Ever wonder what games you should buy? Want to know what demos are worth the time to download? (Nobody lies wasting that download time, we are human too).

First impressions are everything. A game’s demo has a limited time to introduce you to a game’s concept, gameplay, and more. By the end of the demo, you should be eager to get your hands on the game.

Do the latest demos do their respective games justice? Thats what we are here to find out. This week’s demos include House of the Dead 4 HD, Skullgirls, I am Alive, Sniper Elite V2, and The Splatters.

Name: Sniper Elite V2 (PC, X360, PS3)
Genre: Tactical Shooter

I have been following Sniper Elite V2 for quite a while. One of my favorite thing to do in shooters was run the back lines, and snipe everyone. Here a snipe, there a snipe, everybody’s getting sniped. Because of this, I figured I would give the demo a try. I was expecting something that I could at least like a little bit, but I was really just left there with a sour taste in my mouth. Everything was just really unorthodox, and really unpolished. While it does make an emphasis that this is not a final product, the demo sure did a poor job of selling me the game (which I would assume is the point of a demo).

When I first started out, I figured the game would put me up against some distant foes, give me a pretty little sniper rifle, and give me the go ahead. This was not the case. It turns out that the combat involves a lot more than just sniping, and that inlies the problem. While the sniping is pretty fun, the other combat is really flawed. The throwing system is annoying (and not very functional), the other weapons have such sensitive controls that you have to be precise in order to get kills. Hell, there were points where even a face full of machine gun bullets couldn’t even finish the job. It was not pretty. Not pretty at all. I even ended up sniping someone, and the bullet went completely through a floor board. Talk about unpolished.

I will admit, however, the kill cam was cool. Whenever you got a sniper kill, you would follow the bullet. That was just about the coolest part of the demo. Based on the demo would I buy this game? No, no I would not. I just expected much better.

Name: I am Alive (PS3, X360)
Genre: Survival Horror

Finally, I am Alive has come to PSN, and along with that comes a demo. I have been looking to give Ubisoft’s take on a survival game a try, and now that I have, I just wish I had enough money to actually buy the full title. If you can’t tell by that, I really enjoyed it.

The demo starts you off with a little bit of the back story, and after that gets you right into the gameplay. You are introduced to the mechanics, and you learn quickly about most of the key elements that will guide you through your journey. There is a lot of climbing and such at first as the game really introduces you to the post-apocalyptic world of I am Alive. While I do admit it starts out rather slowly, after you make it into the city, things pick up fast. I really ended up enjoying how everything worked, too.

Overall, I really liked the path I am Alive took on the whole survival horror genre. I felt like everything was much more realistic than games that tried similar concepts. While this was just a demo, I feel like it really captured the entire essence of the game. While the graphics were pretty dated, I feel like the actual gameplay makes up for it. Would I buy the game based upon this demo? I most certainly would, and I do plan to in the future. I can’t wait to give I am Alive a full chance.

Name: House of the Dead 4 (PS3)
Genre: Rail Shooter

House of the Dead 4 is back on the PS3, and while you don’t exactly have your arcade gun and a friend to help you, battling the undead is definitely back. Now, I have been joking around about this title for quite a while. I mean, it is House of the Dead 4. I have always been more of a Time Crysis kind of guy, but after playing this demo, it brought back memories of days in the arcade, spending more than I could afford in quarters. House of the Dead 4.

While I didn’t get a chance to actually play the game using Move Support, like it was intended, the game was surprisingly fun. The HD graphics were pretty nice too. Who doesn’t love an HD remake? Playing with the regular controller was still fun, and I fully enjoyed the demo. It was funny to watch myself shaking my controller like a madman to shake the various zombies off of me.

All in all, House of the Dead 4 HD is a must buy for anyone who played it in their arcade days. Would I buy this game based upon the demo? Yes and no. For the price it is at now? Most likely not. If the title dropped to $9.99, I would consider it. Also, playing this arcade title and not having to pay 25 cents every time I die was quite refreshing.

Name: Skullgirls (PS3, Xbox 360)
Genre: Fighter

I never really looked into Skullgirls. I am a Street Fighter guy myself, and the idea of having two fighting games in my life brings tears to my eyes. Not really, but I love making things much more dramatic than they need to be. I was a little skeptical because I didn’t know anything bout the series, and the fact that there were only 8 characters scared me, but I was very much impressed by the demo that I played.

First off, the artwork is pretty cool. Who doesn’t love beating the crap out of each other with half-naked super ladies? I know it is personally my favorite thing to do. Even though I pretty much just sat there button mashing, hoping that I miraculously beat the computer, it was still really fun. Skullgirls is definitely a fighter that I could get into. Would I buy the game based upon the demo? Sure. It was a pretty good game based upon what the demo does, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is definitely worth the price tag on it.

Name: The Splatters (Xbox 360)

Genre: Puzzle

By Jake Thomas

The puzzle genre is going strong, and The Splatters is even more indication of that. This cartoony game offers a lengthy demo that really shows off it’s, meat. The premise involves flinging blobs at small… other blobs.. to destroy them. After a while I found that it got a bit tiresome. This demo didn’t particularly do well to sell me this game. The graphics and cartoony style are a tad annoying, and by the end of the demo, I felt like I had seen everything this game had to offer. Definitely not the most solid puzzler of 2012.