16BitHero

Excellent and underappreciated series although I preferred the first two claustrophobic outings to Exodus. The blend of survival and narrative heavy fps is very much my cup of tea!

@QualityGeezer If you have any interest in the Alien universe/saga then I consider this a must play. The attention to detail is fantastic and it's still the most frightening game I've ever played. Thank goodness it didn't have a VR update. It's one of my favourite games from the last generation but it had a few flaws like anything else. You'll need about 20 hours on average to finish it and for this type of game I think 15 would have been perfect.

As a multi console owner I've only bought two games on the Series X since release - both non Gamepass games on sale for $10. Non Gamepass multiplatform games I tend to get on PS5 due to the dual sense controller features. However, despite Sony's excellent first party exclusives, I've put far more hours into Xbox due to the incredible game selection, in particular indies, on Gamepass. Is it sustainable? Time will tell.

I really hope this turns out well. Just today I deleted Dying Light 2 after about 15 hours. The first Dying Light is a top 3 all time zombie game for me. The sequel is larger but entirely forgettable otherwise.

I think DICE could have developed some incredible IP's if they weren't overseen by EA.

There is so much potential for this universe/IP. The mechanics are still there and it's consistently one of the better FPS series in that sense alongside the Doom games, Titanfall 2 and Wolfenstein. They really need a fresh writing team, new/varied environments and a general overhaul of what has become rather stale and old hat.

@NEStalgia Very true, a better statement would have been to say friends bragging rather than spoiling anything. Unbearable back then! Today I'll wait as many patches as it takes to optimize a game I'm looking forward to.

@LordFunkalot I'm also in my 40's and while it's odd that developers and game testers don't catch everything before release, I'm ok with the current status quo as I have a constant backlog to play through. I waited almost a year to play Horizon Forbidden West, I own God of War Ragnarok but haven't played it yet. I think a big difference for us is that we have patience and aren't as concerned by spoilers (as I probably was back in school/university.) I'll play Starfield when it's as good as it can be, definitely expecting a patch or two.

Bill Goldberg, Batista, John Cena and Terry Crews

Loved Deliver Us the Moon. Simple but effective. I even messaged the developer and got a reply. I'll definitely support them by getting this. The TV show For All Mankind and these games have restored my wonder of space!

I was going with Starfield then noticed Indiana Jones on the list! Contraband could be great too. All good devs. Lots to look forward to...

@iplaygamesnstuff Fair point. I guess it's the game that's impressed me most on either platform thus far. I think we'll see some big steps forward when cross gen development is properly left behind. I'm looking forward to see what devs can do with Unreal 5. I'm personally not obsessed with 4K. It seems there are various techniques and technologies to upscale a 1080p/1440p image for example. I'm really hoping we get astounding graphical fidelity while running at 60fps minimum. That'll signify a generational leap for me. I think we'll all be fairly happy in a few years time regardless.

I originally purchased the Series X for Flight Simulator. I definitely consider this a next gen (or current gen now) title. It's not for everyone of course but the scope is staggering and the use of cloud tech is pretty awesome.

Series X is my first Xbox since the 360. The console gets an A and Gamepass gets an A (I've more than got my money's worth since release despite AAA first party titles being limited compared to PS5). Owning both consoles this generation creates a constant backlog and even if I only owned a Series X I'm sure I'd still be struggling to keep up. Saying that, I hope first party titles are stronger in the coming years.

@NarutosBiggestFan I bought both consoles this generation precisely because I want to play games on both - Sony exclusives largely favour single player gamers and then Gamepass is just too good a value to pass up. The average age of a gamer is increasing as it really took off in the 90's therefore old gits like me are commonplace now and we don't want to play Fortnite and other multiplayer only games necessarily. I really hope Xbox catches up with the single player games. Starfield at least looks promising.

Erm, why is the Quarry so much more in the US?!

It's rather annoying that you have to download the last gen version first then the current gen patch. Surely these programming gurus have a way to make it just the current gen version (I know it's technically a patch but hey). Excited to play my favourite game of all time with better mechanics and a suitable frame rate!

I bought my Series X specifically for Flight Sim but I have played scores of incredible games through Gamepass ever since. The best value in the history of gaming. Using the T Hotas flight stick with Flight Sim is brilliant but I'm a bit miffed that it currently takes up approximately 230GB with all updates and offline mode installed.

I always think back to Street Fighter 2 special championship edition on the Megadrive costing £59.99 back in the early 90's. Games are good value today if you research your buying decisions appropriately. Gamepass is incredible value for money, even with a £/$5 a month price hike, it still would be great value.

@trev666 same, yawn. I love Digital Foundry's tech breakdowns but couldn't care less about ray tracing either. Texture detail, fps and art direction are all far more important. You only notice RT if you're motionless or maybe utilizing a £4k PC.

@fabisputza007 Disco Elysium is my favourite game of the past 5 years perhaps. I wish more people gave it a go. It definitely isn't my style of game but I got utterly hooked!

@CrazyJF Enjoy! A Plague Tale games are one of my favourite series of all time now.

Random but I never played Batman Arkham Origins. I read it was underrated and craved some Batman action plus it's set on Christmas Eve. Enjoying it so far! Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart and Heavenly Bodies (with my wife) rounds off my weekend gaming.

One thing that has crossed my mind during all this acquisition drama is the fact that PlayStation consoles will likely continue to outsell Xbox for the foreseeable future regardless of where Activision ends up. As these companies, like any other, will always be for profit, it makes far more sense for Microsoft to keep most games multiplatform for revenue purposes.

Very tough choice indeed. I went with Rainbow Six Vegas. Loved the simple yet intense electronic soundtrack and we still haven't seen a better cover system in any shooter since! 'Open flash and clear!' Chaos Theory is a very close second. The pinnacle of that series. Really enjoyed the early Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter titles too. The graphics in Mexico City were insane at the time.

The only good deal on a relatively recent game is Little Nightmares 2. I'm proper paranoid the games I want will end up on Gamepass or PS Plus. Buying Hitman 3 a day before it was announced for Gamepass hurt! Edit: Resident Evil 2 is also a great deal.

@lernien78 It was delayed from October 20th to November 17th as far as I can tell.

@BRT15 It's one of my favourite games of the previous generation and that generation was stacked with great games. I will say I think I got so much more out of it by watching the videos and reading almost everything I could find. The immersion factor ramped up. Not for everyone though I'm sure.

Gamepass Gamepass Gamepass - I haven't purchased a single game yet and put far more hours into the Series X than the PS5 (which has amazing games but I can't afford them all at release).

I'm not sure what's up with Xbox compression tech but I deleted the offline version of flight sim and it still takes up 130 GB!

@BlackMayge That's high praise indeed, I think Titanfall 2 and the Doom games have set the recent bar for FPS campaigns. Modem Warfare 2019 was decent but COD always feels heavily scripted and linear in my opinion.

Played through the Forgotten City and wow, it's one of the best games I've played in 35 years and well worth putting on hold my crowded backlog for. The writing is absolutely fantastic, the story riveting and the ending I got was both rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time. I'm going back to Deathloop and a Forbidden West followed by A Plague Tale Requiem but I doubt these will come close the overall satisfaction I felt with The Forgotten City. Best game I've played through since Disco Elysium. What a gem!

Why are so many games essentially unfinished these days? Developers surely know the reaction they'll get and the expectations we'll have re patches if they shove games out the door in poor states. With regard to non indie games, I can probably count on one hand how many developers release finished games (largely Sony Studios Devs).

@trev666 Considering they were working on the truly astonishing Microsoft Flight Simulator in that same period makes it all the more impressive.

It's all about The Forgotten City (leaving gamepass soon) for me. I'm not sure why I waited so long to play this incredible game but I've been happy to put Forbidden West, Deathloop and Scorn on hold to do so. If you've somehow missed it, give it a try. It's only a 5-6 hour experience apparently and by today's insane standards (Persona!), that's very manageable for most of us..

If it had manual saves then I'd give it an 8 considering it's length (a good thing!) and availability on gamepass. Definitely not for everyone but as a H.R Giger fan, this has been a long time coming. There could be a perfect Alien game out there someday, Isolation came oh so close but I digress. Scorn gets a generous 7.

@Kezelpaso Good to know, cheers. The backlog will dictate when I play it but I've paused Scorn naively hoping for a manual save patch.

Loved the first game, it was a bit of a hidden gem although Gamepass surely helped it reach more gamers. The atmosphere and music was excellent, gameplay somewhat linear but perfect for the narrative. I played with French dialogue and English subtitles (same with Japanese in Ghost of Tsushima). I think it helps with immersion and somehow offsets weak or irritating dialogue! I'll be waiting for a performance patch on this new installment however.

@Krysus it's lazy development, not the consoles. Hopefully everyone votes with their wallets - or not as the case is here.

@JayJ Fair play. As someone who has been gaming since the late 80's, it was my opinion that the PS4 generation had the strongest exclusives yet but hey, it's just an opinion. I've since been extremely glad to jump on Xbox again too as Gamepass has allowed me to catch up on anything I missed but to mention all the indie gems and forthcoming day one titles.

Sony produces the best exclusives by far and will continue to do so beyond this generation. I've never bought a PlayStation for COD or any single game for that matter. I did buy a Series X for Flight Simulator though but that's just because I can't afford a powerful PC!

Pure Xbox won't let me leave a one word comment. So there's that sentence. As for the article, SOLD!

@Exerion76 I'd say the gameplay has remained consistently good, even evolved somewhat no pun intended but I've not paid attention to the dull writing since Halo 3.

Sounds nuts but I'd be interested in a multi planet Mass Effect style rpg only in first person within the Halo universe. Maybe too big in scope and budget for these developers though.

This poll is for Rare replay, not original Rare. Goldeneye and Perfect Dark have aged horribly (despite the amazing soundtracks) whereas Banjo is still pretty top notch. I think the 16 bit era aged much better than the 32 and 64 but eras in all honesty.

That's just a lack of talent on the developers part. Some incredibly detailed games have had relatively small download sizes on Series X and PS5. Cross gen are often smaller on current gen consoles.

Elden Ring was good, From Software games still lack decent narratives, dialogue and interesting npc's in my opinion. If you could mix Witcher lore/characters/dialogue with Souls' games combat and character levelling then you'd be on to a GOAT game for sure.

I haven't gotten to Horizon Forbidden West or Dying Light 2 yet #backlog. My favourite game that I've played this year is Disco Elysium hands down.

I have Gamepass Ultimate until March 2023 as part of a 24 month subscription that came with my Series X. In my opinion, I've already gotten value for money with 7/8 months remaining. Between catching up on Xbox One console exclusives to current gen AAA,indies and everything in-between, I'm entirely satisfied even if there have been some quieter months. I still have a backlog in all honesty.

Judgement next please!

It's certainly novel but I quickly switched back to the F-18 after watching Top Gun Maverick!