• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Whats the most impressive demo you have played?

For me it has to be FF8. Maybe its because I didn't have a PSX at the time that FF7 came out and I missed out on that, but seeing and playing the FF8 demo blew my mind. I must've played through it hundreds of times. That chase with the spider just completely pumped me up that I had to keep doing it over and over again :lol

Honorables mentions go to RE2 and UT99.
 
Not really a demo, but it was an in store display. Tony Hawk Pro Skater. I had zero idea about this game, played the demo, and walked out with the N64 cart and a save pak after whoring the station for close to two hours :lol
 
Why is the first thing I think of Netstorm... Wolfenstein 3D's shareware version also comes to mind.

Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight also deserves a mention. Amazing, amazing demo... easily one of the best I have ever played. It took a level from a third of the way into one of the best FPSes ever, and let you play through the whole huge level. It was so, so awesome...

But no, the answer has to be Mario 64. First played it in a demo station the summer before it came out. There's absolutely no way something like that experience can be matched... if that counts as a demo, it blows every other contender away.

As for more recent stuff... um, I'm not sure. Do the Guild Wars open alpha/beta tests count? Because that game was, and still is, amazing. It was so, so great, right from the beginning...
 
Metal Gear Solid. It was unlike anything I had ever played. The demo ended after the DARPA Chief's heart attack and all I could do was buy the game. I had no other option.

Oh yeah, Broken Sword 1 PC demo was also pretty cool.
 
probably that wipeout demo on ps1 circa launch. it was one of those OMG FUTURE AM NOW moments. of course wipeout now feels like 90s nostalgia -- in a good way -- but i guess that's what happens to FUTURE AM NOW moments
 
box-l.jpg

MGS2 easily, since i actually bought ZOE just for that demo and barely played ZOE at all. The demo, however, i played so many times i memorized all the conversations.
 
The Jet Grind Radio demo on DC was a revelation. RE4 demo for GC was awesome. 360 Bioshock and Lost Planet made great impressions, though the latter disappointed as retail. And Half-Life and the sadly forgotten Heretic 2 demo were easy sells back in my PC gaming (primarily) days.
 
I agree with those saying Doom, Half-Life Uplink, and MGS2.

Doom, of course, really kicked off the whole FPS revolution (it wasn't the first, but it did it better than any previous game). As a shareware title, you also received 9 full levels. Quake 1 gets an honorable mention.

HL-Uplink was a fantastic demo as well simply because it offered a new slice of Half-Life even for those who had played the full game. It was a great way to demonstrate what HL was all about.

MGS2, then, stands as one of the most impressive demos ever. The visuals were beyond anything else at the time and the gameplay was so full of nuances that one could replay the small sample over and over again whiles till discovering new features.

Bioshock is close, but falls down due to the lack of replayability. It did an amazing job of introducing everyone to the world of rapture. I was always excited by the game, but the demo was far beyond anything I had expected (in terms of presentation, at least).
 
Cdammen said:
Unreal Tournament

dm-morpheus.jpg


Crappy image. I know.

I played this demo with a bunch of friends for several weeks in computer class back in 1999. It was DM on the Morpheus map (pictured) like 4h a day :)
Click to expand...
Such great memories of that map :) I played the demo for months, even years later after I lost my copy of the retail game.

Same thing with Myth: The Fallen Lords. I played the demo so long, even after I bought the full game.
 
the Battlefield 1942 demo.

I've never seen something blow up so fast and completely change people's expectations.
 
Did anyone mention the Sonic 360 demo yet?

I was really impressed - by how bad it was. I don't think any demo has ever convinced me to cancel a pre-order quite as fast as that. I think the sheer achievement of the technical faults in that demo alone deserve recognition.
 
Holtz said:
box-l.jpg

MGS2 easily, since i actually bought ZOE just for that demo and barely played ZOE at all. The demo, however, i played so many times i memorized all the conversations.
Click to expand...

You should, if only so that when you play the vastly superior sequel it makes sense.
 
Halo 2: Zanzibar Multiplayer
-Awesome fun trying out dual-wielding for the first time and playing capture the flag. It helped that Sinbad was in the demo room playing and cracking jokes.

Starcraft Ghost:
-Felt like a spiritual successor to Metal Arms since it was also dev'ed by Swingin' Ape. Great multiplayer too. Of course, the memory of this demo is sweetened since the game never came out.

Four Horseman of the Apocalypse:
Another game that never came out, this one was impressive for its mature themes. 3DO had one scene were you come across a priest crucified on a wall in a ghetto crackhouse. Woah.

Mario Galaxy:
This was the game that truly showed off the Wii's potential at E3 2006. The demo was slightly different from the Good Egg Galaxy stage, with more paths available at once.

Zelda: Twilight Princess
Just as much for the awesome Hyrule forest demo area Nintendo set up as for the game itself, which rocked.

Sonic Adventure
The first time I fired up Emerald Coast in that Hollywood Video kiosk, hell yeah.

And:

Xmas NiGHTS-
For both it's holiday theme and time-sensitive features. Best giveaway demo ever.
 
BF1942

I wish I never bought the damn game because Wake Island was still the best and the most popular map. Now that I think about it, I don't think I ever played on any other map online.
 
The demos for Bioshock and Splinter Cell were super-impressive to me. The demo disk with Splinter Cell also had a Panzer Dragoon Orta demo on it if I'm remembering correctly.
 
The Crysis demo for me by far. So much re playability due to open nature of Crysis and I probably played its demo more than COD4 single player in the end.
 
FFVII for sure. I rented Tobal just to play this. The jump from 2D to 3D, Hell I was GRINDING on the demo that's how much I like it.
 
STG! said:
Doom was awesome.

For console, I'm going to say the first THPS demo on that Playstation Magazine CD, took over my entire summer when that hit. It's something I rarely do, but I went on vacation and had to bring my PSX with that demo. Everyone I showed it to loved it as well.
Click to expand...

There should be massive love for that Tony Hawk demo. I got it from ordering a Pizza Hut pizza and EVERYONE played the hell out of it. I played that demo for more hours than I play most games.
 
Tie between MGS2 and DMC, both were moments in time as a gamer that I don't see ever being repeated.

And both came packed in with a game that I only bought at first for the demo.
 
I feel bad for the gamers that missed out on the MGS 2 demo experience....and it really was a experience.

It was definitely one of those moments that defined not only the PS2 as everything Sony had promised, but it ushered in a new era of gaming. From the MGS 2 trailer first unveiled at E3, the excitement surrounding the MGS 2 demo was probably the most incredible thing I've seen in the gaming industry. Everyone knew about the demo and there just this awe surrounding it and for the demo to come out and blow away everyone's already amazingly high expectations, it was just amazing to play . Even my Nintendo and Sega only friends were craving for that demo which shocked me at the time. Unfortunately, there hasn't been excitement such as that since and I doubt we'll ever see something like the MGS 2 demo spectacle again.
 
Yogi_bear said:
I feel bad for the gamers that missed out on the MGS 2 demo experience....and it really was a experience.

It was definitely one of those moments that defined not only the PS2 as everything Sony had promised, but it ushered in a new era of gaming. From the MGS 2 trailer first unveiled at E3, the excitement surrounding the MGS 2 demo was probably the most incredible thing I've seen in the gaming industry. Everyone knew about the demo and there just this awe surrounding it and for the demo to come out and blow away everyone's already amazingly high expectations, it was just amazing to play . Even my Nintendo and Sega only friends were craving for that demo which shocked me at the time. Unfortunately, there hasn't been excitement such as that since and I doubt we'll ever see something like the MGS 2 demo spectacle again.
Click to expand...

Damn nice man...ummmm yeah MGS2 by far.

Watched the e3 trailer about 10 times a day every day for a good couple months.
Told all my friends those were in game graphics though I didnt really believe it myself.
And when I popped that game in and snake stood up with water raining down on him flowing over his beautiful self.....I dont know if I will ever be that blown away by something ever again.
 
Being primarily a Nintendo gamer for most of my life, I haven't really ever played many demos. Probably Resident Evil 4, I guess.
 
Overall? I dunno, there's not a specific one that immediately pops into my mind.

This generation... probably the Fight Night Round 3 demo on the 360.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

What Are Your Most Played Games According to Platform Stats?
2
77
948
SkeletonQuays replied
What game have you been playing the longest?
2 3 4
178
2K
cireza replied
What games have the most detailed in-game character models?
2 3
121
2K
Crayon replied
  • Poll
Assuming you have played both, which one is the best Zelda: TOTK or Elden Ring?
2 3
133
799
EverydayBeast replied
What was the last "perfect" game you played and how old were you?
2 3 4
157
1K
MrCunningham replied
Top Bottom