Horrible Game Demos

[FaithorFire]

I'm a hockey fan and player. I have been since I was 9.
I ABSOLUTELY loved the direction EA took the NHL series with 08, I was further impressed with 09, and this past year, I've bought one XBox360 game at full retail: NHL 10.

But then I played the demo for NHL 11...

A game I've pre-ordered already and one I've been unbearably psyched for since I found out they were switching to a physics based hitting system and introducing strategic faceoffs.

The demo lets you play one period in a game which never actually happened (Philly @ Chicago for game 7). They remove the ability to adjust any game-play settings. The new trigger-release passing system feels clunky and awkward. The game pace feels slow (like pee-wee soccer slow). The game play just doesn't feel good. As a long time NHL series player, I KNOW that all such issues can be ironed out with game-play settings tweaks, but someone unfamiliar with the series probably wouldn't.

My point is, if I didn't know the horrible feel of the NHL 11 demo is more than fixable with features the game has always featured, I would probably have been turned off the the game entirely by EA's piece of shit demo.

Anyone here been turned off to a supposedly great game by its horrible demo?
Or experience the exact opposite?
Or want to call me a lunatic?

 

[Snor]

SW: the force unleashed, i had tons of fun with the demo but the real game was more or less the demo 2.0....

 

[Snotnarok]

Heavenly Sword, demo was like 5 minutes long and left you wondering if you liked it at all.

Devil May Cry 4, crappy short demo on super easy mode, made me wonder if it'd be as bad as DMC 2, which it wasn't.

 

[Infernostrider]

the worst game demo EVER was probably for Brutal Legend. Why, you ask? Because the demo was awesome. Then i played the game, and it was next to nothing like the demo. Good job getting my hopes up.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

I didn't really like the Mass Effect 2 demo, but I've been told the main game's amazing.
Also, open world games tend to have annoying demos, as not only does the developer limit where you can go, but also how long you can play the demo for.

 

[sievr]

I played a demo for Final Fantasy 8 wayyy back when, and it was so awful that I thought it would have to be the last game in the series. No one would have bought the game if it played like that demo; it was pure nonsense, especially the dialogue, which seemed to be completely random sentences strung together. Fortunately the actual game had nearly nothing to do with it. (Though in retrospect, it was pretty bad, too. "oh by the way, we all used to know each other when we were children" my ass...)

 

[Aeshi]

In my eyes there is no such thing as a bad demo,only a demo of a bad game.

 

[BaldursBananaSoap]

Yeah I felt it was really slow too. The HAWX 2 demo is horrible. Not sure how the final game will be.

 

[PurplePlatypus]

Brutal Legends demo was deceitful.


The demo for ?The Path? should never have happened. Basically it took everything out leaving you to wonder around the forest collecting over 100 unimportant flowers.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

In my eyes there is no such thing as a bad demo,only a demo of a bad game.

Have you played the Half Life 2: Episode 2 demo?

That's a bad demo. Of a great game.

 

[TastySurvivor]

They remove the ability to adjust any game-play settings. The new trigger-release passing system feels clunky and awkward. The game pace feels slow (like pee-wee soccer slow). The game play just doesn't feel good. As a long time NHL series player, I KNOW that all such issues can be ironed out with game-play settings tweaks, but someone unfamiliar with the series probably wouldn't.

Totally agree with you on there. I know eventually ill have to give it up, but im sticking with 09. The demo that turned me off of a game I was excited for was Mafia 2. One, it was way too short. Two, the gunplay to me wasnt that great. Before I get flamed, im not comparing it to GTA 4, I know its a different game. Just doesnt seem that its a good as it should be for the amount of time they spent on it.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Section 8, which got decent reviews, had the most awful demo I had ever played. Throughout the whole thing, I had no idea what was going on, only that I wasn't having fun...

 

[imaloony]

Kung Fu Panda. It was so bad, it made me want to cry.

My friend notes a demo for a Bionicals game, and when I asked, this was his response:

"They took the double jump feature out of the game, but not the double jump part of the tutorial. It's impossible to pass."

 

[Inco]

Splinter cell conviction demo.

It just didn't sit well with me for some reason, and i was cautious getting the game to rent.

Turns out it was insanely fun, and satisfying with the stealth sections and inhumanly dumb AI.

 

[Funkiest Monkey]

Vampire Rain. Oh wait, the game is somehow even worse.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

The Dead Space demo was absolutely horrendous. The actual game was pretty damn good.

I second that, i didnt buy the actual game until about 6 months fater release for that very reason. Kicked myself when i saw how epic it was.

 

[LuckyClover95]

The Uncharted (1) demo, I found it boring but I understand its a very good game, but the demo doesnt show it.

 

[SalamanderJoe]

An obscure title, Minesweeper Flags on the Xbox Arcade. Basically it is minesweeper, but after three 'clicks' the demo ends. I'm sorry how, what or who constitutes that as a demo?

 

[lee1287]

yeah I love NHL 10 but The demo for NHL 11 is so bad. ugh =[

 

[slipknot4]

Heavenly Sword, demo was like 5 minutes long and left you wondering if you liked it at all.

Devil May Cry 4, crappy short demo on super easy mode, made me wonder if it'd be as bad as DMC 2, which it wasn't.

My thoughts exactly. I loved heavenly sword but the demo was... I dunno, it left me wanting more.