One Xbox To Rule Them All
When I had to choose a new video game console to buy, I had to consider several different factors for the decision.
I already have a decent amount of games for the Xbox One. Some were nice 'next-gen' experiences, although there's nothing out yet that shows a massive improvement over the previous gen (except for one, but I'll explain later). Here's a quick roundup:
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Strangely, Middle-Earth is now a franchise. Shadow of Mordor takes place in the Peter Jackson universe of Lord of the Rings, so Gollum looks like the CGI version. Whoever did his voice though was so good, I kept wondering if Andy Serkis was reprising his role (he wasn't).
Many people have described Shadow of Mordor as Assassin's Creed X Batman: Arkham City. In all honesty, that is exactly how it plays. It practically steals Arkham's combat system (even the button config is the same) and places it in an Assassin's Creed non-linear map. If that sounds appealing to you, I'm sure you'll like it.
There are 2 main bad things I can really say about Mordor. For one, it relies too much on previous knowledge of Tolkien lore. The Batman Arkham series did a great job of introducing villains in a way that even non-Batman fans could appreciate, but Mordor, doesn't quite work as well. The other fly in Mordor's ointment is the fact that practically all side missions in the game consist of variations of killing orcs. One mission might involve killing X orcs in Y minutes. The next might be killing X orcs again, but stealthily. The next might be killing X orcs to save Y humans. You get the picture.
That Nemesis system though... wow. It's one of the most excellent uses of next-gen horsepower in improving something other than graphics.The Nemesis system is basically a way for the game to keep track of all the encounters you have with Uruk Captains and allows for a dynamic rivalry between you and the AI in a way that feels very organic to the game. It also determines (via random variables) the behaviour of Uruk captains, whether they're afraid of fire, or invulnerable to stealth, etc. It's one of those water cooler games that everyone talks about and they all have different experiences even though they're playing the same game.
Rating: Quite nice, but not quite excellent
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
By now, you should already know whether you like Call of Duty or not. This is Call of Duty, with a sprinkling of the exosuit from Edge of Tomorrow / Live. Die. Repeat.
Since the developers, Sledgehammer Games, were formerly members from Visceral games, who did Dead Space, the exosuit concept makes sense.
Kevin Spacey's in there, too and he actually adds to the game. I don't think his character would work as effectively without him. If you just play through the game, you'd think the villain is pretty predictable and one-dimensional, but after every mission, you unlock an audio recording in the 'Intel' menu option and you get an additional layer out of Spacey's character that I was surprised by.
Yes, Kevin Spacey is the villain. Spoiler alert!
Of course, Advanced Warfare still has the same CoD traits that make it appealing to the mass market. The shooting is still really great (10x better than Uncharted), it runs at 60 fps, it's fast and there are lots of cool setpieces in the campaign that make you go "WHOA!", plus a main theme by Harry Gregson-Williams.
+1 to the game devs for including a co-op mode that works split-screen. We don't get enough of that lately.
Rating: Everything is awesome
Forza Horizon 2
Now THIS is next-gen.
So far, my favourite Xbox One game. Forza Horizon 2 takes the excellent Forza physics and feel (which I gradually liked more than Gran Turismo) and tweaks them to be more arcade-y then drops you somewhere near the border of Italy and France to run some open world racing.
I really, really, really like this game.
Because it's a bit arcade-y, there's a lot more drifting here than in the regular Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo series, but the cars feel much heavier than the newer Need for Speed games. In some ways, it reminds me of Sega Touring Car or Sega Rally, and it feels really great. There's also a subtle rumble in the triggers that simulates the feeling when you step on a car pedal and sort of feel the car's grip not quite being there.
Since it's open world, the races are all set in the same map, but there's actually a good variety of environments. The areas facing the Mediterranean are all lined with brick buildings and roads and have more of an urban feel. Going north adds mountains, with some areas specifically designed for rally races. In between, you have orchards, fields, warehouses, an airport, even ancient ruins. One course even includes a race through a golf course! The best part is, there are no invisible walls to stop you, even for races. It feels open quite literally. If you feel like cutting corners during races you are free to do so with no penalty, and usually there are just some checkpoints that are set that you need to run through so as long as you pass through those, you're good. The open feeling of racing is remarkable and really sells the idea that this could never be done on previous consoles.
The soundtrack is also really good. It leans toward European electronic music, which makes sense, but it works really well. There are several radio stations to choose from while driving, though I'm disappointed that there's no custom soundtrack option. However, the unlockable classical music station makes up for this lacking feature in my opinion. Listening to The Ride of the Valkyries while driving through farmland is epic.
Rating: IGN 3/10
- Enough interesting games available (exclusive or otherwise)
- Media playback capabilities
- Overall novelty
The Wii U had 1 and 3, but was lacking in media playback. PS4 had 1 and 2, but it was essentially just an upgraded PS3. Xbox One checked all 3 boxes.
There were finally enough games that I wanted to play. Xbox One brought Blu-ray playback to the Xbox family and gained MKV support in late 2014. The Kinect 2.0 also had great improvements over the previous one, and having it integrated into the whole console made everything seem more magical. Once you get used to saying "Xbox, On" and having the Xbox turn on itself AND the TV, you'll wonder how you got by without it.
 |
| Xbox One - now with Zero Gravity option |
There were finally enough games that I wanted to play. Xbox One brought Blu-ray playback to the Xbox family and gained MKV support in late 2014. The Kinect 2.0 also had great improvements over the previous one, and having it integrated into the whole console made everything seem more magical. Once you get used to saying "Xbox, On" and having the Xbox turn on itself AND the TV, you'll wonder how you got by without it.
I already have a decent amount of games for the Xbox One. Some were nice 'next-gen' experiences, although there's nothing out yet that shows a massive improvement over the previous gen (except for one, but I'll explain later). Here's a quick roundup:
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
 |
| Never trust a barber offering cheap haircuts |
Many people have described Shadow of Mordor as Assassin's Creed X Batman: Arkham City. In all honesty, that is exactly how it plays. It practically steals Arkham's combat system (even the button config is the same) and places it in an Assassin's Creed non-linear map. If that sounds appealing to you, I'm sure you'll like it.
There are 2 main bad things I can really say about Mordor. For one, it relies too much on previous knowledge of Tolkien lore. The Batman Arkham series did a great job of introducing villains in a way that even non-Batman fans could appreciate, but Mordor, doesn't quite work as well. The other fly in Mordor's ointment is the fact that practically all side missions in the game consist of variations of killing orcs. One mission might involve killing X orcs in Y minutes. The next might be killing X orcs again, but stealthily. The next might be killing X orcs to save Y humans. You get the picture.
That Nemesis system though... wow. It's one of the most excellent uses of next-gen horsepower in improving something other than graphics.The Nemesis system is basically a way for the game to keep track of all the encounters you have with Uruk Captains and allows for a dynamic rivalry between you and the AI in a way that feels very organic to the game. It also determines (via random variables) the behaviour of Uruk captains, whether they're afraid of fire, or invulnerable to stealth, etc. It's one of those water cooler games that everyone talks about and they all have different experiences even though they're playing the same game.
Rating: Quite nice, but not quite excellent
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
 |
| Your exosuits are imports from K-Pax |
Since the developers, Sledgehammer Games, were formerly members from Visceral games, who did Dead Space, the exosuit concept makes sense.
Kevin Spacey's in there, too and he actually adds to the game. I don't think his character would work as effectively without him. If you just play through the game, you'd think the villain is pretty predictable and one-dimensional, but after every mission, you unlock an audio recording in the 'Intel' menu option and you get an additional layer out of Spacey's character that I was surprised by.
Yes, Kevin Spacey is the villain. Spoiler alert!
Of course, Advanced Warfare still has the same CoD traits that make it appealing to the mass market. The shooting is still really great (10x better than Uncharted), it runs at 60 fps, it's fast and there are lots of cool setpieces in the campaign that make you go "WHOA!", plus a main theme by Harry Gregson-Williams.
+1 to the game devs for including a co-op mode that works split-screen. We don't get enough of that lately.
Rating: Everything is awesome
Forza Horizon 2
 |
| Benz on the Run |
So far, my favourite Xbox One game. Forza Horizon 2 takes the excellent Forza physics and feel (which I gradually liked more than Gran Turismo) and tweaks them to be more arcade-y then drops you somewhere near the border of Italy and France to run some open world racing.
I really, really, really like this game.
Because it's a bit arcade-y, there's a lot more drifting here than in the regular Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo series, but the cars feel much heavier than the newer Need for Speed games. In some ways, it reminds me of Sega Touring Car or Sega Rally, and it feels really great. There's also a subtle rumble in the triggers that simulates the feeling when you step on a car pedal and sort of feel the car's grip not quite being there.
Since it's open world, the races are all set in the same map, but there's actually a good variety of environments. The areas facing the Mediterranean are all lined with brick buildings and roads and have more of an urban feel. Going north adds mountains, with some areas specifically designed for rally races. In between, you have orchards, fields, warehouses, an airport, even ancient ruins. One course even includes a race through a golf course! The best part is, there are no invisible walls to stop you, even for races. It feels open quite literally. If you feel like cutting corners during races you are free to do so with no penalty, and usually there are just some checkpoints that are set that you need to run through so as long as you pass through those, you're good. The open feeling of racing is remarkable and really sells the idea that this could never be done on previous consoles.
The soundtrack is also really good. It leans toward European electronic music, which makes sense, but it works really well. There are several radio stations to choose from while driving, though I'm disappointed that there's no custom soundtrack option. However, the unlockable classical music station makes up for this lacking feature in my opinion. Listening to The Ride of the Valkyries while driving through farmland is epic.
Rating: IGN 3/10
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