OXM Demo #13

[Yoshi]

It seems as though it has been a while since OXM had a killer demo disc, but all that sure changed this month. Playable demos of BloodRayne, Chase, House of the Dead III, Panzer Dragoon Orta, ToeJam & Earl III, and Splinter Cell have me all fired up about the Xbox's holiday season once again.

My anticipation of PDO had begun to fade a bit, just because I knew I would have to import it in order to play it this year. I may end up doing that now. The demo gave me a feeing of glee almost matching that of when I fired up PD on the Saturn back in May of 1995.

I had not piad much attention to Splinter Cell up to this point. I had tried to play the earlier PS1 port of the Tom Clancy game (the name escapes me), and I hated it. I didn't realize that Splinter Cell was an entirely different type of game. It looks very, very promising based on the demo. I can now see why many of you are so excited about it.

Finally, I had chosen to pass on HotD3, because of the expense of the light gun. After playing the demo, I can honestly say that the game is very playable with the pad, although I would still prefer the gun. In fact, if you really think about it, playing HotD3 without the gun is not that different from playing PDO. Obviously you can't dodge or lock-on, but the idea is the same.

All of these demos just reenforce what a great time it is for gamers. GTA:VC aside, I am not sure that either the PS2 or GC can match the Xbox's fall lineup. If that's what we can get from the third place (worldwide) console, you know we are all very, very lucky this year.

[Melf]

So why isn't Splinter Cell in your sig??!!


J/k.

[Yoshi]

Brand new sig, just for you, Melf... smartass...

[JefmcC]

Originally posted by Yoshi
In fact, if you really think about it, playing HotD3 without the gun is not that different from playing PDO.

And so is REZ.
And so is Sewer Shark.

Makes one wonder, are games really all about graphics and what's
cool?

Also don't forget that House of the Dead 3 had HotD 2 on the same disc as well. The graphics in part 2 are beefed up slightly from the DC/Naomi version. But the frame rate takes a hit.

[Despair]

Oh, Yoshi finally got the demo disk

And WHAT FALL line up? Just Splinter Cell ? Right....


HOTD3 demo is pretty short though. Gives you some ideas about game controls(and they work very well), but then over right after 5 or so rooms. Still it was fun to try it.

[Will]

What's the storyline on Splinter Cell? Or is it mostly gameplay with bits and pieces of story in it?

[Yoshi]

Originally posted by Will
What's the storyline on Splinter Cell? Or is it mostly gameplay with bits and pieces of story in it?

It wasn't clear from the demo. I'm sure someone here knows though.

[Gooch]

Originally posted by Yoshi

Finally, I had chosen to pass on HotD3, because of the expense of the light gun. After playing the demo, I can honestly say that the game is very playable with the pad, although I would still prefer the gun. In fact, if you really think about it, playing HotD3 without the gun is not that different from playing PDO. Obviously you can't dodge or lock-on, but the idea is the same.

We share similar reactions to the HotD3 demo. I'm really tempted to pick the game up now, though logic tells me to hold off until it sees a price reduction (as almost all Sega Xbox games have seen). The parallels drawn to PDO (Rez, etc.) are duly noted as well.

Originally posted by JefmcC

And so is REZ.
And so is Sewer Shark.

Makes one wonder, are games really all about graphics and what's
cool?

For me at least, it's all about the fun, which the simplicity of these types of games allows me to concentrate on moreso than other distracting "gameplay elements". Sometimes gameplay depth can detract from my fun factor associated with a game. And yes, they're cool as fuck, too

[Yoshi]

Originally posted by JefmcC
And so is REZ.
And so is Sewer Shark.

Very true. I actually enjoyed Sewer Shark enough to play it until I finally finished it a couple times. There is no question that the theme of a game can make or break games with similar gameplay. Dragons are cooler than most other things.

[GohanX]

I was pleasantly surprised by HOTD3 on the disc, I want to play more! PDO was fun, although it didn't really play any differently than the other games, which isn't a bad thing at all. Bloodrayne looked cool, but it's a letdown, you do all the cool stuff in the first minute of the fights, then you realize how generic and boring it is.