Xbox One Launch – First Impressions
The Xbox One launch has arrived, and here at bone-idle, we were lucky enough to play around a little bit with the software and hardware before it was officially released to the masses.
Here are the games we played at the launch party and, while we didn’t get nearly enough time to make any final judgments on them, this is what we thought at a glance:
The very first thing we noticed as we walked into the exhibit room was what a focus there was on FPS’s. The room itself was shaped a little like a medieval shield, with one side made up of CoD: Ghosts and the other consisting of Battlefield 4 (while the ridge of the shield was made up of Kinect games, which were being showcased up on stage.)
And while these are the titles that are the most beneficial for Microsoft (i.e. the most profitable), it was the crest of arms at the centre that left the biggest impression. Grouped together in little square booths were a number of indie-titles and one or two other notably impressive triple-A games.
And while many hardcore gamers moved slowly and determinedly towards the gunfire exhibitions along the perimeter, the atmosphere in the middle of the room was more relaxed, friendly and, crucially, fun.
Killer Instinct:
Like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, Killer Instinct got an overhaul at the Xbox One launch, and it has been a long time coming.
A free-to-play downloadable launch title, Microsoft made a smart move offering such a tight little package to show off their system’s power from the get-go. For now, it offers a roster of merely 6 players, but each are well balanced and, more importantly than one might think, very memorable.
Games like Dead or Alive 5 or Tekken Tag Tournament 2 might offer a massive roster of 30 players, but not all of them are distinctive from one another.
In Killer Instinct, it’s very unlikely that you’ll confuse Sabrewulf with the ice-wielding Glacius. Each character has their own distinctive move set, specializing in close, mid to ranged combat. And though there are only 6 characters to begin with, it seems likely that more KI favourites will appear as DLC as time goes by.
Admittedly, the power of a next gen console isn’t really apparent unless you are watching closely for the small details that are constantly moving in the well crafted locations (leaves in the wind, unsettled dust). It adequately showcases the consoles potential, but at least there is a very fun game in here for what is essentially the most reasonable price you can ask for.
Peggle 2:
For anyone who played the wildly addictive Peggle, the announcement of a sequel must have felt like both a godsend and a curse.
While hardly showcasing the power of the Xbox One, the appearance of Peggle 2 at the launch party is still a very good sign for the masses and especially anyone who isn’t sold on games like Call of Duty alone.
Sony has made it clear that their arms are wide open to indie developers, eagerly encouraging anyone with the ability to develop for the PS4. It is gratifying to see that Xbox, despite being in a rivalry with Sony, are not veering off onto a radically different course, and that they realize there is a market for games such as these.
And it is clear to see why. Peggle 2 is every bit as addictive as it’s predecessor. For those who don’t know, the game is essentially a mix between pinball and the classic game Breakout.
You launch your ball from the top of the screen, aiming to knock out as many blocks as possible. If you launch it in such a way that it lands in the moving bucket below, you get a free ball.
The game is simplicity itself, but a real threat to any spare time you may have on launch day.
Zoo Tycoon:
A particularly niche title, Zoo Tycoon is the successor to the PC game of the same name. Unfortunately, our time spent with this game revealed the gameplay to be somewhat sluggish, feeling very much like something that should be played with a mouse and keyboard rather than the Xbox controller.
Geared towards the Theme Park and Theme Hospital crowd, it is safe to say that if those games never appealed to you, this probably won’t either.
However, it certainly tries hard to broaden it’s appeal with a brand new “zookeeper” mode, in which you can explore your Utopian zoo, complete with little zoo carts (and possible even some GTA style tomfoolery?).
It is here that we get any kind of glimpse of what the Xbox One will offer to developers. Dragging and dropping massively detailed zoo enclosures which can be altered dynamically is one thing, but being able to explore it afterward as a character is an impressive feature. The game’s quest system is simplistic at first, but it will take a well managed mind to be able to keep a full zoo.
While this game may appear to be something built to appeal to younger gamers, mature players may find a lot to offer within it. If you’re into that sort of thing…
Dead Rising 3:
Easily the strongest card in Microsoft’s deck is the mindlessly enjoyable zombie basher that is Dead Rising 3. A wonderfully fun concept is brought to life (or undeath) and it is just as fun as one might imagine it to be.
As the demo started, we were pitched into an outdoor market area, wielding a sledgehammer, with the intimidating sight of a horde of zombies slowly lumbering towards us.
In less than 5 minutes, our character was sporting a banana hammock, while brandishing a ‘lethal’ handbag, shortly before climbing into a JCB and ploughing through literally hundreds of zombies in, what looked like, a Christmas fair.
It is the sheer absurdity of things to do that made this game such a treat to play. The map itself wasn’t enormous, but it still suggested there were many, many more options hidden away with which to clobber the undead.
While doing nothing but bashing zombie brains in has the potential to get boring over the course of the campaign, there is no arguing that it is a terrific amount of fun in small doses. A terrific party game, and certainly one to consider picking up on launch day.
Another aspect of the game worth mentioning is the fact that it showcases the processing power of the hardware. This is one of the few areas where you can clearly see what simply could not be done on previous gen consoles. The environments may be standard, but it is truly impressive to see over a hundred distinct zombies moving onscreen at once.
At times, it is noticeable that the zombies in the background are just standing idly by until you get close enough to ‘activate’ them, but this is but a minor complaint.
Ryse: Son of Rome:
Games like Ryse come along every generation and they nearly always fall into obscurity, for better or for worse.
Some may remember Barbarian for the PS2 and Xbox.
Other may remember Viking for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
They tend to range from mediocre-to-good in terms of quality, but never make any sort of impression.
The reason for this being that each of these games are ‘concept’ games. They select an era as their starting point, and nothing is allowed to overshadow that as their principle selling point.
An unfortunate result of this is oppressively forgettable characters and gameplay that remains very much in ‘safe’ territory.
With Ryse, both of these stigmas appear to be present. However, this is not definite, as the demo we played was not the main campaign but rather some sort of Colosseum mode.
The main character is a same-y, bland type of hero, one who seems to be defined solely by the era he occupies. The gameplay also seems to play it safe by sticking to a tried-and-tested formula.
The good news, however, is that the formula it appears to be mimicking is the Batman: Arkham franchise. Combat felt incredibly smooth and free-flowing, with a constant switching between sword and shield in order to best your enemies. While the prediction here is that the game’s story and setting will ultimately be yawn-inducing, it is nice to see that the gameplay itself (from what was seen) is both accessible and rewarding. Much like…
LocoCycle:
The surprise hit of the Xbox One launch party, in this writers opinion, was undoubtedly LocoCycle.
While the visuals were average, even by 360 standards, and the concept bizarre, it married two much-loved game genres and then tied the ribbon with quirky absurdity.
What we have here is essentially a hybrid of old-school brawlers and 90’s driving games, like Road Rash. The game is apologetically simple, but adrenaline-fueled. You play as a sentient motorbike, dragging a reluctant passenger behind you and….well, it appears the government is trying to destroy you, for reasons unknown, but they may not be unknown. We didn’t really see anything resembling a storyline here.
The fact that you can boost your speed to adrenaline pumping velocities, and then attack other racers with meta-morphing bike parts when they get in the way shows a creative streak that isn’t usually seen in straight-up action games. The combat itself isn’t refined to just one button either…..instead, it is refined to two, but let’s give it some credit, shall we?
At a glance, LocoCycle is a wonderfully wacky game, and with a great sense of humour. The bike itself has a personality that is very similar to GLaDOS, of Portal fame.
“I don’t think those men are getting paid enough to die,” she’ll say. “But then, what do I know? I’m only the most advanced piece of motor technology in the world”.
It simply screams good times yet, as optimistic as we may be, there are many telling signs that it will probably end up being a tour of repetition. Combat, while fun, seems a little too simple, with a number of QTE’s popping their ugly heads up. And the level that Microsoft chose to show us was exciting, but hardly original. Basic motorway with a brief snow period. Decent, but not jaw-dropping.
Here’s hoping we’re wrong!
Crimson Dragon:
As a spiritual successor to the Panzer Dragoon series, Crimson Dragon absolutely oozed potential. This could have showcased some truly impressive art design complimented with state of the art graphics, and also given the series the cinematic boost that it has always needed. Essentially, it could have been the fantasy game to sweep up the Tolkien and Harry Potter crowd.
Unfortunately, from what we saw, it failed on most of these points. From a distance, when we glimpsed it, this game could have easily been any of the old Panzer Dragoon games. Same design, same camera, same old.
It didn’t get much better as we got closer. There were moments of visual beauty, but just as we began to appreciate these, an ugly cliff face with noticeable polygons would pop up. Inconsistency was this games biggest downfall.
When we finally got our hands on the controller, it became clear that this was a game that hated its players. The dragon itself was difficult to control, an aspect that wasn’t complimented by the wacky difficulty spikes.
It all came to a head when the boss we fought, which should have been an assessment of all we had learned throughout the level, was easier than most enemies we had fought in the game.
While not necessarily a bad game, in its own right, this certainly felt like a missed opportunity to showcase the Xbox’s potential for variety.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood:
Similar to Crimson Dragon, the sequel to Max and the Magic Marker also feels like a missed opportunity, but less of a letdown, to be fair.
Playing this game tested our patience, but for all the wrong reasons. The puzzles were simple, cleverly designed but not particularly taxing. It made use of the physics engine, though not to great effect.
The fact is, this is a game that we have seen before. Very little seems to have changed from the original game, other than the transition into 3D. And in actual fact, while that doesn’t hinder the gameplay in any noticeable way, it doesn’t necessarily compliment the package as a whole either.
Max and the Magic Marker was a quirky and fun little indie title, and the simple 2D graphics were charmingly representative of that. By pushing it into 3D, it raises expectations that this game is going to be bigger and better when it feels anything but.
I played through half a level before getting bored and moving onto something else, the entire time thinking of other games I had played or wanted to play. It may turn out that this game explores great new ideas as the campaign progresses, but this was not evident in the demo we played.
Forza Motorsport 5:
Unashamedly the proudest exhibition of the Xbox One’s graphical capabilities, Forza 5 is the game that is going to ‘wow’ people the most during the launch. Like the cars it showcases, it is sleek, shiny and incredibly powerful.
That said, despite what you may hear, this is very much a game for motorheads and few others. As someone who’s racing library consists largely of Crash Team Racing and Mario Kart, this is a game that left me disoriented and confused by the time I was finished.
For several minutes, I was convinced the console I was playing on was stuck on some sort of exhibition mode, refusing to let me play the game. It soon dawned on me that, having selected the car I wished to race with, I had to wait a further ten seconds or so for the camera to caress every angle of the bodywork before the game would eventually ask:
“Are you sure you wish to race with this vehicle?”
Yes, Forza, yes, I am sure.
Having eventually figured this out, I dived right into the game.
……well, in truth, I splashed clumsily about in the game for a while, trying to figure out how to change the camera to a third person view.
It was while fumbling about with this that I took note of the impressive ‘reverse time’ feature, in order for you to correct your mistakes should you crash. I pressed this a number of times by accident, but the one time I actually tried to use it practically, it wouldn’t work. This may be my own ignorance at work here, but it still suggests that Forza is catering purely for those who know the automobile lingo and not to newcomers.
All that aside though, it was still a momentously impressive title. The controls, once I figured them out, were smooth, and the speed at which I flew around the racetrack was exhilarating. The way the sun was reflected on some surfaces of the track, but not others, was impressive and the blur effects added a terrific sense of speed.
A solid addition to the Xbox One launch line-up, and a true testament to its potential.
Call of Duty: Ghosts:
Ironically, the game that is guaranteed to sell the most copies on this console is also one of the worse indicators of how the Xbox One can actually improve on a last generation title. To be fair, this is a fault of the franchise itself rather than the system, as Call of Duty seems terrified to deviate from its well established formula, considering the billions it is making.
I mean, a dog? Seriously? This is what counts as creative innovation? Whatever, let’s get this piece over with…
Advancements of any kind are barely noticeable in the latest installment of CoD. Despite Microsoft’s best efforts, Ghosts could easily have been any previous gen CoD game and if you’ve bought every installment so far, you’ll probably be delighted to hear this.
(You also have too much money, you megalomaniac).
The level on display is noticeably more lush than the previous brown battlefields, taking place in what looks like the ruins of Scotland. This is clearly to showcase the ‘variety’ of colours in the game, and it looks standard. Again, very little seems to have changed from Modern Warfare.
The gameplay is as tight as ever, so minor changes may been made, though they aren’t noticeable. The transition between each CoD game is almost seamless, but there does seem to be a gradual evolution over time. This is something that most of the gamers at the launch seemed to be able to appreciate, but not us at bone-idle.
Let’s just say, the title ‘Ghosts’ felt particularly resonant by the end of that Deathmatch…
Battlefield 4:
And continuing on with the theme of ‘franchises that haven’t changed at all’, Battlefield 4 popped its head up to greet us.
As with CoD, not much has changed here from previous installments, though the destructible environments were notably impressive on this system. However, this is only really apparent if you are looking out for it, something you most likely won’t be doing if you’re trying to stay alive in a 10-party Deathmatch.
It should be noted that there is a layer of complexity here that wasn’t present in CoD which can either mean A) a more tactical experience or B) less accessible. And if FPS’s aren’t really your thing, you will almost certainly fall into category B.
Kinect Sports Rivals\Just Dance 4:
Finally, it wouldn’t be an Xbox launch if they didn’t show off their useless peripheral.
To be completely fair, the games that Microsoft presented which utilized the Kinect were about as accessible and fun as you can get with the Kinect. The unfortunate truth, however, is that it’s just never more fun than simply playing a game the traditional way.
In the waterskiing game that we played, there was no doubt that the Kinect 2.0 had in fact improved on the original design. It was more precise and picked up our actions far better than the previous iteration. It might even be accurate to say that the time spent playing with it was ‘fun’.
The same can be said of Just Dance 4, but more so, because there isn’t a pervading sense that you could be simply playing the game with a controller. It picked up our moves quite well and there were only one or two occasions where we were unsure what we had done wrong.
But before we get carried away, the question you need to ask yourself is, if it weren’t free and right in front of you, would you be in any way bothered with it? And the answer is almost certainly going to be a no.
Sure, you can fool yourself into thinking that it might be worth it for parties, but ask yourself: How many parties have you taken out your Kinect, or even Wii Sports, since you’ve bought it?
It’s an improvement, sure, but at the end of the day the Kinect itself remains a fairly useless and money-grabbing peripheral.
So there you have it!
In a nutshell, it was clear to see from the room layout and way individual titles were hyped that Microsoft’s focus is more on it’s triple A games and FPS’s.
It’s good to see that they aren’t completely disregarding indie titles, as some of these games look to have potential, like LocoCycle and Peggle 2. However, many of these titles, even the standouts, also suggest a laziness in design, as if their inclusion is for the sake of appearances and nothing else.
Some really solid launch titles, Xbox One seems to have a pretty good start.
But will it stay that way?
Written by Stephen Hill and David Hill
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