MaccaMUFC

I already pre-ordered the full package of Story Mode and Online and looking forward to playing through Story Mode for the third time in Performance RT.

Anyone having doubts about the next-gen upgrade going off the screenshots and trailer can’t really judge it until they’ve actually seen it running on a big 4K HDR tv.

I’d like to know the difference between both Performance options with and without RT. Does having RT dip below 60fps and without have steady 60fps? Any difference in graphics between both modes? I don’t expect any answers until Digital Foundry go in-depth with all the modes but those are the questions I’d like to see answered from them.

Also it seems Rockstar still can’t get HDR right seeing as they had issues with it in RDR 2. HDR makes a big difference so if they can’t implement it properly into their games they should hire specialist/experts to do it right.

@PhhhCough It’s okay to “be that guy”. At least you make valid points that there’s cheaper and more compatible options out there. The only positive thing xScreen has in comparison is that it’s more portable and practical but that’s it. I have a Series X so xScreen isn’t even an option for me but I’ll be happy playing games on the go with something like a Razer Kishi.

@blinx01 It’s my understanding that those on PS5 have up to 3 months to redeem their free GTA Online which they then keep forever after the 3 months is up, not that GTA Online is free to play for 3 months then they have to buy it afterwards. This is why Rockstar is offering them Story Mode for just £8.75 within that 3 months.

@The_Pixel_King Not weird at all. It wouldn’t make sense charging PS5 players the same price as Xbox seeing as they are getting GTA Online for free. The £17.49 offer is for both Story Mode and Online.

@KezelPaso Do the discounts run for roughly three months from launch though? Because if you look on the Xbox Store it says the discount ends in 6 days, which is just before the game launches.

I’m curious as to how the Online works for those on Xbox One and Series X/S. Will the player base be split if playing on either console? There’s going to be new faster cars that are only available on Series X/S as well as 60fps so surely it wouldn’t be running while Xbox One players are on the same server?

@Medic_Alert @blinx01 The reason Story Mode is £8.75 on PS5 is because they are getting GTA Online for free, it wouldn’t make sense charging £17.49 otherwise they wouldn’t actually be getting GTA Online for free. The £17.49 price on Xbox includes GTA Online as well as Story Mode.

@Banjo- Yeah I get a lot of people feel they are owed a free upgrade if they’ve already double dipped before but it does seem like Rockstar have put a lot of effort into this upgrade and as we know ray-tracing is an expensive technology to implement into games so I feel Rockstar charging for the upgrade is justified. They could of easily just not offered the 50% discount and charged the full £34.99 for the bundle, so fair play to them for giving us the choice to take advantage of the generous discount.

I’m planning on playing in Performance RT Mode the majority of the time but I’ll switch between the other graphical options to check out all the small details around the world, which Rockstar are masters of. I’m looking forward to it as if it’s a brand new game.

Pre-orders are now live on Xbox Store. GTA Online is £8.99 with 50% off until release, which will then be £17.99 after the deal has ended. Story Mode (which includes GTA Online) is £17.49 also with 50% off until release, which will be £34.99 after the deal has ended.

I’m pre-ordering Story Mode at that price. I’d say the benefits of all the graphical and 60fps options, along with faster loading times etc will all even be worth the full £34.99. So £17.49 is a steal for me.

@norwichred Then simply don’t upload your save to the cloud. Even by doing that you would still have the option to start the game from the beginning.

It would be great if GTA Online is the same price as Red Dead Online at £17.99 as I’ll definitely buy it at that price but GTA is Rockstar’s crown jewel so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a bit more expensive at £24.99. I’ll get the next-gen main campaign when it’s in a sale sometime.

I wouldn’t believe the rumours about GTA Online going free to play, at least not anytime in the near future, if Rockstar are indeed charging for it.

I’ll definitely be using Performance RT Mode but I hope it’s not @ 1080p, it should be at least 1440p given the power of the Series X.

@BAMozzy You got a good deal there as £150 is massive saving. I once paid £250 for a pair of Astro A40s many years ago so I’d of definitely of bought the Beoplay Portal for £300. It may seem like it makes no sense me buying expensive headsets due my hearing but I can definitely hear the audio quality between different headsets, it’s just that I may miss out on hearing certain little details at different frequencies.

@BAMozzy With a £320 difference between the Beoplay Portal and Stealth 600 Max, I should think the Beoplay Portals are a massive upgrade for the price of them. I was keeping an eye on the Beoplay Portals but with me being hard of hearing especially to high pitch sounds, I couldn’t justify paying £450 for them.

In the end I settled with the official Xbox Wireless Headset and they are great with loads of sound customisation options.

Too little, too late. I’ve already 100% all 3 games but it’s good for those who are yet to play or finish them. I didn’t run into any major issues aside from the occasional crash here and there.

Hopefully Rockstar will no longer work with Grove Street Games again given the state the games were released.

I did enjoy what I played with the 5 hour trial but it’s definitely not as good as it could of been. I’ve held off buying it in the sale and will just wait to see if it comes to Game Pass one day.

Performance mode is definitely the best way to experience the game, the ray-tracing adds very little to the visuals though and it just isn’t worth sacrificing the 60fps option.

Xbox Series S players are definitely getting the short end of the stick. I’d be pretty miffed if I was a Series S owner right now, I’d of expected every game to have a performance option with 60fps at 1080p as standard but with both this and Dying Light 2 offering only 30fps modes isn’t a good look for the future of Series S and frankly it doesn’t seem like a next-gen console when the Xbox One versions also only have 30fps mode. I don’t know whether it’s the devs not putting in enough effort optimising the games for Series S or if the Series S really does struggle to run certain games at 60fps but it’s honestly not a great time to be a Series S owner imo.

I’ve just finished my 5 hour trial earlier and I’m actually glad they offered the trial as it has saved me £25 from buying it in the current sale. I don’t think it’s a bad game but I do agree with some people who say it’s mediocre. If it ever came to Game Pass one day then I’d give it another go and finish the story.

Aside from a few minor bugs I came across I was disappointed with the ray-tracing, I only noticed the shadows when switching between ray-tracing and performance mode and even then the shadows would fade away when I moved further away from it, for it to only pop in when I moved closer again. The reflections are no different from performance mode either. Ray-traced lighting would of been much better, especially at night time with all the neon signs around the city.

Where are all the bells and whistles from playing in ray-tracing mode that was mentioned in the article? I saw no difference from either graphic modes, so I went with performance mode for 60fps with no apparent graphical sacrifices from what I could see.

I think I’ll be keep my reward points for the GTA V Series X upgrade instead. I’ll definitely try this if it goes on Game Pass though.

I remember this on the OG Xbox and I loved it. I’ll definitely be buying this next week and just in time for when I’ve got enough MS reward points to convert it to £10. The game will most likely be £16.74 for us in the UK going off the price difference from US $19.99 games.

Seriously though EA and DICE should just focus on going back to the franchise’s roots, either a complete reboot or work on Bad Company 3 as that would excite fans.

@ymo1965 I think the size will depend on the phone your using? I wonder if I could use my AirPods or my Xbox Wireless Headset with them seeing as I’d have to use them via Bluetooth with the newer phones having no audio input jack.

I saw that review of the MG-X Pro but I’ve held the Kishi before and liked it so if I was going to get something like that then I’d buy that unless MS brought out their own official game/phone controller.

@ymo1965 The XSX isn’t as compact as the XSS though, it’s too big and cumbersome in comparison and wouldn’t be appealing for those who want to game on the go. I’d rather get a Razer Kishi for my iPhone instead.

I just saw a comparison video of this and the original over on Pushsquare and the difference is absolute minimal, makes you wonder why they even bothered making a remaster for the same systems that the original released on. They should of just made a Series X/S and PS5 version to make it look and run the best it possibly can.

Like @Medic_Alert said if your a Game Pass subscriber maybe hold off on buying the Activision games unless you absolutely have to play them before they all go on GP.

The only game in the sale that caught my eye was Green Hell but would of liked it to be at least 50% off.

I bought Max Payne 1-3 a few weeks before the sale. I really want to get Munch’s Oddysee but not when it doesn’t have widescreen support, those black bars take up a lot of screen with it being 4:3 ratio.

I really hope it isn’t Gears, the series has already been remastered and enhanced. I’d much rather it was the Fable series, I’d love to play them again with the power of Series X.

@Smeltos Great shout on Project Gotham Racing, I totally forgot Activision Blizzard owned the IP and now with the buyout MS can bring it to Xbox if they wanted. But now that we have the Forza series, both Motorsport and Horizon, would they be any desire to make a new PGR? It’s doubtful. I’d love to play the first 3 though but seeing as they stopped bringing more games through backward compatibility I don’t see it happening.

I’ve played quite a few matches and not enjoyed this at all. I get they were trying something new after Siege but Siege is a much better game imo. This is more comparable to Back 4 Blood but Extraction just isn’t anywhere near as good. Again just my opinion but I’d rather they of created Siege 2 or something.

It’s not the only game thats been having this issue as I played a different game on Game Pass today and it was having the same problem, got to the start screen and when pressing A it boots me straight to dashboard.

@Trmn8r I totally agree, it’s hard going back to 30fps when you’ve tried 60fps especially in third person games. From the video above though it looks like it’s running very smooth in quality mode but we’ll see how it really runs when it’s out.

I already can’t wait for the next Xbox console that is hopefully capable of 4K, 60fps with ray-tracing and with performance mode being 120fps. I’d like that to be the new standard on the next consoles.

I’ll be playing in Quality mode on my Series X which I bought so I could play games with all the bells and whistles. If I only cared about frame rates I’d of just got a Series S.

Even to this day I still hear people saying gaming is for kids and when am I going to grow up, usually from the wife or mother. I then point out that not all games are Super Mario, Donkey Kong etc and that GTA is one of many games that isn’t for kids.

Oof seems like I’ve dodged a bullet here with this being the only one in the series since Bad Company that I’ve not bought day one, instead I just used up the 10 hour trial and came away with not being impressed at all, got to be the worse in the series.

I’d of been fuming if I had bought it then seeing this article. If this does go FTP then I’d feel sorry for those that bought it full price, especially those that got the more expensive editions.

@Dezzy70 I didn’t mean to come across as aggressive, I suppose I got too excited as I rarely get to put my point across when I know I’m right till you corrected yourself lol Xbox should of made deal to put Dying Light 2 on Game Pass day one as that’s the only game outside Game Pass that I’m looking forward to.

As for United, let’s see how they get on tonight. If it doesn’t go our way then I’ll be going silent for the rest of the weekend or I’d risk being banned on here taking it out on everybody 😂

@LtSarge I think MS will have to make deals with third-party studios to release their games on Game Pass day one if this is true. I’m expecting Starfield to be delayed to around March 2023, I’d be surprised if it releases this November.

@Dezzy70 What do you mean year 2 without big exclusives for Xbox? Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5 and Flight Simulator (don’t care that you think it’s a niche game) released last year, okay only three games but Xbox made up for it by putting a lot of third-party games on Game Pass day one. What big exclusives did Sony release last year? Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Returnal, wow two whole games.

This a nice surprise. I remember playing this as a kid back in the ‘90s. Anyone remember Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver? Watching that video above reminded me of it.

Whoa I’ve just only realised that Shadow Man was developed by Acclaim Studios Teesside which is where I’m from. All that time I’ve know the game and not realised that 🤯

I’d rather Microsoft/Xbox stick to what they do best and work on making Game Pass and Cloud gaming even better. I prefer gaming the traditional way on a big TV. If I want to game on VR I’ll just get myself the Oculus Quest 2.

I wouldn’t even bothered with this Ubisoft+ unless it was included into Game Pass Ultimate, it’s not even that value for money compared to GPU. Most of Ubisoft’s games are open-world, not enough variety in genre. I’ll be sticking with GPU, plus we still get the new R6 game day one.

@Dezzy70 Are you serious when you say Halo is a AA game? Regardless of what you thought of Infinite, it doesn’t suddenly make it a AA game. The Halo series have always been AAA since Combat Evolved on the OG Xbox. If you really believe Infinite is a AA game then your knowledge of games is questionable to me.

I’ve always went with Samsung when it comes to TVs, my KS8000 is still going strong after 5 years.

For my next tv which I’m looking at getting within the next few months is not a Samsung but a Philips, the mini-led 9636 which has absolutely everything including powerful Bowers & Wilkins speakers and Dolby Vision which Samsung are still omitting from their range and I bet they’ll still be sticking to only HDR10+ with their 2022 range. Unless there’s some amazing features included with the 2022 range, the Philips 9636 will most likely be my next tv.

I’ll be buying Control Ultimate Edition before the sale ends, despite already finishing the base game on Xbox One. I’ve not played the expansions yet and I really like the look of the next-gen upgrade on Series X with the ray tracing.

I have bought a few games that I wished were in the Countdown sale. Max Payne 1 & 2, Insurgency Sandstorm and I’ll buy Control UE in the next couple of days.

As someone who’s completed Control on Xbox One, would anyone recommend the Ultimate Series X version for a second play through with the graphical upgrade and DLC?

I mostly agree with PX’s list, especially Halo Infinite taking the number 1 spot. A great game that was worth the wait.

@Magabro To be fair he does only play games like Fortnite, Rocket League, Roblox. He’ll try a few games on Game Pass but then always goes straight back to the F2P games. It probably would be a waste him buying a game seeing as he’ll never play it for more than an hour let alone complete it.

It’s just my opinion that cosmetics in F2P games are just an absolute waste of money when they do nothing to add to the gameplay experience and nobody online could care less what new cosmetic you’ve just bought.

@Bobobiwan Even scalpers have to buy stuff for Christmas like presents for family and friends, Christmas dinner stuff etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the reason they are not bulk buying consoles

Hope everyone who wants a Series X manages to get one, it’s a great time to be an owner with amount of quality games on Game Pass.

The cat ears do make the online Spartan characters stand out from the rest but I wouldn’t pay £7.99 for it. I’m working towards unlocking the Peppermint Laughter skins, I’ll be happy with those and it’s even better that I’ll unlock them for free.

@Bobobiwan That is what I try and convince my son to do whenever he gets £50 Xbox gift cards for b’days and Xmas, I say to him “instead of spending it all on some skins on Fortnite or Rocket League, which nobody cares about what you look like, spend it on some games in a sale” but it’s like talking to a brick wall. I now let him get on with it and hope he realises one day just how much of a waste of money it all was.

There’s still plenty of Series X bundles in stock at GAME. There’s also a Series X bundle in stock at Simply Games which BAMOzzy provided with a link. I couldn’t find a single PS5 in stock anywhere though.

@MyThoughts31 Bloody hell aren’t you just a ray of sunshine full of positivity 🤨

But yeah I agree I couldn’t think of anyone who could fill Phil’s shoes when he eventually leaves his role as head of Xbox. Let’s just hope he enjoys his snowboarding and makes it back safely.

I think if Microsoft had agreed to have GTA 3 on the original Xbox, that they would of bought Rockstar Games with how popular GTA 3 became when it released and also how well it sold. If that did happen though I don’t think GTA would of been the same as we know it today, so it’s probably a good thing that it just wasn’t meant to be.

Bloody hell it’s started early this year. But I’m disappointed Max Payne, Manhunt and Munch’s Oddysee isn’t in the sale. Over 700 games in the sale and not one of them is included. I get they have only recently been made BC but not even 30% off?

Matt West: “The original Splinter Cell has a lot that was amazing and revolutionary at the time it came out, 19 years ago”

Yes it was amazing and revolutionary, 19 years ago. Why not take a risk and make an entirely new Splinter Cell game that is amazing and revolutionary for this era? I already have Splinter Cell on my Series X and as with all original Xbox games that are backward compatible, it’s already enhanced with 4K and 60fps.

I’ll still play the remake but seriously what is the point in revisiting old games on powerful consoles like Series X and PS5 when they are capable of handling games that can do stuff that was never possible on previous consoles? Too many developers have been remastering and remaking their games for the past two console generations now when they should be spending their time, money and resources on making new and innovative games.

If the average person can see NFTs for what they really are, then why isn’t there already a public outcry about it? Because I bet if enough noise is made I’m sure the developers wouldn’t implement them in their games if it had a profound negative effect from their core audiences, as in the people who are buying/playing the game purely for it’s gameplay and story. But unfortunately, the people who would support NFTs are the casual gamers who massively outnumber the hardcore gamers and also those who just disagree with NFTs in games. Sad times but this is the way the gaming industry is headed whether we like it or not.

@Hippy_Pirate_89 The 360 was Xbox’s best console of it's generation in every possible way, it even beat the PS3! But the best console they’ve ever made? Honestly the Series X is, it is an absolute beast that blows every past Xbox console out the water, imo of course.

I think the Christmas sale will start next Tuesday on the 21st. I really hope the games I want will be in the sale.

It’s mental that an advert can get banned because only 130 people complained, obviously they were a sensitive bunch with no sense of humour. There should be about 50K complaints before Ofcom can make a decision and take action.

Just like in Parliament after 10,000 signatures, petitions get a response from the government. After 100,000 signatures, petitions are considered for debate in Parliament. This should be the case with Ofcom. Not take action because of 100 or so overly sensitive, humourless cabbages.