Random Demo Theater

Demo disc madness

by Wootini

I subscribe to the Official PlayStation Magazine, and every issue comes with a DVD full of videos and demos for upcoming games. But more often than not, I hardly touch the things. Which seems weird, because well, it's a free demo level of a game. And it's free. And it's a game. It's like a free game. And honestly, most of the time, one level is about all you can take of some titles. Anyway, here's what I just sampled:

TEEN TITANS: Based off the Cartoon Network series which was adapted from the DC Comic, it's a beat-em up. With the Teen Titans. Strangely, the graphics aren't cell-shaded, which you would totally expect, but it captures the visual style of the animated show pretty well. You can switch between the characters on the fly, but after sampling a few, I stuck with Cyborg, because he pounds on things pretty good, which is basically all you're doing. Maybe the rest of the game offers some more variety in the levels, but I'd doubt it. Lots of random (and identical-looking) armored soldiers are invading the Titans HQ, and you have to pound on them repeatedly until the game tells you the level is over. Random sound bites from the actual voice actors tries to alleviate the boredom, but really you're just mashing buttons until the villains all disappear in a puff of colored smoke leaving behind power-ups. You've played it before. Just picture it with the Teen Titans, and you're halfway there.

 STATE OF EMERGENCY 2: Yeah, I didn't make it very far with this one. There's some kind of prison break, and you're in a room full of rioting prisoners. Amongst the prisoners are guards, easily distinguishible by the little triangular icons floating above their heads. Did you catch the sarcasm there? Obviously, they're going for a whole chaotic vibe here, and that's fine. It certainly was chaotic. But I hate FPS control schemes in a third-person game. It's awkward. So combine awkard controls with not knowing who to shoot or where to go next, and I was dead within five minutes. What fun!

 24: THE GAME: Since I never watched the show, I can't tell you just how faithful this licensed game is, but it sure looks dead on. Well, aside from some of the likenesses being a little creepy when you translate them into polygons. As I understand it, this game takes place between seasons 1 and 2 or 2 and 3 or something like that, but the demo doesn't give you any real sense of the overarching storyline, just a sampling of the different gameplay elements. It opens with Jack Bauer infiltrating a crack den after some drug lord. Make sure you only shoot the guys with guns, not the crackheads. I did pretty well, except for when one of the guards was using a crackhead as a human shield. I tried to aim for the guard... honest! My aim must suck. But really, the guy's a crackhead. What would he really have contributed to society if I hadn't capped him? Anyway, the controls look really complex, but within minutes, became second nature. And for me, that's really saying something. I was ducking behind cover like doorways and ratty furniture and picking off gun-toting bad guys. It was quite thrilling, and built up some nice tension. Especially when they'd throw in the split screen tiny boxes of terrorists and fun like on the show. The next level was an interrogation, where you had to adjust your technique from aggressive to supportive depending on the suspect's mood, keeping him in the correct range so he would give you the information you needed. This was also quite fun, though Keifer Sutherland seemed to be phoning in his performance. You call that aggressive? Please. Next level, you switched to another playable character, some kind of tech guy. Who may or may not be in the show. Doesn't matter. You have to use some kind of satellite computer scanner thingie to scan the floors and rooftops of buildings along the Vice-President's motorcade route to pick out the heat signatures of the terrorist snipers. Stupid me didn't notice the countdown timer in the corner until it was too late, so I only found 6 of the 7 snipers. Oops! Sorry, Mr. VP! My bad! The final taste was a driving level, which sadly was kind of a letdown. A bunch of cars are chasing you through the levees of Southern California, and you have to avoid them. I guess. I tried to run some into the walls or other obstructions, but was never sure if I was doing much good. At one point, my car flipped over, and I thought that was the end of that, but I guess it was half-cat, beacuse it totally landed on its feet. Eventually they called to let me know that a helicopter was on its way and I guess it helped take out some of my pursuers and the roadblock. Since I didn't do much except hit the X button to accelerate and try to avoid crashing into the walls. A weak ending, but the shooting, interrogating and investigating were a blast. Surprisingly well-done for a licenced title. Way to buck the trend! Now I just hope there isn't too much driving in the final game...