The demo is special to me because it feels like something crafted explicitly for the purposes of showing off in a short session, why this game is worth my attention, money, and time. You literally can’t access it again after your playthrough. As the name says, the slice has a 30-minute timer and you only get to play it once, whether you make it to the end or not. I was reminded of Uplink recently with Capcom’s brilliant 30-minute one-shot demo of Resident Evil 2’s upcoming remake, which has you exploring a slice of the police station as survival horror lad Leon Kennedy long before he got his trademark jacket and equally trademark smirk.
For example, Half-Life’s demo, called Half-Life: Uplink, was amazing because it was two custom levels filled with an assortment of low-medium strength weapons, diverse enemy types, and a bevy of fantastic structures that showed off the unique nature of Black Mesa as a setting. The best demoes are often slices of gameplay that are created specifically for the purpose of showing off what a game does best. The same goes for games like Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, Shadow Of War, and Titanfall 2. Wolfenstein II and Prey’s demoes are essentially the opening hours of the two games, both of which don’t put their best respective foot forward until later on. With the exception of DOOM, these are not great demoes and indicative of why modern demoes usually aren't great. Bethesda, tapping into its nostalgia-tinged hardcore gaming image, released demoes for Prey, DOOM, Dishonored 2, and Wolfenstein II. That isn’t to say there haven’t been demoes for such games. As games have embraced services and betas this past generation more, the quality of demoes for triple-A and self-contained single-player experiences have taken a hit. There are probably financial reasons behind it, maybe developer anxieties. I’ve certainly played demoes that are bad demoes for good games (looking at you, Spec Ops: The Line) but throughout the years I’ve still come away a bit disappointed that my initial entryway into the world of games has slowly shifted over the years, diminishing even.
These trials were eventually what convinced me to save my allowance up to buy those games.Īs I got older, demoes started to vanish. Whenever we’d take a trip to the city, I’d grab a copy of PC Gamer and download the demoes included on the packaged disc as well.
I grew up with a console too but I didn't fall in love with games until I got hooked on downloading demoes on our dial-up connection back in 1999.Īs my parents slept away the night, I would sneak to the family computer and gleefully download demoes for Half-Life, MDK 2, Diablo 2, Messiah, Soldier Of Fortune, and a bevy of other gameplay snippets. I grew up on video game demoes. Many of the childhood gaming tales I hear around the Game Informer office are rooted in the classic experience of playing A Link To The Past on the Super Nintendo, Sonic on the Genesis, or even eating little yellow dots on Ms.
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