There are over 1,000 downloadable games at pcgameworld.com, one of the major sources of PC Game Demos. My goal for this column is to provide the reader with a guide to these demos. Specifically, I will tell you which ones are worth your time and your hard drive space and which ones are not.
All demos will be rated on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest. Five different points will be considered in the evaluation process:
Playability
Graphics and Sound
Computer Specs
Fun Factor
Overall
Testing system: PII 350, 128 RAM, Voodoo 3000 PCI, 256K DSL Internet
Diablo II
The first thing that should pique your interest in a game
like Diablo II is the fact that it has consistently hit the top of the
charts since its June, 2000 release. As of this writing, with the
latest data available from February 2001, it is still the #6 seller on
the charts
of PC Data. Games like this don't sell
almost a million copies in one year (2000) based on expensive commercials.
Or do they? Word of mouth sells a helluva lot of video games, but
colorful screenshots and quick-clip in-game movies thrown out during
selective football game commercials sell a lot too. I heard and
saw both, but my impression of Diablo II, (the DEMO) was not quite as
spectacular as others had made it out to be. It's fun,
don't get me wrong, but it's not that amazing and I'm quite
concerned about the #6 status - I mean, it did get beat out by The
Sims (#1) and other weak games like Roller Coaster Tycoon (hah!) as
far as sales go. However, it is worth a look, since it's selling
so well and you're probably going to end up getting the damn thing as a
gift anyway because your parents (or some other gift-givers) will hear
the geeky Best Buy guy talk it up as the "hottest game since Tomb
Raider III."
Here's the deal: you can play this "game" (as a gigantic 131MB demo - but for chrissakes! where are the 131megs?) for a bit, but once you finish it, it's finished. There's nothing left to do. You've killed every single nefarious being on the map. Yeah, it takes a little exploration and ingenuity, but for the most part, a monkey could figure out this demo. You start off as the "BARBARIAN" which is a pretty decent thing indeed, since he's the guy who is most likely to inflict the maximum amount of pain on the most amount of creatures. He's hard-ball, for sure, but he sure doesn't act that way with the locals.
I expect the BARBARIAN to be doing whatever he has to do to survive... however, killing creatures in town is apparently out of style, no matter how weak Mr. Barbarian is from an exhausting 10-day trip into the realm of Hell to protect these arrogant bastard townspeople from their imminent death. I'm also displeased with the fact that there are a whole slew of weapons that you can never have in the demo because you'll never be able to procure enough gold to buy them.
The game is engineered like most basic role-playing, level-based
games. You kick some ass, you get a level. You invest a huge
amount of time, and you get some new experience points. No matter
what, it's all about time. More time = better character skills and
compositions. However, the demo doesn't call for much of
that. You'll learn some basic stuff and spend some time in the
dungeons, but when it's all said and done you'll be left wondering what
the hell you just did.
There are better demos out there.
Playability: The point-and-click feature that made
Microsoft so popular is available now in yet another Role-Playing game!
It's not hard to figure out, but the point-and-click stuff gets old when
you're fighting half-a-dozen characters. As far as the demo is concerned,
this is easy stuff if you've ever played games that require you to be
quick with your mouse and simplistic keyboard commands.
Graphics / Sound: Kudos for the sound. Voices, music and sound
effects are tight. Graphics are decent, nothing to complain about,
but it's just a Role-Playing / Adventure game so there's not a lot of
room to move on this stuff anyway.
Computer Specs: PII 233 / 32MB RAM / 140MB Hard Drive Space -
which is fairly basic, but these simplistic requirements explain why
this game is just average.
Fun Factor: As a demo, it's not too addictive. I've heard of
people losing jobs and families because of this game, but this demo does
nothing for me to suggest that, and I'm ready to lose my life to a game
if it's willing to take me. This game does nothing of that sort.
Overall: As a demo, Diablo II is just too simplistic. There are
so many things that they could do with it, but I realize that they just
want to have you BUY the game after playing the demo. But that's
not what this is about - we're all about playing games for FREE.
Why is it that most role-playing games are in medieval time? Why
are we tantalized with the rare and exotic weapons, yet we can never
get enough gold to procure these weapons in the demo? C'mon - give
us more!
TOTAL SCORE: 6.5
DIABLO II
Demo Size: 131MB
System Requirements [P233/32MB/Win95/98/ME + DirectX]
Download Time: 56K: Long Damn Time. 128K:
Get DSL. DSL/Cable: It's yours in 15 mins.
Download Here: DIABLO
II (131MB) from FilePlanet or DIABLO
II (131MB) from CNET
or DIABLO
II (131MB) from ZDNET.
Greg A. Bruns is a freelance writer residing in Phoenix, Arizona. His monthly column "Straight Up with a Twist" appears in the Arcadia News. His first book, Tales from the Scenic Route, is currently unpublished. Greg also pens "Ask the Faceless Assassin" - an "advice" column.
Note: Featured
author in October
E-mail: greg@gregbruns.com
Writing interests: Humor, Strange News, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Memoirs
I.D. Theory articles:
Your Guide to College,
Instant Gratification,
Survive This!, Letter
to the new President, The
Things We Do For Love, Seattle:
Emerging Character
PC Demo Game Reviews: HITMAN: Codename 47,
Project IGI (I'm Going In), Diablo
II, No
One Lives Forever, Deus
Ex, Delta
Force Land Warrior, Motocross
Madness, HEAVY
METAL F.A.K.K. 2
Links: GregBruns.com,
Tales from the Scenic Route,
Ask the Faceless Assassin,
More alphabet zen
Screenshots
from
Diablo II
(click to enlarge)
Lot of time in the field,
so get ready for that.
I know you want to slaughter
that heifer, but you can't.
Unleash. Make hell.
Too bad you don't
have a better weapon.
She might be friendly.
Don't count on it.
Those quill-spitting rats
are the quintessential
pain-in-the-ass of
games like this.
But let's face it, an ass-
whipping like this is
why you play this
stuff. Slaughter
is for the hearty.
Peace is for
the weak.
