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"Xbox - an opinion"

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.

XBOX is actually winning at the moment over the GameCube for me. Two questions
1) when does Jet Set Radio come out
2) am i right in thinking that the XBOX has built in broadband

I've definately decided to get an XBox now.

I think I'll like it for the very reasons Wookiee has his doubts.

PGR:

Sequel to M:SR. I loved M:SR, had the right mixture of arcadey-ness and realism. Unlike GT3, which (in my view) is *too* realistic.

Halo:

SOubds like this has taken all the best bits of FPS's and thrown them altogether in one game. I don't play games on my PC anymore, so it matters little to me that PC games are of a similar quality.

Also, I'm selling my PS2 to my mate for £325, so I only have to come up with £100 to get the Gamer Pack (XBox + Halo + PGR + Extra pad = £400) and official DVD kit from SR.

Nice!

"Because humour ruins good threads."

But it wasn't funny, it's been done so many times before that all humour as been worn out. It's a dead dog.

Anyway, this isn't the place for this.

Thanks for that Wookie, a greta post which has aided me and probably many others.

Whats this with the radio feature on PGR? Tell me more...

Well the only draw back with the GC is you need memory cards.. but it's cheap!

i aint really sure because i have seen the power of the XBOX and i like that but then The GameCube is what every one is talking about.

pssst... GC are a lot better... Oh yeah KR my MSN funned up again and I can't send any thing.

i am stuck about buying a GameCube or an XBOX now.

I haven't even played GTA3 yet... I really wanna though.

I think the x-box is too big and the GC has the right idea about being portable like the PS1!

Okay, here are my thoughts on the XBox. Read and bask in my wisdom.

Firstly, the console.
Yeah, it's quite big. I haven't tried to lift it, because I'd look a bit of a pratt. Especially if I couldn't. I do think it's a much nicer shape than the gamecube though - it'ss fit in with your stack of other electronics nicely, as the PS2 does. Gamecube won't though.

Anyway, the shape of the console means naff all, so lets move on...

The controller
I don't find it uncomfortable at all. I played for quite a few hours yesterday, and had no problems. The shape of it is actually very similar to the dreamcast.. which was also declared to be very uncomfortable by those people who didn't like or own the console. The L & R triggers are excellent. There's quite a bit of resistance there, and it's progressive resistance, too - the further you push, the harder it pushes back. This gives you a lot of control.

It's perfectly easy to use any of the 3D sticks or D-pad, and after I did initially have to look to see where the buttons where, an hour playing DOA 3 has cured me of this. As for the rumble feature, it feels quite strong. I remember playing the PS2 for quite a while and not actually realising it was shaking. Not so with the XBox pad.


Now... the games.

DOA3
Unremarkable. Very similar to the earlier ones, but with very nice scenery in the background. Not worth buying.

Projetc Gotham Racing.
Good game, very similar to MSR (not suprisingly, as it's a sequel). I wasn't *that* impressed with it though, but then I didn't even like GTA3, so perhaps there's no pleasing me.

Halo
This game is excellent. It doesn't do much new, but what it does, it does perfecly. For once, a FPS game has realised that it's pointless letting a player have 9 different weapons when they are only ever going to use a couple of them, so Halo doesn't bother. You can have only two weapons, and swap those two for any lying around. The AI is not bad, but the action is so fast and furious, and the enemies so numerous that it's not easy to tell what they are doing. I've played a few levels, and already I've been in the jeep, the purple alien flying craft, and the tank. The control system is weird, but quite cool once you're used to it.

I will admit though, that I have only been playing the cooperative mode so far - I don't know if it'll be so much fun on your own.

Overall, I will say the XBox has impressed me a lot. I like the colour scheme, I like the games (well, Halo anyway), and I like the fact that I haven't had to pay a penny for the privilige of playing it.

I don't like the fact that I had to spend several miniutes thinking about how to spell privilige, and I'm still not sure if it's right.

I wasn't expecting much from the XBox, but what I've seen so farhas already convinced me it's far, far better than the PS2.

Only a month and a half till the Gamecube...