Something for the weekend?
The last few days have seen a spate of demo releases, so why not download a little something to keep you busy over the weekend?
With the weekend upon us and the weather (here in the UK at least) enough to drive you indoors to the soft welcoming glow of your PC monitor, no doubt you are looking for something to keep you busy until Monday morning comes around. Luckily the last week has seen a whole plethora of game demos being unleashed on the internet, so whatever your tastes there's sure to be something to keep you amused...
Role-playing fanatics might want to emerge themselves in the latest massively multiplayer game to hit the net, "Last Kingdom". Set in "pre-medieval England", you start life as a simple peasant ("There's some lovely muck down here, Dennis!") before gaining the experience needed to become a shaman, wizard, knight or swordsman. With 126 villages to explore and literally hundreds of items to own, this one should keep you occupied for quite a while. Head over here to download the demo (39Mb) and sign up for your 30 day free trial.
Meanwhile hardcore hardware junkies will no doubt want to check out the X-Isle tech demo used by NVIDIA to demonstrate their GeForce 2 graphics cards at ECTS in London a few weeks ago. You can now download the demo (18Mb) and try it out for yourself. Action fans will also be chomping at the bits to download the "Metal Gear Solid" demo (48Mb), which features the early stages of the new PC version of the massive Playstation hit.
Motor racing fans will be glad to hear that demos are now available for Codemaster's enjoyable off-road racer "Insane" (32Mb), as well as "Dirt Track Racing Sprint Cars" (18Mb) from Ratbag Games and Take 2 Interactive. And for those of you more into your strategy games, Club SSI now have the demo (58Mb) of World War II strategy game "Close Combat : Invasion Normandy" available for download.
Finally there is a playable demo of "Escape From Monkey Island", the eagerly awaited 3D adventure game from Lucas Arts which features the continuing mishaps of anti-hero Guybrush Threepwood, the man with a tongue as sharp as his sword. The demo comes in three different sizes, from a "small" 37Mb version with no voices or movies, to a full 120Mb version with the full monkey.