Back in September/October 2020, I failed to procure a PS5 in a reasonable amount of time. In fact, I still don’t have one, despite numerous attempts. I’m not gonna pay scalpers an insane amount of money. I can wait…or maybe I don’t need to. Despite failing to procure a PS5, I was able to pre-order a Series X, AND receive it on release day. I took the plunge off the dock, with papa Gates holding my hand. Hopefully he can keep me afloat. Before I begin this review of the Series X, I need to make a disclaimer here: I do enjoy and have always enjoyed the Sony Playstation series over anything else console related- Switch/Nintendo, Xbox, PC, Sega, etc. I have always been a console gamer and will always be one. Sony, in my opinion, makes the best exclusive games. Actually there really is no debating this particular point. It is not possible. Strictly going off awards and meta scores, and GOTY’s proves this right. But, I told myself in advance that I would roll with whatever next-gen console I could get my hands on. Queue Series X intro music.
I am not new to the Xbox ecosystem. I did have an original Xbox, 360, and an Xbox One X. So I’m not “sus” as the kids say, and coming at this from no prior experience. But up until receiving my Series X, my personal preference had been Sony. I figured what the heck….they are so similar (spec wise). Why not? It is supposed to be the “Most powerful console ever made.” In addition, to sour my latest opinion of Sony, this bull shit game that they played with their initial pre-orders and subsequent availability (going on 6 months now) has really got me disheartened. You may say that this is not Sony’s fault, but I think there is some market manipulation going on. Withhold supply to increase demand and what not. Just let us game. Please. Reinforcing the Xbox choice of my apprehensive decision had been the recent studio acquisitions by Microsoft (Bethesda, Ninja Theory, etc.), which have kept my interests piqued. So I took the plunge and am looking forward to a bright future.
Unboxing the Series X was pleasant. It was packaged well, felt rock-solid, and reminded me that I made a good choice. I hooked it up in seconds flat, followed the instructions, and was downloading updates within minutes. Before I continue, can I first and foremost point out how quiet the Series X is? In addition to the Series X I still use an original PS4, and every time I play Last of Us 2 it sounds like I’m living near Seatac airport. Outside from the low, almost inaudible hum from the fan, the Xbox looks good in my setup. It is heavy as all get out and feels like it is well built. Apart from the BD drive. That feels/sounds like it could have used a bit more refinement. The Series X starts up immediately, loads insanely fast, and was remarkably easy to set up initially, all things considered. It even saved my One X progress from Witcher 3. Let’s pause here and focus on this last specific point. This is why people like the Microsoft Ecosystem. Cloud saving is fantastic. Peerless. Cloud saves from gamer progress going back to the 360 are available. Generational integration to continue the experience with no extra effort on the users part. I can’t stress how important this is. As a family man, my time is precious. I still have cloud save issues on both the Switch and the PS4. In fact, I have to upload my save data to the cloud on the Switch, and then re-download to a new one if needed. It’s a time waster.
The controller is almost identical to the One X/One S model so there is nothing to complain about there. It’s a hint more polished, and that is not a bad thing.
Actual gaming on the Series X is great. Doom Eternal looks and plays like a 1000$ desktop computer. Sound is fantastic. The library of games themselves is impressive. I am looking forward to Resident Evil: The Village to truly test this thing out…or at least push it a little. Because herein lies a current problem- There is not a next generation AAA Microsoft exclusive in sight. No where. So third party games like The Village are going to be the expected standard for a while. And as far as I can tell, these 3rd party games are going to be hybrid versions (PS4 / Xbox One and PS5 / Series X/S versions in one.) Until an actual next generation game comes out, we will never really know about what the capability of this thing is. I’m sure it’s good. Stellar even. But no one will know for a while. And again, see the comment from above: Xbox exclusives pale in comparison to Sony ones. I’m hoping the acquisition of Bethesda does something to bridge this gap. I am looking forward to Hellblade 2.
Hardware speaking, it has power in spades. This is not the review for technical specs. You know all of them already. But software wise, there is some work to be done. I think, over time, this will improve, but here are some Issues I have had thus far with my Series X:
- I woke the machine from sleep one time and I could not connect to both of my controllers. Neither one. Corded or wireless. I had to hard reset. Then they worked.
- HDR always switches off/on when shifting from game to home screen/etc. Then leaving a really washed out hyper saturated image on the home screen. Doesn’t happen always, but it irks me.
- Had a few issues with downloading to the console when out and about using the app- Bought a game via the app, told it to DL to the console, went home to play it, and it wasn’t there. Had to initiate from home. This has happened a few times
Outside of these, the experience thus far has been pretty stellar. And I am looking forward to what the future holds. As of now though, the Series X has the best library of games to choose from and play. Digitally speaking. And Microsoft seems to be updating past games with 4K support on the regular. Something I’m not even sure if Sony is doing. Game Pass in and of itself is an omega value. I am still very apprehensive about exclusives. And god help me if the new God of War/Uncharted/Last of Us comes out. I may just have to break down and buy both systems. But for now, with no end in sight on a time frame of availability for a PS5, I am making due. It is working for me. And I’m content. More than content. Happily surprised.