Reviews: XBox Demos

Is there no vision or creativity in gameland lately? I just finished playing these four demos in under a half an hour ... not one of them grabbed my attention. I really feel that too many of the game developers have run out of ideas, at least where it comes to the XBox 360. All the games I've found compelling the last while I got to play on my friend Darren's PlayStation III.

Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End

The demo for Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End for XBox 360 finally downloaded into my console and it was barely worth the wait. I have an old XBox Pirates game, Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat, which I used to think was fun but a bit kludgy ... until I tried the demo fro POTC/AWE.

The game is dreary, lacks color, and the character animation, while somewhat reminicent of the movie, lacks any sparkle whatsoever. The only playable character in the demo is Jack, whose sword moves can't hold a candle to Katarina in the Legend of Black Kat ... a much older game.

Seems to me whoever put together the game for Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End was under a tight deadline to slap something together that basically looks and plays like the movie, but wasn't given a budget or the creativity to make it come even close to the movie's entertainment value. The music is not faithful to the movie's pounding soundtrack, the character voices come off as cheap knock-offs and the animation is stilted and

Battlestar Galactica

I loved both versions of the television show, both the classic and the updated, darker, more realistic version. I have to say I am extremely disappointed by the recent "new" version of Battlestar Galactica for XBox 360. The gameplay I can best describe as a slightly updated version of "Galaga". There is no feeling of actually flying the viper (so far the best movie flying game I have ever played is the classic Star Wars X-Wing Versus Tie Fighter, which I dearly wish was updated for XBox, but I digress). You are stuck on a single plane of movement, which compeltely kills the sensation of flying. The only thing the demo had going for it were some moderately interesting backgrounds and the pounding soundtrack.

Boom Boom Rockets

What the heck? A fireworks version of Guitar Hero? I guess if you like Guitar Hero and its ilk, you may find this game slightly diverting, but I hit the "stop" button within the first 30 seconds. Not even worth downloading the demo, especially not for the computerised, MIDI-like music tracks. Ick.

Crystal Quest

This game might be good for distracting the kids ... or to play when you are to tired, stoned or drunk to play a game that requires thinking. It might be good to play with grandma, to give her something simple to play so she can figure out the controller. It sort of reminds me a bit of Geometry Wars though it doesn't have the high energy and challenge, at least not in what they make available in the demo.