Crysis Demo 24 Hour Crisis

The Crysis demo is yours to download today! Er, if you're willing to buy Crysis first.

EA, in their non-stop waterfall of wisdom, have decided that it's an extremely clever idea to ask people to pay money for an advert - an advert that will be available for free tomorrow.

For those who are buying the game anyway, they can gain access to the brief section for a whole 24 hours, when the non-pre-ordering plebs must sit outside in the cold. Which includes us, so we've no idea what the demo's like. Sorry about that. Read on for more moaning.

Now, maybe we're confused in our old age, but aren't demos designed to promote sales of games? To give potential customers a taste of what's available, and the desperate desire to play more? So what exactly is the sense of flaunting the fact that everyone the demo's surely aimed at can't get at the thing when it's already ready? And how much incentive is a demo anyway? Let alone 24 hours of a demo?

That's not to say there's no reason to pre-order Crysis. If you're confident that it'll be good, you get a lot more than daft day-early access to a demo. There's an unlockable multiplayer vehicle (how long will that stay out the hands of the rest of players?), a disc of art assets, an exclusive soundtrack, a couple of wallpapers, and access to the pre-load so it's ready to go on launch. And of course access to the current multiplayer beta.

But still. Demos are commercials EA, not magical treats for those who've already forked out the cash. Selling adverts is just taking the piss.