First off, the games. Only a hand full of games were purchased by my friend: Call of Duty: Ghosts, Ryse: Son of Rome, Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, and NBA 2K14. A decent line up of entertainment, especially for a room full of college students. I have been trying my hand at FIFA, and I love it. The graphics look amazing, and EA definitely got the feel for the game down. The Xbox One pumps out the game in a crisp fashion, keeping players from grafting through each other on plays and cut scenes. But the problem I have run into was the voice commands. While playing you can give audible instructions to the team, either changing formations, tactics, or even calling out your next substitutes. The flip side is that the Kinect is ALWAYS LISTENING! There is no voice preference, so your buddies can mess with you in game. Luckily the function is not available when playing side-by-side against someone. But it does hinder your performance on the pitch. Playing in the manager mode, I felt like a manager as I called out the subs and tactics I wanted my players to use. But as a gamer and a soccer player, I am prone to flipping out when calls don't go my way. The Kinect listens to that too! Many a time the announcers indicate how mad my character gets on the sidelines, which is a cool feature. but you can get warnings from your team's executive staff for your foul language, and can even get fired! I was playing a match the other day while two of my roomates played the "old" Xbox 360 on the TV next to me. They were playing NCAA football, and of course things were getting heated between them. Unfortunately, the Kinect picked up on them, and interpreted it as me getting heated, and I received multiple warnings from the club to keep my anger in check.
The mic is also used in the basketball game NBA 2K14. in career mode, swearing at the other team could get you a technical foul, even ejection. I have yet to see it when my friend plays, but it is a present feature in the game.
The two shooters, Call of Duty and Battlefield, are not too keen on motion or voice controls. Both play out similar to their predecessors, and I will probably review them separate from the systems they are played on.
The last game is an Xbox exclusive, Ryse: Son of Rome. A brawler- style game set in Ancient Rome, one plays as a gladius-weilding man who hacks and slashes his way to victory. The game looks excellent, and shows off most of what the Xbox one can handle in terms of power. However, the game gets repetitive in terms of gameplay. One uses light and heaven attacks on different types of enemies until a contextual hint comes on screen. After hitting a series of buttons on screen, your character finishes foes in a bloody blur of blades and bodies. Not a fantastic game in my opinion, but it is just the tip of the new generation ice berg.
One complaint I do have with the hardware is the new controller style. The Xbox One controller is slightly wider than the Xbox 360, reminding me of the bricks I had to hold for the original Xbox. The movement sticks are also situated higher, raising one's thumbs above the controller. The directional pad is now nestled more into the controller, and gives a satisfying click when hit. The numbers are lower on top of the controller, and the triggers have a raised finger rest, allowing more of one's finger to rest on the controller. The triggers are also lower, making them less of a trigger an more of a second bumper. Compared to the 360, the Xbox One's controller feels radically different, but not in a good way.
Over all the Xbox One shows off a lot of power and presence in the living room, but hasn't revealed everything due to its infancy on the market. I hope to get my hands on a PlayStation 4 in the next coming weeks and review it as well.