With the holidays upon us, many gamers who may not have already adopted a next-gen console are doing their research on which console to buy. There are a lot of factors to consider with buying a new console.
So hopefully for those of you on the fence of whether or not to buy an Xbox One this year, this review helps.
I'll be writing this review somewhat similarly to my PS4 console review I did last year
I will be making a PS4 v Xbox One comparison, but I'll leave that for another post. Right now, I'm focusing on the Xbox One.
Console Aesthetics
I picked up the White Sunset Overdrive bundle Xbox One and what I noticed from the beginning is how huge the console is. It honestly reminded me of the original Xbox One
It is a massive console but the console does look nice and sleek with it's white and black color design.
And the design is somewhat simple. Power button and disc tray in front with all the other ports such as HDMI ports, USB ports etc. Are all located in the back of the console.
Unlike the 360 last generation, the Xbox One is not designed to be stood up vertically, even Xbox Support specifies vertical positioning of the console "Poor Placement."
I'm not trying to be funny here but I do strongly suggest that when you guys get this console, make some space for wherever you may be setting up this beast.
Controller
The controller is pretty sturdy. It's a comfortable controller and again the white and black design look very good on the controller. Especially the color design of the X,Y,B and A buttons.
It feels nice in the hands and it is as comfortable as the Xbox 360 controller with some redesigns.
I do think that the new design of the D-Pad is a lot better as it is much easier to hit the different direction buttons easier without accidentally hitting another D-Pad button.
There are a few differences from the 360 controller to the XB1 controller. For starters, the battery pack.
Instead of the batter pack sticking out at the bottom center of the controller, the batteries can be inserted inside of a small compartment located at the top of the XB1 controller.
It feels much lighter to hold in your hands than the Xbox 360's controller due to this change.
User Interface
The interface of the Xbox One is somewhat clunky and the dashboard feels somewhat disorganized. Even though the console can let you pin things for easier access some aspects of the console which you want to change is buried behind several menus which you need to navigate.
A personal gripe of mine is the dashboard. It's designed after the Windows 8 operating system and I really don't like it. A bunch of boxes with an icon in the middle doesn't really look good to me and They occupy so much space that the background image you have to set as your dashboard's wallpaper is buried behind all of these icons.
What's new is the ability to snap applications to the right side of the screen in order to see things like members in the Party. It allows for easier access and options to invite players to a game, invite the entire party to a game and even see the recent achievements you've unlocked.
The Xbox One also has a game DVR. You can either record the past 30 seconds of a game or you can start a five minute recording of a game.
Message notifications, party invites and friend requests are somewhat easier to find by the simple Notifications icon right next to your profile picture(top left of the picture above with the Xbox Dashboard).
Of course there are all these things with TV and abilities to connect to your home's DVR box. Quite honestly, I do not care much for it. I CAN hook up my Fios Box's HDMI port to the HDMI IN port on my Xbox One and watch TV through there. I do think that being able to do that is very unique and something unheard of in a video game console. I applaud Microsoft for adding that feature, but to me, it's not something I would use as a means to watch television.
You can even hook up things like your 360 or other systems with an HDMI cable and play your 360 or PS4 through your Xbox One. Again, not something that I can see a great use for seeing as how all I would need to do is swap HDMI cables on my TV. Not exactly a difficult task. Also again, I do see that it is a unique thing and I once again applaud Microsoft for adding that feature.
Another feature of the Xbox One which this time I do see myself using. Is the ability to begin and play games that aren't quite finished installing. You could be installing Dragon Age Inquisition and only 25% of the game is installed. You could play the beginning portion of the game and play the game a little bit before having to finish installing the entire game. I'm not sure if you can play more as the instillation proceeds but so far I have only used this function for Sunset Overdrive and Battlefield 4. I didn't get to play much or get to experience a majority of what the games had to offer but I did think it was pretty cool how I could at least get a taste of what was to come with the rest of the game.
Software Performance
Games on the Xbox One look great. Especially games like Sunset Overdrive. They run great and they look great. Especially games like the Halo Master Chief Collection which take the Halo games and bump them up to 1080p 60fps. Except for Halo 2 for some reason, that does not run at full 1080p.
But it quite honestly doesn't matter. If the game looks great and runs great, then there is nothing to really complain about.
Titanfall, Battlefield 4, The Master Chief Collection and Sunset Overdrive. A few games I have played on this console all run great and all look great. I haven't found a game that really has blown me away visually, but I have a feeling that game has yet to show up on the Xbox One.
The Verdict
The Xbox One overall I think is a good console. While I do think there are some features on there that do improve the interface over the 360. There are a lot of changes and designs to the system that I don't really see a good use for.
Yes I can watch TV through my Xbox One but I don't see the benefit nor the reason to actually do that. I can hook up my PS4's HDMI to the Xbox One and Play the PS4 through the Xbox One. But I do not really see why I should actually do that when all I need to really do is swap cables.
When it comes to the games. They all look great and they play great, any thing you hear from Sony Ponies criticizing the Xbox One for a lower resolution is ridiculous. It frankly does not matter and the games run great on the Xbox One.
Like in the PS4 review I had a set of reasons and things that if you wanted in a console, you should buy the PS4.
For the Xbox One, here are the reasons why you should buy the Xbox One.
If you are a die hard fan of Halo. Buy the Xbox One right now because the Master Chief Collection is out and you want to play all the Halo games.
If a lot of your friends are on the Xbox One, buy the Xbox One, because gaming becomes so much more enjoyable when you play with friends. Games like Titanfall and Halo are representations of that.
And if you simply want to have the best of both worlds and want to buy an Xbox One for the simple reason as "I don't want to miss any cool exclusives." Hell, go ahead and buy it.
It's not a bad console by any stretch of the imagination. It just simply has flaws.
What console can you think of that doesn't have a single flaw?
The Xbox One gets a 7 out of 10.
So hopefully for those of you on the fence of whether or not to buy an Xbox One this year, this review helps.
I'll be writing this review somewhat similarly to my PS4 console review I did last year
I will be making a PS4 v Xbox One comparison, but I'll leave that for another post. Right now, I'm focusing on the Xbox One.
Console Aesthetics
I picked up the White Sunset Overdrive bundle Xbox One and what I noticed from the beginning is how huge the console is. It honestly reminded me of the original Xbox One
And the design is somewhat simple. Power button and disc tray in front with all the other ports such as HDMI ports, USB ports etc. Are all located in the back of the console.
Unlike the 360 last generation, the Xbox One is not designed to be stood up vertically, even Xbox Support specifies vertical positioning of the console "Poor Placement."
I'm not trying to be funny here but I do strongly suggest that when you guys get this console, make some space for wherever you may be setting up this beast.
Controller
The controller is pretty sturdy. It's a comfortable controller and again the white and black design look very good on the controller. Especially the color design of the X,Y,B and A buttons.
It feels nice in the hands and it is as comfortable as the Xbox 360 controller with some redesigns.
I do think that the new design of the D-Pad is a lot better as it is much easier to hit the different direction buttons easier without accidentally hitting another D-Pad button.
There are a few differences from the 360 controller to the XB1 controller. For starters, the battery pack.
It feels much lighter to hold in your hands than the Xbox 360's controller due to this change.
User Interface
A personal gripe of mine is the dashboard. It's designed after the Windows 8 operating system and I really don't like it. A bunch of boxes with an icon in the middle doesn't really look good to me and They occupy so much space that the background image you have to set as your dashboard's wallpaper is buried behind all of these icons.
What's new is the ability to snap applications to the right side of the screen in order to see things like members in the Party. It allows for easier access and options to invite players to a game, invite the entire party to a game and even see the recent achievements you've unlocked.
The Xbox One also has a game DVR. You can either record the past 30 seconds of a game or you can start a five minute recording of a game.
Message notifications, party invites and friend requests are somewhat easier to find by the simple Notifications icon right next to your profile picture(top left of the picture above with the Xbox Dashboard).
Of course there are all these things with TV and abilities to connect to your home's DVR box. Quite honestly, I do not care much for it. I CAN hook up my Fios Box's HDMI port to the HDMI IN port on my Xbox One and watch TV through there. I do think that being able to do that is very unique and something unheard of in a video game console. I applaud Microsoft for adding that feature, but to me, it's not something I would use as a means to watch television.
You can even hook up things like your 360 or other systems with an HDMI cable and play your 360 or PS4 through your Xbox One. Again, not something that I can see a great use for seeing as how all I would need to do is swap HDMI cables on my TV. Not exactly a difficult task. Also again, I do see that it is a unique thing and I once again applaud Microsoft for adding that feature.
Another feature of the Xbox One which this time I do see myself using. Is the ability to begin and play games that aren't quite finished installing. You could be installing Dragon Age Inquisition and only 25% of the game is installed. You could play the beginning portion of the game and play the game a little bit before having to finish installing the entire game. I'm not sure if you can play more as the instillation proceeds but so far I have only used this function for Sunset Overdrive and Battlefield 4. I didn't get to play much or get to experience a majority of what the games had to offer but I did think it was pretty cool how I could at least get a taste of what was to come with the rest of the game.
Software Performance
Games on the Xbox One look great. Especially games like Sunset Overdrive. They run great and they look great. Especially games like the Halo Master Chief Collection which take the Halo games and bump them up to 1080p 60fps. Except for Halo 2 for some reason, that does not run at full 1080p.
But it quite honestly doesn't matter. If the game looks great and runs great, then there is nothing to really complain about.
Titanfall, Battlefield 4, The Master Chief Collection and Sunset Overdrive. A few games I have played on this console all run great and all look great. I haven't found a game that really has blown me away visually, but I have a feeling that game has yet to show up on the Xbox One.
The Verdict
The Xbox One overall I think is a good console. While I do think there are some features on there that do improve the interface over the 360. There are a lot of changes and designs to the system that I don't really see a good use for.
Yes I can watch TV through my Xbox One but I don't see the benefit nor the reason to actually do that. I can hook up my PS4's HDMI to the Xbox One and Play the PS4 through the Xbox One. But I do not really see why I should actually do that when all I need to really do is swap cables.
When it comes to the games. They all look great and they play great, any thing you hear from Sony Ponies criticizing the Xbox One for a lower resolution is ridiculous. It frankly does not matter and the games run great on the Xbox One.
Like in the PS4 review I had a set of reasons and things that if you wanted in a console, you should buy the PS4.
For the Xbox One, here are the reasons why you should buy the Xbox One.
If you are a die hard fan of Halo. Buy the Xbox One right now because the Master Chief Collection is out and you want to play all the Halo games.
If a lot of your friends are on the Xbox One, buy the Xbox One, because gaming becomes so much more enjoyable when you play with friends. Games like Titanfall and Halo are representations of that.
And if you simply want to have the best of both worlds and want to buy an Xbox One for the simple reason as "I don't want to miss any cool exclusives." Hell, go ahead and buy it.
It's not a bad console by any stretch of the imagination. It just simply has flaws.
What console can you think of that doesn't have a single flaw?
The Xbox One gets a 7 out of 10.
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