This may be the second weirdest forgotten game I ever talk about. The demo for Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 is not really a game in and of itself, and the full title it demoes is nowhere near forgotten. And who has nostalgia for a demo, anyway? It would seem, for all intents and purposes, that this will be a completely nonsensical article.
I'm not going to necessarily argue that point.
The Metal Gear Solid demo, which I can't find anymore because I lost the demo collection disc it came on and cannot remember for the life of me what it was called, was a truly remarkable bit of gaming. Apart from being hands-down the best demo I've ever played, it somehow managed to be superior to most full retail games. Considering the demo only contained the first five rooms in the game, this was a hell of a feat.
Anyway, hit the jump to find out what the hell I'm talking about.
I'm not gonna do a Story/Gameplay/Why you're not playing it division for this week, for obvious reasons.
Essentially, the MGS demo began at the very beginning of the game (meaning the first proper cut scene, not the optional animated pre-mission briefings) and ended with the death of the DARPA chief, Donald Anderson. If you've ever played MGS in its entirety, you probably understand that we're not talking about a mindblowing amount of gameplay, here: Snake goes from the watery basement to the outside of Shadow Moses to a ventilation shaft to a tank hangar to an elevator to another ventilation shaft, and that's it. An experienced player can get through this chunk of gameplay in less than five minutes, not counting cut scenes.
Yet, as someone who had never played the game -- heck, who had never played any stealth game before, period -- I could literally spend hours with this small slice of the complete title. The MGS demo did everything that a great demo should do. Literally, everything.
It set up the world and the characters (considering how important story is to the MGS series, enticing the player with interesting personalities and situations was an absolute must), it gave you a firm handle on the game's main mechanics (Mei Ling's adorably racist "da bwight dot in da middew is you, Snake" radar tutorial is present in its entirety), and it teased you into excitement to find out what happens right after the demo ends.
Most demos end on the same depressingly predictable note: you fight off some bad guys, enter a room, and -- gasp! -- all of a sudden a gigantic, ferocious-looking boss busts through a wall like the goddamn Kool-Aid Man and howls at you menacingly. As you mentally prepare yourself to kick the crap out of the goon, the screen slowly fades to black and you're urged to purchase the full game. The "boss fade," as I call it, is a reliable method of suddenly exciting your player before pulling the rug out and making them yearn for more. It's really easy, it's really effective, and it's really unfair.
The Metal Gear Solid demo was nowhere near as manipulative. Without having to plop a gigantic boss fight in front of the player (who, of course, looks way more menacing and difficult in the demo than he ever is in the full game), the demo's climax left me in incredible suspense simply by ending the demo after a really, really great cut scene.
Try to imagine the cinematic on its own, without thinking about the ultimate reasoning behind the events: after finally sneaking into Donald Anderson's cell (thus completing the first stated objective of your mission), you get some solid answers regarding your mission to foil the terrorists: you'll need a PAL key ("That card key...," the woman in the next cell mutters to herself), some ID cards that work with your body's own electric (though I distinctly remember the subtitles mistakenly said "electronic") field, and so on and so forth. As Donald explains things to Snake, we see a redheaded woman doing sit-ups in the next cell. She begins to eavesdrop on the conversation. Suddenly, Donald makes reference to a nuke-equipped walking battle tank. "Metal Gear?!?," Snake asks in his inimitable voice, mixed with equal parts badassity and total confusion. We see very grainy, blurry shots of what seems to be a really big mech of sorts. We can't quite perfectly make out what we're looking at, but we know that it's dangerous, and frightening. Then, after a few uncharacteristically inquisitive statements, Donald suddenly has a heart attack! The controller rumbles as he lurches toward Snake, yelling, "WHYYY?!"
He finally drops to the floor, dead.
Snake kneels and calls the Colonel on codec.
The demo ends.
I came.
I mean, honestly, I can't think of a better way to end a demo: we've met or heard reference to nearly all the main players in the plot, we've assumedly accomplished the first objective in our mission, and all of a sudden the hostage dies and though we've received the answer to a fair many questions, even more numerous and interesting ones have been raised. When the demo first ended, my sister and I literally wanted to rush out and buy a copy of the game as quickly as possible...but not QUITE as much as we wanted to immediately replay the demo and explore a bit more.
Beyond its incredible narrative tautness, the demo included more nonlinear gameplay, hidden secrets, and just plain awesome stuff than I could find in roughly 80% of the PS1 games I had access to back in 1999. On a second playthrough, I found out how to get on Shadow Moses' outside balcony. It took me several tries to find all the hidden rations and items. I spent hours perfecting my technique, to get through the entire demo without alerting a single guard. I played through the demo three times until I realized there was a Socom hidden in the back of the truck outside Shadow Moses, which I then gleefully used on every guard in sight.
It's easy for MGS veterans to talk about how Hideo Kojima has a borderline insane attention to detail, but back in 1999, I -- an average gamer with no previous knowledge of the series -- simply had no way of knowing: I presumed that I was to play a pretty standard Mission-Based War Game With A Badass Protagonist, and was nowhere near ready for the nonlinear, secret-filled awesomeness I received. I could go through the demo a dozen different times and, while I still had to use the same doors and shafts, I could get there a different way each time. I eventually derived more hours of gameplay from that meager demo than I did from all the full games I actually owned. After about a month of just playing the demo, Ash and I rented, then bought the full game, thus kicking off our joint crush on David Hayter.
It's obviously not worth playing the demo now -- much better to get the Essential Collection and play all three games in one fell swoop -- but I have many unreasonably fond memories of the simple, brilliant demo of a game that would literally stick with me for the rest of my life.
In my segment of Destructoid's Metal Gear Solid 4 review, I mentioned that my adoration from the game was borne out of the fact that I had been involved with the franchise since elementary school. I've had a personal relationship with the Metal Gear Solid series, for better or for worse, for around half of my life.
The MGS demo was the beginning of that relationship.
Great stuff Rev..I'll tell you another Demo that I played the hell out of and that was the Parrapa the Rappa Demo on the Playstation Underground disc. Man my friends and I played the HELL outta that demo. Even after we got the full game it was all about bettering our score on the first epic stage.
Actually as someone who bought most of the playstation magazine when young demos were a big part of my life back then and i often get nostalgic for them.
The best one for that was the silent hill demo that came with MGS (sortof linked to this) which had battle an story. Absolutly superb.
I never played the demo for MGS, but I can understand why it was so awesome. That is pretty much a perfect way to whet your appetite and leave you hanging for more, while giving a good idea of the gameplay
Amazing demo, that was. I had it for PC (never did own a PS1) and played the hell out of it. Unfortunately, still haven't gotten around to playing all of MGS, but one of these days, as soon as I finish Diablo II, Baldur's Gate I and II, Planescape, BG&E, Grim Fandango, etc. etc.
you man speak the truth I first played the demo on the pc(Iknow it's a blasphemy)
mgs2 too had a great demo and it came with a free game,that's zone of the enders.
I completely agree that demos should be held in fond memories. How many of us purchased Zone Of Enders, just for the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo that was included?
And, how many more people got more enjoyment and replayability out of that demo, then they did playing Z.O.E.?
I remember spending hours just expolring the incredible amount of detail in that demo. Shooting each and every bottle in at the bar. Or shooting over the bucket of ice, and watching the ice cubes melt. (And, how cool it was, that ice cubes that were by themselves melted faster than ones that were next to other ice cubes.) Or, shooting magazines and watching them flip onto other pages.
To this day, I can recall so much about that demo. All I can recall about Z.O.E. was that it had something to do with flying mechs that reminded me of a Macross/Robotech ripoff.
For the record Z.O.E. 1 and 2 were two of the best games on the PS2. Unfortunately, much like Crackdown, they were overlooked by the majority of players in favor of the demo that came with it.
It seems to me that the Bioshock demo has a lot in common with the MGS one. When I played the Bioshock demo I had no prior experience with the game and all the previews lead me to believe it would be an average at best shooter. After playing the demo though I rushed out and preordered the game as fast as I could.
I had a similar experience with the THPS2 demo for the Dreamcast. Played that for hours and hours on end, never got bored of it. It was the Skate Street level and had 3 songs, which I all had memorized.
I worked at EB Games when the Metal Gear Solid demo dropped in Japan, with an issue of Famitsu I think. I imported it and spent the better part of four months playing it for customers and getting them to pre-order it because "they can see your footprints in the snow!!!"
But I also played the hellz out of the demo at home as well, trying different ways to complete it and having a blast messing with the guards and their incredibly realistic AI.
I think all my months spent playing the demo made that one part of MGS4 all the more memorable.
When I first got my PS1 my parents couldn't afford any games for me(it was a birthday present). However it came with the demo disc that had that demo. I remember playing it so much that I could beat it in my sleep. It also some racing game on it that I forget the name of. It was a crazy fast racing game in which you could drive on the walls and ceiling (if you were in a tunnel).
I remember playing a demo in like, 4th or 5th grade. It was all in japanese though, so I had no idea what the hell was going on. Hayter love didn't come until I played the full game at a friends house half a year or so later. I remember those days, when I had to play M games with other people because my parents were afraid they'd throw me into depravity and violence. Lucky for me, Dad didn't care what I did on his office computer, and little did he know his first secretary installed Wolfenstein on it. Good times.
remember the first time i played the demo almost shit my pants of playing this incredible demo.....this game make me buy a Playstation........ but i remember playing the Tony Hawk demo thousand times more..................
I played this demo a ton. The best moment of it for me was when I first threw someone off of a ledge and then kept dying while trying to replicate that moment.
I played the demo for the third back in the day and it was awesome as well since you got to use weapons in an area that you cant in the final game (plus some of the codec conversations were different too)
so yeah with the possible exception of 4 all the MGS games have had the best demos ever
That same demo disk sold me the game. Someone gave it to me and it had some awesome games contained within that little blue disk. Crash Bandicoot 3, Medevil, and I think Tomb Raider 3, but above all else: Metal Gear Solid. I actually have it still yet. That demo was epic. Cutscenes and codec conversations were unlike anything I had seen before. Voices weren't really big in games at that time, so I was pretty blown away. That stuff with the darpa chief really had me hooked on the story too. When Snake says Metal Gear with that voice, oh dear god! I was hooked.
I so totally bought Zone of the Enders for Metal Gear Solid 2 and then in 2004 I bought a copy of playstation magazine for a Metal Gear Solid 3 demo. Metal Gear Solid 2's demo in particular got a lot of play because it was in the Tanker and the gameshark gave you unlimited c4. You could set up dominoes of c4s up and down that boat. The demo for three gave you starts with a big selection of weapons and camo to play with. The history of metal gear solid and its demos is something in itself an article could be written about. Oh wait.
I'm so happy we can just download demos now. That's my favorite current gen feature.
Man, I played the hell out of the MGS demo. I never bought the full game, but I knew that demo like the back of my hand (yep, went to the second floor of Shadow Moses and also found the SOCOM pistol in the back of the truck). What a fantastically enticing demo it was.
How can the Mei-Ling bit be racist? Are you suggesting that in today's society, all Asian people can/should speak perfect English? Otherwise, great article. I might have sunk just as many hours in that demo as the actual game.
I'm in the same boat as the people here. I played the demo nonstop at first, and always went back to it once in a while before I eventually bought the game about a year later. At it's time it was by far the most awesome video game I had ever seen. Knocking on a wall to get the guard's attention then sneaking around and choking them out was mind blowingly fun, and a far cry from anything I had experienced before. The full game was all that and then some, but without the demo I'm not sure if I would have ever played it, and even if I did I might not have the same affection for it.
By the way, the demo disc was included in a PSM Magazine (or at least that's how I got mine) which also featured a demo for FF8 (the reason I originally bought it).
Damn. I too remember this demo really well. Before I even had a PSX I used to play the crap out of this demo when I played my uncle's PSX. I believe the demo came on a demo disc that Pizza Hut was giving out at the time(odd, I know).
oddly I had this same repeat obsession with chronicles of riddick demo for the xbox. That game in and of itself was amazing, and the demo let you experience a mission where you could sneak or become noticed and break out into a fire fight. Then they introduced the amazing melee fighting system that was in the game. I then purchased and beat the game three times over upon its release.
I remember playing an earlier demo that was in Japanese and which ended after you crawled through the first vent. I played it at least 30 times. When I finally got the final game, I was amazed at the English acting, which I hadn't heard at all until that point.
Speaking of futuristic racers and sweet demos- I was obsessed with the Wipeout demo on the PS1 launch demo disk. It took FOREVER to load each race but it was too mind-blowing for me to keep away. I was also fascinated by the T-Rex model on the Developers Demo Disc.
Rev:
I kid you not.
great story by the way. This could also double as a "start of an affair piece" since i played the demo before the game was out and knew i had to play it.
there were two different endings one where snake leans down and says the chief is dead and one where right before the fire fight starts.
One of my best friends got it, called me up and said that I have to get over and play the MGS demo. I went over after classes played the demo three times in a row, said aw shit it's August, went to the store and bought a Playstation for MGS & plunked down $50 for the preorder. Goddamn MGS is a badass game.
I remember playing this demo and other one that came with the first PSX I got when I was a little kid.
Never payed much attention back then. I was more hooked on racing games. Nowadays, MGS is part of my life since I re-discovered the game on a rental shop during summer holidays of 2003.
I too loved this demo. My brothers and I played it quite a bit when we first discovered it... I spent a lot of time sneaking around outside the base and messing with guards. I didn't actually play the whole game until a few years later, what with me not having my own money and my mother not buying M rated games. When I finally did get MGS I blew through this first area, then soon remembered how much time I spent and fun I had with so little of the game before...
The demo was amazing. I remember being completely blown away by the atmosphere Konami created just in the first couple minutes of the dock/elevator sequence: The first couple bars of "The Best is Yet to Come," the movie-style credits, and when Snake stands up, finally getting rid of all his gear, right below the epic "METAL GEAR SOLID" title. Fantastic!
I can't say that I've played the demo or if I'm just remembering playing the game. But that video was great! It made me think of what a Die Hard game SHOULD have been like. lol.
I know exactly what you mean. I used to play that demo an incredible amount. Apparently there was a hidden Nikita launcher somewhere in the demo, so I spent so long trying to find it, but to no avail.
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Contest:
5:07 PM on 07.08.2008
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The best one for that was the silent hill demo that came with MGS (sortof linked to this) which had battle an story. Absolutly superb.
mgs2 too had a great demo and it came with a free game,that's zone of the enders.
...hmm.
You're kidding! I had absolutely no idea.
And, how many more people got more enjoyment and replayability out of that demo, then they did playing Z.O.E.?
I remember spending hours just expolring the incredible amount of detail in that demo. Shooting each and every bottle in at the bar. Or shooting over the bucket of ice, and watching the ice cubes melt. (And, how cool it was, that ice cubes that were by themselves melted faster than ones that were next to other ice cubes.) Or, shooting magazines and watching them flip onto other pages.
To this day, I can recall so much about that demo. All I can recall about Z.O.E. was that it had something to do with flying mechs that reminded me of a Macross/Robotech ripoff.
It seems to me that the Bioshock demo has a lot in common with the MGS one. When I played the Bioshock demo I had no prior experience with the game and all the previews lead me to believe it would be an average at best shooter. After playing the demo though I rushed out and preordered the game as fast as I could.
But I also played the hellz out of the demo at home as well, trying different ways to complete it and having a blast messing with the guards and their incredibly realistic AI.
I think all my months spent playing the demo made that one part of MGS4 all the more memorable.
The packaging of a demo is important to me.
so yeah with the possible exception of 4 all the MGS games have had the best demos ever
I so totally bought Zone of the Enders for Metal Gear Solid 2 and then in 2004 I bought a copy of playstation magazine for a Metal Gear Solid 3 demo. Metal Gear Solid 2's demo in particular got a lot of play because it was in the Tanker and the gameshark gave you unlimited c4. You could set up dominoes of c4s up and down that boat. The demo for three gave you starts with a big selection of weapons and camo to play with. The history of metal gear solid and its demos is something in itself an article could be written about. Oh wait.
I'm so happy we can just download demos now. That's my favorite current gen feature.
I'm glad you remembered the name of that game. I love destructoid.
1 mgs demo
2 tony hawks pro skater demo
3 super puzzle fighter
back than i played these like they were actual full games. good times.
....and Zone of the enders was good.
I kid you not.
great story by the way. This could also double as a "start of an affair piece" since i played the demo before the game was out and knew i had to play it.
there were two different endings one where snake leans down and says the chief is dead and one where right before the fire fight starts.
For some reason, I always like hearing other people loving the MGS series.
Never payed much attention back then. I was more hooked on racing games. Nowadays, MGS is part of my life since I re-discovered the game on a rental shop during summer holidays of 2003.