I’m back again with my Xbox experiences, and this time it
is all focused on the Xbox One. This is the machine that really accelerated my
respect of the Xbox brand and allowed me to try a lot more of the first party
lineup. However, at no point between 2013 and 2015 had I ever thought I’d be interested
in getting one.
In 2013, I’d covered the Xbox One reveal conference and
felt the One was unimpressive from what was shown, making note of the fact that
E3 really needed to be great for them otherwise the One would be the losing
console of the three – which is saying something considering we know how things
turned out. E3 2013 gave a lot of u-turns on a number of things, and it had a whole
host of games, but the WiiU looked a whole lot more attractive with Mario Kart
8 and the already released LEGO City Undercover.
I’d skipped out on covering E3 2014, but come E3 2015, it
was clear I’d been won over. Despite the
little showing it got, Forza Motorsport 6 interested me greatly, and knowing
that the console already had Horizon 2 on it made it a more attractive option.
And this was also the E3 which Nintendo had faltered in a bad way. So, in
October of 2015, I finally became an owner of the Forza Motorsport Edition Xbox
One – complete with a download code of Forza Motorsport 6. Which was a
surprise, as I was expecting a disc. It also meant I couldn’t get stuck into it
until the next day, letting the game download overnight through the wired
connection to the student home internet. And the next year and a half proved my
reasoning for not keeping the 360 around was pretty weak when both the WiiU and
One sat side-by-side in front of my TV.
When I played the game, it was as great as I was
expecting, with some of my favourite tracks from the fourth returning and some
interesting new ones that I found just as good. However, I wanted to explore more
of the games on offer that I had missed over the last two years. Cue EA Access
and the Vault, giving me access to full games within EA’s library. Plants vs
Zombies: Garden Warfare and Titanfall were the two games I first tried, and
both were pretty fun. I had reinstated my Gold subscription, and took advantage
of the Games With Gold I was now able to claim again. Dirt 3 was one of the
first, but didn’t get played beyond the first try. Forza 6 was just that good
for me. Even the lure of a new Need For Speed wasn’t enough to pull me away
from Forza Motorsport 6, though I did get a number of hours played on the
trial. Same goes for Star Wars Battlefront [though ultimately I went PC on that
one].
2016 and 2017 were packed full of releases and new
additions to both EA Access and Games With Gold. The first lot being an average
game called Zheroes and the charming Unravel. Oh, and GTA V. Yes, I’d already
bought it on Steam and had made a great amount of progress in making my Online
character a part of the world with houses, cars, and a style similar to my own,
but I’d never touched the offline story content of the game. The Xbox One
version would make sure I did. And I had fun with the story, much more than I
was expecting. I already knew what I was getting come the end, and made the
only choice that makes sense. Occasionally I’d be booting that completed save back
up to pick the boys up again and go hiking up Mount Chiliad only to
‘accidentally’ knock one of them down the side of it. I enjoyed Titanfall more
than Garden Warfare, but that didn’t stop me getting the second Garden Warfare
game once it became available in the Vault. Perhaps not surprisingly, I played
it less than the first. I had fun with Defence Grid 2 when I claimed that
through Games With Gold, but just like the first it was a played once and never
touched again game. I seriously have no idea what it is with me doing that with
free games. Even ones I like.
Sunset Overdrive was also claimed on Games With Gold, and
this one I didn’t find all that good. There was just something that felt
stilted about it, almost as if the freedom that was advertised wasn’t there to
the degree I was expecting. Though I have no idea what my expectations
regarding the game were in the first place, so I can’t really be saying that
without giving it a full chance. If Crackdown is any indication, I’ll pick it
up again sometime soon and find myself in the groove enough to complete the
main storyline. The Xbox 360 got a bit of love as I bought Midnight Club: LA Complete,
though at the time didn’t dedicate enough time to it. This is another game I’d
had fun with on the PSP, but with this one being the full game, it was easy to
consider. As for the Xbox One, it was time to play catch up with the Forza
series, buying both Horizon 2 and Motorsport 5 before Horizon 3’s release.
While Horizon 2 kept me busy, Motorsport 5 just sort of sat there, and I had to
admit to myself that the regular track racers just weren’t as exciting to me
anymore. Or maybe it just five being a downgrade of six, as I was still playing
the latter.
I won’t say much about this one, as I’d already reviewed
it, but LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens released, and since the massive
discount I was expecting the Steam version to have didn’t happen [after all,
LEGO Jurassic World was cut massively in price just after launch] it was to the
Xbox One for the game. Not only that, but 2016 was when I started dropping off
from PC gaming, so nearly everything went to the One. Red Dead Redemption
became part of the Backwards Compatibility of the One, and had a sale going for
it, so I jumped at the chance to buy it. Worms WMD and a small game called
Obliteracers were bought around that period, with Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate
and SSX 3 being claimed from Games With Gold and the Vault respectively. There
wasn’t much happening in 2017 with new games until April came with two at once.
LEGO City Undercover had already been fully completed on WiiU, and while I
wasn’t going to be repeating that, I did want to have the game on a console I
was using a lot more. And Yooka-Laylee arrived as well, though I didn’t play it
as much as I was expecting. I’d also downloaded Skate 3 from the Vault. And
with Star Wars Battlefront now in the Vault, I could now play more, and also
took the opportunity to get the season pass for it – something I had neglected
doing on the PC version.
The Switch was taking over my gaming time as game after
game released on it for me to buy, but I still found time for the One trying
out both Watch Dogs games, along with playing through other games. Star Wars:
The Force Unleashed 2 had made it onto the Backwards Compatibility list, so it
was time to replay the game I had originally played on the Wii and made some
progress in on Steam. Needless to say, I didn’t get very far but had fun doing
so. A number of games came along as well, with Need For Speed Payback being
played through EA Access trial, Game Pass being introduced which allowed me to
play Gears of War 4, and purchasing Sonic Forces and Star Wars Battlefront 2.
Payback fixed the control issues I had with the 2015 game, but I didn’t find
much to keep me playing. Gears was fun for the amount of time I played it, but
I just couldn’t continue to the end as it got pushed to the side and eventually
had to be deleted to make space. As mentioned previously, I was falling out
from PC gaming, and a year after I’d bought it for PC I now had Steep for the
One.
2018 was mostly Game Pass and Games With Gold for new
additions, with Crazy Taxi, Split/Second, LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga,
and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. I even trialled Burnout Paradise Remastered
and The Sims 4 through EA Access. And then, the blowout of original Star Wars
goodness. Both original Battlefronts were bought, along with Jedi Starfighter.
I covered those three for Star Wars month, along with both Force Unleashed
games and both EA Battlefronts. The next game I tried from Game Pass was Zoo
Tycoon, and one that I found quite good. Sure, it doesn’t have the
customisability of the old ones, but it’s still a decent simulation management
game. Sea of Thieves was also through Game Pass and it is a great sandbox to
explore. I don’t mind the fact there’s little content for it, as exploring the
world and coming across secrets is fun. And the last game on this post is
Fortnite – the great survival 1v100 game. I did try PlayerUnknowns’
Battlegrounds during a free weekend, but found it to be slower and less
action-packed.
These six years with Xbox might have had gaps with few
new things happening for me, but the games I have were definitely fun. I might
still be a Nintendo-first gamer, but the Xbox has given me a new favourite
series in Forza and allowed me to try out new games that Nintendo would never
get. Plus, Microsoft seem to be going more user friendly in terms of services –
so if Backwards Compatibility and Game Pass carry over onto their next console,
I am so there day one.