GoodSarmatian
Jokerfied Western Male
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 9,408
I remember that back in the late 20th century (man, do I feel old and dignified typing this) practically every high profile game and a lot of low profile games had a demo, but it seems it's nowaday pre-release demos aren't as common as they used to be, but we still got them for Shogun 2, Civ 5, Mss Effect 3 andother games.
I'd like to know if demos regularly influence your decision to buy a game.
I've rgown very sceptical of professional reviews, and for me a demo is the deciding factor in my decision and more often then not a demo will convince not to buy.
If there's no demo I'll wait until a couple of weeks after release and hear/read what my friends and the internet have to say about the matter.
Here are some 21st games that demos convinced me (not) to buy in the past couple of years.
Games I was sceptical about, or not that interested inm but bought because of the demo:
Rome - Total War
The Total War series didn't interest me that much before. Real time battles with armies and formations just didn't feel right to me, like there's not many decisions left to make.I knew the Shogun demo and was not convinced. The Rome demo changed that. It only showed the real-time battles, but they were fun enough to make me buy it.
Bioshock
I'm usually not a big fan of FPS, but Bioshock immediately drew me in. It had a great atmosphere, and electrocuting a group of madmen in a puddle of water was all kinds of entertaining
Deus Ex : Human Revolution
This game didn't have a real demo, but it had a leaked Beta versio which, while not strictly legal was tolerated by Square-Enix. I was one of those guys who - despite positive previews- feard this game could give a beloved classic the game equivalent of the George Lucas treatment. The coup de grace for the franchise if you will. When I found out there's a leaked beta with a very positive reception I had to try it out. I played it all weekend and decided 'Yes, that's a Deus Ex game'.
More importantly, I didn't encounter any bugs or crashes. Here was a beta of a game that wouldn't be released for another six months, and it was already more stable and felt more polished than many 'finished' games on release day.
Shogun 2
Finally a Total War demo with a campaign, and was better than Rome. Specialized provinces, talent trees for generals and agents, two research paths, and real time battles with a focus on melee. It had almost everything I loved about Rome, and a greatly expanded TBS part.
I still waited several months before I bought it since I couldn't gleam much about the diplomatic AI from the demo.
Games I planned to bu on release day, but didn't after playing the demo
Dragon Age 2
The previews were already discouraging, but I would have still bought it. It's Bioware, it's Dragon Age. Of course it's gong to be good.
Well, it wasn't. The demo only showcased the battles which were supposed to be the big selling point of the game, bringing more action into the mix.
They didn't bring more action, just less strategy. All I could take away from the demo was that battles were faster but more boring than in Origins. I postponed my decision until the internet could form an opinion about the finished game. Maybe I'll buy it if I find it for less than 15€ including all DLC...
Medieval 2 and Empire
Again, only battles. Medieval 2 felt like Rome, but not right.
There were some changes, but I couldn't see any big improvements. In the end it was at the same time just similar and different enough to Rome to be stuck in the gameplay equivalent of the uncanny valley, if this makes any sense.
Empire just wasn't fun. I don't really know why. Previews had made me excited about the game, but for some reasons that I can't really put my finger on, that excitement was snuffed out by the demo.
Cicilization 5
Well, I bought it eventually when I found it for 20 bucks (two weeks before the GOTY edition was announced
)
After palying the demo I decided I wouldn't buy it for at least another three or four months after release, mainly because the demo was quite the trainwreck in regards to stability and performance. The pacing was also horrible. Build times were too long, maintenance costs were too high....
This was a game in need of some serious patching. I wasn't really surprised, Civ4 wasn't any better when it was first released.
I'd like to know if demos regularly influence your decision to buy a game.
I've rgown very sceptical of professional reviews, and for me a demo is the deciding factor in my decision and more often then not a demo will convince not to buy.
If there's no demo I'll wait until a couple of weeks after release and hear/read what my friends and the internet have to say about the matter.
Here are some 21st games that demos convinced me (not) to buy in the past couple of years.
Games I was sceptical about, or not that interested inm but bought because of the demo:
Rome - Total War
The Total War series didn't interest me that much before. Real time battles with armies and formations just didn't feel right to me, like there's not many decisions left to make.I knew the Shogun demo and was not convinced. The Rome demo changed that. It only showed the real-time battles, but they were fun enough to make me buy it.
Bioshock
I'm usually not a big fan of FPS, but Bioshock immediately drew me in. It had a great atmosphere, and electrocuting a group of madmen in a puddle of water was all kinds of entertaining
Deus Ex : Human Revolution
This game didn't have a real demo, but it had a leaked Beta versio which, while not strictly legal was tolerated by Square-Enix. I was one of those guys who - despite positive previews- feard this game could give a beloved classic the game equivalent of the George Lucas treatment. The coup de grace for the franchise if you will. When I found out there's a leaked beta with a very positive reception I had to try it out. I played it all weekend and decided 'Yes, that's a Deus Ex game'.
More importantly, I didn't encounter any bugs or crashes. Here was a beta of a game that wouldn't be released for another six months, and it was already more stable and felt more polished than many 'finished' games on release day.
Shogun 2
Finally a Total War demo with a campaign, and was better than Rome. Specialized provinces, talent trees for generals and agents, two research paths, and real time battles with a focus on melee. It had almost everything I loved about Rome, and a greatly expanded TBS part.
I still waited several months before I bought it since I couldn't gleam much about the diplomatic AI from the demo.
Games I planned to bu on release day, but didn't after playing the demo
Dragon Age 2
The previews were already discouraging, but I would have still bought it. It's Bioware, it's Dragon Age. Of course it's gong to be good.
Well, it wasn't. The demo only showcased the battles which were supposed to be the big selling point of the game, bringing more action into the mix.
They didn't bring more action, just less strategy. All I could take away from the demo was that battles were faster but more boring than in Origins. I postponed my decision until the internet could form an opinion about the finished game. Maybe I'll buy it if I find it for less than 15€ including all DLC...
Medieval 2 and Empire
Again, only battles. Medieval 2 felt like Rome, but not right.
There were some changes, but I couldn't see any big improvements. In the end it was at the same time just similar and different enough to Rome to be stuck in the gameplay equivalent of the uncanny valley, if this makes any sense.
Empire just wasn't fun. I don't really know why. Previews had made me excited about the game, but for some reasons that I can't really put my finger on, that excitement was snuffed out by the demo.
Cicilization 5
Well, I bought it eventually when I found it for 20 bucks (two weeks before the GOTY edition was announced

After palying the demo I decided I wouldn't buy it for at least another three or four months after release, mainly because the demo was quite the trainwreck in regards to stability and performance. The pacing was also horrible. Build times were too long, maintenance costs were too high....
This was a game in need of some serious patching. I wasn't really surprised, Civ4 wasn't any better when it was first released.