hadock0 escribió:9 Upcoming Must-Play Xbox One ExclusivesThe next wave of Microsoft software just might turn the tide...
The Xbox One got off to an unpopular start. Mixed messaging and blatant back-pedaling didn’t make a great first impression, and with consistently underwhelming technical performances when put side-by-side with the PS4, Microsoft has been earning our respect back from square one. Fortunately, despite the PS4’s apparent two-fold lead on the Xbox One’s sales, loyal Microsofties don’t really have too much to worry about. When you compare the Xbox One’s sales figures with those of last-gen, it’s still a very healthy, faster-selling console than the PS3 or 360. They’ve got to be doing something right… right? Dead Rising 3 and Ryse: Son of Rome were solid, but expected launch-quality fare. Titanfall has certainly influenced the online shooter landscape, while it may not have been the system seller Microsoft was hoping for. It’s hard to know what to make of all this when you throw Call of Duty into the mix.
Call of Duty: Ghost didn’t fair so well as a new-gen console launcher, but Advanced Warfare has a palpably larger wave of hype behind it, looking poised to pounce straight for Titanfall’s jugular with boosty jumps and…. Kevin Spacey, no less. Advanced Warfare is a multi-platform joint, but the Xbox has always been the unofficial home of the Call of Duty series. Will Advanced Warfighter and Titanfall go head-to-head more directly in future sequels? What will November mean for the original Titanfall’s player-base and the recently released Destiny?
The Xbox One certainly wears Microsoft’s “cool dad” vibes on its sleeve, with its Windows 8-esque, quasi-intuitive interface and a brand-feel that is highly-polished, yet still trying a little too hard. Still, all that DRM-related, no-used-games nonsense was repealed almost immediately. The obligatory Kinect 2.0 – initially pitched as an absolutely essential piece of Xbox One kit – has now been casually cast aside, a slimmer price-point taking its place. Microsoft has genuinely rolled back on just about every single thing the public hated, so much so that the Xbox One has almost lost the brand identity it initially pitched. It has stripped itself down to what is essentially a slightly less-powerful PS4, so the only thing setting either new-gen system apart is a stellar line-up of console exclusives.
If the following 9 upcoming games are any indication, we’re in safe hands. Believe it or not, the Xbox legacy is about to be more relevant than ever before thanks to some returning icons and newer virtual stars alike…
9. Halo 5: Guardians
It’s a good time to be a Halo fan. A public Multiplayer Beta for Halo 5 will go up at the end of December, and if you care to relive the entire mainline series on Xbox One, The Master Chief Collection drops on November 11th. You should care, but if every core-series, single and multiplayer map in glorious 1080p at 60fps doesn’t do it for you, you should know – the Collection also contains new narrative connections that feed directly into Halo 5. Also… a Beta Key.
We know the Halo 2: Anniversary Edition will tease aspects of Halo 5, from the Arbitor’s perspective. The mysterious Spartan we’ve been seeing is named Agent Locke, or at least that’s what the Arbitor calls him in one of the official trailers. We hear ol’ Arby’s voiceover mention him, just as we see an extremely high-definition Master Chief kick that spiky bomb at that massive Covenant ship. Remember? From Halo 2. We’ll find out more about Agent Locke’s humble origins in Halo: Nightfall, the Ridley Scott produced digital series. Allegedly, Agent Locke is also Playable in Halo 5. And it’s all barely starting to make sense…
We thought 343 Industries’ Halo 4 was decent, but no better than what Origins was to the Arkham Series—a serviceable entry that neither improves nor tarnishes the creators vision. Perhaps Halo 5 will be elevated by its story ties to Bungie’s Halo 2, even more so now that 343 already have a Halo game under their belt.
The new Gamescom trailer mentions a focus on small maps with four man teams, which sort of dampens our hopes for large-scale battles in single-player or multiplayer, but there have also been some pretty wild rumors of an open-world galaxy with several planets. We’re assuming 343 will be pushing scope, like nearly every new-gen, AAA developer, and where else does Halo’s sandbox-style map design have to expand but through some broader, more physically seamless conceit.
343’s sophomore album needs to ride on more than just updated graphics and series tropes. Master Chief doesn’t have much room left to evolve as a faceless, uber-gruff super-soldier and we hope that what we saw at the end of Halo 4 wasn’t a bluff. Halo fans are ready for something deeper. It’s about time we get to know the Man under the Mjolnir.
8. Crackdown 3
The first Crackdown game was totally underrated. It took everything we loved about The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction’s crazy jump distances and gave us a twisted, futuristic-shooter version of an open-world, 3D platforming action-game. Like… if Mario was a big muscly cop who shot people, and instead of gold coins, he collected blue orbs. Don’t ask us why! For… jump boosts and gun perks… that’s why!
Crackdown’s extraordinary leaps, bounding from rooftop to rooftop, could look and feel mind-blowing on Xbox One, but will that be enough? Matrix-style jumps were an excellent concept that almost delivered, but in practice felt floatier than we wanted them to, in both Crackdown 1 and 2. Infamous: Second Son suffered from the same problem.
A more authentic sense of weight when leaping off a skyscraper seems to be a matter of a realistic falling speed, a dynamic, cinematic quality to the in-game camera, fluid, distinct animations and a sense of scale that new-gen hardware can hopefully assist in achieving.
We’ve also seen a totally crazy tech demo that showcases Crackdown 3’s destruction system. We kid you not—it appears that entire buildings, from top to bottom, can be dynamically blown to smithereens; every individual piece of some seriously large-scale structures. It’s the first thing that pops up when you type “crackdown destruction” into Youtube. Look it up! Seriously, cutting-edge stuff.
Crackdown 2 was a misstep misled by Ruffian Games, not the original Real Time Worlds, but Crackdown creator Dave Jones will return for game three to lead development. If he can not only take us back to what made the first game special, but implement this skyscraper collapsing gameplay in a meaningful way, you can count us an active member of The Agency, Agent.
7. Sunset Overdrive
We kind of thought Microsoft was joking when Sunset Overdrive first debuted as a cinematic trailer at E3 2013. As far as open-world, zombified-freak slaughters are concerned, we felt a much closer connection to Dying Light’s first-person, slightly-less-absurd parkour horror. Time has passed and we’ve since cleared a few gigabytes of space in our hearts for over-the-top, colorfully violent experiences to stand proudly beside the grittier dramas.
Your powers will evolve as the story progresses, so we imagine ability upgrades to operate on the same principles that Infamous made… famous. We know that your agility, mobility and the strength of your weapons will improve over time. Sounds like a slaps-stick, rampaging version of Arkham or Far Cry’s multi-faceted upgrade systems.
Goofball platforming fused with murderous hordes of mutant freaks? From every single thing we’ve seen, Sunset Overdrive’s second most accurate elevator pitch would be Tony Hawk Pro Skater meets Dawn of the Dead. The first most accurate would be Ratchet and Clank meets Resistance: Fall of Man, since both of those games were actually made by Insomniac.
Every time we think Sunset Overdrive is going to be too cheesy, the writing in trailers and demos genuinely makes us laugh. The weapon selection is absolutely bonkers. The traversal system is ostensibly a Jet Set Radio shooter. Sold.
6. Cuphead
Again, this console-exclusive isn’t scheduled for the PS4 or Wii-U, but PC gamers will definitely be joining the cartoon throwback party.
Beyond its eerily accurate visual homage, Cuphead is non-linear like Shadow of the Colossus, while its 1-on-1, run-and-gun shooting spurts from the vein of arcade classics like Contra and Metal Slug. The Super Mario-esque hub-world doesn’t run on grid-like tracks, so you have free reign to roam the top-down scroll and enter whatever 2D stages you’ve unlocked. The single-use power-ups are also Super Mario 3 inspired, granting health bonuses and deflecting attacks.
It’s difficult to convince yourself what you’re actually seeing when you watch Cuphead’s trailer. This game has the truly uncanny aesthetic of a 1930s cartoon in motion. Rightfully so, considering the art-style takes direct inspiration from traditional animation icons like Max Fleischer and Disney’s Silly Symphony cartoons.
According to Studio MDHR’s Co-founder, Chad Moldenhauer, that era specific look is the signature of an ultra old-school technique of animating at a true 24-frames-per-second, before cartoonists started holding every other frame and only needed to draw 12fps. Whatever they’re doing, it’s working.
5. Forza Horizon 2
Alright—this one is also coming to the 360, but it’s a Microsoft exclusive, so Sony won’t see a piece of, and that’s what matters. What The Crew seems intent on accomplishing with an open-world United States, Forza Horizon 2 is attempting with a sizable chunk of Southern France, Italy and other Southern European bits strewn together.
Just how are they bringing it all to life? A technique known as Photogrammetry allows FH2’s designers to take pictures of objects in the real world, and through additional processes, create a lifelike asset of, well… just about anything.The tiniest of details – from nuanced road textures, to physically simulated weather that realistically effects your visibility and handling, to the broader European, country landscapes – make Forza Horizon 2 the best looking racing game of the new generation.
Lighting was of utmost importance when determining how to deliver the most visually authentic experience, so Forza’s programmers went and built a working simulation of the Earth’s atmosphere. If the sky is grey, it’s because of an excess of particulates that is physically converting to rain, and when it does, it will fall from the heavens, bead-up all over your gorgeous car bodies, drip onto the asphalt and fill the cracks in the street. Rainbows will naturally happen because… science.
There’s also going to be a bigger focus on customization and community in Forza Horizon 2, with the return of style points and drive-atar features. That’s right – virtual ghosts of friends and online strangers will randomly be ripping around the open-world. You can challenge behaviorally accurate bots to stay sharp, or race the world for real on September 30th.
4. Scalebound
We weren’t all that excited about Scalebound until we found out who was developing it. Platinum Games is an odd breed indeed, but they’ve got serious, all-out action pedigree. Vanquish, Bayonetta and Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance are some of the most creative and tightly controlled third-person action games around. Super-human protagonists, inventive combat mechanics and a blistering combat speed are all Platinum signatures.
Stylistically, Scalebound evokes a punk metal blend of The Last Guardian, God of War, and Shadow of the Colossus—all Sony IP. Competition is a good thing. Microsoft needs an edgy, fast-paced fighting game to compete with PS4’s Bloodborne and timed-exclusive Hellblade.
This is Platinum Games’ first hardcore focus on fantasy. Trailers and interviews imply giant monsters, dragon-riding and potential co-op. Those sure look like other good-guy dragons charging that Hydra in Scalebound’s cinematic trailer. We know the game centers on large-scale action sequences where you fight alongside your very own dragon companion.
On an official Xbox website, the game’s synopsis mentions “fearsome creatures, including a formidable dragon—and the bond you forge with this awesome predator will prove crucial to the survival of both worlds.” It sounds like this dragon friendship might be something you actually earn and nurture. How we wield that relationship is anyone’s guess at this point.
3. Quantum Break
After you complete a chapter of Quantum Break, you’ll unlock an Episode of a digitally filmed, companion series that fleshes out the bad-guy, behind-the-scenes narrative. The choices you make in-game will affect the flow of the show. With any other studio, this level of cross-medium ambition would feel forced, but Quantum Break seems like a natural culmination of Remedy’s strengths.
The Finland-based developers have been honing slow-motion combat mechanics, pulp-noire heroes and experimental narrative presentation since the first Max Payne in 2001, but Quantum Break seems to capture the most well-justified context for these trademark ingredients.
Bullet-time always adds flare to a fire-fight, but it didn’t make a whole lot of logical sense in Max Payne or Alan Wake. Our three new playable characters – Jack Joyce, Beth Wilder, and Paul Serene – have been caught in some kind of temporal science accident, with mostly awesome side effects. Beyond a few mild headaches, everyone seems to have developed a sci-fi action, manipulation of space and time ability.
Freezing time altogether is a handy tool for changing hiding spots and confusing the heck out of everyone trying to kill us. We’ll have opportunities to simply walk through massive fractures in time like this, in ambient narrative sequences and actively puzzling scenarios. If anyone is going to integrate time-manipulation into their game design and story effectively, surely, the people who pioneered the concept as a game mechanic are up to the task of bringing it to the new generation.
2. Inside
Limbo’s stark, monochromatic purgatory adventure is perhaps the grimmest side-scrolling experience we’ve ever had—in a good way. Its playable space as a silhouette will forever be an iconic art-style.
Playdead Games’s newest twist on 2D-perspective conventions is taking full advantage of the Xbox One. Inside reminds us of Deadlight with its 3D environments and Seattle weather, but the simplistic, solid-coloured shapes and epic camera compositions create a look that is every bit as charming as it is unique. If you told us Pixar had made a super moody platformer, we’d believe Inside was that game.
The trailer reveals some recurrent gameplay themes, chief among them underground science facilities, the assimilation of the human race, and lots of rain. The comic art-style and sinister subject matter evoke the same meta-satire vibes of a Mike Judge comedy or a Portal game.
We love the way Playdead implements puzzles organically into their environments, with bare bones controls in wildly imaginative scenarios that require serious critical thinking. Perhaps it’s time to think inside the box.
1. Rise Of The Tomb Raider
PS4 owners will continue Lara Croft’s epic rebirth in due time, but as far as Holiday 2015 launch exclusivity is concerned, Microsoft has secured Rise of the Tomb Raider… only on Xbox One. It’s a big deal and It’s hard to believe, that an IP which Sony breast-fed from infancy is calling Microsoft daddy now.
No one really saw this coming, but it indicates an intelligent awareness of Sony’s first-party demographics. Simply put, Microsoft didn’t have an Uncharted killer… until now. The popular surge surrounding Lara as an emotionally-layered, survival-action star and feminist icon may have already elevated the social significance of the modern Tomb Raider beyond anything Uncharted could ever hope to achieve historically. If Uncharted 4 is Naughty Dog’s final foray into Nathan Drake’s devilishly handsome hi-jinks, Lara Croft’s legacy might officially take-up the Indiana Jones-esque, video game mantle once again.
The new Tomb Raider did an incredible job of weaving blockbuster action sequences and cinematic horror with an interconnected map that functioned with nearly as much versatility as a Zelda game. Instead of an enclosed, disjointed open-world design, Rise will see players hopping around the globe, as per series tradition—a sentiment made fresh with an even grittier story for our real-human-being Lara Croft.
If Lara’s co-stars prove compelling and the justifications for in-game violence feel less dissonant, Rise could raise the reboot bar significantly higher and secure Croft’s hardened survival for years to come.
We’ve found 9 reasons to own an Xbox One, but this list barely scratches the hard plastic surface. D4 and Pneuma will certainly make a few waves, but we want you to tell us something we don’t know! What upcoming games have you psyched to own an Xbox One?
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