Impressions: Cars XBL Demo

Okay, so Cars for the Xbox 360 has been out on retail for around half a month now, and reviews for the game have been so-so. Mainly because there’s a lot of online sentiment that the Xbox 360 version doesn’t really have anything new in it.

So why bother with the Demo version? Well for one thing it’s still a game that your kids (and by kids I mean the really, really young ones) might end up liking. More importantly, the demo is free. If you’ve got an Xbox 360 around and you don’t really want to spend on some newer retail game for your 7 year old, the Cars demo is a must-download for you. I’ll let Miss Kristine C. tell you why.

On the two mini-games available on the demo
Kristine C: The demo is sweet but may be a little too much on the short side since it only contains two mini-games, one of which involves racing, and the other, er… tractor-tipping. But then again, despite the lack of variety in this sampler, it’s still good enough to keep kids happy for a good while since the mini-games are still worth more than several spins, even for grown-ups. The fact that the game is also based on a Pixar film, which your offspring has probably seen, is a plus.

Ian C: Yeah, kids either get really bored really quickly or when they end up liking something they’ll repeat it forever. Remind yourself of that Lion King DVD that the little squirt in your household kept playing on… and on… and on. Either the kids will keep playing that race game or they’ll ask you to buy the thing. If they do, you can at least delay the little devils with the demo. Like feeding food pellets to hamsters.

Get the rest of the article after the Jump!

Okay, so Cars for the Xbox 360 has been out on retail for around half a month now, and reviews for the game have been so-so. Mainly because there’s a lot of online sentiment that the Xbox 360 version doesn’t really have anything new in it.

So why bother with the Demo version? Well for one thing it’s still a game that your kids (and by kids I mean the really, really young ones) might end up liking. More importantly, the demo is free. If you’ve got an Xbox 360 around and you don’t really want to spend on some newer retail game for your 7 year old, the Cars demo is a must-download for you. I’ll let Miss Kristine C. tell you why.

On the two mini-games available on the demo
Kristine C: The demo is sweet but may be a little too much on the short side since it only contains two mini-games, one of which involves racing, and the other, er… tractor-tipping. But then again, despite the lack of variety in this sampler, it’s still good enough to keep kids happy for a good while since the mini-games are still worth more than several spins, even for grown-ups. The fact that the game is also based on a Pixar film, which your offspring has probably seen, is a plus.

Ian C: Yeah, kids either get really bored really quickly or when they end up liking something they’ll repeat it forever. Remind yourself of that Lion King DVD that the little squirt in your household kept playing on… and on… and on. Either the kids will keep playing that race game or they’ll ask you to buy the thing. If they do, you can at least delay the little devils with the demo. Like feeding food pellets to hamsters.

On the easy to learn controls
Kristine C: Plain and simple: left stick for turning, A for gas, X for brakes, B for the handbrake, Left Trigger for the occasional gulp of “boost juice”, and the rest can be ignored (in my case anyway). I love any game that doesn’t require too much fiddling around.

Ian C: Well, the powerslide may seem useless at first but it gets pretty nifty if you learn to time it. Expect the average eight year old to get bored of the game fast if they manage to learn to time the thing right. If we can do that odd 99 life loop in the first Mario back then, the kids nowadays can probably figure out powersliding on their own. The race game gets really, really easy if you can boost/powerslide properly.

On the lovable Characters
Kristine C: Even though I have never gotten to actually watch the film that this game was based on, I have to say that I have grown to adore that 60’s Volkswagen van Fillmore, and that’s not just because he/it reminds me of some friends back in college.

Ian C: Fillmore rocks! Peace and love duuude!

All in all, I think that even though it’s a short demo, it may be a good thing to get it for all its worth and get your kids to try it out for themselves to see if they would actually enjoy the game. And who knows, maybe your girlfriend, your mom, your uncle, or your siblings may also take a liking to it and this may just help you fill in that Holiday shopping list with just the right things. Happy people, saved money, love all around.

And that’s what demos are for anyway, right?

* Don’t worry about this impression not being about a “real” game folks, the Rainbow Six: Vegas Multiplayer Demo is the next game on our pending downloads list.