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You remember game demos, right? Trials, teasers, tasters? It’s easy to believe that most publishers don’t remember them, given how rare a free sample of a new game is nowadays. We’re not talking about time-limited betas, but something you can play at your own pace, and as many times as you like, whenever you like.
This is a list of demos that were fun, important, weird, generous, or any combination of the four. Some are no longer available – or are at least, hard to find – but you might find one that’s easy to nab and tickles your gaming fancy.
1. Sly sneaks into another game
This feature originally appeared in Play Magazine. For more great features, interviews, and more delivered to your digital device or doorstep, subscribe to Play Magazine.
Game: Sly 2: Band of Thieves
Platform(s): PS2
Developer: Insomniac
Released: 2004
Putting a demo for one game inside the finished version of another is a bit odd. Deciding to hide that demo is very odd – but that's exactly what Insomniac did with the Sly 2 demo in Ratchet & Clank 3, which was accessible only via a button code entered at the main menu. Eventually it became an open secret – the emphasis on 'open' rather than 'secret'. Offering several missions and the Paris hub world, the demo also unlocks a laser sword for Ratchet. Er, for use in Ratchet & Clank 3, that is, not in Sly 2.
2. Criminal cover star
Game: Grand Theft Auto
Platform(s): PS1
Developer: Rockstar Games
Released: 1998
Back in the olden days, PLAY was called Official PlayStation Magazine, and gave away demos on discs with each issue. Can you imagine? One such taster was for Grand Theft Auto, allowing players to try out the beginning of a legend before buying the game. It opens by dropping the player next to a car (a Bulldog in a fetching blue), allowing them to jump in and find the South Park public phones for their first mission... or just drive around causing chaos. How many purchases did this lead to, we wonder? You’re welcome.
3. A taste of Silent Hills
Game: PT
Platform(s): PS4
Developer: Kojima Productions
Released: 2014
We can't talk about demos without mentioning PT, can we? What a beautiful mess. Whether you consider it a teaser (PT stands for 'playable teaser'), a demo, or even a game in its own right, the fact is that this is all we ever got to see of Silent Hills, the cancelled horror sequel that Hideo Kojima was due to co-direct with movie master Guillermo del Toro. If you never got to play it, then you missed out on a genuinely unnerving and sometimes terrifying experience, one that squeezed more out of a looping corridor than you could reasonably expect. Rest in peace, PT.
4. You got a free hit...or two
Game: Hitman
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Developer: IO Interactive
Released: 2016
This demo is essentially the beginning of 2016's Hitman in its entirety, sliced away from the rest of the murderous cake, and as such, it's one of the most replayable demos on the list. It includes not only the first two missions, but also all of the associated challenges and Mastery levels. As is par for the Hitman course, there's an apparently endless combination of entry paths, escape paths, ways to use disguises, and methods for murdering. That's a heck of a lot of content for zero pounds and zero pence. A fantastic way to reacquaint yourself with the brave and the bald.
5. Zone of the Snake
Game: Metal Gear Solid 2
Platform(s): PS2
Developer: Konami
Released: 2001
We've got all the demos the videogame industry has seen to talk about, and two for Kojima projects feature on our list? Absolutely. No such list would be complete without PT, and the absence of this – a hands-on with what was at the time perhaps the most anticipated sequel of the year – would be a pretty notable omission too. Metal Gear Solid 2 – Trial Edition was included with Zone Of The Enders (another game Kojima was attached to) as a pre-order bonus, leading to ZOE enjoying higher sales than it perhaps otherwise would have. Offering at least 20 minutes of activity (and easily much more depending on how sneaky you are and your chosen difficulty), it goes up to and slightly beyond the first boss fight in the Tanker section.
"A hands-on with perhaps the most anticipated sequel of the year"
Comparing this demo to the final version of the game reveals more differences than you might usually expect (spoken dialogue is in Japanese, the Codec screen looks almost completely different, Snake has a shorter health bar, and more) but few people at the time would have known or cared about most of this. They were playing the new Metal Gear Solid! And most importantly of all, the cardboard box was present and correct. The demo begins with Snake on deck, looking for a way inside. Sneaking around corners and taking out goons with his tranquiliser gun (with the option of a less gentle way through once he gets his hands on the USP), Snake eventually finds Olga Gurlukovich and, well...it doesn’t end well for her. And we’d have to get the full game to see how it ended for Snake.
6. The Hour arrives
Game: Resident Evil 7
Platform)s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Developer: Capcom
Released: 2016
After one entry that split opinion straight down the middle (Resi 5) and one that was almost universally panned (Resi 6), Capcom had a lot to prove. Free to download about six months before the game itself, this teaser for Resident Evil 7 – while not actually featuring any action drawn directly from the main game – showed players that the beloved series was going to come back with a big, scary, and pretty dirty bang. Beginning Hour makes it very clear, very quickly, that the pendulum of design has swung violently from action back to horror.
Just ask anyone who's played Beginning Hour about the mannequins.
For the first time since Resident Evil 4 in 2005 the camera perspective changed completely, turning Resi into a first-person experience. Graphics took a roll down the photorealism road, and your surroundings were pretty dark...and absolutely filthy. It was all very unsettling, something Capcom exploited for multiple scares. Just ask anybody who's played it about the mannequins.
Remarkably, it’s a demo that has received post-release support. There are now a total of seven endings, and five murders to solve. Nothing happens as such during most of the experience, but that’s precisely what makes it such an effective horror; your mind fills in the gaps. Although it’s not entirely reflective of the final game – there's no resource management, few enemies, and no combat as such – it does give you a good idea of what to expect, and contains many secrets in and of itself. Whether you have any interest in Resident Evil or not, this is well worth playing through. It just might surprise (and yes, scare) you.
7. All tricks, but no trick
Game: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Platform(s): PS1
Developer: Neversoft
Released: 2000
Ask anybody old enough to remember this demo, given away on OPM #59's cover disc, and, once they've stopped complaining about their back problems, chances are they'll tell you they spent more time playing this than they did some full games. Although it's just a tiny taste of the finished product, the trick system is mostly finished, and it even included a two-player mode. Replay incentive was added via a competition where players could submit high scores on a 'website' via something called the 'internet' for a chance to win a big cash prize and even to meet Mr Hawk himself.
8. The little prince
Game: Final Fantasy 15
Platform(s): PS4
Developer: Square Enix
Released: 2016
Another self-contained teaser rather than a demo cut from the main game, the Platinum demo was a prologue that was, for reasons only understood by Square Enix, pulled from PSN a year after release. Players controlled an eight-year-old Noctis in the world of his dreams, where he was able to communicate with his furry big-eared friend Carbuncle via text messages on a smartphone and...look, it was weird, okay? He even turned into an adult for the boss fight at the end before turning back again immediately afterwards. It was unique and memorable, if nothing else.
9. Kratos' Blu mood
Game: God of War 3
Platform(s): PS3
Developer: Santa Monica Studios
Released: 2009
While the 2009 E3 demo was added to PSN in February 2010, you could've got hold of it two months earlier if you'd bought District 9 (a movie worth watching) on Blu-ray at the end of December. Put the disc into your PS3 and you'd find a sample of one of Kratos' best adventures ready to go. Considering the fact that PS3's Blu-ray player function was touted as one justification for the high price and that Sony has a big finger in the movie industry pie, it's odd that this kind of thing never became common practice.
10. Now this is loot
Game: Outriders
Platform(s): PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC
Developer: People Can Fly
Released: 2021
This blurs the line between a demo and a trial, but one thing is clear: there's a ridiculous amount of playtime in the Demo Version of Outriders if you want it, all for free. There's roughly three hours worth of the campaign but, as it's a looter shooter, there's plenty to grind for beyond that. Online functionality is included, so you can play with friends to your heart's content. There are restrictions (your character can't progress past level 7, and the skills you can unlock are limited) but any progress you make carries over to the full game.
This feature originally appeared in Play Magazine. For more great features, interviews, and more, subscribe to Play Magazine.
