Xbox Series S/X: Thread 03

[Cassius_Smoke]

I don't really see how it's competing with CoD in a direct way, other than it being a FPS - it's on Game Pass, the MP is free to play for all and they play completely differently from each other (personally not a fan of Halo MP at all) and it's Xbox exclusive.

That's interesting actually. Halo should absolutely drown out the competition if it landed on the same day. If they are trying to give it some space to do well it might suggest MS aren't completely confident with it. Yes COD is damn popular, but this is a new Halo.

[Brad]

Is Halo that popular still though? I'm not sure it's still relevant. COD and BF and Fortnite have come in and taken up some of the role it used to play and they're all multi platform

[MartyG]

There are still people playing it: https://www.mccstats.com/ - not as many as CoD, but then there's not been a new game since 2015.

[fishbowlhead]

MS are probably more worried about the multiplayer side getting drowned out and quickly forgotten for whatever rubbish cod or fornite is peddling that week.

[Cassius_Smoke]

MS are probably more worried about the multiplayer side getting drowned out and quickly forgotten for whatever rubbish cod or fornite is peddling that week.

... Which doesn't bode well for a multiplayer game that's meant to last 10 years...

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, if Halo Infinite and COD19 launched on the same day it isn't Halo that would win that contest. Honestly, even if the MP is great I feel the plan to make Infinite a platform for a decade will end up being instrumental in the decline of Halo regardless of quality. Halo is popular but increasingly out of its era and launching Infinite then relying on the MP mode in Game Pass for that long will just drive up the brands irrelevance. I'd be fine with that, assuming Xbox successfully moves away from its trinity of brands, but unless they plan ODST and Reach style spin-offs etc I think a mothball may be set in motion.

[nonny]

I would take a new Halo multiplayer over any new COD even more so now given the amount of time since Halo 5.

I realise that's a minority view but honestly Warzone bores me to tears and whilst I did enjoy Black Op Cold War it's a different experience to Halo.

The fact that this is F2P gives it a good chance to get a foothold and it's still relevant, not least because the meta is so different.

[dataDave]

I reckon it's suicide releasing in the same year as a COD.

The best part about Halo was the online multiplayer, and that's been transcended by about a gazillion other options now in the seventeen years since it was last amazing.

It feels like they're only targeting the game to the types that collected all the Special Tat/Helmet Editions over the years. Is anyone else genuinely looking forward to it?

[Neon Ignition]

It's just kind of... there. For me I enjoy them when they release one but they're easy to forget and move on from

[Cassius_Smoke]

I'm intrigued by it only because its Microsofts massive mega game. This needs to looks awesome with particle effects and Ray Tracing coming out of its arse.

[nonny]

I reckon it's suicide releasing in the same year as a COD.

The best part about Halo was the online multiplayer, and that's been transcended by about a gazillion other options now in the seventeen years since it was last amazing.

It feels like they're only targeting the game to the types that collected all the Special Tat/Helmet Editions over the years. Is anyone else genuinely looking forward to it?

I honestly disagree because I think they're such distinctly different games.

I think 343 have made all the right moves here. Battle passes that don't expire, seasons that run for 3 months and an emphasis on not forcing players to grind...

It's counter to everything COD is doing in that respect and feels like they're making it for players to enjoy and drop in and out. Plus of course it's free to play where COD isn't outside of Warzone which is very much Battle Royale specific and in my opinion a hot mess.

Whether MS keeps player numbers high and interest levels there remains to be seen but I think the way they're pitching it is the right approach for it.

[Neon Ignition]

It'll be interesting to see how it differentiates itself from MCCs MP whilst also still retaining the right feel. It'd be real easy for it to feel redundant.

[randombs]

Based on that bit in the trailer where he plasma bombed the sword and caught it, I think it’ll do just fine.

[nonny]

Based on that bit in the trailer where he plasma bombed the sword and caught it, I think it’ll do just fine.

A year makes a big difference!

[nonny]

So Xbox cloud gaming is now officially out of beta and available to all game pass ultimate members through a browser (Edge or Chrome) on PC and also on iOS.

MS have also partnered with Backbone, the makers of that excellent iOS game controller to offer it with a full 3 months of game pass included at no extra cost when purchased.

On top of this cloud gaming is rolling out to more countries over the next few months and the hardware is now officially running on Series X hardware with 1080p60 available if bandwidth supports it.

Have to assume with the imminent first party titles joining the service and tapping into the Apple ecosystem this will bump up game pass numbers pretty significantly.