The Xbox Series X Review: Ushering In The Next Generation of Game Consoles
by Brett Howse on November 5, 2020 9:00 AM ESTGameplay Analysis: Gears Tactics
Although already released on PC (and even part of Ian’s CPU benchmarking suite) Gears Tactics will be available on Console on November 10th, making this a console launch title for the Series X|S. Although it will also be available on Xbox One, the title has been enhanced and improved visually, much as Gears 5 was, with higher framerates and likely better textures as well.
One of the first noticeable differences between the Xbox One X and Xbox Series X versions of the game is the options page. The Xbox One X allows you to choose a Performance or Quality mode, trading off visual fidelity for framerate, but the Xbox Series X asks you to make no such sacrifice. In fact, it does allow you to set the framerate on the cutscenes to 30 FPS, matching the Xbox One X, if you prefer the more “cinematic” choice, or 60 FPS.
Gears 5 Cutscenes
Gears Tactics includes cutscenes that are not rendered on the fly though, so these ones are visually identical on both consoles, and both run at 30 FPS.
The rendered cutscenes do swing up to the 60 FPS mark on the Xbox Series X, as expected. Unlike Gears 5 though, there does not seem to be any texture differences between the two consoles in the cutscenes.
Gears Tactics Gameplay
On the Xbox Series X, players are treated to a 60 FPS version of the game rendered in 4K, unlike the Xbox One X which is limited to 30 FPS. The framerate was very smooth on the Series X.
As a new title for launch day, fans of the Gears franchise will finally get a chance to try this strategy version of the game, and without a doubt, the experience is definitely enhanced on the new console, with higher framerates across the board.
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eastcoast_pete - Saturday, November 7, 2020 - link
You're correct, and Brandon was outstanding in this movie (by Elia Kazan, I believe). Thought Stallone did borrow that line for Rocky, but it's been a while that I watched it. That being said, the "S" is at risk of being the bum among consoles, and the fact that it's readily available for pre-order suggests it's not rocking many boats out there.flyingpants265 - Friday, November 6, 2020 - link
One or two of the cores are doing things not related to games.flyingpants265 - Friday, November 6, 2020 - link
What exactly is the point of the Series S? The whole point of consoles is that they're standardizedandrewaggb - Friday, November 6, 2020 - link
The trend started with the ps4 pro and xbox one x. They're still fairly standardized, same peripherals, same cpu, same gpu archicture, same software. Series S is just for 1080p only and will probably have somewhat lower quality textures because it has less ram.Shlong - Monday, November 9, 2020 - link
The Series S also doesn't have updated graphics for backward compatibility games. The graphical updates for Xbox One games will show up on Series X but not S.cmdrdredd - Monday, November 9, 2020 - link
That went out the window a while back. Now it's just a brand, the Xbox. All games using smart delivery work on any Xbox One or Series console and will use the appropriate settings and resolution for that console. Not unlike graphics settings in your PC. I could ask what the point of a RTX3070 is and the answer is the same. A lower power and cheaper alternative that is good enough for a lower resolution.eastcoast_pete - Friday, November 6, 2020 - link
Thanks for the first look/review, Brett! Question: Did you have a chance to see just how fast the USB 3.1 connection is when a. Used with an external SSD or b. a regular 7200 rpm HDD. Especially interested in getting an idea how fast or slow it is to transfer some of the games you tested back into the built-in SSD. If you haven't tested it but still have the unit, can you try it? Thanks!Brett Howse - Saturday, November 7, 2020 - link
Thanks for the question. I don't actually have a USB SSD drive to test this. I do have a slower USB HDD but I think it would end up being the bottleneck and would give unreliable results. I think whether this is worth it for you is whether you have fast internet or not.I'll still try the USB HDD this weekend and just see how it goes and let you know.
eastcoast_pete - Saturday, November 7, 2020 - link
Thanks Brett, even a regular HDD will give an initial idea. Regarding an external SSD: Maybe someone else at AT has an external SSD they can lend you? With the current pricing for the proprietary add-on SSD, a half-priced external SSD connected by USB 3.1 is an interesting alternative. Assuming the Series X supports about 350 - 400 MB/second over USB, I'd probably get a 1TB external SSD and keep an external 8 TB HDD for "cold storage".Brett Howse - Saturday, November 7, 2020 - link
Just so you are clear on this, any USB connected drive is not capable of being used for Series X|S games. It can be used for storage only. To play the new games they have to be on internal storage or on the Seagate storage drive. You'd have to shuffle games around if you want to keep them on USB.