Alternate Technologies : Microsoft Xbox Review

http://www.bit-tech.net/review/124/

*Phew* Twas a long'un. What you guys think?

 

dude, sorry to break all your hopes but i've played the buffy beta (well the game was pretty much completed actually) and it sucked bigtime, guess you'll have to wait till buffy 2 in hope they will make that one better.
But believe me, i like buffy too so it's not just a buffy crank-off, that game is gonna suck real bad if they dont make bigtime changes to it (which i seriously doubt they will)

 

I'd love to get one Hazaroonie but my floorboards would need strengthening...

Nice review though, all that "testing" will have done marvels for your thumb mobility!

 

Yea why is everyone with an Xbox waiting for buffy? Is it because XBox users have a lack of a better game to wish for?

I want an Xbox (yes ive actualy found a space big enough) but it looks like im gonna have to wait at least a year just to get some half desent games just like the PS2.

/me rubs GameCube (nothing but good games)

 

Now this did make me laugh, halo while on the surface might be quite good, but under the surface its a rather shallow fps not only is it medicore at best but it gets VERY repeteive after just a short time of playing.

Halo just dosnt diserve anything above 75% in my opinion.


And while im spamming heres my views on the rest of the XBOX line up

Oddworld : Munch's Oddeysey - Quite Boring. Looks nice tho.

Amped : Freestyle Snowboarding - Played one played them all.

Fusion Frenzy - One of the worst games ive ever played.

Bloodwake - Fun little blaster.

Project Gotham Racing - If I wanted to play this I would just blow the dust of my DreamCast if I didnt have a dreamcast it would be a good game!

Rallisport Challenge - Never played it cant comment. Also comming out on the PC this crimbo, yet another Microsoft "exclusive" lost

Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 - Havent we played this before??

Dead or Alive 3 - Read Project Gotham. One other comment new models dosnt make it better or a new game

Halo - Read above!

 

Nice review Haz. Still looking forward to the XBOX killer app though - LINUX!

 

mr haz

does the xbox cope with DTS?

hazza

 

halo 99?

imo it deserves 85 - 90. the game is fantastic and one of the best fps to date, but i dont think it deserves 99% score. anyone who has played the game would have noticed a lot of repeated scenery esp with the indoor action. is this 4 years work? i dont think so

 

Wouldn't you expect repeating scenery seeing as how the game takes place on three different locations. The Pillar of Autoum, the Covenent Ship and Halo. You can't expect the ships to have no two parts of it look alike.

 

Ive played quite a few fps in my life and none of them offer the amount of repeated scenery as halo did. the big circular rooms were the ones that bugged me the most, even subtle changes could have stopped people getting lost. i agree rooms look alike and have same layout in ships etc but the should at least have different signs and objects and stuff.

dont get me worng i found halo amazing and nothing beats getting 3 mates to play some crazy multi. just a little disapointed and getting a score where its just 1% of getting the best game ever score is a bit too high , there is a lot of halo that could be improved.

also did anyone find the game short? i completed it in around 6 hours and i aint the best player , esp using a control pad.

 

Alright here is my opinion =).

First of all, Halo. I was a big fan of the PC version before Microsoft bought Bungie. From there... It was downhill. They started cutting features left and right. They got rid of weapons, vehicles, levels, storyline peices. Everything was cut down so it could play well on the Xbox. Well Halo was at the godly status when it was being developed for the PC (and Mac, yea!). So when it came to Xbox it was still good. But not AS good. The outdoor scenery was fairly good. The indoor parts were terrible. Cut and Paste. That's what it looked like. Overall the game was fantastic (well, the twist about the... What were they called? The zombie things. That twist was dumb and it turned into Doom pretty much). Sound, graphics, storyline (for the most part) were all really good. But after you beat it, then you can either play multiplayer, or beat it again. Multiplayer is fun, but I bought my Xbox on the launch day with Halo. I've had plenty of time with multiplayer. It get's old! I give Halo an 85%. Let's just hope the PC version is feature filled.

Okay, Blood Wake. This is like Quake. Very lame in originallity. But heck, everyone likes to just kill once and a while (that's all the latter half of Halo was right? ). The storyline sucks. An American version of an oriental conflict. Terrible. But did I mention it's fun? 80%. Oh yeah, multiplayer isn't fun at all.

Okay, the big X. I love this gigantic lug! It has such raw power to whipe out the competion. The game lineup right now is... Not that great. But hell, I'm waiting for Blinx, Splinter Cell (OMG, that is the best looking game EVER IMHO), and games like that. I give the Xbox a 95% just because it's so versatile and is truely my mini PC =).

I just ordered a GameCube (should be here tomorrow infact). It is very different from the Xbox and PS2. For this I give it a thumbs up. Truely, the Xbox and PS2 have a second class DVD player. If you REALLY want to watch DVD's, then get a DVD player. Don't bu a gaming conole to watch Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (hehe). The Cube has a ton of great games too. Super Monkey Ball (this is just classic). Metroid Prime will just blow me away. Sonic Adventures 2 (yeah, I like this game aside from the horrific camera flaws). Mario Sunshine looks to be good. Zelda is going to be... Different. I don't care for cell shading. Especially in the Zelda series, it just doesn't go well with it. I give the Cube a 90% (They cut out their online plan as far as I know, I read a press release somewhere).

The PS2... Well, this is it's motto: "The more games we make, the more people will buy". The games for PS2 really are sad. Most of them don't take full advantage of the already aging hardware. The others just plain suck. After a year and a half (a little bit more actually), they have only a few good titles. GTA3, Metal Gear Solid 2, Medal of Honor, and Grand Turismo. That's about it (Well, some might disagree, everyone has a favorite game that isn't viewed as good by others, hehe). I give it a 75%.

I'm tired now... Time for bed.

AstrumProelaitor
"It's not easy being green"

 

No they havent, they just arnt pimping it like Microsoft. I beleve the first online game in Japan will be FantisyStar Online Ver2.

I dont know what there plans are in the UK but there probebly trying to bring there gaming network to Europe.

 

sorry but i have to say that this review isn't complete, and never will be, until you play Halo with at least 8 people

Its so much more exciting and harder than a normal multiplay especially on the smaller maps

Also you missed some cool facts out of it such as that there are plans for x-box 2 releasing in 2005-6 and that because it has a HD the games can be made 'episodic' - You buy the game, complete it, and then instead of it gathering dust you can 'go LIVE' and download an extra level or extra character. Shame they couldn't put it in HALO (the prototype x-box they had didn't have much options)

Also have you seen some of the Hacks/mods for the x-box? one person has put MAME (multiple arcade machine emulator) on it and set it up in an arcade cabinet so it can play, among others, pacman! what a waste of raw x-box power :cries:

 

Maybe it was the only item of furniture he could find big enough to fit the damn thing into.

 

I've seen some really good articles for putting Linux on the Xbox. But you have to take off old chips and solder new ones on. So I don't think I'll be doing that, hehe.

AstrumProelaitor
"blah"

 

http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/ linux on xbox

 

Ok there are somethings you missed out, The most glaring is the ability to link xboxes over a LAN.

Have you ever played Halo CTF with 15 other ppl ??? it is stonking. (you should have been atI10) 4 Xboxes linked by a switch starts to put a lot more intresting game play into Halo.

And before you ask yes I have already played Halo over the net but you do need 256 up to get the best out of the game.