Xbox Series S/X: Thread 04

[fishbowlhead]

not the end of the world

Well at least it’s an easy metric to work out just how much waste has been produced for something that doesn’t work and the environmental damage caused. Good job MS.

[Neon Ignition]

MS doesn't need to produce more gaming waste, the PC Windows Store has had that covered for years. Can't believe they never sort it out

[nonny]

Played around 4 hours last night on Series X (on Quality mode 60fps)...

I think everything from the Digital Foundry analysis is on point. The cutscenes stutter due to frame pacing issues, and the 30fps facial animations in the same scenes are weird when everything in game is smooth.

Outside of that I've spotted zero issues. The first two linear missions are pure nostalgic Halo setup, imitating the original but with some really impressive work graphically. The second level especially is a real looker.

Then getting out into the open sections proper it just feels like a different experience. The first battle seems pretty epic in scale and yet it's only scratching the surface. One I'd unlocked the first forward base and been through the mechanic's of how the open world was going to work I decided to go completely off script and go searching.

This isn't the first time an open world FPS has impressed me but I think there is an almost perfect sweet spot here with the marriage of that Halo gunplay mechanics fused with the variety of strategy brought in by the new grapple shot. It feels like 343 is saying here is a new toy, now go out and play.

Absolutely love it so far. I'm only playing on normal right now to experience the story before I delve back in on legendary.

I don't think there is anything I don't like outside of the cutscene nitpicking. The graphics on Series X are super sharp and smooth. As I said I have gone for quality mode which is 4K60 dynamic, instead of performance which is 1440p120... 60fps is enough for me sacrificing very little and feeling pretty stable.

The biggest stand out so far though is the audio. The audio is absolutely brilliant. I'm playing with dolby atmos and the gunplay is loud. I had to dial it down to half volume... and the ambient sounds, dialogue and musical score is nigh on perfect. It has always been solid in Halo games but I think here the musicsl score is very special.

I was reading about the major issues this game has had over the last 6 years. Cutting huge pieces of it, struggling with staff etc... It's probably safe to say it's a miracle it's here and actually good. Whatever has gone on behind the scenes you can already tell this is 343s best effort at the helm by some margin. It's pretty gutsy moving to an open structure but it feels like the right move and if this is what Halo plays like in that sandbox I'm very hopeful for what comes next (presumably a lot of what was cut in episodic form!)

[Cassius_Smoke]

I'm going to go check it out tonight at a friend's house. I'm not a huge Halo fan but I want to see it for the eye candy and the textures alone.

[nonny]

I'm going to go check it out tonight at a friend's house. I'm not a huge Halo fan but I want to see it for the eye candy and the textures alone.

I think it looks great given the aesthetic choices made. The first two indoor levels are very nice and whilst I think the outdoor stuff shows its a cross gen title it still hits the mark.

The fact the Series X even tries to hit 120fps in performance mode in these sections it admirable, but I think quality mode is better.

I'm about to try it on Series S this morning (cough, work..) where I understand it's the reverse, with performance mode being the best bringing 60fps and quality only 30fps.

Seems the One X trumps the Series S in resolution but the Series S uses higher textures. I'm really hoping 343 can optimise the Series S more because the multiplayer in that is very slick and in the flight there was even a 120fps mode. I'd love it if they somehow managed a stable 1440p60 for Series S campaign.

[Brad]

OK I played this for a bit last night. I'm on a 1080p display on PC and the good news is it hits 144fps (and probably more but my display maxes out at 144Hz) with everything on maximum. However, I was not impressed with the graphics at all. The characters looked superimposed onto the environment and some of the animations and item movements are not running at the same rate as the rest of the game so I saw lifts descending in a jerky manner for example. Gameplay-wise it's halo again. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it basically feels like I've already played this game, 20 years ago. Admittedly I was only on the first level but not a good start. I will play some more though and I'm hoping it'll get better. Right now though this game feels like the very definition of playing it safe.

[MartyG]

I'm playing it 4K60 with dolby vision and it looks great, the gun play is classic Halo and works well. If you were expecting something that isn't Halo in a Halo game, then yes, you might be disappointed.

See BF2042 for what happens when you change the formula too much (or new coke).

[nonny]

I mean, yeah it's Halo... I don't think they've played it safe given from the 3rd level its almost a fully open world which the series has never done before...

[fishbowlhead]

I’ll probably get to play this next week now seeing as my broadband is down to 3mb’s. Need to get it sorted but im just never home in talk talks opening hours, tragic.

[Brad]

I mean, yeah it's Halo... I don't think they've played it safe given from the 3rd level its almost a fully open world which the series has never done before...

I shall press on then! It did FEEL really good. Like halo always does IMO. Weapons are satisfying. I think my complaints might be aimed at gaming in general really; graphical upgrades and not much else really. As I'm so rusty I chose the default difficulty level but I reckon I ought to go up the the next one really, which I think is what I usually play Halo on.

[nonny]

At least get to the part where you're dropped into the Halo and can go off and reclaim a few FOBs and take out a few strongholds.

It's like the biggest Halo sandbox dialled up as far as possible in scale.

This already makes me wish co-op was here and that there were a few diverse biomes but I can see precisely why balancing co-op must be a nightmare for them and I guess we will see new areas and biomes added in episodic story DLC.

[Brad]

OK that sounds awesome

[Cassius_Smoke]

I just ordered a new mouse off Amazon and I got an email saying I get 33% off GP. For buying a mouse?!
You have to wonder how MS make money from GP with so many ways to get money off it.

[Brad]

Ok so Halo is getting better. Or it was until I entered an area where the framerate dropped to 47fps. For no obvious reason. I dropped the settings to MEDIUM (6800Xt gpu), restarted and still 47fps. Wtf!? This is at 1080p. Gonna do some googling see if it is just me.

Edit: not just me. People with 3070s saying it drops to 30fps sometimes. I’ll wait for it to be fixed because it was getting good but I’m not playing at that framerate.

[Neon Ignition]

Trailer for Evil West, an action game coming exclusively to Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X next year