Xbox 360 Hour Tour :: Wessex Scene Online

Xbox 360 Hour Tour

19th December 2005
Craig Williams

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The original Xbox can be called many things, but sleek and stylish are not words that immediately spring to mind. The same can be said of the exterior of Mercer Street Studios, the location for the London leg of the Xbox 360 Hour Tour. A car park played host to a small tent, which itself played host to an ever-growing anticipation amongst the crowd as opening time approached. Once inside, the typicality of a London backstreet was instantly forgotten as next-generation gaming became a reality, basked in a comfortable green glow with a DJ in the corner.

Such was the visual shock from grey to green upon entry that it was a little bewildering to decide which demo pod to latch onto first. Much has been made of the Xbox 360’s graphical prowess, and the fact that every game was displayed on a High Definition Television (HDTV) only served to impress. Of course it is a very shallow gamer that only focuses on the polygon count, but ultimately this is what Microsoft’s console is bringing to the market – updated franchises with updated graphics.

This is most evident in EA’s dominance on the 360, where the promotional booklet boasts that ‘five games are being prepped to release this Christmas – that’s more than EA has ever given any console at launch.’ While this will undoubtedly reap huge financial rewards, the game play did not seem much of a departure from the current generation, except again from a graphical standpoint. The use of HDTVs was fully justified, if only for the beads of sweat on the players in NBA Live 06, and the likenesses in FIFA 06: Road to World Cup is just what you would expect from the powerhouse that is EA.

In looking for differences between the current consoles and the 360, crowd behaviour seemed to be the most obvious improvement. No longer mere cardboard cutouts, they are now fully animated, cheering wildly at kick off, or in the case of Project Gotham Racing 3, fleeing in terror when a car ploughs into the barriers. While this is not exactly a gaming innovation, it highlights the 360’s potential to create more realistic worlds, and hopefully bring improved AI so that games can provide challenges instead of cannon fodder.

On the subject of cannon fodder, the First Person Shooter (FPS) is well represented on the 360. Purists of course will argue that the PC is, and always will be, the only true FPS vehicle, but Perfect Dark Zero, Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4 work well on Microsoft’s machine. Much is expected of Perfect Dark, and while it shows flashes of brilliance (backing against a wall, aiming the gun sight and then destroying the CCTV camera without being seen was a decent piece of action) it is the other two shooters that were more impressive. Both are equally atmospheric in differing ways, with Call of Duty 2 making good use of smoke effects to keep the enemy from view until it’s almost too late. It is possible to recover your health by finding a quiet spot, but such respite is not always easy to come by. The same level of survival and paranoia is evident in Quake 4, this time more so from the fact your attackers are not human, but gigantic beasts shrouded in darkness. The opening of the game begins in absolute carnage, with glowing white explosions illuminating the wreckage of your craft. But from the light you must enter the darkness, and the game only continues to impress from there.

If you are not a gamer to be enticed by EA sports titles or the FPS genre, then there are still options to choose from. Project Gotham Racing 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted (another EA title) offer different types of driving style for the racing fan. PGR3 offers a more realistic approach (well, as realistic as 80mph through the London streets could be) while NFS features a more frenetic style of driving. Both games offer competent handling of the cars, but PGR3 seems to have a little more to offer, even though NFS uses its obvious qualities of graphics and speed to great effect.

The remaining key titles of Kameo: Elements of Power, Condemned: Criminal Origins and Dead or Alive 4 offer mild disappointment, surprise and brilliance in that order. Kameo is initially fairly frustrating, and seems to lack that certain next-gen shine which is evident in other launch titles. Having been in development for so long, and in contention for various consoles before the upgrade to 360, the graphical sheen is not as impressive as could be expected. But as has been said, it is shallow to focus on the game’s appearance, yet still the game play is nothing spectacular. The character transformations are fairly novel, and offer a more challenging outlook to the game’s world as you contemplate what form to take and where, but ultimately there is a hope that hidden and more complex layers may be revealed through extended play.

Condemned lurked in the corner of the room, as if it didn’t want to attract too much attention to itself. On first impression it appeared to be another survival horror game seeking to cash in on the popularity of the Resident Evil series. This, however, is not the case. If anything, the game is closer in feel to CSI, with the (again very visually impressive) in-game world building a sense of fear in controlling a detective entering a murder scene, which is brilliantly yet brutally realised. The gadgets available were a welcome difference to the gun that was initially expected, and so Condemned offers an alternative to the manifesto of sporting, racing and constant killing provided by the 360 launch.

Dead or Alive 4 is a game that will miss the 360 launch on December 2nd, and is perhaps the best indication of what is to come. While Peter Jackson’s King Kong and some other remaining launch titles are graphical enhancements of already available games, DOA4 is a visual masterpiece, but this is to be expected of Team Ninja’s fantastic beat ‘em up series. Since its incarnation on the PlayStation, DOA has focused on making its characters look as attractive as possible, while also making an immensely playable game. The stages are again multi-leveled, so it is possible to pummel your opponent off the edge, and fall from a great height down a flight of stairs or into a shallow pool. The latter example was absolutely breath taking, with the water reflecting and rippling in such a beautiful fashion.

The fact the game is not ready for launch yet was one of the best on display shows the pros and cons of the 360 in one fell swoop. At the moment, the games on offer are immensely playable, but there is a belief that Microsoft has rushed the console, and the initial line up seems to support this. While it is difficult to fault the design of the console, controller, or the multimedia abilities (connection with pretty much any digital camera or MP3 player is possible through a USB port) there is a definite sense that more is to come before the 360 can persuade the undecided. Xbox Live Arcade is sure to be a success, with the ability to download classic titles by paying in Microsoft Points (available online or in game stores) but obviously the Xbox 360 Hour Tour was more focused on the games, rather than these impressive looking multimedia options.

The 360 definitely has a bright future, but it needs to escape from the shadow of its predecessor and claim some games of its own, rather than proving to be a console on which multi-format games are released with a bit of graphical polish. Once developers turn their attention completely to the 360, it is evident that Microsoft’s machine will grow from strength to strength. After the experience of their first foray into home consoles, Microsoft are fully prepared for the next-gen, and once the industry catches up, the 360 will certainly not disappoint, nor taint the reputation of the Xbox brand.