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Best Game Demo (ever)

B

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
Batman: Arkham Asylum
I played that Predator Room for several hours imposing challenges on myself to not use gargoyles, never using detective vision etc.

And Just Cause 2 I played for 4 hours and had more fun with it than with the final game.

Also shout-out to FlatOut 2. Never bought the full game but it was great.
 
D

derwentsi

Neo Member
Metal Gear Solid would be up there. Thinking about the demos I played on ST Format cover disks me and my best friend couldn't stop playing that single track of Super Cars II.
 
D

Deadpool_X

Banned
Doom

The demo contained all of the first episode of the game. 9 levels, culminating in a boss fight against 2 Barons of Hell.

I played that episode over and over and over again until I finally got lucky enough to get the full game, a year later.
 
G

Godcannon

Member
The Playstation underground/magazine demos.

PS1 demos had a bunch of games, and the ones that came with the PS1 even had secret demos if you entered a cheat code.

My favorite demo was FFVIII. Storming the beach was fun, fighting Biggs and Wedge, and then ending with escaping a giant robot spider....it was such a good segment to feature.
 
S

Sini

Member
Dictator93 said:
Crysis 1

It was the full first huge sandbox mission, multiplayer with up to 32 players, and a freaking level editor. It basically showed you everything the game could and would be and respected the idea of what it means to be a PC game.
Click to expand...
Pretty certain it did not have multiplayer included. I spent ton of time with it.

Also, first mission was quite small compared to most other levels.
 
A

Arc

Member
Downhill Domination from the November 2003 Playstation Underground demo disc. Never did buy the full game but play the demo for hours and hours.
 
A

AyzOn

Neo Member
The Desperados Demo was a complete mission that wasnt in the actual game, played that level a ton. I think i never managed to complete it though.
 
K

Kuro Madoushi

Unconfirmed Member
benny_a said:
Batman: Arkham Asylum
I played that Predator Room for several hours imposing challenges on myself to not use gargoyles, never using detective vision etc.

And Just Cause 2 I played for 4 hours and had more fun with it than with the final game.

Also shout-out to FlatOut 2. Never bought the full game but it was great.
Click to expand...
Surprised it took this long for AA to show up. Pretty much the only game where I had incredibly low expectations only for the demo to absolutely shatter them and make me preorder it the next day.

Supremely well done and an excellent game to boot too.
 
S

shiftcaps

Neo Member
Belker said:
Tony Hawk's for PS1. Got a CD of the demo level with a magazine. Played it for days with my housemate, each taking turns to better the other's score.
Click to expand...

Came to post this.

I put an obscene amount of hours into the Tony Hawk demo.

Wasn't a great game, but I dumped a lot of hours into the Cool Boarders 2 demo on a similar demo disc.
 
D

DiipuSurotu

Banned
PrEYH8u.jpg


Xenogears
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNI0QbNFYCU
 
S

Skrams

Member
Just Cause 2 with glitching the timer out and exploring the entire map and seeing how broken it got was pretty fun. Pretty much any demo with a timer always had a way to glitch it out which lead to some good shenanigans. I think Crackdown or Crackdown 2 had the same thing too. Batman AA as also mentioned was a good slice of the game that was fun to tackle in different ways.

Something about demos coming out before the retail release usually always leads to remembering the demo fondly since I'd put more time in the demo than the full game at times.
 
J

J@hranimo

Banned
The Mirror's Edge demo I put tons of time in even before getting the game a couple of years later.

Also Sonic Generations 2nd demo, Smash 4 3DS, and Skate are honorable mentions.
 
W

Wikzo

Member
Vanquish's demo totally sold me. I actually think I might have played the demo more than the full game.
 
Rellik

Rellik

Member
Net_Wrecker said:
SKATE

Felt revolutionary and Immediately intuitive, instantly made every skateboarding game before it obsolete, instant pre-order, put in 20 hours before the actual game even released.
Click to expand...

funkystudent said:
Really enjoyed the SKATE demos.


Great way to have you master a small area of the game and get the idea of having a skate session over
Click to expand...

Came here to say this.

It was the first time since the PS1 days I'd put hours and hours into a demo. Instant pre-order because of that demo.
 
K

katsubento

Member
Metal Gear Solid PS1. MGS 2 was great too, but that first MGS demo was something else. There was nothing like it yet. Least not that I had played at the time. MGS2 continued the tradition.

Destiny Beta (I know I know). Okay so it's not a demo, but this had the same feel to me as something special.
 
R

Ryde3

Member
Metal Gear Solid on PS1

Battlefield 1942 Wake Island

will add more later, but those 2 are really memorable.
 
A

Ashtar

Member
Mgs 2
Sam Francisco rush 2049 let you play stunt, battle or race
THPS dreamcsst
Life is strange one of the rare times I played a demo then immediately downloaded the full season
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Dreamcast DC-X demo on what was probably the official Dreamcast magazine. Basically gave you the full program so you could play region free games on your PAL DC
 
B

Blargonaut

Banned
Halo CE PC demo w/ included Blood Gulch multiplayer

Installed it on the school's computers in high school, took turns with friends every death

good times
 
V

Volta Mars

Banned
King Gilga said:
Battlefield 1942 wake island MP demo.

Played that more than the whole game itself.

That demo alone is the best MP shooter of all time.
Click to expand...


Yes! ...it was my first PC Multiplayer experience and boy, was it an amazing one. My mind was blown at the sheer scale of everything. I sinked so much time into that demo. Battlefield 2 Gulf of Omen MP demo is probably the only other to rival it.

A demo I replayed a lot as a kid was Legend of Legaia for PS1, it didn't have the replayability value of some of the other demos at the time but experimenting with the combat system kept me coming back.

Marcellus Wallace said:
COD 4: MW closed beta. I'll consider it a demo. Blew me away.
Click to expand...

Agreed, another great experience.
 
Soodanim

Soodanim

Gold Member
The Metal Gear Solid 2 demo is the best part of the full game, and I can't count how many times I played through it. For those that don't know, it runs from the start of the Tanker section all the way through until the explosives door near the end of the Tanker section. That's all of the main gameplay of Snake's section. Far too generous, really.
 
A

A Huge Battleship

Member
There were some great ones for the Sega Saturn back in the day, including the entire first disc of Panzer Dragoon Saga and a Virtual On demo that let you use all the characters.
 
B

BlakeofT

Member
I had one of those PSX demo discs with a ton of demos on it. The one I played to death was Cool Boarders (not sure if it was 1 2 or 3). It was just one stage but I played it over and over. Never got the full game though...

Demos that actually convinced me to get a game were Bayonetta and Vanquish.
 
ThEoRy...

ThEoRy...

Member
Izuna said:
Was thinking the other day about how much I miss game Demos that were entirely satisfying.


Phantasy Star Universe Demo on Xbox 360 is probably the best demo to ever exist.
Click to expand...

I'll have to respectfully disagree with you on this. While I love love loved PSU for many years the demo was straight fucking toxic. I understand your reasoning but that place was just a hate filled porn spam paradise with nothing but shit spewing children. And that's about what you get when it's free and unpoliced.
 
sp3ctr3

sp3ctr3

Member
SKATE

it was a 20min timed demo that had a tutorial in the beginning. Once you got good you could complete the tutorial in a few minutes and had 17-18mins to enjoy that whole skate park area without any restrictions.
 
Caayn

Caayn

Member
I sunk many hours into Phantasy Star Online only to get my progress reset every month before finally buying the game.
 
P

pswii60

Member
Still the original Crackdown on Xbox 360 for me.

I miss demos, so few of them these days. I especially miss the mandatory demos on XBLA, I bought so many more games back then because of that. I just don't like taking the risk without demos, even if the reviews are good. And I used to buy a ton of games I didn't think I'd like until I tried the demo. This generation is so backwards in that regard, one shitty survey suggesting that demos were bad for the industry and then all publishers idiotically jumped on the bandwagon of stopping them. Their loss.
 
I

Izuna

Banned
ThEoRy... said:
I'll have to respectfully disagree with you on this. While I love love loved PSU for many years the demo was straight fucking toxic. I understand your reasoning but that place was just a hate filled porn spam paradise with nothing but shit spewing children. And that's about what you get when it's free and unpoliced.
Click to expand...

4th floor wasn't a place for kids

I also miss it
 
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