few other PC FPS games. It certainly doesn't acheive anything that the PS2 (and probably Gamecube) couldn't do.
And finally, a few words on the controller. It is a little on the large side, and I find it a little painful after prolonged play. It's okay using the analogue sticks (though it feels very odd with them being offset as they are), but when needing to use the A, B, X or Y buttons, I find I have to re-adjust the grip of my right hand, otherwise it stretches the muscle between my thumb and forefinger, which eventually leads to cramp. I get the feeling that they could have reduced the size of the pad by about a third if they'd done away with that bloody great Xbox logo in the middle.
The A, B, X and Y buttons are also too close together for my liking, and I find myself distracted and having to look down at the pad to make sure I'm pressing the right one. When you consider the size of the pad, this seems quite ridiculous. Still, hopefully I'll get used to it.
The 'rumble effect' built into the pad is also not as good as that of the DualShock 2; it is very weak in comparison, and - for example - does not give the same level of feedback in PGR as the DualShock 2 does in GT3.
So, what about the over-all package?
Well, after my first play of both games, I was left feeling a little flat, not really knowing what to think. It certainly didn't 'wow' me as the PS2 did when I first got it. In fact, after an hour, I turned it off to watch some TV, and at one point contemplated returning it.
But after a few more hours playing time, I've pretty much decided against that, although I don't think I'll be buying any more games for it for a while; I'll just have to see what comes along. It *is* a good machine, but I've not yet seen anything that I don't believe could be done on the other platforms.
Others have mentioned that they plan to sell their PS2 to help fund an Xbox. That's their choice, but I would say don't be too hasty. Get some quality play time on some of the games available first, because you may not be as impressed as you think. I am lucky that I could afford an Xbox without trading in; I can tell you in all honesty now that, had I traded my PS2 for the Xbox, I would be kicking myself and regretting it severely.
This is my honest, unbiased opinion as an owner of both machines. Make of it what you will.
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There are some good points in this topic thread.
As I mentioned in another thread, i'd probably give the XBox at least until the new year before I make a decision whether to purchase one or not.
If you don't have a console or want to update your PS1 or Dreamcast, then yes perhaps the XBox could be worth it, but for those who have the PS2, then the time probably isn't right to invest in another similar console!
Gates can't be too confident that his machine will blow the competition away and as I mentioned previously, I've heard the Japanese are already selling second hand XBoxes!
I'm definitely gonna wait and, if anything, may splash out for a nintendo GameCube - this console has some good titles and could be well worth the £165! Shame ninendo didn't and a DVD player!! Perhaps the GameCube deserves better than the N64 and the Dreamcast!?!?
There are quite a few titles coming out soon, on the PS2, which I'm looking forward too, so I think this little oblong box will keep my attention for the foreseeable future.
As I mentioned in another thread, i'd probably give the XBox at least until the new year before I make a decision whether to purchase one or not.
If you don't have a console or want to update your PS1 or Dreamcast, then yes perhaps the XBox could be worth it, but for those who have the PS2, then the time probably isn't right to invest in another similar console!
Gates can't be too confident that his machine will blow the competition away and as I mentioned previously, I've heard the Japanese are already selling second hand XBoxes!
I'm definitely gonna wait and, if anything, may splash out for a nintendo GameCube - this console has some good titles and could be well worth the £165! Shame ninendo didn't and a DVD player!! Perhaps the GameCube deserves better than the N64 and the Dreamcast!?!?
There are quite a few titles coming out soon, on the PS2, which I'm looking forward too, so I think this little oblong box will keep my attention for the foreseeable future.
AbsoluT Neo wrote:
The X-BoX maybe a powerful machine in terms of
> speed but I dont think its that much different to the PS 2 in terms of grahics,
> playability and sound.
I have PS2 and Xbox. Since getting my Xbox on thursday i've been amazed at the graphics and sound. Halo is stunning, all afternoon i've been saying to my mate "damn these graphics are amazing". Been left with my mouth open wide as DOA3 is running at full screen at 60hz.
Sound quality is better on the Xbox than the PS2. The flames in the background of DOA3 have so much sound depth to them.
PS2 has good graphics and sound but the Xbox takes them even further.
The X-BoX maybe a powerful machine in terms of
> speed but I dont think its that much different to the PS 2 in terms of grahics,
> playability and sound.
I have PS2 and Xbox. Since getting my Xbox on thursday i've been amazed at the graphics and sound. Halo is stunning, all afternoon i've been saying to my mate "damn these graphics are amazing". Been left with my mouth open wide as DOA3 is running at full screen at 60hz.
Sound quality is better on the Xbox than the PS2. The flames in the background of DOA3 have so much sound depth to them.
PS2 has good graphics and sound but the Xbox takes them even further.
Triple_H wrote:
> I mean as you said before, you quite like the look of
> WRECKLESS so I guess you are gonna get that...
Actually... no!
I've since read some reviews, and apart from looking nice, it's apparently pretty naff in terms of gameplay, so I'm gonna pass on that one.
> I mean as you said before, you quite like the look of
> WRECKLESS so I guess you are gonna get that...
Actually... no!
I've since read some reviews, and apart from looking nice, it's apparently pretty naff in terms of gameplay, so I'm gonna pass on that one.
Its certainly a good thing that you got the console because I am sure you are aware, just like everyone else, that the X-Box is bound to have some great games up its sleeve. Even the ill-fated Dreamcast had some superb titles that Sony and Nintendo followers were keen to see on their machine. Whereas from the shots I have seen I really cannot see anything special about the launch line-up, I am sure the X-Box is gonna have its gems....
I mean as you said before, you quite like the look of WRECKLESS so I guess you are gonna get that...Anyway I am gonan stick with my PS2 and probably get a Gamecube for my birthday
I mean as you said before, you quite like the look of WRECKLESS so I guess you are gonna get that...Anyway I am gonan stick with my PS2 and probably get a Gamecube for my birthday
Wow, if only i could go out and spend £400 on something taht i think 'looks good'.
I also posted this in the FoG Chat forum... I duplicated it here, because some of you don't go there, and I thought you might be interested.
There's more discussion there, if you're interested...
http://ukchatforums.reserve.co.uk/ display_messages.php?threadid=36625&forumid=416
(Remove space)
There's more discussion there, if you're interested...
http://ukchatforums.reserve.co.uk/ display_messages.php?threadid=36625&forumid=416
(Remove space)
AbsoluT Neo wrote:
One of the reasons for you
> not getting the "wow" factor maybe because youv'e already experianced
> that before with the PS 2.
Thats exactly what i have been thinking as of late. The first next gen console that i actually saw running was the PS2 and when i saw it i was very surprised by the graphics that were on display. Now a year on with the release of X-box having seen what the PS2 can do, and seeing that the X-box is not all that different it hasnt made as big as an impression on me as the PS2 had done.
One of the reasons for you
> not getting the "wow" factor maybe because youv'e already experianced
> that before with the PS 2.
Thats exactly what i have been thinking as of late. The first next gen console that i actually saw running was the PS2 and when i saw it i was very surprised by the graphics that were on display. Now a year on with the release of X-box having seen what the PS2 can do, and seeing that the X-box is not all that different it hasnt made as big as an impression on me as the PS2 had done.
Excellant Post. You read so many posts on here in regards to X-Box better, PS2 etc its refreshing to see some honesty for once.
One of the reasons for you not getting the "wow" factor maybe because youv'e already experianced that before with the PS 2.
The X-BoX maybe a powerful machine in terms of speed but I dont think its that much different to the PS 2 in terms of grahics, playability and sound.
I have a PS 2, that doesn't stop me looking at other consoles and thinking that great. It's the same as cars and many other things.
The look of the X-BoX put me off first and when I seen the controllers, I refused to get one as I could imagine how uncomfortable it will be.
For me the PS 2 is the best console ive ever had, and I think itys enough for me, theres no point buying something else where they'll be hardly any difference.
My next console will probably be the PS 3 depending on the difference it will make.
One of the reasons for you not getting the "wow" factor maybe because youv'e already experianced that before with the PS 2.
The X-BoX maybe a powerful machine in terms of speed but I dont think its that much different to the PS 2 in terms of grahics, playability and sound.
I have a PS 2, that doesn't stop me looking at other consoles and thinking that great. It's the same as cars and many other things.
The look of the X-BoX put me off first and when I seen the controllers, I refused to get one as I could imagine how uncomfortable it will be.
For me the PS 2 is the best console ive ever had, and I think itys enough for me, theres no point buying something else where they'll be hardly any difference.
My next console will probably be the PS 3 depending on the difference it will make.
V.V.V.V.V. wrote:
> So you just strolled into Tesco and bought one - no preorder or anything? I
> thought they were all on preorder.
Nope, I phoned Tesco's first and they had plenty in.
> You say the controller caused a bit finger
> cramp, but the same can be said of the PS2 controller.
Personally, I can't agree, because I've never had any problems at all with Sony's controllers. I often play for extended periods (we're talking 8 hours or more) with no discomfort whatsoever - apart from a numb butt, that is! :-)
> So you just strolled into Tesco and bought one - no preorder or anything? I
> thought they were all on preorder.
Nope, I phoned Tesco's first and they had plenty in.
> You say the controller caused a bit finger
> cramp, but the same can be said of the PS2 controller.
Personally, I can't agree, because I've never had any problems at all with Sony's controllers. I often play for extended periods (we're talking 8 hours or more) with no discomfort whatsoever - apart from a numb butt, that is! :-)
So you just strolled into Tesco and bought one - no preorder or anything? I thought they were all on preorder.
You say the controller caused a bit finger cramp, but the same can be said of the PS2 controller. Bending the thumb in order to press the X button for acceleration on driving games causes stiffness and cramp.
Using shoulder triggers for acceleration and braking is way better for driving games. I'm playing GTA3 at the moment and my right thumb is suffering quite badly.
You say the controller caused a bit finger cramp, but the same can be said of the PS2 controller. Bending the thumb in order to press the X button for acceleration on driving games causes stiffness and cramp.
Using shoulder triggers for acceleration and braking is way better for driving games. I'm playing GTA3 at the moment and my right thumb is suffering quite badly.
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