Champions Online Gets Demo, First Instance Free

There's a new trend kicking up for traditional MMORPGs which, hopefully, will encourage a healthy focus on new content in games while also helping infuse the player base with new blood. Following in the Hyborian footsteps of Age of Conan with its free-to-play newbie zone, Champions Online today announced an unlimited demo available for download.

This new style of demo allows players free rein of a single area - in this case, the Qularr invasion of Millennium City, which serves as both a tutorial and the first few hours of the game. It's the only place new characters start, so it's bound to be a little crowded, but there are still some side quests to pick up and goodies to find among the crumbling city. Players can also get utterly lost (as I did) in the deep and detailed character creator, tweaking the shininess of costume accessories well into the night... but may only save two character slots without buying the full game.

While it's hard to imagine a demo for a game that technically goes on forever, the Age of Conan and Champions trials seem to strike a balance between limiting players to a single zone while also giving them all the normal range of options within that zone. This means plenty of opportunity to tweak the graphics, play with the controls, and try out the low-level versions of all the standard power sets. The world of MMOs today is starting to look more and more homogenized ever since the standard layout of minimap, actionbars, and golden question marks hovering precariously above heads has long since been established, so it would be wonderful if every game of this type took the hint that players want to be able to get in and see how a game feels before dropping retail-sized cash on the full version.

If you're one who's always wanted to try out the colorful, customizable world of Champions Online, it's time to grab your partner and give it a try with the demo. Just make sure you spend more time playing than you do about arguing who has to be the sassy, spandexèd sidekick!

[via: Everything For Gamers]