/When game publishers offer the opportunity to preview an upcoming game at some elaborate event on one of the coasts, I usually decline. In general, I can't spare the time and travel budget to fly out from my home base in Pittsburgh to spend a day or two with a single unreleased title. When Microsoft invited me out to San Francisco to get hands-on time with near-final versions of practically every Xbox One-exclusive game in the console's launch lineup, though, I decided it was time to dip into the travel budget.
The results of that two-day feast of gameplay and talks with developers are below. All of these thoughts are based on anywhere from fifteen to 90 minutes with the game in a controlled environment, so the final take on any of these titles could be very different from these initial impressions. Many of the games were in their final state, ready for certification, but some were still going through last-minute quality assurance and bug fixing and might not fully represent the final product.
That said, even this short time with the games is enough to let me know which Xbox One titles I'm excited for and which I'm dreading having to play more of. Read on and you'll know as well.
Crimson Dragon
If I could pick a single Xbox One launch title that could serve as a beautiful screensaver to run in the background while I do something else, this would be it (though Forza would make a run of it). Every new level is another jaw-droppingly beautiful scene just dripping with ambiance, whether it's a glowing cavern, an iceberg-laden ocean, or a soaring battle in the clouds.
Gameplay-wise, the game seems to be a slightly updated version of the old Panzer Dragoon series of rail-based shooters. As you're propelled automatically forward atop your elaborate dragon mount, you dodge incoming attacks with the left stick while aiming your weapon with the right stick. There are also a few areas where you're in full control of the movement, but the controls feel pretty awkward in these sections. The view swings left to right as your targeting reticle gets near the edge of the screen, an effect that gave me a slight bout of motion sickness in my demo.
The game offers a wide variety of dragons, each with an elemental class that fits into a rock-paper-scissors style triangle with the others (weak against one type of enemy, strong against another). You can also purchase helper dragons downloaded from the cloud with in-game currency, calling them in during tricky bits to aid your attacks. Even though the game started life with Kinect-based controls on the Xbox 360, the developers were only showing off the handheld controller at our demo.
The aim-and-shoot gameplay didn't come off as super-deep, but it was engaging enough to target enemies that were constantly dipping in and out from behind intervening cover. A certain type of obsessive shooter fan will have a great time perfecting their runs on each of the levels. Everyone else can enjoy the pretty scenery as they putter about.
Dead Rising 3
Of all the Xbox One launch games, Dead Rising 3 might see the most apparent gameplay impact from the system's extra processing power. Yes, the zombies and environments all look better than they did in previous titles on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. More importantly, though, there are simply a lot more of those zombies infecting every inch of the game, and these massive packs make areas in previous Dead Rising games look downright empty. To give you an idea of the scale, one decent-sized explosion during my demo killed 400 zombies in one fell swoop according to an in-game counter.
What's more, all of these zombies exist in a fully streaming open world that developers stress has no load times after initial startup. It's quite easy to lose yourself dodging through the hordes while scrounging, sometimes desperately, for weapons and items. The way the zombies shuffle and crumple under your attacks are less directly important to the gameplay, but these effects also come off as much smoother on the new hardware.
Besides the heightened zombie count, the biggest gameplay innovation in Dead Rising 3 is the ability to combine more than two weapons together into super-combo weapons. The series' trademark inventiveness in these creations is still apparent. Adding one traffic cone to a speaker creates a megaphone-style weapon that sends out sonic blasts, but adding multiple traffic cones sends out those blasts in an arc that spreads out in front of you. A street light and a battery makes an electric staff, but adding a propane tank adds a fiery element to its attacks. Players can also make combo vehicles this time around: I had way too much fun with a tricycle that combined with a boom box and TNT to attract zombies to an explosive end.
While there is still a story-imposed time limit in the game, the developers told me the primary game mode will give players plenty of space to explore and find everything. Nightmare mode, on the other hand, will impose the hurry-up-or-die restrictions that old school fans expect. The new game will also let players drop in to co-op mode in the middle of a game, earn experience, and progress on their own account even if they're playing on someone else's file.
Forza Motorsport 5
The first indication that you're really playing a "next-generation" version of Forza comes almost immediately, when the sunlight casts a realistic glow that reflects off only part of the windshield.Forza Motorsport 5 is full of little graphical details that show off the extra power of the new hardware, from the blindingly bright sunlight that hits your face when you crest a hill to the lavish textures on the car's interior to the smooth animation when your driver reaches over to shift gears.
There are more than just graphical upgrades, of course; developer Turn 10 is making a big to-do about its new cloud-based Drivatar system that is supposed to make more realistic AI opponents. This system was most noticeable when the cars didn't perform perfectly. In my hour or so with the game, I saw opposing cars running up onto the grass slightly during turns, spinning out after being bumped for position, and once even crashing headlong into a barrier. In general, the cars seemed to spread themselves well along the track, and they never arranged themselves into a single file of perfect racing-line followers as they tend to do in some other racing games.
Director Dan Greenawalt also made a big deal about the way the Career mode has been rebalanced for the new Forza. You now get the same amount of money for finishing in first through third place, a move designed to encourage players to crank up the difficulty (and the payout purse) rather than just rushing out into first place and staying there for the whole race. You can also keep a single car through your entire career in this year's edition without being constantly pushed into a newer, better car as soon as you begin getting the hang of your first one.
That said, after running through five two-lap races with middling results, I already had enough money to buy a decent rally car for a new set of races. Thankfully, Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson was able to give me a quick, 60-second explanation of the difference between the various rally cars I had to choose from. This was an engaging, accessible entry point for a non-gearhead like me.
This is the title that you're going to pull out to show off the graphical power of your new console to friends, but it also seems to be a surprisingly approachable driving simulation in my early playing. I can see wasting a lot of time on this one.
Kinect Sports Rivals
For all the talk of the Kinect being a critical part of every Xbox One package at launch, this is the only game that seems to absolutely require the device. I got to try out a jet skiing game, which asks players to hold their hands out in front of them as if they're gripping the steering column on an actual jet ski. This works with the player either standing or sitting in a chair, though neither one makes it particularly comfortable to hold your arms up straight in place for extended periods. If nothing else, the game is a decent low-impact upper body workout.
Turning the vehicle requires twisting to move one hand forward and one hand back, and I was surprised by how even very tiny motions were picked up by the Kinect and translated into on-screen motion. I was almost immediately making slight adjustments to center myself on ramps and avoid obstacles sticking out of the water. The new Kinect also has the fidelity to detect whether a hand is in an open palm or a closed fist, a capability that can be used to ease off the throttle for tough turns. Stamping down a foot is probably the most satisfying way to activate a turbo boost ever.
The "pre-season" free trial of the game available at launch will include five other activities, and it should serve as a fine tech demo for the new Kinect ahead of a full release for the game in March.
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