Wait there’s a new console generation? It’s amazing how seven years fly by when the world is going to shit. Anyway enough of that, you have not come to me for doom mongering but to find out how the hell the new Xbox stacks up. A good starting point is how new consoles were traditionally released and my experience of them. Back in the heady days of 2005 (and for the decades prior) a new shiny console would release with a slew of new games. Players could pick up any number, go home plug it all together and be away very quickly with new titles.
Before even this back with cartridges it was even quicker, allowing you to jump in and out of games in seconds. Sadly modern gaming does not pertain to this. Game installations, day one updates, teething problems. All can affect you though more on this later. As for my history I got the PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One X all on day one. Usually would have to wait a few months to save up or wait for Christmas. I was genuinely excited for the Series X launch, particularly once the stellar reviews went up. So having spent a decent amount of time with it, how is it?
Hardware
There have been many dismissive views of the cuboid design but I actually think this is the best looking console in a very long time. You had the Elizabethan house overhang of the One X and the collapsing cake of the PS4 Pro (which had atrocious button design). This is more akin to a subwoofer or a slimmer PC tower. I like it though even if people describe it as a bin!! Even Microsoft played up to it with the creation of Fridges….
I was expecting something bigger than it actually is, very stout and bottom heavy. Feels more natural upright which nicely saves space. The holes in the top show the huge fan but have this lovely green edging at certain angles. Simple button layout on the front, low key on the back. Lovely.
Of all the things that most impress me is just how quiet it is. It’s basically a whisper when running at full speed mid game, an incredible design achievement. A look online does note that some users are having issues with the disk drive, whilst mine works, it is overly noisy upon putting a game in. Not the end of the world but slightly disconcerting over the first couple of days. I doubt I will be watching many films on here.
It all ships in a box with excellent padding (the outside of mine was pretty battered) and is rather bare bones inside, just a HDMI & power cable along with the controller. The controller is an interesting one as it has a lot of subtle changes compared to the PS5 haptic controller. As I have obviously not used that I can only put the new wireless controller against the old.
And you know what? I really like it. The grippy texture added to the underside and the main shoulder triggers are fantastic. In hindsight it's bewildering they did not do that years ago. Simple but great. The D-Pad has been upgraded to a new circular concave shape that again is better. Currently my favourite part is the Share button that automatically takes a screenshot. This is about 14 billion% better than the old system. Button presses are a little loud, very clicky but not a deal breaker.
Installation
My main worry on the day was installation and how well the software update would go. Unfortunately my hard drive packed up on One X a few months ago and I had tried fixing it by wiping it. This alas didn't work but did give me a dry run on set up. Two things made it easier for me, I had the Xbox app installed and I wasn't copying any game files across. In the end I was up and away in less than an hour.
First power on and I got stuck at the splash screen for 10 minutes. Fuck. It can crash right out of the box can it?! A quick power cycle and I was away! Using a code in the App linked my account to the console without the password, which promptly started downloading the day one update after I connected to the WiFi. 750mb is pretty reasonable, even for my internet! Anyone who has updated an Xbox One will know the progress screen and numerous restarts.
One brilliant touch was making the users update the controller after the console update was complete. Really wise by Microsoft, it didn't take too long and saved a tonne of effort as I found the other week trying to do it on my One X. I faffed around for 20 minutes and still did not update them.
The console then asks about your settings, which I just copied across from before. Select your profile and you're away! Only thing missing was making sure was my 'Home' console. Weird omission but it was a quick fix. Now time to download some games and play around with the UI...
UI
I think the UI is the one thing that has really thrown me. Usually you get a new console and they chuck in completely new software and for a few days it is utterly bewildering. But here MS paved the way by launching it on last gen for the best part of this year. I have already been using this so I know exactly where everything is. It may not feel next gen in that sense but it’s great to be so familiar already.
Boy does it all load far quicker . Had a tonne of System setting crashes previously and these all seem to have been erased. Supposedly there is a decent level of customisation but without having enough games I can’t really play around with. It's far better than the PS4 with so many options hidden away and unnerving background sounds. I still prefer the Switch which while utterly basic has a lot of elegance. It's just games games games. To be fair there is a lot going on here and there is a need to show case Game Pass and the like.
My only real issues have been menus crashing and instantly taking me to the home screen. I suppose these will be ironed out, I've seen far worse. Quick Resume is a feature I have not extensively played around with but it hasn't really worked for me so far. In fairness Microsoft warned it would not be perfect on Day One so I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Gameplay
Of course this is what we all really care about. How are the games?! Well this is the elephant in the room. There aren't any big new exclusive releases for Xbox outside of the console version of Gears Tactics. Only kicking off my slow internet at 6pm I knew I had to get some smaller games on the go. Game Pass has a slew of great titles and alongside my own digital collection I had enough to get the measure of things.
First up Subnautica! This ocean exploration & crafting survive-em-up has been around for a couple of years. I played a few hours and liked what I saw but had numerous graphical issues that ruined the lovely assecthic. Pop in, glitchy animations, poor textures abound but on this console it looked far better. Sure there will have been patches since I last played but it ran far better and surely the new console was a big help?
Unfortunately I had completely forgotten how the hell to play the game and even after starting again wasn't making great progress. Luckily Celeste had just installed so let’s see how this indie gem held up on the big screen? Obviously amazingly. I mean it’s about 43mb big, of course it was going to run perfectly. I was more interested in how the controller held up with sweaty palms from bastard hard platform levels? Actually pretty great, those grippy areas really help.
I am not entirely sure Microsoft was launching with me in mind as I fired up my 360 digital version of Super Meat Boy and….it crashed! As the console booted me back to the home screen it dawned on me that it probably wasn't high on games to check before launch so let's move swiftly on. (For those concerned I downloaded it two days later and rattled through 20 levels with A+ no problem). So what about a big game!?
I had many options of what to go with but what I had been itching to play was some historical FPS action. So COD WW2 it is! I know this is a few years old by now but I have been away from the series for a long time and all I really wanted was some sweet M1 Garand action. Selecting Hardened difficulty I wanted to see what it's all about. And you know what, it's a pretty good game. It also runs very well.
I have not yet had the chance to do any next gen gaming. I fired up No Mans Sky after a couple of months away and my planet still looks lovely. It has an update for the X & S, the game sure loads quicker. Until I try something truly ground-breaking I am very happy with having games far faster and better looking. There are about 29 more games in the download queue so plenty of chances to see how things look!
After a mere three days with the console it is hard to say how it will go. I have really liked what I have seen so far. It’s well made, runs as quick and quiet as has been reported. Though there is no exclusive titles there is a nice touch in Game Pass whereby optimised games are labelled as X S. My main worry is with it being a day one purchase, how well is the hardware going to hold up and whether there will be any major mechanical issues in the future. Currently I don’t have a good enough TV to take advantage of the 120hz but I still get that sweet 4K which will do.
A quick survey of fellow owners shows similar feelings. Games look amazing, super fast console. Set up was a bit faffy, updates for games are large and copying games across had its issues. The share button does not work outside of games (Get it together Microsoft!!) and a lack of exclusive AAA games. Overall they seem happy which is all you can ask for.
Was it worth the upgrade? Well from a dead One X, yes all day long! I think for most people that are not the hardcore waiting 6 months or so is probably a good move. There will be some decent deals and some actual next gen exclusives by then. I must applaud the direction they are taking this console in, basically making all my games compatible day one was a masterstroke. Right bugger off, I need to go play Spiritfarer!