This Guy’s got no problem admitting, he’s a gamer. Not just a gamer; a compulsive gamer, obsessed even. Movies are terrific, but when This Guy games, he gets to BE in the movie. He gets to change the story, and play the hero or the villain. Every gamer knows that unmatched feeling of unbridled freedom of imagination. Now, 16 years ago This Guy hopped on the Xbox starship, and never got off. the better part of two decades with the big green machine. And now it’s evolved yet again with the newest, and most powerful console ever, the Xbox One X.

“The world’s most powerful console.”

The Xbox One X is the second “upgrade” to the Xbox One generation. The One was already improved and optimized with the Xbox One S in August of last year, offering 4k streaming and blu-ray playback, and HDR support. These features, along with a slick, slim design and no power brick was already a great step for the console. But when Microsoft announced that it would be followed up by another new machine coming just 15 months later, fans went ballistic for “Project Scorpio.” The One X was revealed at E3 the following year, and released just last week. This console is Xbox’s first step toward gaming dominance, and perhaps, one day, an end to console “generations.” So, let’s get to it.

The One X was delivered the day after release, and This Guy went straight to work on the most important and gratifying step of any gaming installation. . .

As you can see, fanboy that he is, This Guy opted for the “Project Scorpio” edition. The limited edition console boasts a slick gradient pattern on its shell, along with the green text on the front and the controller (which you can see here). In the box, we get the console, controller, vertical stand, power cord, HDMI cable, a 2 week code for Xbox Live Gold, and a 30 day trial of Game Pass (Xbox’s “Netflix of games”). Not a bad haul. Once every cord is untangled and every hole plugged, This Guy’s good to go.

“Enhance. . . Enhance. . . Enhance. . .”

Game enhancements and 4k playback aside for the moment, the console itself is quite similar to the One S from last year. The design is slim and sleek, just a touch heavier than its predecessor, but still no power brick, and the new cooling system is surprisingly quiet and efficient. The vertical stand is a great improvement over the S, where the console just slid into place. The X actually clicks. Overall, physically it’s a small step up from the S, but the new gaming features are the real story.

We get a new pretty boot up screen (seen here), and once all updates and profiles are loaded, the Xbox One X is set to rock. This Guy kept most of his games on an external HDD to expedite the transfer. He wanted to see what this baby could do right away. For the purpose of experiment, a few enhanced games were transferred to the internal hard drive. Games were chosen for their reputation of long load times. Now, This Guy is not any kind of tech wizard, so we’re gonna throw a bunch of numbers and specs at you. Here’s a quick visual to get that out of the way so we can talk plainly.

Unlike the Xbox One S, the X doesn’t have a checkbox in the Settings menu to “download 4k content.” The 4k assets and Xbox One X enhancements are downloaded automatically with the games’ normal updates. So, with Rise Of The Tomb Raider fully updated and enhanced, This Guy dove in.

After starting the game up, the time from the dashboard to the main menu was notably quicker. After hitting ‘Continue’ on the main menu, This Guy was tomb raiding inside of 20 seconds. Now, RotTR is already a gorgeous game. But enhanced on the Xbox One X it now supports HDR (making the colours really pop), and you now have 3 options for other visual enhancements: “Enriched Visuals,” “Native 4k,” and “High Frame Rate.” All 3 modes showcase aspects the X’s new power. High Frame Rate immediately launched the gameplay to 60 fps, which looked smooth as silk, but seemed oddly wasted on an exploration world like RotTR. Native 4k ended up being This Guy’s choice, upping the original resolution and giving every beautiful setting and scene that extra little sparkle. Options like these are obviously at the game dev’s discretion, but This Guy hopes more companies take a page from Crystal Dynamics and include choices for the gamer to customize the gaming experience by deciding which enhancements to take advantage of.

Next up, Oblivion, Bethesda’s bloom-filled fantasy wonderland. Now, when This Guy says that the game loaded fast, he doesn’t mean “for an Elder Scrolls game.” After hitting ‘Continue’ on the main menu, he was back in Bruma in 4 seconds. Shit you not. He didn’t have time to sip his sujamma. And the world itself, still as bright and glorious as ever, but everything, from the grass to the bricks were just. . . better. No smoothed over textures with blurred lines separating materials. The picture was crisp and clear like the game was 5 years younger. Pair the enriched visuals with the incredible new load times, and Oblivion should be at the top of every Xbox One X owner’s replay list.

Titanfall 2 was the last game tested with enhancements. Titanfall 2 is already an insanely fast-paced shooter, with tons of bright colour and lush landscapes. The dev team enhanced the game with “dynamic superscaling.” This means the game will always give out a 4k signal, but alter the resolution as needed to maintain the smooth frame rate as close to 60 fps as possible. So the GPU is always being used to its fullest potential. The game. Looks. AMAZING! The gameplay looks ridiculously smooth, and the bump up in resolution makes everything crisp and extra immersive. This Guy got his ass handed to him online, but it’s mainly because he was too busy admiring the bushes, as you do.

“With more power, thanks to the new Scorpio engine, the Xbox one X offers true 4k gaming.”

The Xbox one X isn’t without its drawbacks, of course. Mainly its price tag. It rings in at $499 USD/$599 CAD, and that gets you the console, the stand, and the controller. No games. Now that is a hefty fee. And if you really don’t think you’ll get all the benefits out of its new features and power, you can hold off, or opt for the One S. the S has 4k playback for video, and HDR capabilities, as well as the same slim design. Even on a 1080p TV, the one X will show improved visuals for its games, but it will be best enjoyed by those who want to take full advantage of the enhancements on some 200 games with a 4k display with HDR.

The One S is still a great option, and a lot of sales are planned for Black Friday next week, so now is a great time to get on board. But for those that want a top of the line console, the Xbox one X is the one to beat.