microsoft xcloud gaming hands on review
microsoft xcloud gaming hands on review. recently launched xcloud is set to bring Xbox One level game streaming to our Android and iOS devices as a rival to Google stadia which is also a game streaming serive as microsoft xcloud.
after microsoft has launched the microsoft xcloud for the public we've been testing out the microsoft xcloud preview to give you our hands-on review of the microsoft xcloud.
we are not just going to give you a hands on review of the microsoft xcloud, we are also going to take a look at how does microsoft xcloud stack up to other best cloud gaming services.
Review of the microsoft xcloud
at first microsoft xcloud is one of the cloud gaming services out there which lets you to stream game from their data centers rather than your gaming systems which can be great for you if you have an old system.
System requirement:
to get the most of microsoft xcloud you'll need a couple of things before you go to play any kind of game. those things will determine what kind of gameplay streaming you get from xcloud.
at first, you will need an Xbox one gamepad and ideally, a smartphone clicks to hold your android device or iphone. Microsoft themselves even suggest this and we do too.
you'll also need a solid network connection be that mobile data or Wi-Fi but it has to be very fast or else you will get horrible lag and stutter in your gameplay streaming.
I'm lucky in that I have a pretty solid connection but the baseline requirement for network connection is around about 10 Mbps which is the same as you'd need to experience a Netflix in HD.
Microsoft also recommends a 5 gigahertz Wi-Fi connection for the most stable microsoft xcloud experience because network speed is very crucial in cloud gaming services.
if you don't have a 5 gigahertz Wi-Fi connection it is no problem as 2.4 gigahertz will work but you might not get the most consistent gaming experience on microsoft xcloud.
User interface:
so with the essentials out of the way let's chat about the interface of microsoft xcloud which is one of the most important things of cloud gaming services that people do not care about.
once you've synced up your smartphone tied up your gamepad and signed into xcloud you'll hit the main dashboard and it's one thing you'll see the most in your streaming of microsoft xcloud.
there are over 100 Xbox game pass games titles to choose from in a nice and easy to follow layout that makes the whole experience much neater and cleaner than others.
I'd call microsoft xcloud of interface a little basic but it's more than enough to choose a title you know and love like gears 5, Halo, or Forza which are the things you will do the most on xcloud.
we think that that over time the microsoft xcloud interface will develop and likely feel more cohesive with the Xbox dashboard but for now, is pretty basic and it is no frilled.
launching into a game in microsoft xcloud does take a little while, sometimes up to a minute or even longer when you hit an unskippable loading screen which feels very slow for a game that runs on servers.
Gaming
I have hoped that being in the cloud gaming services meant that load times of the games would be a little quicker but they are about though what you'd expect from your last-gen console.
we're told that Microsoft has gaming titles optimized at 720p which doesn't always translate as well to your smartphone as the screen adjusts to 16:9 and it makes certain menus very small and difficult to read.
some gaming titles on microsoft xcloud do allow you to adjust for size but for the most part, you might be squinting to select game modes and more which are not that helpful.
Gaming performance :
once you are able to gaming on a stable connection with microsoft xcloud the graphics are impressive as is the fluidity of the xcloud games so long as your connection remains stable and fast.
the gameplay stutter and latency is not that noticeable in microsoft xcloud however if you do hit a rough patch games become unplayable as you'd expect from any cloud gaming services.
in single-player titles that stutter isn't too much of a problem because you can pause and it might not mean the end of the game but multiplayer though is a different story than it.
luckily I played some gears of war 5 and the connection was superb, the gameplay was smooth, the framerate didn't appear to drop the low that 30 fps barrier and I must admit it was an exceptional experience.
Our Testing Results
in my testing I did have more problems though with Halo as it would often not let me join matches and matchmaking would have issues and then there are some game modes I'd get tiny snippets where my controller movements will be missed I wouldn't register at all.
these problems of microsoft xcloud really do wick you out of the immersion and obviously ruins the xcloud gaming experience that you wanted to be great and enjoyable at the start.
while we'll say though is that every game is a little bit different, most absolutely are fine though. Forza is another excellent example that plays really well.
one easy way to tell if you're going to get lag is the in-game audio you might pause or skip slightly which indicates you're gonna get a little bit of increased latency in your xcloud gaming.
at this stage of the xcloud preview the problems that it has are not major and around about 90% of the time it was absolutely perfect to use and stream games over the cloud.
even at this early stage of the microsoft xcloud preview does offer mobile data game streaming and it works to an extent. my connection isn't good enough to use where I live which brings about all kinds of lag and games were basically unplayable.
Microsoft though is working to optimize gaming on a data connection with to mobile in the US and Vodaphone in the UK. hopefully, that's somewhere that they can improve over time.
Verdict :
although xcloud is still in the preview stage I must admit I've been very impressed with the entire cloud gaming services xcloud offers and it has me excited for what cloud gaming services brings in the future.
of course, this isn't an extensive review rather just a microsoft xcloud gaming hands on review and the services it provides. It is tough to say what you can expect from the xcloud in the coming days.
I think even at this early stage xcloud is really promising and with that game library sets have be to over 3,000 games microsoft xcloud could be the cloud gaming service to beat if priced correctly.
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