Xbox (Series X - $750 and Series S - $500) - 10/11/20

[t0mby]

5 mins into the first level and I get hot flushes and motion sickness. Maybe it's the stable frame rate.

[Ambrose Burnside]

TS2's controls feel a bit "off" these days cos the controller standard for FPS hadn't really been established yet. So it might be related to that?

TS3 is better in that respect.

I do like how fast it loads now. Literally cannot read the scrolling hints on the loading page because it's so fast

[Madmya]

Starfield looks ridiculously good. Probably the best new exclusive Microsoft have had in a long time. Can't believe it's out in a year... I'm worried it'll be underdone.

And Forza Motorsport...

[flipswitch]

Yes. Looked great. I watched the whole 15 minutes showcase of it which included trailer, demo and just what to expect. The only issue I saw was its poor performance in the demo. I would guess it wasn't hitting 30fps and had constant stutter, but the game is a long way off so they can polish. PC should be better as expected. I wonder if NVIDIA have some kind of RTX goodies for PC.

Looking forward to some gameplay on Forza. The showpiece they showed was cool. Glad they are going to full dynamic route on tracks and weather.

I think in the coming days we will have some new gameplay.

[Madmya]

Yeah, outdoors in particular wasn't performing well. The scope of this game is massive... just imagine all the kinds of bugs that won't get ironed out in time.

None of the other games really interested me. Getting old, man.

[unfnknblvbl]

Starfield just looks like No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 had a baby. Even though I wore like both of those games, I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Forza Motorsport, though... This looks amazing. I sure hope it's not another "infinite development" title though. That would be hell for car licensing.
Also, I hope the car roster is much, much better than FM7 was...

[Madmya]

Forza Motorsport, though... This looks amazing. I sure hope it's not another "infinite development" title though. That would be hell for car licensing.
Also, I hope the car roster is much, much better than FM7 was...

Toyota MR2 or bust?

I definitely got No Man's Sky vibes from Starfield too, which isn't a bad thing to me. I actually don't really like NMS... simply because the universe is randomly generated which is a really boring idea to me. I'm sure they're randomly generated in Starfield too, but they would have at least put their own touches on each of these planets in some way, which is much better in my opinion. Just seems like a better NMS to me.

[Madmya]

MW2 is not gamepass though... bullshit!

[unfnknblvbl]

Forza Motorsport, though... This looks amazing. I sure hope it's not another "infinite development" title though. That would be hell for car licensing.
Also, I hope the car roster is much, much better than FM7 was...

Toyota MR2 or bust?

Hah, kinda. The Toyota lineup in FM7 is atrocious. Three identical Stockcars, three enormous trucks that have no place on the tarmac, and an LMP car. No Supra, Celica, MR2, 86... The TVR lineup is equally gutted, as were those of Citroen and Lincoln. De Tomaso isn't even present, but the Lykan Hypersport is there, despite the fact that it's literally a hoax.

There was a hell of a lot wrong with FM7. Hopefully the long wait between games is a sign that Turn 10 have taken the criticisms seriously..

[t0mby]

Well the long wait is apparently due to the fact this is pretty much a reboot and built from the ground up, hence it's just called Forza Motorsport and not FM8.

[unfnknblvbl]

Yeah, that's something that worries me. I'm concerned that we're getting another "infinite development" game that's just never going to be finished. That, and the possibility that Turn 10 have learnt the wrong lessons from FM7. I think I remember them saying they knew they got it wrong, but I just don't trust any developer these days..

[t0mby]

Wtf happened to Blade Runner Remaster? What a mess, so glad I didn't just purchase it without looking at the reviews. Yes, gameplay is pretty much intact bit the atmosphere is gone, interactive characters now don't reflect any light from nearby sources so they all stand out like pasty skinned farmers from Devonshire. Guess I'll just have to keep an eye on may future patch notes.

[Froggy]

Interesting, just read up that they made the remaster from re-engineering the code as they had no access to the source. No wonder.

[Rorschach]

Nightdive Studios are hacks as well, wouldn't trust them with any game. Still waiting for the remaster of System Shock I backed back in 2017.

[unfnknblvbl]

they "forgot" to add invert look to the Powerslave/Exhumed remaster and it took them months to add it.

They did good with Quake, though. Weird that they chose their own engine for that one, though.

[Froggy]

Picked up super monkey ball from games men for 23 bucks or so the other day. Geez this is great, only looked on xbox series x but launch edition was on sale. Really good even if you had the old ones.

[t0mby]

Midnight Fight Express just dropped on Gamepass, it's not a bad little beat em up, top down, combos aplenty. Original image made it look like it might be another Hotline Miami with all the people wearing all sorts of masks. Each level completed gives you a point to spend on upgrading Melee, Grapple, Parry etc and the chance to go back to earlier levels with your upgraded character. Worth the download anyway, or even just try it on Cloud to see if it's your cup of tea (which I did first). Some sort of co-op would've been nice but alas. Get on it.

[Mavy]

Played through Just Cause 4. Very similar to Far Cry 6.

Strange thing was I couldn't believe this game was made in 2018, looked like a 360 game.

Turns out it runs in 720p mode on the Series X for some reason. Could have got the One X out and played in 4k* but just downloaded it in PC and played in real 4k.

One good thing about game pass ultimate is the cross saving. Didn't lose any progress. This should be standard across all platforms. Would be handy.

Really fun game though, a bit simple, and not that challenging, but heaps of fun.

[unfnknblvbl]

conversely, I've been playing through Red Dead Redemption on my Series X, and I occasionally have a hard time believing it's running in the X360 BC mode. What a generation the PS360 was!

[Froggy]

aoe2 is now on xbox! With apparently fantastic controller controls. I'm gonna have to give it a go to believe it but looks like they pulled off the impossible:

https://press-start.com.au/features/202 ... -possible/

https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/p ... ll-on-xbox

[unfnknblvbl]

I hate the new homescreen. I am so sick of literally every device I own turning into advertisement machines, constantly shoving "tailored suggestions" down my throat. They're not tailored at all, ffs. if they were tailored, they wouldn't exist because you'd know I can't stand that shit.

[Froggy]

I thought the update had bricked my old one x but it came back after a couple of hard resets. Looks alright on the SX, I prefer it to the vertical one, I think I'm immune to the constant advertising now. The kids couldn't find anything though which was surprising they usually adapt fast to everything.

[Madmya]

I like the updated dash too. The ads... yeah for some reason they're not irking me on the xbox. Most of the ads I notice are related to games sales which I'm happy to be alerted about. But I do get what you mean, my Samsung TV has ads inserted into the Home bar. I feel violated by those ads.

[Froggy]

Starfield, do we have a thread?

[Froggy]

Maybe we do but I can't seem to find it. Getting big scores, here comes the Series X! This is the kind of game that can give multi-year momentum, look at people still playing elder scrolls for example. I'm more shocked it's not turned out a cyberpunk 2077 schmozzle.