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[Izuna]

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. In some ways it surpassed the full game (resetting characters >>> White Beast spam) since the beginning part of levelling up in an RPG is usually the best but it made everyone do it. It was also very difficult in a Dragon Quest sort of way at the beginning and the in-game economy had... peculiar uses to say the least. It also introduced online multiplayer RPGs to many people who would never in their right mind play one. It was great to just sign in whenever and never worry about being under levelled for your friends or any sense of FOMO.


As a runner up, I have to say (as much as I dislike the version of the game) Ninja Gaiden Sigma Demo on PS3 was very generous. You got the entire first stage and each time you cleared it, you got a harder difficulty (including Master Ninja Mode). For the average user, this meant that the demo had almost the entire game's difficulty curve for you to learn when it came to the standard ninja enemies.



Over time there have numerous, memorable game demos that I've played, but if there was a third to part of my Top 3... It would have to be Rainbow Six 3 Xbox Live Demo. This was one of the first online experiences where most people had voice chat. I think I was 13 and made a bunch of friends. As for the game itself, it was an interesting version of the game because it had this broken PSG-1 which turned an otherwise tactical shooter into Arcadey silliness. It was a great introduction to Xbox Live and online voice chat in general. It was also insanely replayable to the point that I think I put more time in it than all CoD MP combined.



So, what do you say GAF?

 

[Maxey]

Half-Life Uplink - unique level created specifically for the demo that gives you a nice taste of what the full game is about.

Just Cause 2 - condensed fun.

 

[idonteven]

just cause 2 demo

good old times glitching the timer and derping arounds for hours

 

[Blackquill]

30 hours on the Smash 4 3DS demo

 

[CyberPunked]

just cause 2 demo

This right here. Played that for days.

 

[Izuna]

just cause 2 demo

good old times glitching the timer and derping arounds for hours

Sounds like I missed a gem.

 

[Chalupa Batman]

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. The first and only demo to convince me to buy the full game.

 

[Belker]

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.

 

[Razirel]

Besides Just Cause 2 and Smash 4 demoes, I really liked the Bravely Default demo. It gave a nice vertical slice of what the game would play like

 

[ForkNetwork]

Sonic Unleashed did an excellent job of showing the best aspects of the game

 

[Vash63]

Half-Life Uplink

Just Cause 2

Damn, first post wins with the Half-Life Uplink. That's what I came here to say so instead I'll have to add Deus Ex (2000).

 

[Equanimity]

I'd give it to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It was packed in with Zone of the Enders.

 

[itf56]

Civilization, Atari ST Format coverdisk. Limited you to a number of turns. Absolute torture.

 

[yatesl]

Dead Rising, played that more than the actual game.

Final Fantasy X demo with the PS1 FF6 game blew me away with the graphics

 

[catpurrcat]

FF7 on PS1. Y'all remember the Playstation Underground demo disc? Best demo ever. There was literally a pile of traded in N64's at the local game shop that week.

 

[RumbleHumble]

Vanquish. Sold me, friends, and family all on the game.

 

[Maxey]

I'd give it to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It was packed in with Zone of the Enders.

Many would say that ZoE was a nice bonus game in the MGS2 demo disk.

 

[Jackpot]

G-Police
Yager

 

[NIN90]

just cause 2 demo

good old times glitching the timer and derping arounds for hours

My name is B O L O S A N T O S I

I am the L E A D E R of the revolutionary army known as the R E A P E R S

 

[BotchPoppaPump]

I remember playing the demo for PS1 Spiderman a helluva lot. I think it was just the first level if I remember right.

 

[Stairouais]

THPS1

 

[CMDBob]

Unreal Tournament 2004. That demo was so good. Some of the best maps from the full game (ONS-Torlan, ohhhh so good), pretty much all the weapons and vehicles AND multiplayer included too! The perfect demo package.

 

[Oneself]

I'd give it to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It was packed in with Zone of the Enders.

This. The tanker was just so amazing.

Syphon Filter (and discovering how to burn enemies with the taser.

Metal Gear Solid. Footsteps in the snow were awesome and just so many ways to infiltrate the base; it kept me busy for weeks.

God of War, that first level was just insane.

 

[Reverb Shock]

My favourite demo has to be the Skate 1 demo. I spent so many hours playing it because I couldn't afford the proper game.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I remember a demo for Metroid Prime at the GameCube Kiosk at Wal Mart when I was a young teenager. The televisions were mounted like eight feet up, angled downward, and it killed your neck to actually play on them. I imagine that was done to keep kids from playing there too long.

But the Metroid Prime demo was just Seamus arriving on the Frigate Orpheon and the battle with the Parasite Queen. That was amazingly entrancing to play. And when you beat the Queen, the ship starts to self destruct. The alarm is blaring, the ship is shaking, you're running on the adrenaline from the fight, and then... the demo ends. You don't even get to escape. Your session is over.

It was such an incredible taste of what was to come that I absolutely had to have it.

 

[Steve McQueen]

Previous gens: Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2, CTR

Recently: Forza Horizon 2 and 3

 

[Sini]

Crysis demo because it gave you full level editor with some extra weapons, vehicles and assets that weren't even used in the first level the demo had. It had loads of fun custom maps created for it and you could just mess around with it.

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

MGS2 with its frame rate killing explosives and exaggerated blood splatter, had so much fun with this.

Broken sword 2 figuring out how to get by the dog was fun and got me hyped to play.

 

[jotun?]

people played the TRIBES demo for years

 

[weekev]

Bayonetta 2 demo was incredible

 

[TAD]

I remember spending ages with Dark Sector, Wanted and Sniper Elite 2. They were all demos where you could just kill people with the cool stuff the games had and not really face any consequence. I think I rented all three and got bored pretty quickly, the demos were all I needed.

 

[TheMoon]

The Stanley Parable.

It's wholly unique content. A demo about it being a demo and letting you demo the game ...or ... at least the attempt at letting you try a demo.

Brilliance.

 

[Watevaman]

I can't recall too many demos off the top of my head right now, but I do remember spending a lot of time in the Psi-Ops demo on PS2. Smashing people with physics objects never got old to me.

 

[FoeHammer]

I remember the Lost Planet demo on 360 blowing my mind when it dropped.

Others to note:

Bioshock
Call of Duty 2 (Walmart kiosk for 360 launch)

 

[wild wild rice]

Vanquish. Sold me, friends, and family all on the game.

Yep. Played that thing for hours.

 

[Izuna]

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. The first and only demo to convince me to buy the full game.

This isn't really saying that the demo itself was great for a demo, however. I don't know what it had, but a standard single level doesn't put it on the level of some Demos that give you 100s of hours of enjoyment.

That being said, Metroid Prime and Lost Planet were incredible.

 

[sn00zer]

Half-Life Uplink - unique level created specifically for the demo that gives you a nice taste of what the full game is about.

Just Cause 2 - condensed fun.

eeyup....one of those things that has been largely lost in time when people talk about the series

 

[AusRoachman]

Starwars force unleashed demo .

 

[Dictator93]

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.

 

[Tyaren]

FFXV's Duscae Demo was a big deal for me and I must've played it all in all for over 60 hours. I loved it. Yeah, I was that excited and starved for FFXV to finally come out.

 

[GraRuss]

I bought a pirate copy of Adams Family Values in the Amiga at a car boot sale.

Played it to completion as it turned out it was a demo version!

Tried multiple routes through to beat it and find a way into the real game, totally enjoyable waste of time.

 

[Machina]

The Bioshock demo was incredible at the time. I wonder how many copies of the full game that thing sold

 

[King Gilga]

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.

 

[matrix-cat]

I've played a fair bit of the Puyo Puyo Tetris demo on my Switch. I honestly don't know why I'd ever buy the full game; there's infinite Tetris-ing to be had in the demo

 

[Samus4145]

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.

This. Wake Island is still my favorite BF map of all time.

 

[Izuna]

I've played a fair bit of the Puyo Puyo Tetris demo on my Switch. I honestly don't know why I'd ever buy the full game; there's infinite Tetris-ing to be had in the demo

Oh yes, I played it on Vita a whole bunch. Even when I had the full game I played it.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

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.

 

[funkystudent]

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

 

[LelouchZero]

I remember playing the Toy Commander Demo on the Dreamcast, oh man it was so fun!

The Lost Planet demo was amazing too! I played it on PC and on the 360!

EDIT: The Crackdown demo was amazing, and the demo for Just Cause 2 was really fun!

 

[MrS]

Resident Evil 2

Play the first 10 minutes of the game with the clock counting down. Incredible experience that left me gagging for more.