PC gamers have had the ability to download demos for quite some time now, but console gamers didn’t get their chance to test out games until the release of the Xbox 360. Sure, there were some demo discs circulating prior to that, but demos really didn’t hit the mainstream until Microsoft’s second console hit store shelves.

Not every demo is a winner, though. While it’s true that free is good, sometimes that becomes a little sketchy (I’m looking at you, Yaris.) The demos currently on Xbox Live range on both ends of the spectrum, ranging from the ones that make you want to buy the game, to others that make you wish there were refunds for your time spent.

Take the jump to find out what I believe are the best and worst demos you can currently download on Xbox Live.

I like to save the best for last, so we’ll start with the worst of the worst. I’m almost sad that Yaris didn’t have a demo, because that’s a shoe-in for worst game ever, let alone worst free download.

Bottom 5 worst:

5. Operation Darkness - This is actually tied with Blue Dragon for the same reasons. In a story-based RPG, one of the worst things a developer could do for the demo is toss you halfway into the game where you know next-to nothing and expect you to care about what’s happening on the screen. Operation Darkness has the type of gameplay that I personally enjoy, but the demo didn’t do much for me because it was set so far into the game.

4. Two Worlds - Not many games out there have received the kind of bad rep that Two Worlds has. This was supposed to be the “Oblivion-killer,” the next big thing for western RPG nuts. Well, it failed. The game was plagued with bugs, glitches, and lacked any sort of instructions for navigating through the crappy menus. Now, I’ll admit, that I’m one of the crazy few who actually liked the full game, but I’m not delusional enough to think that anyone who plays the demo would want to spend money on it. The demo teaches you less than the retail version, which is pretty close to nothing, and if you don’t know anything about the game, you’re probably going to die in your first, second, and third fights trying to figure it out. Two Worlds should have stayed in the oven for a while longer.

3. Turning Point: Fall of Liberty - You know that a game is doomed to fail when a developer says they’ll fix a myriad of problems that players experienced in the demo. That also means that anyone who played the demo is probably not going to plop 60 big ones down on the retail game. Turning Point’s concept was a pretty cool one, but the execution was extremely poor. In the case of this game, I’m pretty sure that releasing the demo actually lost them sales, which is the exact opposite of what you want.

2. Hour of Victory - There’s nothing I can say about Hour of Victory, the demo, or the retail game, that hasn’t been said yet. The game wasn’t exactly hyped, but I know that some people were excited about it. The demo was nothing more than a slap in those fans faces. I had some mindless fun in the demo, but it was more at the expense of the developers than actual fun, playing the game. This demo did nothing but make Hour of Victory a laughing stock before it was even released. I don’t think that’s what Midway was going for.

1. America’s Army: True Soldiers - Post Call of Duty 4, I expect many things from my first person shooters: Tight controls, responsive aiming, and clear objectives. The demo for America’s Army took all of that, put it in a blender, fed it to the dog, then crapped it in my hand. Besides realistic racers (which I suck at,) I have never played a more frustrating demo, or game, in my lifetime. The controls were downright horrible, but surprisingly, not the worst part of the game. Moving your character actually felt like you were wading through mud, and simply switching between actions became a chore. I realize that this was supposed to be a realistic shooter, but when I feel that I could have moved faster than the soldiers with my overweight and lazy body.. well, something just isn’t right there.

Head on over to the next page to see the best of the best.

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