The XBox Report

Posted at 3:21 PM on 18 November 2001

I went along to the XBox presentation not really knowing what to expect. On the one hand, I was quite excited about getting the chance to play the games and to see what they were like... and on the other, I was worried that it might descend into some sort of sales presentation.

I needn't have worried - the staff were unobtrusive, serving only drinks and pizza rather than sales patter. After a short video presentation (consisting of game footage set to rousing music somewhere between Carmina Burana and the Phantom Menace's Dual of Fates) we - that is, I and about 12 others - were lead into a white room containing two-dozen X Boxes with flatscreen displays. And then we were left to get on with it.

In total, there were about eight games on show. The first I played was Dead or Alive 3. If there is one thing that can be said about DoA 3 on the XBox, it is that the graphics are genuinely stunning. Quite possibly the best I've seen on any platform. Superb character definiton and animation, gorgeous backgrounds (with interactive scenery) set in vibrant colours - and all at a rock-solid 60fps. It's just a shame that the actual game isn't all that good, and doesn't seem to offer anything particularly compelling over the previous games in the series on other platforms. A shame, really, but there you go.

The next game I played was (what I can only assume to be) Metropolis Street Racer (that's what it was called on the Dreamcast, anyway). It's a fun racing game, and certainly no push-over in the difficulty stakes. I raced in London (after an embarassing stint in Tokyo where I managed to shoot backwards at the starting line whilst trying to work out the controls). The graphics are very good, based on accurate maps and photos of the real area. I raced by the Houses of Parliament and past the building I used to work in (I was able to recognise it by the front door!). All great fun, but probably not worth bothering with if you have the Dreamcast original.

I had to wait to play the title I most wanted to get my hands on - Halo. It was running on three machines, and all were occupied - one by possibly the most boring games player of all time. Basically, he hid behind a rock, occasionally peeping out and shooting some trees before shuffling back to hide again behind the same rock. Time and time again, doing exactly the same thing... it was torturous.

I felt like I'd been waiting for an eternity, but eventually my turn came.

Firstly, I can say that it's by far the best game on the XBox. It's addictive, compelling, and draws you in. Well, certainly for the first half hour at least - after that I'm not qualified to comment (as I had to leave). The other thing I can say about it is that it positively screams for a mouse and keyboard. Whilst the XBox controller is second only to the N64 controller (IMO) the PC origins of the game are highly apparent and a controller just doesn't cut it in this kind of environment. It's not that control over your character is bad - it's actually very good given the constraints of this class of device - it's just that certain manouevres are either not possible or are too difficult to bother with using sticks. I'll be first in the queue for the PC version - but I'd also say it probably isn't worth buying an XBox purely for this title unless you don't already possess a good PC.

I played a few of the other games, but not really for long enough to meaningfully comment. I certainly felt I'd seen enough to form an opinon on the platform, though.

The XBox is a powerful bit of kit, and with a few more triple-A titles could well hold its own in the battle of the 3rd-generation consoles. Whether it offers anything significantly different or compelling is much more open to debate. Although graphical superiority and system power is all very well, it's basically a moot point given the quality of the other platforms. Ultimately it's the quality of the games that will win hearts and minds, and I'm certainly not sure they'll be able to deliver on this. Having said that, everyone said that about Sony when they first released the original Playstation, and look what happened there...

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