Admit it, you like free stuff. If you don't, you're a liar...but that's another story to tell. If you're like me, you look forward to the updates to your Playstation Store or Xbox Live Marketplace. I look forward to the demos for the latest games, to help give me a hands-on experience to see if it's a game worth buying. To be honest, I haven't had many games give me such a captivating experience that I had to buy the game. The AAA titles that got demos months later were already in my hands by the time the demo hits the internet, and developers generally put little thought into a demo. I think demos are a lot more effective then blatant advertising on TV (seriously, it gets annoying, you're stalling my episode of The Office!)
"MASS EFFECT 2 ARE STALLIN' MAH TV SHOWS!"
Here are my "do's and don't's" of demos, taken from the best and worst demos I've ever played.
Give me multiple control schemes and don't explain any of them
I love Insomniac, and have loved the Ratchet and Clank series from the beginning, but the demo for Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time did nothing but left me confused and frustrated. It was either Insomniac changed the control scheme or I just hadn't played the Future series in forever, but it was really janky, and it had no explanation whatsoever. In the options menu, they have 4 or so control options, all of which have different names, but no button layout for me to understand which button does what. It's a darn shame that I shyed away from further supporting Insomniac because of the bitter demo impressions.
I sometimes felt like Woody. These controls suck.
Amp up the "wow" and epic factor, but don't go overboard
Years ago, I got LucasArts' sleeper hit Star Wars: Republic Commando, a squad-based FPS game starring the elite Delta squad of Clone Commandos, taking on the side-jobs that ran parallel to the events of Episode II and III. The demo had me issuing all sorts of complex commands and actions with simple button presses, while in huge firefights. It was absolutely amazing to me, and I just loved every minute of the Republic Commando demo. It was super epic, and impressive for the things you could do. This hooked me into a purchase of the retail game, and I loved it. The game was even more epic than the demo was, and I was truly satisfied with the game.
The essence of badass squad-based combat lies in these three squadmates.
Get me excited, then kick my ass in the demo
Even though I bought Mega Man 9, I still have to criticize the demo. The demo started the player against two boss stages, both of which are not the beginning of the boss order, so even if you get passed the excruciatingly hard and frustrating levels, the boss will kick your ass, and you'll be royally discouraged from purchasing the game. The demo for Mega Man 9 felt harder than Mega Man 9. What's up with that?
Like vanilla Mega Man getting his butt whipped by two bosses who are hard to kill with the regular Mega Buster? Then you'll love the demo.
Release the demo before the game comes out, show off a bit of everything
I like getting a taste of a game a while in advance. Who doesn't? If you're releasing a demo months after the actual game's release, you're doing it wrong (hint hint Uncharted 2 Single-player Demo). If you're like me, you probably played and loved the Lost Planet 2 Co-op demo. It's just genius to release a taste of a game well before the actual release, and have fans of it come together to have a blast. Not only does it show the server stability, co-operative mechanics, but shows off core gameplay at the same time. Lost Planet 2 is a perfect example of a great hit.
Maybe Part 2?
