Xbox Series S/X: Thread 03

[fishbowlhead]

Is Halo not a jaw-dropping stunner because it's got to run on XBone HW too?

I get that the game will be designed to scale but surely not that much?

Honestly i was saying the same thing a week ago, however playing it on a SeriesX it does look great, the vids online look crap.

On another note the halo se SeriesX has secret markings on it that only show up under black/uv light, its very cool.

[MartyG]

Is Halo not a jaw-dropping stunner because it's got to run on XBone HW too?

Are people playing a different game to me?

[Cassius_Smoke]

I think it looks good. It does have a odd 'post processing' type filter effect maybe. Nothing awful. Its solid.

Edit: a way to discribe it is, it's like a pin sharp digital picture that's been printed out. It still looks great; it has a kind of physical shine on it.

[nonny]

I'm with you Marty... I don't think it looks great, I think it looks more than that.

On Series X, at full 120fps it is bloody slick... like super slick. Draw as many comparisons as needed in screenshots, none of them do it any justice.

What's more important is it plays fantastic. All anyone is really complaining about right now is the battle pass. After a year delay, a few weeks out from launch that is a pretty comfortable place to be for 343. They could have released this months back judging by the flights but instead they've polished it to the point it's exceptionally good to play... and that's all that matters.

[Brad]

The screenshots Marty posted make the game look much better than I’ve seen up to this point! I watched the trailer on the Xbox app and it looked like some last gen generic shooter!

[fishbowlhead]

Bots in a Halo game as well, only took 20 god dam years.

[MartyG]

The screenshots Marty posted make the game look much better than I’ve seen up to this point! I watched the trailer on the Xbox app and it looked like some last gen generic shooter!

It's all down to the lighting on some of the maps - there are a couple of outdoor ones where there's a massive omni light source overhead, it looks more bright and clinical, along with YouTube compression, making it look like there's less detail, others like launch pad have really stunning lighting, underfloor lighting with upcast shadows, volumetric steam for the rocket cooling, little sparks where fans are scraping, arcade machines and neon lighting. The bright light outdoor map belie how good this game can look.

You can turn the HUD off in the UI menu, I captured those screens with it disabled and a load more too.

[nonny]

I'm finding HDR can blow out some of the finer details. I was reading about some PC users somehow getting HDR on by default which washed out the colour palette making it look very grey. On my TV I think the white point was too high by default so I turned it down a notch and the outdoor levels in particular look hugely improved as there is better shadow detail... Agree that the indoor maps really have some amazing touches though. That launch level, streets with its neon glow, and that small one with the hydroponics are all amazing if you spend the time in a custom match to go around and look at them carefully.

The new progression update hit last night and I put in a good 4 hours play as the wife worked. It's definitely better, even if it's just a band aid fix. I went up 3 levels in progression pretty quickly... so yeah, its a good 3-4x faster.

Also last night was the first time I played with Dolby Atmos through headphones and it was absolutely amazing. The AI announcer quips are hilarious (I've got mine set to Fret?) and actually helps you tonnes with pointers in match... plus the spatial surround of the audio is well done. I've no complaints about the volume either!! That rocket launcher is LOUD.

[Lebowski]

Are people playing a different game to me?

Its not a terrible looking game don't get me wrong but nothing in their is making me think wow that looks amazing. None of the footage of it in motion looks particularly amazing either. I really don't think this game is pushing the Xbox series x at all.

[nonny]

Mild spoiler warnings, shows first two boss fights...

[Lebowski]

some first impresions on teh campaign from Eurogamer

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-11-19-im-still-searching-for-a-spark-in-halo-infinites-campaign

TLDR

Fun combat, Generic Ubisoft style open world gameplay that's missing some of the scripted nature of Bungie era Halo games. is it true that it will be sometime in May before it hits the xbox?

[nonny]

some first impresions on teh campaign from Eurogamer

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-11-19-im-still-searching-for-a-spark-in-halo-infinites-campaign

TLDR

Fun combat, Generic Ubisoft style open world gameplay that's missing some of the scripted nature of Bungie era Halo games. is it true that it will be sometime in May before it hits the xbox?

It's out Dec 8th... I see you cut out a lot of the good comments from the article to make a point but I guess "fun combat" covers it...

I've got a feeling the first 4 hours aren't much to go on. We all know the top level open world isn't where the narrative is driven... you'll trigger key missions and levels as you progress and I'll wager the skill tree unlock and later levels will be where it starts to get interesting.

To me it still sounds promising and equally I like how the reviewer keeps mentioning the Silent Cartographer mission as a benchmark which is fair, but that level is halfway through Halo Combat Evolved... I'll wait for full reviews.

With the Biomes comment as well. I'm pretty sure 343 have said this game will take place entirely in this one, with further episodes expanding on that.

I'll have to check that but I think that's not changed.

[Brad]

Managed to squeeze an hour of halo in this morning. I think it plays brilliantly! For me to play an hour of a multiplayer fps is unheard of in the last few years so that says a lot. That said, I don’t think it looked that great graphically but I’m gonna put that down to the maps. All the maps I played were generic, inside a ship or building type affairs. I was playing on pc but with a 360 pad (because it’s halo and that’s how you play halo). There was nothing wrong with the graphics really, I think it’s just that it was more halo. I was getting about 90fps with everything turned up as high as it would go but this was as 1080p. I didn’t download the hires texture pack because I assumed there was no need at 1080p resolution?

[Lebowski]

It's out Dec 8th... I see you cut out a lot of the good comments from the article to make a point but I guess "fun combat" covers it...

I've got a feeling the first 4 hours aren't much to go on. We all know the top level open world isn't where the narrative is driven... you'll trigger key missions and levels as you progress and I'll wager the skill tree unlock and later levels will be where it starts to get interesting.

To me it still sounds promising and equally I like how the reviewer keeps mentioning the Silent Cartographer mission as a benchmark which is fair, but that level is halfway through Halo Combat Evolved... I'll wait for full reviews.

With the Biomes comment as well. I'm pretty sure 343 have said this game will take place entirely in this one, with further episodes expanding on that.

I'll have to check that but I think that's not changed.

I think i covered the basics, they said its Fun and the combat is great which is good to hear, I didn't think i was being negative, its only an early impression, we don't know what or how things will progress theirs lots of cool stuff they can do with just the Ring Biome, after all the ring in previouse games has been home to jungles crashed space ships, lakes and beaches as well as loads of forerunner architecture.

[nonny]

Managed to squeeze an hour of halo in this morning. I think it plays brilliantly! For me to play an hour of a multiplayer fps is unheard of in the last few years so that says a lot. That said, I don’t think it looked that great graphically but I’m gonna put that down to the maps. All the maps I played were generic, inside a ship or building type affairs. I was playing on pc but with a 360 pad (because it’s halo and that’s how you play halo). There was nothing wrong with the graphics really, I think it’s just that it was more halo. I was getting about 90fps with everything turned up as high as it would go but this was as 1080p. I didn’t download the hires texture pack because I assumed there was no need at 1080p resolution?

Don't know about the PC in regard to texture pack. Maybe try it and play spot the difference? Glad you liked it.