Xboxist

The Best Game Demos Available on Xbox Live

Got an Xbox 360, an internet connection, and time on your hands? We found ourselves in this enviable position over the weekend, and decided to grab some demos from the Xbox Live Marketplace, something we had never done before. But the question immediately arose: which ones are worth grabbing, and which ones are total dogs? Out of the more than 100 game demos currently available, there were bound to be some hidden jewels, right?

To save you the work of doing it, we grabbed as many demos as we could on our super-fast connection and played through them looking for the best ones. Our criteria for determining whether or not a demo finds its way onto this list is as follows: the game should be easy to pick up and play, it should offer a good amount of content, and above all else, it should be fun. Here are some of the gems we discovered amongst the pile:

DiRT (Codemasters): This was without a doubt our favorite demo on the marketplace. It only offers three vehicles to drive, but each car comes with its own event in which to compete. There is a straight-up “Crossover” event which puts you in a Subaru Impreza on a German race track full of twists and turns, an off-road dune buggy event with other AI-contolled competitors on the course, and a hill climb event set in the dusty desert of the Western United States. We could easily spend hours on this demo just trying to better our times on each of the varied tracks that are provided. See if you can beat our Gameflavor Editor’s blistering time of 2:42 on the hill climb event!

The hill climb event in DiRT can provide hours of fun.

Mercenaries 2: Pretty much everything you can do in the main game is available here: Hijack tanks, call in airstrikes, and create mayhem in a bizarre urban environment that is half-way between Baghdad and Liberty City. The mission lasts about 15 minutes, but because of the sandbox gameplay there is lots to keep you busy with this one.

Battlefield Bad Company: Lets you play a pretty lengthy and kickass mission from the single player campaign, which involves lots of trench warfare, some vehicles, and even enemy tanks to deal with. There is also a multiplayer component to the demo with tons to do if you can get a good match going.

Project Gotham Racing 4: It is clear from the start that a lot of care has gone into crafting this demo: It features some kicking music and a great selection of game modes you can try out. There are also five vehicles to choose from, including the Lotus Exige GT3 and the Ferrari 599 GTB. You can race in several different configurations of the Macau track, as well as in a special time attack mode on the Nurburgring in Germany, in the snow! There is more than enough to keep car nuts happy here.

Skate: Since most of the fun of skating is trying to stick new tricks, the core gameplay experience is entirely contained in this 30-minute long demo that lets you try things out in a skate park. Well worth the download for skating fans eager to try something new.

Crackdown: Here’s a twist of irony some of you will enjoy – the game that originally grew famous for shipping with a demo for Halo 3, is now itself known as one of the most beloved and enduring demos on Xbox Live. The developers were faced with a tough time selling a brand new IP to skeptical gamers, so they packed a LOT of content into this demonstration. Practically the entire city is open for you to perform feats of unimaginable agility and violence on the unwitting populace. A real treat for ADD sandbox fans.

Urban destruction and vigilante justice in Crackdown never get old.