Topic: The everything Xbox thread

Man, I'm on a section of mission 10 in Halo Anniversary called "Light Fuse, Run Away", and it is absolutely brutal.

It's set in a very large, multi floored room, and you have to climb up to the third floor to undo 4(?) locks, then destroy the 4 vents they unlock, but I have had no success, due to the seemingly endless swarms of Flood (sometimes I swear they endlessly spawn if you try to stay back and try taking them all out before moving on. Only stopping to spawn if you push your way through).

What makes it really tough though is the sudden lack of checkpoints. I've opened all 4 locks, destroyed one of the vents, and fought my way through 4 or 5 waves of Flood, but after dying was sent back to the very beggining of the section due to there being absolutely no checkpoints inbetween all that.

@RR529 Checkpoints do occur but they're rather random. It helps once you've made some progress with unlocking/destroying vents to back off away from the flood. The corridors before you enter the engine room are safe provided you took out the enemies before you entered and a checkpoint will activate.

The reason checkpoints are rather random in this section is simply to prevent something which happens with some games released around the same time as Halo Combat Evolved (early 2000's) namely that you get a checkpoint, die and then the checkpoint reload makes you automatically die.

@GrumbleVolcano, thanks, that worked!

Anyhow, with that out of the way, I went on and beat the game! (that driving section was the most nerve wrecking thing in a game I've come across I think, lol). Anyway, I've had enough time to think on it.

Graphics/Art - I really liked the upgraded graphics. While the old graphics weren't bad per se (I switched occasionally to check them out), they were dark & bland (especially the interiors). The new graphics were overall brighter, with more vivid use of color, and bold neons used for both decoration & plasma blasts. They really gave the world a rich sci-fi vibe that's more welcoming than the old graphics. Ironically enough, my favorite mission though was mission 6, which had a moody horror vibe going on.

Gameplay/Design - I've not played many FPS games (this is my first in this series, too), but the core shooting gameplay was incredibly solid (never felt like anything mechanically was holding me back), so I'd say it's held up wonderfully (I did miss the little grenade indicator some games have, but that's a minor nitpick). It really had me using everything in the arsenal too (I found Plasma Guns & Plasma Rifles useful in the first half, while in the second half I often opted for the Assault Rifle & Shotgun, the latter of which I found to be essential. I even got some use out of the Pistol, and the Sniper Rifle & Rocket Launcher were musts in the situations that demanded them. The Needler was a fun weapon to play around with early on, but I never had much luck making any important use out of it. It also felt very good clearing a room with a well placed grenade, especially when it initiated a chain reaction). The vehicle controls however, were somewhat to be desired. Once I got decently used to them, they could be fun to play around in, but that final section was way too akward (maybe it wasn't so bad since I cleared it on my second try, but I'm not sure if I ever want to do that part again). It could be difficult, but never felt cheap (there were times I would get myself worked up, but usually because I wasn't properly making use of something in the environment). Still, I think I died more here than in any other 360 game I've played, and it always felt good to clear a mission. There was some deja vu with the environments, but it's understandable, and I never got turned around for too long.

Overall it was a very solid experience, and I can say I've played a Halo game. If I ever get the FPS itch again, it's good to know I have a series I can go back to. (Completed on "Normal")

Two and a half years ago, $499.

Present day, 50% off at $249.

Starting today and for a limited time in the US ~ all 500GB Xbox One consoles will be $249: - https://mobile.twitter.com/majornelson/status/757265827997417472

I'm actually surprised they've gone with the "limited" term once again. Just how many "limited" price cuts has the Xbox had? This is now the fourth one, no?

Never before have I seen a console being devalued so quickly in such a short space of time.

Even the Wii U, which is coming up to its fourth anniversary, has held its price - and pride - for longer!

Haven't had the chance to open it up yet, but my used copy of Front Mission Evolved (360) arrived in the mail today!

Never played this kind of mech game before (where you can sort of build & customise your own), so I picked this up since from the reviews I read, it has a bit more of a single player campaign than the other mech games I was looking at (Armored Core 4 & Chrome Hounds).

I really like Classic Game Room's reviews, and he said that while the game is rough around the edges & the story not so good, it's pretty fun if you're just looking for some mecha action, and it's really inexpensive now.

Thinking of getting a One S...

I just completed Act IV of Front Mission Evolved this afternoon, so I only have Act V left to go (if it's like the others, it'll have 3 missions).

Like the reviews said, it's a bit rough around the edges (I can only assume it was a budget project, and it shows), but I am having a nice time with it. While things are a tad (intentionally) cluncky, it's fun tromping around in your mech blowing up everything in your path. They do mix things up as well. While you'll mostly be fighting on the ground with your mech, there is the occasional rail shooting section (still in your mech, but you're riding along in a transport ship, shooting at enemies as you fly by) or on foot section (these take the form of inoffensive, albiet unremarkable, 3rd person cover shooter sections. They do their job of mixing things up though, even if they seem to be on the easier side compared to other parts of the game).

I'll come back with more complete impressions once I finish it up.

@WebHead If I had a 4K ready television, I may have taken the plunge myself. Trouble is, I struggle going through my backlog on both my 3DS and PlayStation 4 so, perhaps it would be wise if I don't!

I think it's just that 'new toy' feeling in all honesty...

On another subject altogether, Microsoft woke up with their first NPD 'win' since October last year, by just 10,000 units and against a home console that is $100 dearer too

The PlayStation 4 could only make do with an extra $12.5 million revenue instead.

Funnily enough, it was the good old 3DS that won the month!

@Peek-a-boo 3ds won because monhun. Last month was pretty dry for Xbox and PlayStation, especially at retail.

@WebHead I would also say that Pokémon Go also had a helping hand with the boost in 3DS sales.

Last month was very dry, software wise, compared to the likes of DOOM, LEGO Star Wars: A Force Awakens, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, Overwatch and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End in May and June respectively.

At least August is a decent month for games!

@Peek-a-boo Yeah, the true winner was ORAS not MHG.

@WebHead
If MS hadn't already announced the Xbox Scorpio I'd say go for the Slim. It's extremely well designed and the system already has a bunch of great games but the Scorpio might be even more awesome. We already know it's going to be a beast hardware wise, if it plays all X1 games and is getting exclusives though, you might regret not waiting.

If you do get a Xbox One though. Here's some good ones to start with... Sunset Overdrive (dirt cheap now and an excellent game), Gears of War Ultimate Edition, Dead Rising 3, Forza Horizon 2 or Motorsport 6 (depending on if you're more into arcade style racers or sims), Rare Replay, Inside and Halo 5 (disappointing single player but multiplayer is great).

Finished up Front Mission Evolved (360) earlier tonight!

Gameplay: You'll spend most of your time working your way through levels by clearing areas of enemy mechs (and other machinery, like tanks) before moving on to the next area, rinse, wash, repeat. The levels are pretty linear, though there are occasionally alternate paths to enter the next large area (and little crevices, etc. within) that you can use to suit your play style (you upgrage your mech as you make your way through the game, and while certain missions make you use a particular setup, you do have some freedom as to what kind of mech you want to have). There are also collectables hidden throughout most missions (3 medals, and 20 destructible terminal things). Controls are a bit tankish (intentionally), which may take a bit to get used to, but everything has a real satisfying oomph to it (especially combat). Your mech's limbs are damaged individually (if "destroyed", their effectiveness will be limited), and while your torso has regenerating health (it's your main life), everything else can only be repaired by finding healing items in the level (healing items in the environment will actually respawn after a bit, but those dropped by enemies won't). There are also ammo boxes everywhere, which replenish your ammo. If things get too tough, there is a "bullet time" mechanic you can activate. There are other types of gameplay sections to shake things up. Early on there's an timed escape mission, then occasionally you'll have a rail shooting section (in your mech, you'll shoot at enemies while being carried by a transport ship), and even the occasional on foot section. These take the form of unremarkable (though not necessarily bad) 3rd person cover shooter sections. They do serve to shake up the gameplay (though are much easier than everything else, IMO), and add even more collectables (in these sections you'll be able to find data keys, and destructible scramblers, in addition to the collectables mentioned before). There is also the occaional boss fight of course, though the last few can be pretty brutal (the rest of the game I didn't think was all that hard). It's composed of 17 Missions spread out over 5 Acts (though the first Mission was the tutorial), and most only took me a little over 30 minutes to tackle.

Story: It's cliché'd & nothing to write home about, and the voice acting is completely flat, but it does it's job of setting things up for giant robot action.

Graphics: The mechs look great, the environments look good for the most part (though there are some areas that look cheap), with varying environments (New York city, tropical island, Antarctica, desert, and in a space station. Mostly in/at military instillations). The people look like they're made of plastic however, and there's screen tearing in some of the cutscenes (what little bit of blood you see is very pixelized, too). The camera can be a bit of an issue, especially on the tropical island, with all the foliage.

It's not a great game, but it's a decent enough time, especially if you like the genré, or setting.

First real information about Scorpio and how the games work for both Xbox One and their new machine in over a years time:

• Scorpio will be able to play games like Forza Motorsport 6 that runs at 1080p/60fps (on the Xbox One) at 4K/60fps
• Scorpio will not be able to play games like Rise of the Tomb Raider that runs at 1080p/30fps (on the Xbox One) at 4K/60fps

This means they are striving (to make this work) so that if a game was originally performing at 1080p/60fps, it can run at 4K/60fps if the developers choose to go down this route.

Forza Motorsport 6

Xbox One = 1080/60
Scorpio = 4K/60

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Xbox One = 1080/30
Scorpio = 4K/30

In other words, the games will be exactly the same on both the Xbox One and the Scorpio except for the jump in resolution, from 1080p to 4K.

Seems to me that the Scorpio is just going to take 1080p games into 4K ones. Obviously you'll have to have a 4K television to see this leap in resolution too.

Speaking of 1080p 60FPS gaming...
[Hands-on impression incoming] I got to play Forza Motorsport 6 while I was in Frankfurt Airport, Germany. It was a somewhat good experience... except I couldn't drift properly. Now I can't enjoy racing games of any kind if I keep crashing into walls or going offroad when I'm attempting to make a turn ALL THE TIME. It's like the car (I switched between the Veyron and Ferrari) lost all ability to turn as soon as I mashed the brakes. I kept switching to other cars (which seemed to have their own seperate controls...) and even tried changing the advanced settings only to be scared away by all the vehicle terminology and whatnot. Then I stopped playing the game to look up how to drift online... and then I discovered the mechanics of drifting in this particular game weren't simple. Sheesh. It wasn't pleasant.
However, with all that said... Forza Motorsport 6 has somehow catapulted itself to a game that I would buy an Xbox One for (thank goodness for the Xbox One S). It offered me a challenge I must simply conquer. And it seems like a game I'd very much enjoy, despite my not-so-pleasant hands-on.
Wait, why was I reminded about 1080p 60FPS visuals...? Oh yeah, right! Forza Motorsport 6 looks amazing visually (that 60 frames per second, though). I don't really look much into visuals, however... and it certainly didn't make my experience any better.

Is Rare Replay on PC yet?

Well, my 360 hasn't spontaneously combusted yet...possibly because it hasn't been plugged in for over 4 months now...you win this round, Xbox. But there's a window(s) with your name on it...you and I both know you're only livin' on borrowed time...

@DarthNocturnal Even if it's more virtual driving drifting shouldn't be the most impossible thing to do. Tap brakes. Turn wheel. Drift. Control. Keep Driving. Simple as that (maybe even in the real world... I'm saying "maybe" because I don't have a car).

@DarthNocturnal It's from Albert Penello who is, according to his bio, the 'Senior Director of Product Management and Planning' at Microsoft Corporation.

Straight from the horse's mouth! You cannot get a better slice of information about how the Xbox One and Scorpio 'works' - and coexist - than from him.

One part makes me think, 'good news for present and future 4K television owners' whereas another part of me thinks, 'they are just offering exactly the same games albeit with a resolution to differ the two'.

I'm happy with 1080p, just as I am happy with the 'Retina' resolution across my iPad/iPhone/MacBook.

Unless you are a photographer or a video editor, I don't feel any real compulsion to make that leap to 4K in the foreseeable future.

I have seen of all these demonstrative marketing materials on various 4K televisions in shops and, whilst impressive, I did not get anywhere near that wow factor I once had from seeing a SD CRT to a HDTV.

@Peek-a-boo As I don't care about 4K looks like if I was to upgrade from my standard XB1 then the S would be the best option.