PUBG on Xbox One Review: Esports Appeal and Gameplay Impressions

A cultural phenomenon just arrived on Xbox One with PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds creating the biggest splash the console has seen in years.  

The most popular game of 2017 is now available to an entirely new audience and alongside it comes the chance at a completely new—and downright dominant—esports scene. Few games in this generation of consoles or last have perfectly walked the balance between watchability via simplicity and a depth to keep players and viewers hooked. 

How does the console release hold up? PUBG is an in-progress game via Steam's Early-Access platform on PC and is classified the same on Xbox. As such, smoothness of gameplay itself and other technical factors like porting the controls to a console stand as major hurdles. 

With the game out in the wild, it's time to find out if publisher Bluehole cleared the necessary leaps. 

Graphics and Gameplay  

Microsoft has done a good job of setting expectations upon the launch of the game, repeatedly stressing the fact PUBG is a game still in development with an unknown completion date, if at all.  

Yet the same satisfying cycle of gameplay as the PC version is here true to form. Players are one of 100 and fly into a level, picking where on the map they want to parachute into. From there, it's a mad scramble to collect supplies spanning from first-aid kits to weapons and armor. All the while, the map shrinks and pushes players closer together as it narrows down the player count. 

Some players land in the heaviest-populated areas and fight it out. Others prefer a stealthier, hide-and-seek approach. Some get in vehicles and go wild. Even others choose to hang back and potshot from long range. 

All of these options and more persist on the gigantic map smartly packed into the console release. The port itself is far from perfect. Framerate stutters as low as 20 FPS can and will occur. Sometimes opening and closing doors is a battle itself, and so too can be picking up supplies off the floor and overall menu management. 

This game isn't meant to be a looker either. Some things, even on the highest end PCs, have to be sacrificed to pack 100 players in a huge sandbox and let them have fun. This doesn't mean PUBG is a bad-looking game by any means, but this isn't going to look like Destiny 2 or some other recent release. 

One of the most impressive aspects of bringing this PC port to Xbox is the job done by Gears of War developer The Coalition. Controls are snappy and smooth, though some buttons having multiple functions via a press or hold take some getting used to. But it isn't often a console game comes along and smoothly maps the switch between first- and third-person viewpoints so well. 

The quality of control on a console gamepad combined with the promise of further improvement via ongoing development means Xbox users can jump into the fray and now experience one of gaming's best new genres. 

Esports Appeal 

Like the game itself, there are some things to iron out before PUBG becomes a major esport—but it feels inevitable. 

A game needs a few critical things to become an esport success and PUBG checks every box on the list. For one, it's already a popular game. It's the only game in Steam history to break two million concurrent players and more than 24 million people total have played the game. It's also easy to understand and a pleasure to watch—a player or team of players drops into a game, they try to survive and either win or don't, then another game starts. The calm before the storm, though cliche, builds palpable tension. 

On PC, the structure for great streaming viewing is already there: 

The overlays in place, such as other recent successes like Overwatch, make for a friendly viewing experience. Observers can see names and opponents the players themselves can't, a nice baseline for the developers to build upon. 

PUBG also has a problem most games dream of—a community demanding a pro scene. Not only have casual players been pounding the table for this, professional teams like Cloud9 and Team Liquid have already started signing PUBG talent in anticipation. 

On Xbox One or otherwise, the game still has some elements to iron out. Xbox especially will need finer tuning sooner to carve out its own scene. At the highest levels of play with real-world money on the line, these hiccups in picking up items and the lack of speed in navigating the inventory menus (something done much faster in the PC version) would be the difference between a wasted round and a huge finish. 

But this isn't a finished product. The fact it's on the shelf now is a bonus for players around the world, including the new Xbox community. 

Conclusion 

Bluehole

PUBG on Xbox One is exactly what gamers deserve—a chance to experience the hottest property in gaming. 

Is PUBG a clunky experience at times and not as polished as console monsters like Destiny, Call of Duty and others? Of course. But it's an early-access game done to perfection in a niche genre with plenty of room to improve. 

It's not often players can jump into a video game-changing movement and be a part of, if not influence something this big.

PUBG on Xbox deserves to be as big as its PC cousin. In time it should be, provided it receives the right love. In the meantime, it offers an experience players can't get anywhere else and a future promising bigger things than any other property out there.