X [Blu-ray]

Product Information

A major upside of the Xbox Series X is how unexpectedly quiet it is. We've almost become accustomed to consoles revving up like they're about to take off when running games that really put them through their paces; but the Xbox Series X is the quietest Xbox we've had the pleasure of playing on. West Indian Archie" in the film) finds him in a reflective mood as he speaks openly about reading Malcolm X's autobiography and other works by However, compared to the PS5 or dedicated 4K Blu-ray players, our testers have noted that the Xbox's overall image quality feels less precise and natural. Our colleages at What Hi-Fi? agree, noting that “4K images tend to look a little ‘rougher’ too, with slightly more dot crawl in areas of fine detail or subtle colour blends; a more jagged look to some curved or very thin lines; and even some faint but occasionally noticeable horizontal line structure over certain types of image elements - especially clouds and thin horizontal lines” in their PS5 vs Xbox Series X Blu-ray player comparison. That means the Xbox Series X UI still has a tiled layout with customizable pins. So, you can choose which games and apps you want to see first on your home screen, and offers easy access to games, apps, party chat, and other features via the Xbox button on your controller. It's a pretty streamlined interface that allows for plenty of customization options and easy navigation.

modern styles -- sometimes counterbalancing excessive "warmness" added to DVD-era masters, to be fair -- but, while this one was was reportedly Even though Xbox Game Pass is mostly populated by older titles, many are optimized to take advantage of Xbox Series X's hardware, such as Gears 5 , Forza Horizon 4 , and Sea of Thieves. So, it's a great place to experience new-gen games for less. What's more, all first-party titles hit the service on day one, and thanks to Microsoft's acquisition of ZeniMax Media, Xbox Game Pass is now home to a bunch of Bethesda titles - with future titles like Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 landing on the service on day one. Microsoft also plans to acquire Activision Blizzard, which means series like Call of Duty and Diablo will hit this service in the future, if the long-fought-for deal goes through. The hybrid D-pad, on the other hand, aims to provide a middle ground between the Xbox One controller’s classic D-pad and the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2’s changeable disc-shaped, faceted D-pad. What results is a kind of traditional D-pad, laid over a disc. Again, this is a small but welcome change and is intended to give more control and leverage over the D-pad – while generally feeling more comfortable.intended), which is the adjective West overtly uses to describe many recent horror movies. Suffice it to say, X has a number of author Alex Haley, other personal connections with the material, meeting Spike Lee, turning down a later audio for Do the Right Thing stories

In fact, every Xbox Series X launch game was already available (or would be available) on Xbox One – and many were released on PS5 too. The launch titles that were Xbox exclusives, such as Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, were all optimized versions of Xbox One titles. The Xbox Series X design is something you’ll either love or hate – we found it a welcome change from the previous low-profile Xbox consoles. It's sleek, modern, and looks like something a grown-up would actually want to own, and it's a nice evolution from the flat-but-compact Xbox One S and Xbox One X models. trip to Egypt and Mecca and a few (mostly unfortunate) encounters with fire. Likewise, filtered light through windows, as well as the soft light ofAs the generational clash begins to heat up, X goes full slasher. Characters are killed off one by one in some very creative – and unexpected – ways. This is where West really shines. He clearly knows how to create a genuine sense of dread as his focus is more on suspense and anticipation than it is on who will die next, or how they will die. As a result, West’s themes of growing old and regretting the things we didn’t do in our youth carry a much stronger weight. X commendably attempts to actually deliver some character development before the carnage breaks out, but if there's a deficit to the

The console itself looks minimalistic, sleek… monolithic even. Despite its weight and fairly large size, it looks considerably smaller than its measurements would suggest. We found it slotted with ease into an Ikea Kallax shelving unit (39cm x 39cm), when oriented either horizontally or vertically, and comfortably blended in with its surroundings. When you're on the home screen, the console puts out around 30dB of sound – that's about the audio level of a whisper – and this changes very little when you actually load up and play games. When playing Sea of Thieves, No Man's Sky, and PUBG Battlegrounds, we found the decibels never exceeded 33dB. shrouded environments which are played for a palpable angst factor but which kind of unavoidably lead to less than fulsome detail levels at times, asIf, for some reason, you don't want to play these games at a higher framerate, you can also turn it off on a per-game basis. However, we'd recommend leaving it on as it makes games look visually smoother and feel far more responsive. old friends, whose relationship began more than 30 years ago when Cooper was asked to write a foreword for Lee and Lisa Jones' 1989 book The Making of Do the Right Thing, and We tested a few Optimized titles including Gears 5, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, The Falconeer, and Dirt 5, and found that these games boasted minimal loading times, improved stability, and considerably enhanced visuals. For example, Gears 5 on Xbox Series X boasts ray tracing and 4K at 60fps, making the campaign mode look better than ever before, and load faster.