The Xbox One verdict: Mind-blowing graphics make this a hugely impressive console

8 November 2013

The latest round in the global battle of the consoles is about to kick off - and this time it is about far more than just games.

Microsoft’s Xbox One will go on sale for £429 on November 22 and a week later, Sony’s Playstation 4 will hit European shelves for £349.

In the run-up to the launches, both firms have been involved in a bitter battle of words, trying to get the upper hand.

In a warehouse on the outskirts of San Francisco, I sat down with the man tasked with providing the games for Microsoft’s Xbox One, Microsoft Studios boss Phil Spencer, before being let loose on the console itself.

Spencer was in a bullish mood, having spent the morning fending off claims that the Xbox wouldn’t be ready for its launch, and that early testers were still experiencing bugs and crashes.

“The hardware is all done, and on the way to retailers,” he said. However, he did admit the software was still unfinished. “We will have a day one update for people, and we will be done with that in the next week or so.

Spencer says the Xbox One is about more than games - and hopes to change the way we watch TV.

“One of the things we learnt with the 360 was that gaming became a social activity rather than a solitary one.

“With the One, we haven’t seen that happen in television, or with movies or music. I think the opportunity to take something like television and make it social is a huge opportunity.”

Xbox One - First impressions

Physically, the Xbox One really doesn’t look like a games console - which is good news for its chances of expanding far beyond the reach of the 360. With it’s Kinect camera, it looks more like a piece of high-end hifi kit.

For Xbox fans, it’s a case of more of the same. The interface is similar, and so are many of the games.

However, what’s changed is the level of realism - and it’s a huge boost. The graphics are mind-blowingly accurate, with every crash, dent and skid in Forza 5, Xbox’s flagship car racing game, eerily accurate.

Classic games like Call of Duty have been reinvented, and the new version, Ghosts, is a vast improvement, with fast, accurate and realistic gameplay that’ll keep the real fans happy, while FIFA 14 has players that look eerily like their real-life counterparts.

However, there are also new titles on offer, one of the most impressive of which is Ryse, which sees players battle their way through ancient Rome. It’s a gory, full on fighting game with blood and guts everywhere, but also a compelling story that’ll see it become an instant hit.

However, it’s not just about the games - the Xbox One is particularly adept and controlling your TV and hifi box as well, especially through voice commands. Tell it what you want to watch, and the Xbox takes care of it - the same when you ask it to raise or lower the volume, and UK partners include 4OD, Sky’s NOW TV and Eurosport.

While the battle with the PS4 is hard to predict, Microsoft’s commitment to non-gamers through the TV and entertainment options is a crucial one, and something Sony has so far lagged behind on. While it’s set to be a bloody battle for supremacy this Christmas, the Xbox One is a hugely impressive gaming machine set to be on an awful lot of Christmas lists.