To all the games I have demo'd before...

I am a big believer in game demos-When well executed they give a snapshot of the fundamentals of the game, including narrative, gameplay, graphics and sound design. When poorly executed or worse just bad examples of worse games its like being slapped in the face with a wet salmon.

Recent demos done right (ie. make me want to play the game) included Conan (360), Timeshift (360), Crysis (PC) PG4 (360) Forza 2 (360). Demos that done daddy wrong include Vampire Rain (360) (I mean, Splinter Cell VS Vampires how do you screw that up?) and strangely enough Burnout Paradise (360).

Having played the full versions of Conan and Timeshift I enjoyed the heck out of Conan. All the visceral action and gore that one could expect neatly wrapped in a God of War type gameplay. I have yet to finish the game but having played 3/4 through its loaded with gratuity of all kinds and tons of mindless fun. Timeshift? Not so much. The demo I played was 2nd demo created after the game underwent some fairly radical design changes upgrading it from the Xbox to the 360. The visual polish is there, but the relentlessly unimaginative and linear gameplay really undercuts the goodwill generated in the demo. The time powers are essentially point and click affairs for scripted moments, never allowing the player to really harness this power at will to any meaningful effect. I was only able to play 3 stages of Timeshift before giving up, which is a shame, because the game is very polished but simply never lives up to its potential.

Vampire Rain is the gaming equivalent of an Uwe Boll film, competent in that it has all the elements assembled to call it a game but really just a slice of your life you will never get back. Its almost criminal because the concept of the game is brilliant and exceptionally poorly executed.

Burnout Paradise was bittersweet as I will come out as the lone voice in the crowd and saw I hate the direction this once beloved series has taken. It has reduced itself to a clone of Need For Speed, barely redeemed but its unmatched intensity and sensation of raw speed. I even rented to full game just to see if my initial reactions were misguided but to no avail. Me no likey. Burnout Revenge can be my only succor.

Lately Crysis has been the only demo I have played that compelled me to buy the game, (after upgrading my system of course). Even with new(ish) hardware I was only able to play the game on one of the lowest resolutions with the visual setting facilitating between low and medium depending on what the game was throwing at me. I even, and I am ashamed to admit it, dug out a free upgrade install of Vista to dual boot so I could experience Direct 10 on this game. Of course, after watching a slideshow, I immediately bumped it back down to DX9 so it was playable. It was pretty for a short time at least.

I have skipped the demo idea for Devil May Cry 4 and rented the full game, so we shall see, Zur, we shall see......