Iron Man Demo Impressions

I should really be ashamed of myself. After seeing some gameplay footage of the upcoming Iron Man game I thought for sure that it would not be another sloppily put together movie based game, but after playing the demo I yet again feel the sting of movie game mediocrity.

Ok, Iron Man is not the worst demo I have ever played, but in terms of disappointment it’s definitely in my top 3. The biggest problem this game seems to have is the controls. I played through the demo several times, and even after I tweaked everything and got used to the controls the game still felt really unpolished. Add on the less then impressive graphics, the cheesy dialogue (bad cheesy, not good cheesy) and repetitive gameplay, and you have another movie game that is sure to garner plenty of 6 and 7’s in coming reviews. It may be better then a lot of other movie based games, but that really isn’t saying much. Let’s just hope the movie is better then the game.

What did you think of the Iron Man demo? Did you actually enjoy it? Let us know in the comments section.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Officially Coming to the US

There has been rumor and speculation from the PS3 community over whether the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue demo would come to the US, after its release in Japan and annouced release in Europe. Well, the rumors can be put to rest as Sony has officially announced that the demo will be coming to the States on April 17th, 2008. The demo is an extended demo as it is suppose to include roughly 60 cars and several tracks. It will also have some form on online play included for the $40 price tag.

The game will ship via a Blu-ray disc or you will have the option of downloading it from the Playstation Store. One has to wonder if there will be a price break if you get the game from the store, but nothing has been said as of yet. While I know this is bigger than a normal demo, I have to wonder how many people are willing to pay $40 for stress test version of the game (rumor is that this was released in the US to test the network code). It is a possibility, as we saw Crackdown get huge numbers due to inclusion of the ability to get into the Halo 3 beta. I just don’t know if Gran Turismo carries as much weight as it has in the past, as the last GT definitely witnessed depressed sales when compared to GT3.

via Sony Playstation Blog

Crysis Single Player Demo Impressions

About a month ago, Crytek and EA released a much sought after multiplayer demo for the upcoming PC exclusive game, Crysis. It was still a bit rough and had some texture loading issues on some lower end machines. Now a more polished single player demo has come out and seems to fix a lot of the problems that were present in the multiplayer version from a month ago. You also get a better explanation of the story and what is happening.

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Unreal Tournament 3 PC Demo Impressions

So I spent a chunk of my weekend and weekday evenings playing in the Unreal Tournament 3 demo and I have learned two things: Age has rendered me inept at killing the younger generation, and that Epic Games knows how to make multiplayer so much fun. No matter how many times I died, I kept coming back for more, because Unreal Tournament 3 was too much fun to quit.

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Timeshift PC Impressions

Timeshift has been on a long and twisted path since it was anounced several years ago. Starting at Atari and going down a jump period genre of game, the assets were sold off to Sierra during the great Atari fire sale of 2006. Looking at what kind of game it was at that time, Sierra took it off the fall 2006 release shedule and basically rebuilt the game engine and premise from the ground up. And the time off shows as you get a dirty, harsh reality that is presented in the Timeshift Demo. And as always, click on photos to view them in all their glory.

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Call of Duty 4 PC Impressions

Activision finally graced PC gamers around the world with a demo for the upcoming Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and let me say that if the demo is as good as the rest of the game, we may have a serious contender for Game of the Year on our hands. Yes, the demo is that good.

Infinity Ward has made a wise decision to move the action from World War II and into the present or near future. It is a change that gives this game the step up in realism and the feel of an actual battlefield. While the first three Call of Duty games were good in their own right, they always felt a little sterilized when it came to the war as a whole. It always seemed controlled and clean. Not so in Modern Warfare.

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Unreal Tournament 3 Demo is Out, Let the Destruction Begin

While I love Halo 3, and the online play has been a blast, there are two games that will always take top priority in my book when it comes to fun online play. Star Wars Battlefront 2, because I love Star Wars and Unreal Tournament, which is still the finest form of multiplayer goodness available. I just bought the Unreal Anthology pack, so I could get the soundtrack and Unreal Gold and the soundtrack just brings back loads of multiplayer memories.

Well, a new chapter is about to start as the Unreal Tournament 3 demo has been unleashed to PC gamers today. Right now, GamersHell and FileShack have the game, but more mirrors and download sites should be available by this afternoon.

So get to downloading, and I will see everyone online later tonight!

Call of Duty 4 Demo is Available for PC Gamers

For those PC Gamers out there like myself that have been grumbling over the lack of a PC demo for Call of Duty 4, get ready to turn that frown upside down. The demo has come out today and is available exclusively at Yahoo Games until people download it and mirror it all over the place. The specs look tough, but not all that bad when compared to other games on the market.

Call of Duty 4 takes the game out from its World War II roots and puts in into the gritty near future where it seems the world is on the brink of war. Look for the game on November 6th, 2007. Click the jump to check out the specs needed to run this excellent looking game.

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Metal Gear Solid 4 to be at E for All

While the big players are staying away, Konami is rumored to be bringing the big guns with Metal Gear Solid 4 and Silent Hill 5. Now there is no news on whether they will be in any sort of playable form, but this should be good in regards to boosting attendance to the show.

As for me, I am interested in trying out a playable demo of Metal Gear Solid 4. I have never really played a Metal Gear Solid game (I bought MGS2 Subsistance recently and it won’t run), so I am curious as to what the experience is as well as the reaction of the crowd to the event. But if they show the same cinematics again, it, to me, will be a letdown. As for Silent Hill, I would assume this will be more video footage than demo, but I have played Silent Hill 2 and I really do enjoy this series.

via Siliconera

Assassins Creed Says No Demo For You

In an interview posted on GameTrailers.com, it was mentioned that there would be no demo created for Assassins Creed before it is released. Jade Raymond, lead developer of the game felt that a demo would not represent the game all that well, because it is a sandbox style game. The development team could not find a good way to carve out a niche in the game to make it playable in a demo. Also, it has been mentioned on VoodooExtreme that the game has been delayed to 2008 on the PC.

This is just my opinion, but when a demo is not released, it is similar to a movie not being screened before released. It is normally due to possible negative reaction to the game. Does anyone remember the E3 demo that received critical review because of its flaws. I have been waiting for this game and have been excited with its premise, but not having a demo makes me wonder if Eidos or the development studio has worries about the game being poorly received. Well, I guess I will be able to look at all the 360 and PS3 users as testers on whether I should get the PC version next year.