On average, I buy one, maybe two, new computer games per year. My computers are never at the high end of current technology, so these games are almost always four-plus year old and purchased used.
After completing my Thief collection with Thief Gold earlier this year, though, I realized there weren't any other games left that I was eager to play, with a few exceptions. I've yet to finish either of the System Shock games and there are hundreds of Thief and a handful of Deus Ex fan missions I haven't tried. There are also two games I'm half-interested in that require something more powerful than my current system -- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl*, of which I've read mixed reviews (I'm a fan of the book it's based on), and Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Nevertheless, in a mood to try something new, I scoured several websites and forums for computer game recommendations and compiled a list of 13 demos, all of which I played roughly a month ago.
Ideally, a game demo should be a perfect microcosm of the game itself while also providing a feel for the interface and engine. Unfortunately, demos sometimes end up presenting a skewed view of the game; the last time I relied on demos to decide between games, the one I liked least (Deus Ex) ended up becoming one of my all time favourites. In short, I knew going in that demos can't be used to make definitive call on games, but they're still valuable for experimentation with controls and graphics, especially for games not native to the PC.
Out of the 13 game demos, I played six to completion, two of which I was sufficiently engrossed in to finish in one sitting. The length of my reviews/reactions vary from one paragraph to over ten per demo, making this post a rather long read; I suggest that if any of you are interested, you skim over the titles and ratings and then only read the reviews for games you're familiar with or interested in. The demos, presented in alphabetical order, are: American McGee's Alice, Beyond Good and Evil, Call of Duty, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, Doom 3, Fahrenheit [a.k.a. Indigo Prophecy], Far Cry, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman Contracts [Hitman 3, reviewed with Hitman 2], Max Payne, Metal Gear Solid, Psychonauts, and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.
Escape From Butcher Bay, the Hitman games, and Splinter Cell were chosen specifically for their stealth elements, Beyond Good and Evil was a recommendation from an old TTLG thread, Metal Gear Solid was inspired by Sarah, Doom 3 was influenced by The Dark Mod, and the rest I picked up from various sources. Some of these are PC ports of console games and, sadly, it usually shows.
Each demo review is below its own cut and includes the type of game, point of view used, developer, year, demo playthrough status, and original console if applicable. The ratings at the end of each review are out of 5 with 5 as the best and 1 as the worst and no half marks. These represent how much I personally enjoyed each demo, not how good the game is; there are genres and gameplay mechanics I enjoy more than others and some of the things I take off points for may be a non-issue for other players. Several of my gameplay pet peeves that I rediscovered over the course of playing these demos include: (1) inability to control the camera (tends to be more common in ports), (2) no manual or quick saves, (3) unskippable cutscenes and dialogue, (4) 3D games that are otherwise somewhat realistic with no jump button, (5) 3D games that only support shooting in third person, (6) inability to remap controls, and (7) no or limited leaning, especially in first person.
Regarding (5), even since I played the Thief games, I've preferred first person point of view for 3D environments. In my experience, it's easier to become immersed in a game when I'm interacting with the game world through the eyes of the player character and am more immediately connected to the environment. As such, I'm usually a bit awkward with 3D third person games, though the most cumbersome aspect by far for me is gunplay. Perhaps I'm simply not used to maneuvering the camera for it, but there were numerous times in several different demos where I couldn't tell exactly where I was aiming because part of the player character's body was blocking my view. (Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines has a nice compromise -- a first/third person toggle with all gunplay switching to first person and all melee in third.)
*Technically, my system does meet the minimum requirements for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, but there is no demo to confirm that it will run well. I've read the game is buggy and is best played at the highest settings, which my computer wouldn't support. In addition, during and after the time I was testing demos, I was trying to install Deus Ex: Invisible War, which absolutely would not run on my computer despite being below my specs, so I'm a bit dubious of games playing properly without being able to try them first.
( American McGee's Alice. )
( Beyond Good and Evil. )
( Call of Duty. )
( The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. )
( Doom 3. )
( Fahrenheit [a.k.a. Indigo Prophecy]. )
( Far Cry. )
( Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Contracts [Hitman 3]. )
( Max Payne. )
( Metal Gear Solid. )
( Psychonauts. )
( Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. )
After completing my Thief collection with Thief Gold earlier this year, though, I realized there weren't any other games left that I was eager to play, with a few exceptions. I've yet to finish either of the System Shock games and there are hundreds of Thief and a handful of Deus Ex fan missions I haven't tried. There are also two games I'm half-interested in that require something more powerful than my current system -- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl*, of which I've read mixed reviews (I'm a fan of the book it's based on), and Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Nevertheless, in a mood to try something new, I scoured several websites and forums for computer game recommendations and compiled a list of 13 demos, all of which I played roughly a month ago.
Ideally, a game demo should be a perfect microcosm of the game itself while also providing a feel for the interface and engine. Unfortunately, demos sometimes end up presenting a skewed view of the game; the last time I relied on demos to decide between games, the one I liked least (Deus Ex) ended up becoming one of my all time favourites. In short, I knew going in that demos can't be used to make definitive call on games, but they're still valuable for experimentation with controls and graphics, especially for games not native to the PC.
Out of the 13 game demos, I played six to completion, two of which I was sufficiently engrossed in to finish in one sitting. The length of my reviews/reactions vary from one paragraph to over ten per demo, making this post a rather long read; I suggest that if any of you are interested, you skim over the titles and ratings and then only read the reviews for games you're familiar with or interested in. The demos, presented in alphabetical order, are: American McGee's Alice, Beyond Good and Evil, Call of Duty, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, Doom 3, Fahrenheit [a.k.a. Indigo Prophecy], Far Cry, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman Contracts [Hitman 3, reviewed with Hitman 2], Max Payne, Metal Gear Solid, Psychonauts, and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.
Escape From Butcher Bay, the Hitman games, and Splinter Cell were chosen specifically for their stealth elements, Beyond Good and Evil was a recommendation from an old TTLG thread, Metal Gear Solid was inspired by Sarah, Doom 3 was influenced by The Dark Mod, and the rest I picked up from various sources. Some of these are PC ports of console games and, sadly, it usually shows.
Each demo review is below its own cut and includes the type of game, point of view used, developer, year, demo playthrough status, and original console if applicable. The ratings at the end of each review are out of 5 with 5 as the best and 1 as the worst and no half marks. These represent how much I personally enjoyed each demo, not how good the game is; there are genres and gameplay mechanics I enjoy more than others and some of the things I take off points for may be a non-issue for other players. Several of my gameplay pet peeves that I rediscovered over the course of playing these demos include: (1) inability to control the camera (tends to be more common in ports), (2) no manual or quick saves, (3) unskippable cutscenes and dialogue, (4) 3D games that are otherwise somewhat realistic with no jump button, (5) 3D games that only support shooting in third person, (6) inability to remap controls, and (7) no or limited leaning, especially in first person.
Regarding (5), even since I played the Thief games, I've preferred first person point of view for 3D environments. In my experience, it's easier to become immersed in a game when I'm interacting with the game world through the eyes of the player character and am more immediately connected to the environment. As such, I'm usually a bit awkward with 3D third person games, though the most cumbersome aspect by far for me is gunplay. Perhaps I'm simply not used to maneuvering the camera for it, but there were numerous times in several different demos where I couldn't tell exactly where I was aiming because part of the player character's body was blocking my view. (Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines has a nice compromise -- a first/third person toggle with all gunplay switching to first person and all melee in third.)
*Technically, my system does meet the minimum requirements for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, but there is no demo to confirm that it will run well. I've read the game is buggy and is best played at the highest settings, which my computer wouldn't support. In addition, during and after the time I was testing demos, I was trying to install Deus Ex: Invisible War, which absolutely would not run on my computer despite being below my specs, so I'm a bit dubious of games playing properly without being able to try them first.
( American McGee's Alice. )
( Beyond Good and Evil. )
( Call of Duty. )
( The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. )
( Doom 3. )
( Fahrenheit [a.k.a. Indigo Prophecy]. )
( Far Cry. )
( Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Contracts [Hitman 3]. )
( Max Payne. )
( Metal Gear Solid. )
( Psychonauts. )
( Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. )
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