Hands on with Contrast, RBI Baseball 14, and Zombie Driver – now available for Xbox One

Contrast, Zombie Driver, RBI Baseball 14 come to Xbox One ID@Xbox

ID@Xbox is Microsoft'south indie publishing program for Xbox 1. Participating independent developers can publish their games direct to Xbox One with a greater degree of freedom than they would be afforded on Xbox 360, Windows Phone, and Windows eight. ID@Xbox is great for gamers likewise because it allows a steady stream of downloadable games to be released across a variety of genres.

Yesterday nosotros published a full review of Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition, but that's just one of four ID@Xbox games released this calendar week! Zombie Driver: Ultimate Edition from Exor Studios, R.B.I. Baseball game fourteen from MLB and Majesco, and Contrast from Compulsion Games have all been freshly released equally well. The number of new games is overwhelming, only nosotros've got detailed impressions and easily on videos to assist yous decide what to play.

Zombie Driver: Ultimate Edition

Last year nosotros interviewed the developers of Zombie Commuter Hard disk drive for Xbox 360 and ran a little contest in celebration of the game. Since then, the XBLA version's publisher went out of business and forced that version to be delisted. Pitiful news… Merely now Exor Studios can self-publish the new and improved version on Xbox 1, so Xbox gamers need non miss out whatsoever more.

Zombie Driver is a elevation-down driving game like to Grand Theft Machine 1 and 2, simply with a level-based structure and much more combat thrown into the mix. Players get to bulldoze a number of vehicles, from taxis to buses to bulldozers across a zombie-infested city while completing objectives for a shadowy military organization.

Zombie Driver Ultimate Edition for Xbox One

Much of the game's fun comes from plowing through huge hordes of zombies of all shapes and sizes. Simply players also go several guns with which to blast the undead back into oblivion, including flamethrowers and rocket launchers. The gameplay doesn't vary too much, but there are several different kinds of levels and some challenging fights against gigantic mutated bosses.

The Ultimate Edition includes all of the content from the XBLA game, including the countless Slaughter mode and very challenging Blood Race mode. Whereas the 360 game suffered from various technical problems, the Xbox One version runs at 60 frames per 2d with twice the number of zombies per level and many new graphical furnishings. It also includes all previously released DLC, new car skins, and both "retro" and static camera options.

I wish Exor had finally added online multiplayer (the only obvious feature Zombie Commuter lacks) to this release. Even so, this really is the best version of Zombie Driver to date. If driving over countless thousands of zombies in an overhead perspective sounds fun to y'all, so take hold of your keys and get the Ultimate Edition today.

Zombie Driver: Ultimate Edition – Xbox One – 1.63 GB – $14.99 – Xbox.com Store Link

R.B.I. Baseball 14

Like Another World, RBI (as I'll shorten it) is a nail from the past. RBI enjoyed dandy popularity on the viii-bit NES console, where it was the first baseball game to feature actual licensed player names. It spawned several sequels, the concluding of which graced the ill-fated Sega 32X (a Genesis/Mega Drive add-on) in 1995.

9 years subsequently, nosotros have RBI Baseball 14 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, Playstation consoles, and non-Windows Telephone mobile platforms. The new RBI comes from the MLB themselves and thus features all 30 Major League teams and their players. It draws inspiration directly from the original game, even starting out with the same chiptune music before moving into a slightly modernized presentation.

RBI fourteen offers two basic modes of play: Exhibition and Season. Exhibition allows one or 2 local players to engage in a single game. You can adjust the number of innings, switch between "home" and "road" positions, and choose from three uniforms per team (one of which must be unlocked in Season mode). The single-player Season way lets y'all cull from a total season (upwards to 162 games) or the shorter Postal service Season.

R.B.I. Baseball 14 for Xbox one

One reward RBI has over retail baseball game games is how piece of cake it is to learn. Batting works merely like it did in the original: slide around to accommodate your position (which looks giddy due to the lack of animation) so utilise ane button to hit or another to bunt. You lot tin too view pitcher info, steal a base, or substitute a batter. Pitching is even simpler, with one button for pitching and another to pick off base runners. The actual fielding stinks due to a depression photographic camera and bad player auto-choice, merely you can turn on fielding assists to make it less painful.

Although RBI's simplicity works its favor for lapsed sports gamers, the actual presentation still needs some work. The graphics are aggressively plain and simplistic, while the field'due south dull colors making everything look uglier than it needs to be. The lack of opening ceremony and camera effects don't do any favors for a sport that many consider to be dull to begin with (but at least it has cinematic domicile run animations).

More than modes such every bit a Dwelling house Run Derby minigame would have been nice as well. I would bemoan the lack of online multiplayer, only the MLB has discreetly announced that feature volition be coming in a future update. Allow'due south promise it really does.

Presentation and modes aside, RBI 14's real crime on Xbox I is its price. Would you pay twenty bucks for such a small and homely game when you could get the beautiful Outlast for the same price or Contrast for five dollars less? Simply RBI is the only baseball in boondocks on our new console, and it does scratch the nostalgia itch a bit. Merely don't expect a grand slam from this one.

R.B.I. Baseball game 14 – Xbox One – one.12 GB – $19.99 – Xbox.com Shop Link
R.B.I. Baseball game xiv – Xbox 360 – 975 MB – $nineteen.99 – Xbox.com Store Link

Dissimilarity

Finally, Contrast has just launched on Xbox One later arriving on Xbox 360 and other platforms last year. And of all this week'south ID@Xbox releases, Dissimilarity is my choice for the prettiest. Information technology packs a beautiful fine art way, unparalleled shadow effects, and tricky lyrical songs.

Players command Dawn, who happens to exist the imaginary friend of a troubled daughter named Didi. Young Didi'southward parents have recently separated, and her mom is often forced to leave her home alone while she heads off to work. An emotional setup, only the actually intriguing attribute of Dissimilarity's earth is that Didi and Dawn are the only three dimensional characters in it. Didi's parents and everyone else announced solely as living, talking shadows.

Contrast for Xbox One

Shadows factor into the gameplay, besides. Normally Dawn can move about in a fully 3D environment. Only she too has the ability to become a shadow herself. This lets her stick to walls and engage in 2nd platforming challenges, such as climbing an object's shadow in order to reach a ledge in the three-dimensional world. The "shadow jumping" is a fascinating and unique mechanic.

Previous versions of Contrast received some disquisitional backlash for technical bug and sometimes underwhelming puzzle pattern. But Canadian studio Compulsion has improved on the technical aspects for the Xbox One version, improving the shadow physics and cutting the bugs mode down. Considering what a gorgeous and inventive 3D platformer/risk game this is, Xbox 1 gamers owe information technology to themselves to give it a fresh wait.

Contrast – Xbox One – 2 GB – $fourteen.99 – Xbox.com Store Link
Dissimilarity – Xbox 360 – 974 MB – $14.99 – Xbox.com Store Link
Dissimilarity MP3 soundtrack – sixteen songs – $five.99 – Amazon Link

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This huge Xbox 'Quick Resume' update will give gamers more control

Xbox Insiders Update

This huge Xbox 'Quick Resume' update volition give gamers more command

Microsoft is adding a new characteristic to Xbox consoles, allowing you to permanently store upwards to ii games in a Quick Resume land at all times. The feature is heading out first to Xbox Insiders in the Alpha testing ring before hitting the general public.