Feffster

@FraserG - much clearer (even for my pea-brain!) Thank you 👍

Also worth knowing that it now ‘Gen 9 aware’ - so there’s no need to run it off internal SSD or expansion card, it works just fine off an external SSD.

Nice upgrade. I’ve been playing on Series X this morning and to my eye it looks sharper than it was (with FPS boost) and no frame drops. Not sure if it is 4K or 4K with dynamic res - although it looks fine it is obviously an older title so some of the details are not as good as you’d see in a new release.

Gameplay - yep, there will be the usual copy & paste criticism of Ubisoft games being copy and paste (there’s something beautifully ironic about that) but this is a decent FPS. If you like FC5 then consider this a smaller but enjoyable (and standalone) expansion.

Series X - I’ve got to stop playing AoE4 - I can’t seem to go 24hrs without it drawing me back for yet another skirmish. Also playing some Sniper Elite Resistance- enjoyed the first level but finding it tough going on the second (I’m new to this so any gameplay tips welcomed, thanks)

PS5 pro - God of War. Didn’t think this would be my thing but I’ve enjoyed it so far. Still a very long way to go. Also dipping in and out of WRC Generations.

@themightyant - spot on mate, they always seem to get it in the neck from gamers but you have to hand it to them for ongoing support - they’ve upgraded AC Odyssey, Origins, Syndicate, FC5 and now FC New Dawn without charging us a penny for the privilege. Some would say that’s what should happen, but there are plenty of examples (Rockstar anyone?) where it simply doesn’t work like that.

Excellent news, really made a difference to FC5 when they bumped the resolution back up to 4K. Hopefully this is the same.

@Alstil - welcome to the party! I was in a similar position a few years back after completely skipping the Xbox One/PS4 era. Series X and Gamepass got me back into gaming. You are spoilt for choice now - enjoy 👍

I own Series X and PlayStation 5Pro so I’m fine with it (and the inevitable arrival of Starfield, Gears and Halo on ‘rival’ platforms). Im just still not sure what the end game is.

Short term it is easy to see the logic, more ££s. Longer term I’m not so sure - maybe 1.they’ve given up on consoles and beyond this gen will become a third party publisher (gradually winding down console support and Gamepass); or 2. They are confident that next-gen their ‘console’ is 100% PC compatible and they have a plan to transfer game libraries and Gamepass subscriptions to it.

When I say Day 1 obviously I mean Day 1,3 or 5 😃

I’m not convinced about the strategy (longer term) but I’m over it already. The only thing that matters to me is that Microsoft continue to pump out lots of quality content.

I have the option to buy some games on PS5 Pro but I’d rather play everything Day 1 on Series X with GPU.

@FraserG - thanks mate, and good luck! 👍

@FraserG - thanks for clarifying Fraser. My comment wasn’t a dig at you (or Pure Xbox) - I just think that it isn’t necessarily clear messaging (and presumably you are repeating the way Microsoft themselves make the announcements).

If you think about it logically you can see why Joe Public would be baffled -

Microsoft: “Game A is coming to Gamepass for Series X/S”
Microsoft: “Game B is coming to Gamepass for Console”

Gamer: “I have Gamepass and an Xbox console, does that mean I get the game to play Game A and Game B?”

Microsoft: “That depends, which console do you have?”
Gamer: “I have a Series X. Does that mean I get both games because it’s a bit weird you mention Series X/S specifically with Game A, but mention ‘Console’ with Game B - does that mean Game B is only available for last-gen consoles or is it on all consoles?”

Microsoft: “Er, no. Perhaps we should spell it out a bit more clearly.”
Gamer: “Oh, believe me, you should.”

Microsoft: “Well first of all, when we say Console we actually mean ‘all Xbox consoles, well more specifically all Xbox One consoles and all Xbox Series consoles, but not original Xbox consoles or Xbox 360 consoles’ - hope that’s clear?”
Gamer: “Much better. As I have a Series X I’m assuming I get both game A and game B?”

Microsoft: “Well that depends…”
Gamer: “On what?”
Microsoft: “Which level of Gamepass do you have?”
Gamer: “Gamepass Standard”
Microsoft: “Well no then, you get neither but on another occasion it could mean you get one, or both”
Gamer: “Clear As Mud, & Thanks - For Nothing!”

@FraserG Sorry to be dim, but what does it actually mean when a game becomes available on ‘Console’ ? (eg does it mean available on all Xbox consoles regardless of which Gamepass subscription they have?)

I’m fascinated to see what they do next. I have Xbox and PlayStation but can not for the life of me understand what Microsoft are trying to achieve.

If someone had set out to destroy third party sales on their own store, reduce sales of their own consoles and erode the c30M customers signed up to Gamepass then I can’t imagine a better strategy than the one they’ve been employing in the past 12 months.

Well there are eleven ?s underneath the redacted title and eleven letters in PerfectDark…

That’s insane. You can only assume that current CoD titles are costing $1BN+ to make. That means they need to sell 20M+ copies just to break even!

Anyone know what sort of numbers has Black Ops 6 done to-date?

@Jackha - you’re not missing anything. As others have said, Series X + comfy sofa + big 4K TV > cloud gaming + ‘this is an Xbox’ nonsense!

Off the top of my head (but sure I’ve forgotten a few):
Cocoon
Halo Infinite campaign
Half Life 2 (from The Orange Box)
Toy Soldiers HD
Deus Ex Mankind Divided
Exhumed/Powerslave
Hellblade 2

Work-in-progress:
Indy
BLOPS 6

XBSX - Indy, AoE4, Forza Motorsport
PS5Pro - Bust-A-Move 2, Astros Playroom, WRC Generations

Have a good one everyone.

Just need to fix the issue of me being rubbish at the game and job done.

@FraserG - thank you!

Brilliant game, still play it every week and love the changing seasons. The condensed mini-map merging the Cotswolds, Lakes and Edinburgh is inspired, as are the changing seasons. Stayed near Windermere and Ambleside in September and the resemblance is uncanny.

Can’t beat the progressive, mid-race, weather changes and gorgeous lighting (golden sunsets reflecting on snow and ice) -better than any other race game out there - and that includes FH5, Forza Motorsport and GT7.

Hope it stays back-compat for decades to come.

@Titntin - I turned off motion blur - might be worth trying to see if that helps?

Hope it does, it’s a cracking game.

Best graphics (by a mile) and sound of any game I’ve played this past year (including anything on PS5 Pro) and generally I don’t ‘do’ 30fps games. Well deserved, even if it’s more of an experience than a game. It really is an impressive title.

I’d completely forgotten about Towerborne.

2025 already looking busy for Microsoft - Avowed, Towerborne, South of Midnight, Doom The Dark Ages, CoD 2025, Fable?

Well that’s a bullseye from Microsoft 🎯

@abe_hikura - that sounds poor. Presumably if you can demonstrate that you’ve earned an achievement (against your gamertag) for either or both of the expansions it MUST prove you’ve previously paid for them?

I still have some of the older CoD games on disc, but happy to see them come to Gamepass. Just wish they could give them a resolution boost also.

The ones I really want to drop on GP are Black Ops III, Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare 2 remastered, Modern Warfare (2019) and Modern Warfare 2 (2022).

Really impressed so far, looks superb and enjoying the mix of stealth and action. What a nice change to boot up a game on release and find it polished and bug free. Watched Raiders of the Lost Ark at the weekend in preparation!

@BANJO - sorry for any confusion- didn’t know there was more than one! He’s already acknowledged my earlier comment.

Blimey, this turned into a sh1t-storm didn’t it?

Opinions vary, each to their own - no harm in that. But not good to see readers (and staff!) sniping at each other. In fairness to @Banjo he’s always pretty positive and his original comment doesn’t outright accuse anyone of anything - it’s so easy to draw the wrong inference from a sentence. Texts and emails can often be misinterpreted, so a comment on a gaming site is hardly a hanging offence!

Anyway, looking forward to playing Indy next week. I find stealth games a bit marmite - loved Splinter Cell back in the day but never much of a fan of Metal Gear. Cautiously optimistic about Indy but I guess we’ll all have our own opinions by this time next week.

I think there needs to be some sort of halfway house for Xbox consoles - well at least for those of us with less than perfect broadband speeds.

After the patches I can finally play it but it’s nowhere near as smooth or detailed as the previous game - so I’m uninstalling again.

Maybe add an option to install data by continent, or country, to keep the data needed to something manageable.

We could then delete and download another area when ready.

Mmmm, I wonder if my Series X will allow me to download & install WRC after yesterday’s shenanigans with the Indy download.

Does anyone know if Indy is reserving that extra 130GB of space or was it just some sort of weird download quirk?

565 hours. Equal split for AoE4 and Toy Soldiers (!) 104 hrs each. Starfield, PGA Golf and CoD make the top 5. Honourable mentions for The Orange Box (Half Life 2 and Portal at 4k60 rocks on Series X) and Powerslave Exhumed, which was an actual blast from the past.

@MaccaMUFC - I’m in U.K. - 97, 265 reward points. When I wake up and I’m coming to in the morning I log into the Xbox app, then do the daily sets while I’m having my cup of tea. I search on Bing, play Xbox most days. I don’t chase achievements. The rest takes care of itself. I could get an extra 60 points a day by searching on my phone, but I only do that once in a blue moon.

I only redeem points against 3month Gamepass Ultimate (to get the best value).

The only way we’ll see PS games on Xbox is via the back door. If the NextBox is a PC for the living room then anything PlayStation ports to PC will be on Xbox by default.

@Ep1c3racked - you might want to submit a ticket to the developers. I had some performance issues on an update a month or two ago and reported it - the developers came straight back to me and worked on a quick fix.

WTF!….263.1GB on Series X. I have 199.7GB free but this 131.7GB game is telling me I need to delete to create more space.

What odds there’ll be a 120GB patch to pre-install tomorrow?

Pretty decent - much better now than at launch. Certainly enough for me to dip in and out of quick races regularly. Graphics (performance mode, Series X) are excellent - silky smooth, pin sharp and very little pop-in or aliasing. In many ways I prefer the game to GT7 on my PS5Pro but it’s all a matter of opinion. Lots of content still ‘missing’, but it is growing steadily with each update.

Forza Motorsport is a nice addition for those on Standard rather than Ultimate. Not perfect but pretty polished nowadays - Series X visuals (4K performance mode) often look sharper and more detailed than GT7 on my PS5Pro.

@smoreon - I might be wrong but my head is saying it is at 60. It’s on Gamepass, so you can download from there if you have it. I didn’t ever play the original on PC - just Crimson Skies High Road To Revenge back in the day (original Xbox). I’ll have a look over the weekend and see how it’s running on Series X.

Edit - from IGN “ 60 fps
Check out the first 12 minutes of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge gameplay on Xbox Series X. With the Original Xbox game releasing today on Game Pass, you can now play Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge at 60 fps, among other graphical improvements.”

@darylb24 - thanks for that, definitely will give it another go after the updates are rolled out.

@smoreon - I’m pretty sure Crimson Skies does now run at 60fps (Gamepass, Series X….so probably Series S as well).

Does anyone know what the recommended minimum internet speed requirement is for smooth play? My home broadband is 69Mb/s

RDR2, RDR1, The Orange Box (yes, I know there’s a hack but it’s a ball ache), Hellblade 2, Avowed, Dishonored 2, Quantum Break, Portal 2, Crash Bandicoot Trilogy, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Assasins Creed 3 remastered (the 4K version) and Sunset Overdrive.

Oh, and the new Fable….please.

@Banjo- each to their own, but I’m enjoying the game so far (about 50% in). As I said above, I appreciate that the two games are going to be very different - but there are still likely to be comparisons.

Definitely hoping it (Indy) turns out well 🤞

Fingers crossed 🤞. Not sure Microsoft can afford any more launch day disasters - any more and we should be asking for a discount for Day 1 games being included with Gamepass Ultimate, rather than paying a premium.

I’m currently playing through Uncharted 4 on PS5 and it is polished, superbly presented and well scripted - I appreciate Indy is going to be a very different game, but if it can match Uncharted on those elements then we might just have a decent game coming our way.

I thought it would be Stalker 2 and Flight Sim but I’m giving both more time to cook.

Series X - Forza Horizon 4 and PGA Tour
PS5Pro - Uncharted 4 and Wipeout Omega Collection

Have a good one everyone.

Really hoping this is great but sounds like it is another game coming in hot. Ironic also that Avowed got bumped to February but Microsoft insist that it is finished and ready to go.

I’m sure everyone could have coped with another small delay, just to help the devs get a win.

Managed to get the game to load this morning…well, sort of…

On my (not great) connection it is taking 5-7 mins to load through the intro videos. They look absolutely stunning, so I’m itching to get into the game proper. Unfortunately the game is hitching just past the initial menus - I can’t get past the ‘Customize Identity’ screen.

Hope they can get it up and running soon as those intro graphics look superb.