While it is nowan almost-lost art,the video game demo was once an essential part of a game’s marketing. In an era where the majority of gamers were still too young to be buying games on the regular, the opportunity to play a small section of a game for free to see if it clicked was a massive boon for players and a significant factor in which games found financial success upon their release.
RELATED:Canceled Games With Playable Demos
Often, game demos were reluctant to give too much away and wouldn’t show much more than what players could see in trailers, or what was shown off on the floor of events like E3. However, some games - and PlayStation games in particular - took their demos very seriously, and it frequently paid dividends down the road, enrapturing players so deeply with that small glimpse of gameplay that they had no choice butto check out the full gameonce it was released.
7Resident Evil 7: Beginning Hour
When it was announced,Resident Evil 7was following up on what was arguably the series' worst entry: the widely-criticizedResident Evil 6.The franchise’s switch to a first-person perspective, as well as the introduction of a brand new protagonist in Ethan Winters, was enough to give the sense that Capcom was pushing for a fresh start for the series. It wasn’t enough to assuage the fears that fans had about the quality of the games themselves as the franchise moved forward, though.
Wisely, Capcom chose to release a demo for the game to help quell some of those concerns. TheResident Evil 7demo was separate from the main game, instead serving to give a sense of the tone and gameplay that the eventual release would have. Featuring multiple endings depending on the player’s choices, the demo served as an hour-long introduction to both the world ofRE7and its mechanics. It’s also not just one of the scariest game demos of all time, but one of the scariest video games period, rivaled only by a handful of other titles (one of which isthe full release ofResident Evil 7).
6Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
They seem worlds apart when looking back, but whenStar Wars: The Force Unleashedwas announced, it was riding the momentum of Revenge of the Sith’s release from just a couple of years earlier. The game’s focus on physics simulation to go along with its amped-up force powers was a big draw for fans, not to mentionits fantastic announcement trailerthat got everyStar Warsfan salivating.
However, while it was originally scheduled to release in 2007, the game was delayed into 2008 and was again pushed back to late in the year that Spring. Gamers had doubts that the game could reach its lofty ambitions, so LucasArts put out a demo of its first level a month ahead of the full launch. Immediately, players were convinced. The joy of charging through a cargo bay and tossing stormtroopers through windows and over ledges with the Force was unheard of in video games before then, thanks in large part to the game’s physics-based destruction and character animations. By the time the game reached its full release, players were lining up to get a bigger taste of Starkiller’s power.
5God Of War 3
The demo forGod of War 3could go down as the most complete game demo of all time. It had everything a fan could want from an entry in the franchise: epic combat, a wide array of unique weapons, engaging puzzles, and boss battles on a massive scale. It came included as part oftheDistrict 9Blu-ray release,as well as being included in theGod Of War Collection.
The jump from the menu screen right into gameplay was a statement from Santa Monica Studio, a testament to how far their visuals had progressed sinceGod of War 2. Within moments, Kratos was battling monsters with the Blades of Chaos, and not long after that players were killing Helios and watching Kratos decapitate him with his bare hands. It didn’t end there, Kratos continued the fight until he squared off with a full-sized Titan. It would be hard to ask for anything more from an entireGod of Wargame, and players got every bit of it for free in a two-hour demo.
4Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
Back before skateboarding video games were even a blip on the industry radar, a game that began as a tech demowith Bruce Willis on a skateboardgrew into a full-blown project with Tony Hawk himself on board.
RELATED:Best Sports Games Of All Time (According To Metacritic)
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skaterdemo was released on the Pizza Hut Powered Playstation Giveaway demo disk as part of a promotion with the restaurant chain. The demo received almost unanimous praise, particularly in regard to the trick variety and wide-open skate parks that did away with the linear racetracks of previous skateboarding games. This was the demo that led to the game that led to the now iconic franchise, reshaping the very idea of a skateboarding video game in the process.
3Just Cause 2
Sometimes, a simple idea is the best idea.Just Cause 2was an open-world action game with a ton of ways to blow up enemies, but very little in the way of narrative or scripted gameplay. How does a studio make a demo of something like that? It turns out, they just release the whole game and put a timer on it.
RELATED:Grappling Hooks Make All Games Better
That description is a bit reductive, but Avalanche Studios thought outside the box with this demo, taking a small area of their game’s map, putting a timer on it, and then letting players run wild with their gameplay mechanics. The demo was a massive success, generating a ton of hype for the game’s eventual release. If anything it worked a little too well, as many gamers were more than satisfied just playing the demo over and over again, and didn’t even pick up the full game.
2P.T.
As of this writingP.T.(short for “Playable Teaser”) may be the last iconic video game demo we’ll ever see. Hideo Kojima’s scary, looping gameplay introduction to his plannedSilent Hillscollaboration with Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus was announced at Gamescom 2014 as a mysterious new horror game being developed by the non-existent 7780s Studio. It was released for free on the Playstation Store that night. A month later, it had been downloaded over a million times.
What followed wasa tragedy of corporation versus creator,as Hideo Kojima’s falling out with Konami - centered around the maligned development ofMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain -resulted in the eventual cancelation ofSilent Hills. While Kojima and Norman Reedus did eventually work together onDeath Stranding, there is a distinct vacancy in the gaming industry that was left behind bySilent Hillswhich persists to this day. A vacancy that can only be filled by a new game in theSilent Hillfranchise.
1Metal Gear Solid 2
When the conversation around the best video game demos arises,Metal Gear Solid 2nearly always comes out on top. Released as a pre-order bonus forZone of the Enders, the demo’s inclusion with that lesser-known Kojima game significantly boosted its sales, especially given thatZone of the Enderswas a PlayStation 2 exclusive with very little hype surrounding it. Many players reported that they never actually playedZone of the Enders, instead opting to stick with theMetal Geardemo because of how much content it included.
In another stroke of genius, theMetal Gear Solid 2demo had players controlling Solid Snake the whole time, much like in the firstMetal Gear Solid. When the full game was released, players quickly realized that they would spend the majority of the game playingnot as Snake, but as Raiden.A game demo that can be played repeatedly and scoured for every detail while still preserving a surprise as big as who the game’s main playable character would be is just too wild of an idea to not get recognition even all these years later. The demo generated a huge amount of positive attention forMetal Gear Solid 2,and the subversion of expectations that came with the game’s full release elevated it to legendary status.
