Topic: Official Push Square Xbox Thread

There is massive Black Friday Sale on for Gold members (unfortunately I can't find a link) and there are some fantastic bargains on it. I just picked up Wolfenstein 2 for £25 which is a bargain in my eyes.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/xbox-black-friday-sale-micro... this has all the games listed and the pricing...

@BAMozzy Would you say it’s worth getting both Gears of War 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration for £31.59 for the X enhancements even though I’ve finished them on the OG XB1? (Although I only completed the base RotTR and none of it’s DLCs) Correct me if I’m wrong but I think these two games are what have benefited the most with the X enhancements, like had more work and effort put in than any other X enhanced games?

@MaccaMUFC I have the 20year Anniversary TR on PS4 so I know what the extra content offers. The baba yaga (or whatever its called) is definitely the highlight and the rest is 'OK' but nothing stand-out. Personally I really enjoyed the story - so much so I have beaten it twice (PS4 and XB1). Personally I think RotTR is probably one of the 'best' enhanced games to date. The difference is phenomenal but what really sets it apart from either the XB1 or PS4 version is HDR. In many ways, its more of an upgrade visually than the majority of remasters we have seen this gen - its a much bigger step up than Tomb Raider (PS3/360) to the definitive edition on the next gen. As I said, I played this on my Pro which offered 4k (CB) but the fact you can play this in Quality 4k (1080p only on Pro) and HDR with the high res textures is certainly a bigger step up than the XB1s version.

Gears does look like an upgrade too but I don't feel it was quite such the step up that Rise offered. Maybe because I played Gears in HDR on the XB1s and that is more of a step-up than the resolution was but that doesn't mean its not noticeably better overall.

If I had to pick 1 out of these as a 'showcase' game, then I would go for Rise (use Quality mode). It felt more like a remaster than just an enhanced game and HDR takes it to a new level.

Whether you should rebuy or not does depend on you and whether you will get value for money. I never trade my games - even if I don't think I will ever replay them - so I am not in that position. If all you are going to do is play a mission or two - just to see how 'great' they look, then I would say that NO game is worth paying for that. If you want to replay the game as if it was a remaster, maybe play content you missed out on (like RotTR DLC, Gears 4 MP/Horde modes), Play the game(s) at 60fps (although this is 1080p mode but at least you can easily switch to 'Quality/4k' modes if you wanted to see how great it looks) and/or chase any Achievements you are missing, then either/both is certainly worth getting. If you hadn't played them before, I would have said £31 is a 'great' price for both and well worth picking up. I would say TR is worth that alone and recommend it for any gamer regardless.

The chances are though that we will see games that offer a similar quality visual experience. Games that offer 4k HDR with high res assets and maybe even a Quality mode where the visual settings are dialed up to max - even if that means using CB rendering. Right now though, the best in my opinion is TR.

After playing a lot in 4k, I am finding that 1440p or less now seems a lot more blurry...

@BAMozzy I’ve just bought ROTTR 20 Year Anniversary, it was the fact I’ve not played any of the DLCs that swayed me to buying it but also because it’s enhanced of course. I see it has three visual modes; Native 4K, Enriched Visuals and High Frame Rate. It’s a shame we can’t have the game running in both Native 4K and 60FPS but what does Enriched Visuals mean? A watered down version of Native 4K mode? Usually you just have the choice of either 4K or frame rate.

Gears 4 is coming to the Game Pass on December 1st and I’ve got 1 month worth of that when I got my Project Scorpio, so I can just play through the story once more with it enhanced with the 1 month Game Pass.

@MaccaMUFC Enriched visuals is with all the visual settings turned up to 'Max' or as close to it as possible. This mode gives you the highest quality shadows, lighting, reflections, ambient occlusion etc etc. On the Pro, turning up the visuals meant dropping down to 1080p but on the X, you still get a 4k resolution (albeit using CB rendering) as well as the benefit of the high res textures etc.

I think the Native 4k mode was really there just as a tick box - to show that it can be done but also to show that 'Native' 4k isn't necessarily the 'best' use of the resources as the CB 4k - just as sharp and detailed can offer much higher 'quality' visual settings. Its equivalent to turning all the visual settings up to high/max on a PC but as these are resource intensive, you normally sacrifice resolution or frame rate but with CB rendering, you still get the full 4k (no upscaling) and the frame rate too.

Enriched certainly isn't watered down. Native 4k is the 'same' visual quality but just increasing the output resolution. Enriched increases the quality of 'everything' like shadows, reflections, draw distances, etc. As I said, the Pro also has this 'Enriched' mode and all the extra GPU resources are used to improve those shadows etc and therefore it only runs at 1080p. The extra GPU is used either to increase resolution (CB 4k) OR the Visual settings (Enriched) but on the X the extra is used to increase the resolution (Native 4k) or split to increase the visual settings and resolution (CB 4k). I don't know why the X can't boost the visuals to a certain degree with its 60fps mode - but I do know the game is very CPU heavy. Both the Pro and X run the 60fps mode at 1080p but you do get a much more stable and higher average frame rate.

Anyway, I recommend enriched because the 'enhanced' visuals are far more impressive than 'native' 4k and we know CB4k and 4k are impossible to tell the difference at normal viewing distances - at least 99.999% of the time. This mode is the closest to high-end PC running the game at 4k Ultra - much closer than 'Native' 4k mode. 60fps isn't that big of a deal although it does feel nice. Its best used in the combat heavy areas.

I got Gears 4 with my Gears 4 XB1s (the Ultimate edition) but I was overall disappointed with the story. I beat it on the hardest difficulty and got all the collectables so I haven't really got much interest in replaying. I did have a look at a level or two in 4k though and may well play some Horde mode in the future but apart from the 20-30mins I played to check how it looked, I haven't touched it for over a year. I still have FM7, EW2, W2, ACO, CoDWW2, and SWBF2 to finish and Destiny 2 will be getting its 4k HDR update with the Curse of Osiris Expansion. I have the Witcher 3 Season Pass to play too - beat it on PS4 but waiting for Xbox X update - and FH3, Fallout 4 etc too - was also considering TF2 and Doom as well - 2 games I have on PS4 but both enhanced (or due to be) on X. These are more appealing than replaying Gears 4 when I have no achievements I want to get or reason to replay.

@BAMozzy I’ll always choose to play a game at its highest visual setting, it’s why I’ve spent two grand on a 4K HDR TV but I will prefer to have 60FPS on games like FIFA 18, CoD: WW2, BF1 etc.

I’ve always had The Witcher 3 but I’ve not actually played the story properly, only just roamed around and did a few side quests but just bought the Season Pass in this weekends Black Friday sale, I’m going to wait to play through the game when it’s patched with the X enhancement.

@MaccaMUFC The highest visual setting with games like Tomb Raider and Shadow of War are not necessarily the ones with the highest 'native' resolution. CB4k is every bit as good as 4k but the extra resources available are used to dial up the visual settings to max or sacrifice a 'slight bit' of sharpness to deliver a higher PQ in the case of SoW. You still get a very high resolution that you need a 4k TV to appreciate. I really do think these Enriched modes are there to reduce the stigma of things like CB rendering and show that 'native' 4k is not necessarily the best use of the hardwares resources.

On PC, Temporal Filtering (as Ubisoft refer to there Checkerboard rendering) is hailed as a revolution. Its enabling gamers to have higher resolutions without having to sacrifice on visual quality or frame rates. In some examples I have seen, it nearly doubles the frame rate for a game running at 4k Ultra settings. Without temporal filtering, a Watchdogs 2 ran at an average and unplayable 20fps without temporal filtering but with it, the frame rate jumped up to a playable 38fps (I think this was with a GTX1060). To get 38fps without Temporal filtering, gamers, have to drop the resolution, drop the visual settings or a combination of both.

Anyway, at least some games give you the choice where as others, its just a resolution boost with at most, minor visual tweaks over the base model - a slightly higher shadow quality for example that you wouldn't notice unless its pointed out. Where you have a choice, you can pick the one that focuses on resolution only if that's what you want but I will always pick CB4k Max/Ultra over native 4k low/medium settings. I would also pick CB4k/60 over native 4k/30 too if that was an option.

Have you watched this? Its best viewed using your youtube app on the TV as it will playback in 4k HDR. Never expected Homefront to look so stunning!!!

I've got a question about my Xbox One (original model, not S or X).

Switching the power mode to Energy Saving rather than Instant-On seems to make no difference at all.

In Energy Saving mode, the power supply light stays white and I can see from my HDMI switch that there's still power coming out of the HDMI port. Console also still starts up within 2 seconds.

The only way I can fully power it down is either by holding the front button for 5 seconds, or by choosing the Full Shutdown option from the Power menu. Then the power supply light goes orange, and the power gets cut from the HDMI. I was under the impression that Energy Saving was supposed to do just that if I had it set on.

System software is fully up to date.

Anybody else seen this issue?

Edit: I think I've answered my own question. It seems that if you have the separate system update option set on to update when the console is off, that in effect keeps the Xbox One in Instant-On mode - even if you have Energy Saving mode selected.
Switch that system update setting off, and Energy Saving works when you switch off the console by touching the front button, or when you switch off with the controller.

PUBG is here!!! How’s anyone who’s got it finding it? Apart from it sometimes running quite choppy I think it runs decent for a game that’s just launched in preview (on the XB1 anyway) and the servers seems to be holding up as I’ve had no problems getting into a game. Now I can compare both this and Fortnite Battle Royale I can say IMO that PUBG is definitely the better game, although they play similar it’s a bit like comparing Saints Row to GTA, with PUBG being more mature than the cartoony Fortnite BR. I just hope when (if) it’s out of preview I’d like to eventually see new maps added as updates.

@MaccaMUFC Not interested in it! Nor Fortnite either...

@MaccaMUFC Not one that's been on my radar unfortunately. I'm knee deep in Wolfenstein 2 currently.

@MaccaMUFC Well since I don't have a PC or Xbox One the closest I played of PUBG is Fortnite and what I played of that I enjoyed it even though I kept getting my butt kicked lol. I find watching people play PUBG or Fortnite more enjoyable then playing it honestly.

@BAMozzy @crippyd Apart from Fortnite BR, I just think it’s something fresh and different to every other game out there. Playing solo I find myself just trying to survive by stocking up on weapons and equipment and going house to house cowering as the enclosed circle closes in, it feels really suspenseful. In duo or squad it’s more like how I play in solo but taking more risks and staying together in a group and taking down other players who have somehow broke away from their squad. I think it’s great and can see why it’s so popular, I’d say to at least give it a go but currently there’s no trial for it.

@Tasuki There’s definitely no shortage of people streaming and broadcasting it but I really wanted to play it for myself and I really like what I’ve played so far. The controls are taking some getting used to but I think it’s done well enough considering how much configurations it has with the PC version.

@MaccaMUFC Each to their own. I was never a fan of FFA or even TDM game modes either and can't see myself playing this at all. I can't stand watching it - mind you I don't like watching other gamers play - and what few matches I have watched. it just doesn't appeal at all. I don't like the concept that theoretically you can win by hiding and just getting the final kill - maybe on an enemy on low health after they had been involved in gun-fights. You can get 20+ kills and still lose.
I know I play shooters online but generally these are not as important as a good single player game is and I am very picky about which games I play, how they feel etc. I have no desire to play a 20-30fps shooter - that's for sure.

@MaccaMUFC Really jealous of Xbox owners with PUBG's release. I've played Fortnite, but it doesn't have the same pizzaz and tension in it. I'm not someone who enjoys watching streamers that much, but I really enjoy watching PUBG games.

Enjoy!

January's 2018 Games with Gold lineup for Xbox One includes: The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III and ZOMBI. For Xbox 360 owners (and through Xbox One backward compatibility), January kicks off with Tomb Raider: Underworld, followed by Army of Two.

Can't say I am overly excited by this line-up. I quite enjoyed what little I played of Van Helsing when the first was on GwG. Zombi didn't grab my attention on the WiiU and not now its on XB1/PS4. I enjoyed Tomb Raider: Underworld and may add that - just because its easier than digging out my 360 games as they will soon be packed away. Never played Army of Two but will add that - just because...

@BAMozzy i played Zombi on both Wii U and PS4 and i gotta say the Wii U version was the better one, mainly because of the touch screen control

it's a lot more tense to have to look away from your screen to use your inventory on the pad while your character sits in place on the TV screen in real time because you never know when something will sneak up on you when your not looking

@FullbringIchigo I know it worked better on the WiiU as it was designed for that console. I was never enthralled by the concept and even less so on the PS4/XB1. Of the four, its the game I am least interested in. I still have games from Oct I haven't yet started so its not like I am desperate for games to play. I cannot see myself playing Zombi with so many games I actually want to play in my backlog. If I didn't have so many games I want to play and was relying on GwG to keep me entertained, I may consider it - but only after the other 3 are finished.