Allow me to Demonstrate...

I finished a couple of demo games over the last couple of weeks. Max Payne 2 was exquisite. If you played the first Max Payne then you pretty much know what to expect. The film noir settings and the panel comic strip type layout of the cut-scenes gives this game an edge not found in many games today. While game play is the usual shoot-em-up type, there is an underlying plot you are are trying to unravel. "Bullet time" is the big feature in the game. "Bullet time" allows the player to slow down time so that the players and bullets move in slow motion allowing the player to dodge the bad guys' bullets and fire his own weapons with deadly efficiency. If you complete the demo a "Deadman Walking" mode is unlocked. This allows the player to take on an increasing number of bad guys in a court-yard setting and clocks how long you can stay alive. The demo did its job and left me wanting more. The only thing stopping me from getting the full version are the reviews stating this game is rather short in comparison to other games. I may have to wait a year or so for this one until the price drops this into a bargain bin somewhere.

The second demo I played was Deus Ex 2: Invisible War. This is set in a kind of post appocalyptic setting. I found the interface took some getting used to. The good thing is that just about everything in the environment could be interacted with by the player. The weapons and gadgets available are very cool. The AI is weak. There is a point in the demo where you hack into a computer to control or disable a security system. While I hacked the computer the guard walked past me twice and never chased me off. The game also allows you to choose more than one path to progress the game and story-line. The game looks stunning with some excellent graphics.

The first Deus Ex was a kind of sleeper hit. This demo was well done but I can't say I am hungry for more. I suppose if you were a fan of the first game it would make sense to get the second. Since I never played the first I don't have any plans to pick this one up.