My XBox Experience.....so far

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Mon May 17, 2004 12:56 pm

well now that I have logged a couple of weeks with my new xbox, here are some thoughts:

-Like the controller S as much as the Dual Shock. The tension loaded triggers are great for racing games. Seems like it has better rumble also, than the DS.

-The graphics haven't blown me away yet, but that may be due to the games I currently have. Although RallySport2 is by far, the prettiest game I have seen on a console.

- Like the hard drive, for quicker loading times, but I haven't utilized it for custom soundtracks yet.

-LOVE the headset and xbox live gaming with you fellow DSP-ers. This alone justified my purchase.

-Games.....
Halo....only played through the 1st level, but wasn't overly impressed yet. It's a bit tough to aim with the stick. The monsters seem a bit "cartoony" and the graphics didn't blow me away

Topspin...very impressed with this one. Graphics and player modeling is outstanding. Gameplay is intuitive and fun. It is a bit easy to put shots away, once you learn to stay still and load up the button. Not many long rallys, but maybe that will change as my career moves along.

TOCA2 - Love this game online and off!

Inside Drive - seems a bit "restrictive" after getting used to "Live". The graphics and player animations are nothing compared to Live or NBA2K.
The gameplay is pretty good, but I'm not sure if this will have the "fun factor" of Live or NBA2K. Need to play it some more.

Links.....initially not to impressed. I thought it would be more "sim like" than TW2004, but it doesn't really surpass TW2004 in any areas. I still like TW2004 for the PC the best. Haven't played it online yet, so maybe that will change things for this game.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon May 17, 2004 1:02 pm

Jack:

Not much I can say if you're unimpressed with Halo other than you're a hard man to please.

Regarding Top Spin, try playing on clay and stay away from the net. You'll get some nice rallies. But you better master your trick shots if you want to play this game on XBL, as it's a total trick shot cheesefest. Top Spin was the most disappointing XBL sports game I've played.

Regarding Links, have you ramped up the game to Advanced level, Championship tees, fast greens and wind? The game is much harder than Tiger for the console at those settings.

Enjoy!

Take care,
PK

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon May 17, 2004 1:05 pm

pk500 wrote:Regarding Links, have you ramped up the game to Advanced level, Championship tees, fast greens and wind? The game is much harder than Tiger for the console at those settings.

Jack and PK,

If you've got Tiger PC, there is no reason to play on a console. You WILL NOT find anything on the cosole that comes close. You just can't simulate a swing better than a mouse.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon May 17, 2004 1:15 pm

I don't play games on my PC, a business laptop owned by the Speedway.

Take care,
PK

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon May 17, 2004 1:17 pm

I know Paul...I was just referring to the fact that if Jack played TW on the PC, he's not going to be impressed at all with a console version. They just don't/can't compare. I tried, it just didn't last very long.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon May 17, 2004 1:34 pm

Jack,

I share your sentiments regarding Halo. While I was impressed with the graphics, I wasn't blown away by the game play. It just seemed a bit too repetitive for me. I simply had no desire to continue after the first level. I won't be standing in line for Halo 2.

By the way, have you checked out the first Splinter Cell on the Xbox? If not, you'll be in awe of the graphics in that game.

I wish I would have kept Top Spin, but I traded it in a long time ago. As Pk touched upon, online was a big cheesefest. And offline, while it was enjoyable to play without an in-game save feauture or 2 hours to waste, I just didn't have time to play. It was an excellent first run game and I'm pissed we won't be seeing a sequel this year.

I'm with you regarding NBA Inside Drive. I just don't see it. I'm unimpressed with the player models, some animation sequences, and the floatiness of the game. I know the majority will disagree, but this game seems to be missing something. Then again, I despise the game play of the NBA. *Yawns*

I'm still playing Fight Night and quite enjoying it. Sure wish it had been on XBL so I could tangle with some of the DSP gamers. Hopefully next year.

RSC2 has been a fun rental, but I'm kinda glad I didn't purchase it. Then again, maybe it's not fair to say that. I haven't played it enough. It sure is beautiful but what's up with driving through the trees with no damage?

Looking forward to the football games.......

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Mon May 17, 2004 1:41 pm

Halo gets MUCH MUCH better as you move along. Better weapons, better and smarter enemies, you get to drive/fly, The Flood, etc. There is some backtracking in the middle, but the game is awesome.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Mon May 17, 2004 1:41 pm

For you guys who only got through the first Halo level, you really missed out. I'll admit, the first level is nothing special, but the game gets insanely fun after that. There are some astounding outdoor levels. There is some repetition in terms of later levels and the rather limited number of critters you fight, but that also fits in with the storyline. Jack, I would advise trying the first three levels. If you don't like it after that, then you probably won't like the rest. I will be pushing 10-year-olds out of the way like George Costanza when Halo 2 hits stores.

Likewise, with Inside Drive, you have to play it a bit to appreciate it. The reason so many of us like it is that the CPU teams really play differently. You can really see different teams changing their offenses from game to game. It's the only basketball game I've played where Shaq really was a beast. It's the ESPN Baseball of the NBA games.

vinny-b · Post by **vinny-b** » Mon May 17, 2004 1:44 pm

fps's are one my main genres, and never took to Halo. Can deal with a Half-Life, Deus Ex theme/environment. But Halo is too sci-fi oriented, for me at least.

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Mon May 17, 2004 3:17 pm

The first half of Halo is just OK. The 2nd half is wonderful. It's all about The Flood.

I'd also suggest Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge for the Xbox; it's a very good arcade/shooter flight sim and I hear it's a hoot on XBL.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Mon May 17, 2004 5:25 pm

Quite a few have suggested Crimson SKies, Bill. I may have to give it a shot.

Regarding Halo, should I just use the default xbox controller setup?
I am having a hard time aiming and moving.

Bill_Abner wrote:The first half of Halo is just OK. The 2nd half is wonderful. It's all about The Flood.

I'd also suggest Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge for the Xbox; it's a very good arcade/shooter flight sim and I hear it's a hoot on XBL.

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Mon May 17, 2004 8:13 pm

I played Halo on the PC, Jack. I dunno.

Granatofan · Post by **Granatofan** » Mon May 17, 2004 8:57 pm

Jack,

What Bill said about Halo. The story is good and there if you pay attention there is a theme in there about man vs. religion and both vs. science. Some of the first missions where the Flood show up nearly made me jump out of the chair. I felt gratified after reaching the end of the game.

Give Halo a few more missions.

Also,

You are one of the people I always hope shows up for TOCA. It always seems like we have some good battles in the last 1/3 of the pack

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Tue May 18, 2004 12:17 pm

I will definitley give Halo more time guys and report back in a few weeks.

laurenskye · Post by **laurenskye** » Tue May 18, 2004 1:37 pm

Hey Jack, I think we have an ESPN baseball double header to play.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Tue May 18, 2004 2:16 pm

I might as well jump in with comments about my few months as a xbox owner. All comments are offline as I am between homes and have dialup.

I felt like Inside Drive really plays the best game of NBA basketball out there, but I am more of a college BB fan, so it did not hold my interest for long. I did play a lot of ESPN College Hoops. I managed to overlook the flaws and had a lot of fun with this game. I did not like EA's March Madness. I think I figured out why the players in College Hoops missed so many layups - they were tired from playing defense!! Seriously, I felt like in MM the AI on your team would not play defense unless you took control of them and did it yourself. Which led to far to many dunks. I imagine it was just not my style of play and since I liked Sega's offering, I did not push it.

NCAA Football was fun, although I have some concerns with the fact that it felt more sluggish on the box than on the PS2. From what some folks over at OS said about the 2005 version at E3, there are some slowdown issues on the Xbox version this year (at this point in development) as well. But I love the fact that the game loaded faster and sim times were much quicker if I wanted to quick sim a season or an offseason. I became a console gamer because of NCAA football. nuff said. What Madden I play I do on the PC version, so I have no comments on the Xbox version.

Top Spin was fun. I got my money's worth on this one - although it annoyed me that early rounds of tournaments were so damn easy and that you could not save in the middle of a tourney - even between rounds.

ESPN and EA versions of hockey were good but did not do it for me. I honestly had more fun playing Hitz Pro. That game was arcade but a blast. This game also was the first hockey game that gave me realistic shot totals pretty much out of the box.

I liked ESPN Football a lot. Looks great and I enjoy the gameplay. I play NCAA until I get tired of it and switch to ESPN Football. There is no offseason for football in my house.

ESPN Baseball is fun, but it has not captured me like the High Heat games on the PC captured me. Fun but not awe inspiring. MVP was not really my cup of tea for a variety of reasons. Same with AllStar. Played 'em and sold /em.

I thought that I would love Deus Ex Invisible War - I loved the first game. But while I like it, it does drag at points. Goals just seem to pile up and the conspiracy is so dense that I am currently wandering around Cairo wondering what the hell I am doing with my life. I do like flirting with NG. It is good but I expected great.

I just got and started Halo. I had heard that it would not blow you away if you were a FPS PC gamer. But I had a lot of fun with the first level. Great looking game and atmospheric music. I imagine it will get repetitive - all FPS games do at some point. But I will have fun with it.

Overall, I have had a lot of fun with the box and there is a lot more out there and coming out that will keep it fresh and fun for a good while.

skidmark · Post by **skidmark** » Tue May 18, 2004 2:28 pm

kevinpars wrote:NCAA Football was fun, although I have some concerns with the fact that it felt more sluggish on the box than on the PS2. From what some folks over at OS said about the 2005 version at E3, there are some slowdown issues on the Xbox version this year (at this point in development) as well.

The Xbox version was much, much slower at E3. It just felt like a much earlier build of the same game that was on the ps2. They were both very lopsided to the home team though because they wanted that to be emphasized. I wouldn't take too much stock from those early builds though.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Tue May 18, 2004 4:22 pm

Might as well chime in, I think I own about 40 games for the Xbox. These are my top 5 or so.

Knights of the Old Republic is a must buy, if you having even the slightest interest in rpg's or star wars. The story is that good.

Crimson Skies, also a must have.

Prince of Persia 2, I hate platformers, but this has the right mix of puzzle, combat and jumping.

TOCA, I got it mainly because guys from here were raving about it. I play it ever night and I don't usually like racing games.

ESPN Football / NCAA Football Get at least one of these.

Now for some less popular games i found fun and you can get for cheap:

Splashdown
APEX
Brute Force (really enjoyed this one)
Buffy the Vampire slayer (1st one, not the 2nd)

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Tue May 18, 2004 7:09 pm

Hmm so TOCA can be fun for non gear heads?

LazyScumbag · Post by **LazyScumbag** » Tue May 18, 2004 7:11 pm

out of curiosity, what makes online top spin a "cheesefest" if you guys don't mind? risk shots?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue May 18, 2004 7:13 pm

Bill_Abner wrote:Hmm so TOCA can be fun for non gear heads?

Two words that most will backup here:

HELL YES

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue May 18, 2004 7:16 pm

LazyScumbag wrote:out of curiosity, what makes online top spin a "cheesefest" if you guys don't mind? risk shots?

Exactly. Mastery of trick shots is a much easier route to success than mastery of basic tennis.

Take care,
PK

skidmark · Post by **skidmark** » Tue May 18, 2004 7:30 pm

Bill_Abner wrote:Hmm so TOCA can be fun for non gear heads?

This game has been a great experience for me... I wouldn't consider myself a racing fan at all, but I'm getting plenty out of it. Its not mindless where you are holding the gas down all the way and flying through levels, but its also not so technical that you feel like you are stepping into a flight sim. The variety in tracks and in cars is truly amazing.