Thought I would make a post about demos, since many do not offer a good representation of the game as a whole.
The Dead Space demo seemed really cool with creepy atmosphere, scary aliens, and a survival/fight-for-your-life feeling. However, it throws you right into the middle of a horde of Necromorphs. I had no idea what was going on. I found out later I should have been blowing off limbs instead of shooting torsos. I tend to aim dead center and doing that in Dead Space definitely does not help you out at all.
Batman: Arkahm Asylum was another demo that was similar. I died a couple times but still felt awesome playing Batman so I gave the actual game a try. And of course, once you start from the beginning, just like Dead Space, you have a completely different experience since by the time you actually encounter the level the demo takes place on, you know button combos, how to shoot limbs off, curbstomp heads, swoop down from the sky, which weapon works against which enemy, etc., etc...
This seems to be a trend in many demos. I'm not quite sure when this came about or who thought it was a good idea. Personally, I think it sucks. Demos can definitely give you a good taste of what is going on in a game but for some *cough* Dead Space *cough* it can mislead you into thinking the game is unusually difficult in some way. Many games pit you against very weak opponents in the beginning or one enemy, then two enemies, and by the time you are swarmed with Necromorphs or Nazis or Joker goons, you can handle it since you've "mastered" the controls.
I think the Just Cause 2 demo got a taste of how to do it right. They let you play a good chunk of the open world but limit your time to an hour. An hour seems a bit short but I like the idea of being able to play a whole game with limited time. And that hour was too short since I didn't get hooked on it. When I played the actual game and the first two missions were awesome, it made my wonder why the demo didn't just consist of those two missions...
I'm also a big fan of playing the first level or two and leaving it at a cliff-hanger, making you want more so you go out and purchase the full game. Maybe developers believe you'll be turned off by playing the first (tutorial) level. Some games offer you 14 day trials, such as World of Warcraft. Blizzard can do this since the game is extremely long and a 2 week trial period will only give you a brief glimpse of what the game has to offer, but a good enough glimpse to "sell" the game during the trial period.
Their purpose seems to be to sell more games yet demos can turn many people off when they are thrust into situations and environments they aren't prepared for since the "tutorial" in the demo consists of three brief screens making a horrible attempt at showing you how to play.
I say developers focus on trial periods of full games or at least give you earlier levels in the game. Demos can sell games if they are done right... all three demos I named are really great games but two of the demos turned me off to the game. Aside from the awful PC version, Dead Space was fantastic but I wouldn't have played it again on the 360 due to the bad demo. And I would never have played Just Cause 2 after the demo except a friend bought it for me (I bought black Ops for him since he's helped me so much with PC issues). Now I have 18+ hours into the game and it's fun times. And the Batman demo sucked buuuuut it was Batman so I gave the full game a try...
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Yeah, as much as I love Dead Space that demo for the 1st was garbage. I remember trying to get Salad to buy Dead Space and when he finally tried the demo he was less than impressed. I finally had to lend him my copy of the game.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that while I was reading this I kept thinking of how much the demo for Just Cause 2 sold me on the game. I remember booting it up and having an hour (or was it a half hour) to do whatever the hell I wanted. I understand what you mean by giving you the first mission or two, but in the case of Just Cause 2 it's all about realizing that with the tools the game gives you you can do a TON of really fun stuff. I remember being 10 hours into the game and still realizing new ways to use the equipment.
Dead Space 2 demo owned btw.
I'm at no point ready to be critical of any demos. Getting to try a game, any portion of it, before you make the financial commitment with it, is awesome. Demos are probably my favorite aspect of all the new technology we've developed for games.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, I think demos are the new box art. In the older gaming days, you trusted a games box art to communicate to you how cool a game was going to be. NES (the console I'm most familiar with) did this a ton - Metal Gear, Mega Man, Double Dragon. These titles had awesome, super 80's illustrations on them depicting the type of experience the developer was hoping you would have. The Demo does the same thing... it's like an hour long snap shot of what the developer hopes you will enjoy - the experience they are hoping to create. Sometimes it sells, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it's just a poor representation of a game.
Well said, Amateria 1. I also enjoy getting to play bits and pieces of games, no matter if it's too difficult or not. I think for me it comes down to seeing what the controls are like. I remember having pretty high hopes for Aliens v. Predator last year, but the demo showed me that all of the controls were clunky and that the multiplayer was just plain no fun.
ReplyDeleteThe best demo I've played? Has to be Bioshock. They gave you free reign with the entire opening section of the game, and was an excellent representation of the game. But I don't think I would have enjoyed it any less if they had thrown me into a room with a bunch of spider splicers. Maybe I'm wrong. I just like that we live in an age where it's even possible to download a portion of a game just to be able to see what it MIGHT be like.
Amateria-Juniper isn't hating on demos and wishing they weren't around. He's just commenting on the fact that they can really NOT be a good representation of the game.
ReplyDeleteI love demos too and they've def saved me some money in the past, but in the case of Dead Space he's right....it had to hurt more sales than just him.
Yes, I didn't mean for my post to be taken that way! I LOVE demos and many times, they've sold me on a game that I didn't plan on buying. I play many demos, if they are offered, for games that I'm not sure about.
ReplyDeleteMy point was that sometimes they do lead you in the opposite direction (2 of the 3 games I mentioned) and I'm just wondering if a different approach would "sell" the game better...