I remember when I was younger avidly awaiting the next issue of a gaming magazine to come out, just so that I could get my sticky child fingers on the latest demo disk for the PSX. And now that we live in the future, with our electric cars, robotic hoovers and
Twitter, all our needs are catered for without ever needing to leave the house!
Like I've always said- the best thing about the new generation of games consoles are the freebies, so I thought I'd dedicate today's article to my top list of demos from the
PS Store. Some old, some new, all worth a look.
BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYUMOkay, so it's safe to say that I've been raving about this game for some time now, but for good reason! The build up to this demo has been intense- could it really live up to expectation? Well it's safe to say yes, yes it has! The game play it's very fun, the fighting dynamics look and flow very nicely and the sneaking, detective aspect of the game play is incredibly satisfying. I've already played the demo a few times over without ever getting bored, so I'm hoping the full game will be just as exciting.
The only downside is that the full game could end up being a bit repetitive, with limited attacks, moves etc. However, from reading various preview's written by people that have had a chance to play the full game, the game remains interesting an varied throughout. I suppose only time will tell, but for the time being this demo has definitely kept me, and hopefully all of you, occupied.
WOLVERINEI used to live with a bunch of lads and often came back to find new demos installed on my PS3. So after a hard day of student life (drinking, lounging around in the sun, shirking off essays etc.) I came home to find this in my games folder.
Great demo- slashing Wolverines foes with those claws of his is gloriously satisfying. The fighting is really easy to master and is quite varied- leaping over a bad guy and slashing him in the face before giving him a colonic irrigation with your spiky fist, to picking up a flaming man and throwing him across the room onto a spike.
The demo can be played a few times over before it loses its appeal, which is why I wouldn't suggest buying the game. Reviews have stated that the graphics are brilliant and the fighting is varied, but the game itself lacks in longevity and ultimately becomes a repetitive chore- constantly re-tracing steps, lazily repeating levels (the level in the demo has to be completed several times throughout the game) and a bafflingly confusing story.
So my advice- just stick with the demo.
NARUTOThis one I only downloaded for a friend I was living with. He's a big Naruto fan so I thought he would like this. After it was installed it sat unplayed for months. Eventually, after playing all the other demos I had downloaded, I thought I'd finally give it a try- and thought it was great!
I've never been a Naruto fan so I wasn't exactly brimming with excitement to play, amusing I'd be lost, not knowing the characters or the special moves they use. But after playing it I found it to be very easily accessible, colourful and very fun. The fighting dynamics work really well (after a few attempts at least to figure out the controls) and moving around the beautiful scenery worked well.
The style reminded me a lot of the
Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi games, with colourful graphics and the camera behind the player rather than the traditional side on, 2D view.
I'm not sure if I would pick up the game itself, but the demo is definitely worth a look in.
SKATE / SKATE 2Anyone that reads my articles (all 3 of you out there) know that lately Skate 2 has slowly taken control of my PS3. It's a great game, providing you stick at it for a while. So my advice is to give you that extra edge once you get the game, is to practice with the demo first. If you're used to the old Tony Hawks games then this is a bit of a shock to the system- the controls are vastly different and much harder to master. But because of this, finally nailing that hard trick you've been working on is far more satisfying.
This demo is a must have.
UFCThis demo most definitely worth downloading if you have friends, or ever plan on making any. When I lived in a house of 5 lads, this was one of the games that we played the most. There is nothing more satisfying in this world than sitting around, having a drink and beating the crap out of each other on a FREE game! (Albeit a demo, but free never the less).
This is another game that takes a while to master, as I still don't fully understand how the grappling works, but is still open to casual gamers who just want to punch and kick their way to victory.
This is a great fighting game, brilliant with friends and definitely worth downloading. Now.
MOTORSTORM: PACIFIC RIFTOnce you and your friends, imaginary or not, get bored of smashing each others faces in, then the next step up is to smash each others cars in! This beautiful racing game has been played many times over on my console and still gets asked to be put on when friends come over.
Whereas in the UFC game you only get to choose between two characters, this demo allows you to play with 3 very different vehicles; a Buggy, a Motorbike and a Monster Truck- each giving a very different style of game play.
There's nothing more I can say really. It looks incredible, game play is fun and varied and is brilliant fun when friends come over. Get this one downloaded immediately.
PIXEL JUNK EDENThis game is beautiful. It is so beautifully simplistic and simplistically beautiful. Doesn't look too bad either. And I think it looks pretty.
This is a small, 2D game with only one button- Jump. And the directional buttons to control the jump. So that's two buttons really...
You (and a friend if they bore of smashing things up) jump around the 2D world, collecting what can only be described as "colourful dots", making plant-like towers grow.
Jumping and swinging around this little world is very relaxing. This game has to be experienced by all. And the price of this demo is just right- nothing!
TRASH PANICThis is the latest demo to call my console home. I saw it when I was searching for the new Batman demo and noticed the tag for it said "FREE". So after I played the Batman demo several times over, I noticed this sitting in my demo folder, forgotten and alone... So I thought I'd bite the bullet and give it a go.
First thoughts? WOW- This is fun!!
Brilliant little game, very basic game play and VERY addictive! It's a bit like Tetris, you have objects coming in and you have to place them all into the trash container to make them fit. Sorry, did I say place? I meant SMASH! There are all sorts of objects- barrels, violins, teddy's, toilets, statues, motorbikes, flaming torches- all of which have fit into the bin. Wooden objects can be smashed and burnt to make room, but objects like toilets and washing machines are harder to to break, as well as letting out water that puts out fires.
This game is seriously addictive, and as the full game is only £3.99 I'm seriously tempted to splash out on the full game. And as you may have already gathered from this article, I'm quite tight with my cash!
So what are you still sitting here for? Download this demo now!
So that's my list of free demos I recommend you to download, currently installed on my PS3.
Before starting this article I asked around to see if anyone else had suggestions for demos to try. I had a few suggestions (
@Dude2Devil suggested the Wanted demo) so decided to search through every nook and cranny of the PS Store for any demos that caught my eye. I now currently have about 20 demos downloading, so hopefully I should have a new list of demos for you to download soon.
If anyone has any suggestions of demos they would recommend, send me a message or leave a comment below. Or, if you're all modern and that, try
Twittering me!
Now- go forth and download to your hearts content!
-- BIZNITCH --
(My friend @bols made me a new Gaming Avatar- so I thought it would be appropriate to post it here! Cheers Jen!)
Although the game hasn't been released yet, Heavy Rain (set to come out early 2010... Hopefully VERY early) is already undergoing talks about additional downloadable content.
