Dante’s Inferno Demo Makes Me Question the Effectiveness of Demos in General
I finally got around to testing out the Dante’s Inferno demo for the Xbox yesterday, and I wasn’t really impressed. The terms “generic brawler” and “God of War clone” have been thrown around quite a bit by those who have played early versions or demos of this game, and I really have to agree with them. That isn’t to say that I think the game will be awful – God of War isn’t a bad franchise to mimic, if you’re going to mimic one – but it’s really nothing new. When Dante’s Inferno is released in February, I think it’s going to be a rental instead of a purchase for me. In fairness, there are apparently lots of aspects to the game that can’t be gleamed from the demo, but if that’s the case, why even release a demo in the first place?
When there’s a lot of hype surrounding an upcoming game (and EA has really gone balls-out promoting the hell out of Dante’s Inferno), you can often find a playable demo of the game through your console’s online network around a month or so before the actual game is released. I used to ignore available demos, as I didn’t want to lose the initial excitement that comes with starting a game and getting a feel for the controls, checking out the visuals, and being surprised at what the game is going to throw at me. I suppose you could compare a playable demo to a movie trailer (even though games themselves have cinematic trailers), in that the demo may very well dictate whether or not the game is worth purchasing.
So here’s my question: If hundreds of thousands (or in some cases, millions) will likely buy a game based on hype and marketing, then doesn’t it follow that a demo is more likely to hurt sales than it is to help? And if so, what’s the point of putting out a demo?
Granted, not all demos are the same. For example, I thought the Bayonetta demo was pretty kick-ass and confirmed that Bayonetta will indeed be an incredible action game. The only negative to the Bayonetta demo, really, was that it was essentially a virtual c*ck-tease and now I’ve got to wait until next week to play the full game. But here’s the thing – without the demo, I would purchase Bayonetta anyway. So if you think about it, many game companies may actually be hurting themselves by releasing playable demos. Bayonetta impressed me with the smooth gameplay and remarkable visuals, but the Dante’s Inferno seemed almost archaic and, like you’ve heard hundreds of times, played like a God of War clone. There was nothing the demo showed me that made me want to buy the game.
And therein lies the obvious rub. Whereas I would have likely taken a chance and purchased Dante’s Inferno (because I’m a sucker for a good marketing campaign?), after playing the demo, I think it’s got to be a rental. The demo consisted of mainly button-mashing with a few quicktime events scattered throughout combat, but nothing about the demo screamed “next-gen.” The whole appeal of Dante’s Inferno – in addition to the combat – is the character and level design, as the game is supposed to mirror Dante’s descent through the nine circles of Hell. But the demo ends right before Dante enters the gates of Hell, and so the game’s biggest selling point – the twisted, horrific, and surreal circles of Hell – are left out entirely. Instead, people playing the demo are left with a few generic enemies on a very generic battlefield.
So again, why put the demo out in the first place, especially if you’re not going to show the game’s supposed strengths? This can only hurt EA in the long run, assuming others’ impressions of the Dante’s Inferno demo are similar to my own. It really doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, unless the game’s creators are sure they’ve got something spectacular on their hands and are dying to show it off. Perhaps the absence of a demo will render some gamers skeptical of the final product, but I can’t imagine that would be more counter-productive to a game company than releasing a poor demo.
How many of you download and play demos for games you are interested in? Does the demo itself dictate whether or not you buy a game?
played through bayonetta (almost the 2nd time) and i have to say that it’s way better than devil may cry. and that means a lot, because i was a dmc-fanboy before bayonetta XD
wish you lot of fun with that, and it’s damn worth it^^
@ Litimus
That’s encouraging. I’m actually taking the day off on Tuesday to play through it. I’m pretty pumped.
Obviously, I’ll post a review.
I think that Demos help build hype for the game. Personally I’d rather have fewer people buy my games and enjoy than than lots of people buy them and tell me how much they suck.
I generally try to play most demos, even for games that I’m not really interested in, to see if I might be missing out on something.
I did try the DI demo, it crashed on me. Haven’t booted it up since.
I’ve not played God of War so I don’t get the comparison and I’m not uber OCD about the level of game graphics on consoles. I stopped playing Dante’s Inferno demo half way through ‘cos I got bored.
I think what EA are doing here with Dante’s Inferno is pretty much what they’ve done with every other game they’ve made in the last 10 years. They’re taking an idea, raping it and/or then combining it with something we all know in order to pump out a cheap clone of something that was previously considered superb.
For example you have the 007 games on the PS2. Thye were made on the back of the success Rare had with Goldeneye but these games were never as popular because….well they simply werent as good. You also have the Need for Speed Underground games, the first one was superb but after pumping out at least 1 a year for the past 6 or 7, it’s more or less killed the car modding/racing genre.
However, I actually like what’s happening here. God of War for me, for the last 5 years, has been the peak of what linear action/adventure games can offer. Smooth gameplay, compelling story, plenty of gore, visually spectacular sourroundings and enemies (especially bosses).
So what EA have done is take the Divine Comedy, rape it until it barely resembles itself and base it around exactly the same principles that God of War was based.
Now i’m not a particularly big lover of poetry so I couldnt give shit what they do to Dante Alighieri’s supposed masterpiece, call the main Character Pat MaGee and have him battling against influenza for all I care, just as long as it’s a good game…
..And surprisingly, after playing the demo for Dante’s Inferno, my opinion is that this will be one hell of a game. (Excuse the pun…)
I cant wait for God of War 3 and if this will provide a bit of a bridge between now and then, I’m happy to buy it. Not rent it, as I tend to play through these type of games more than once.
I have also heard that this could be the last God of War game, in which case the beginning of an entirely new franchise, especially the fact it’s a God of War clone will go a long way towards to quencing that yearly thirst for some demon smashing!!
So all in all, I’m looking forward to Dante’s Inferno. Especially as it’s out a few weeks BEFORE the game that I really want!
As for Bayonetta. I was so surprised at how good it was. I thought it was going to be another cheap conveyor belt game from a 3rd party franchise, outsourced by Sega, like The Club for example. However, this is the proper shit!!
Really nice visuals, and some awesome powers and violent moves make the gameplay just as addictive as Devil May Cry. However, I’m not a big fan of Devil May Cry and I think this games downfalls will be the same. I hate the crazy Japenese twist that Capcom gave their game and it’s obvious Sega have done the same here. I know there’s a market for all that kind of stuff over hear, otherwise there wouldnt be so many little bitches queuing up for the next Final Fantasy game. It’s just not my taste. The points tallying up and the multiplyer, as though you were playing Tony Hawks for Christ sake….it just kills the atmosphere of the game. Any story that’s in there will be overshadowed by flashing numbers and algebra signs.
I still may buy this game though. Which is proof enough that Demos work but I just feel that of all that ifflashy arcade rubbish was left out, I would be standing at the doors of GAME come Friday morning waiting on my copy. As it is, i’ll probably pick it up this time next year for 4 quid!
I played the Dante demo, and yeah, it pretty much is a “God of War clone”. That being said, if you were fond of God of War, you should enjoy Dante’s Inferno.