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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.
-----
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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Wookiee you little tinker.....I new you didn't have the will power to resist.
So when you inviting me over?
So when you inviting me over?
Your Honour wrote:
Also,
> this seemed to be the only serious XBox thread, with proper reasons for peoples
> opinions.
Until that post was made, anyway...
--
Because humour ruins good threads.
Also,
> this seemed to be the only serious XBox thread, with proper reasons for peoples
> opinions.
Until that post was made, anyway...
--
Because humour ruins good threads.
WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> Mantis wrote:
> Im also glad to report that there is not a scratched disc in
> sight.
> I must admit I have been checking though.
Same here. Nothing
> so far, thankfully!
I've been checking and nothing. The faint lines that are on the discs are there from the start.
> Mantis wrote:
> Im also glad to report that there is not a scratched disc in
> sight.
> I must admit I have been checking though.
Same here. Nothing
> so far, thankfully!
I've been checking and nothing. The faint lines that are on the discs are there from the start.
Mantis wrote:
> Aside from Halo, what other games did you get.
PGR, and today I picked up Dead or Alive 3, though I haven't played it yet - been busy with MGS2.
> im I the only one peaved that there was no demo with my xbox?
No, I was a little miffed too. Though it does seem that many launch titles have video of other games on the disc - certainly Halo and PGR do - don't know about DoA3 yet.
> Aside from Halo, what other games did you get.
PGR, and today I picked up Dead or Alive 3, though I haven't played it yet - been busy with MGS2.
> im I the only one peaved that there was no demo with my xbox?
No, I was a little miffed too. Though it does seem that many launch titles have video of other games on the disc - certainly Halo and PGR do - don't know about DoA3 yet.
Mantis wrote:
> Im also glad to report that there is not a scratched disc in sight.
> I must admit I have been checking though.
Same here. Nothing so far, thankfully!
> Im also glad to report that there is not a scratched disc in sight.
> I must admit I have been checking though.
Same here. Nothing so far, thankfully!
Aside from Halo, what other games did you get.
I just want to know for my next purchace which are recommended and which ones are not. Oh and one more thing, im I the only one peaved that there was no demo with my xbox?
I just want to know for my next purchace which are recommended and which ones are not. Oh and one more thing, im I the only one peaved that there was no demo with my xbox?
Mantis wrote:
> You say there is nothing that couldn't be done on the
> PS2 or GC. I think not.
Like I said, it's just my opinion. No need to go all console wars about it!
I was interested to read this in PSM2 today though:
"Criterion's first-person shooter - first rumoured in PSM2 #17 - might be even better. Though nothing's been officially confirmed, sources within the company are said to be big fans of GoldenEye, Medal of honour and, yes, Halo. An independent programming source has confirmed that Microsoft's premier title is *definitely* possible on PS2 - hinting that Sony's machine has plenty of untapped power. We were quoted performance potential of 60-70 million anti-aliased polygons per second - without special effects - completely shaming GT3.
Reliability 7/10
PSM2 reckons: We've heard rumours that Sony were developing a top-secret Halo beater, and - hushed whisper - this could be it. Naturally, this is sheer speculation, but expect concrete details nearer E3 - and be very, very excited."
So there we go. Only time will tell, but having both machines, I get the best of both worlds... so whether it turns out to be true or not, doesn't bother me too much.
We all know there's still a lot to come from Sony's machine, and hopefully the arrival of Xbox will make sure that Sony push developers to get that performance from it. As gamers, we can only benefit.
> You say there is nothing that couldn't be done on the
> PS2 or GC. I think not.
Like I said, it's just my opinion. No need to go all console wars about it!
I was interested to read this in PSM2 today though:
"Criterion's first-person shooter - first rumoured in PSM2 #17 - might be even better. Though nothing's been officially confirmed, sources within the company are said to be big fans of GoldenEye, Medal of honour and, yes, Halo. An independent programming source has confirmed that Microsoft's premier title is *definitely* possible on PS2 - hinting that Sony's machine has plenty of untapped power. We were quoted performance potential of 60-70 million anti-aliased polygons per second - without special effects - completely shaming GT3.
Reliability 7/10
PSM2 reckons: We've heard rumours that Sony were developing a top-secret Halo beater, and - hushed whisper - this could be it. Naturally, this is sheer speculation, but expect concrete details nearer E3 - and be very, very excited."
So there we go. Only time will tell, but having both machines, I get the best of both worlds... so whether it turns out to be true or not, doesn't bother me too much.
We all know there's still a lot to come from Sony's machine, and hopefully the arrival of Xbox will make sure that Sony push developers to get that performance from it. As gamers, we can only benefit.
Im also glad to report that there is not a scratched disc in sight.
I must admit I have been checking though.
I must admit I have been checking though.
WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
Ah, I see what you mean... so it's copying to the HD during those
> long loads?
10 levels... I've had that 'long' load about 3 times already, and
> I've only been playing for abuot 3 hours in total... exactly how long is this
> game?
I'm not going to be annoyed if it's short... it's just that I was
> expecting it to be quite a large and involving game, taking many hours of
> gameplay.
I dont know if it does actually copy the Level into the hard disk at the start of each level.
The game does get harder. Iam at the start of level 5 but my mate is on the 7th level. He said it gets harder. Should last a good 15 hours or so.
Ah, I see what you mean... so it's copying to the HD during those
> long loads?
10 levels... I've had that 'long' load about 3 times already, and
> I've only been playing for abuot 3 hours in total... exactly how long is this
> game?
I'm not going to be annoyed if it's short... it's just that I was
> expecting it to be quite a large and involving game, taking many hours of
> gameplay.
I dont know if it does actually copy the Level into the hard disk at the start of each level.
The game does get harder. Iam at the start of level 5 but my mate is on the 7th level. He said it gets harder. Should last a good 15 hours or so.
adrian wrote:
> Ok Halo is split into 10 levels. These levels do need to
> be loaded. But in the actual game are
> seperate loading points.
Ah, I see what you mean... so it's copying to the HD during those long loads?
10 levels... I've had that 'long' load about 3 times already, and I've only been playing for abuot 3 hours in total... exactly how long is this game?
I'm not going to be annoyed if it's short... it's just that I was expecting it to be quite a large and involving game, taking many hours of gameplay.
> Ok Halo is split into 10 levels. These levels do need to
> be loaded. But in the actual game are
> seperate loading points.
Ah, I see what you mean... so it's copying to the HD during those long loads?
10 levels... I've had that 'long' load about 3 times already, and I've only been playing for abuot 3 hours in total... exactly how long is this game?
I'm not going to be annoyed if it's short... it's just that I was expecting it to be quite a large and involving game, taking many hours of gameplay.
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