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You can only get it if you preorder the game. Before you say anything, I did not pre order it. My friend Joe did. The reason why he entered the code to get the demo on my PS3 instead of his is that he is not allowed to connect his PS3 to the internet.

Anyway, today was the day that the card listed to download it. Well, today through the 20th anyway. I knew that, with the internet here, it would take a while to download it, so I just entered the code and left it downloading before I took a shower and left to job hunt. Downloading the thing took something like 8 or 9 hours. It wasn't done downloading until some time after midnight. Damn, that is a long time for one demo.

Anyway, first my friend played it. (His card with the number on it. His preorder. He plays first. I would feel like an a** if I did - lol). He spent a good 45 minutes playing the game, a more than surprising length for a demo. I have gotten used to demos being 15 minutes and it ends. This is different. this actually gives you a fair sized chunk of the city to explore as well as 4 total missions to do, You can spend a good length of time just collecting and searching to see the city without doing much of the actual missions in the game. I loved that about the demo. IT didn't give you a tiny bite of the gameplay. It gave you a nice chunk of what promises to be a fairly lengthy game that leaves you longing for more when it is done.

Anyway, I must say that this demo impressed me. The city is alive, or as alive as it can be with it being such a desolate place. It is fun to explore and the wall climbing and whatnot feels similar to Assassins Creed, without that whole accidental jump to your death thing. There are a number of different things to help you get throughout the city. You can grind both up and down power lines as well as railroad tracks. There is an ability that lets you glide from one place to the next, and hte platforming is fluid and not frustrating.

The game demonstrated a number of different powers. You have a few basic kick and punch moves that are enhanced by lightning, but your most basic power is the ability to shoot bolts of lightning from the palm of your hand. You hold down the L1 button to go into aiming mode to do this. IT is simple and easy to use. You can also use it from behind cover. Hang off of the side of a train with one hand and shoot lightning with the other while remaining behind cover. Beyond this, you can jump from high places and send a shock wave out from you in all directions that goes along the ground. There is an ability that is similar to force push in The Force Unleashed where you use electricity to shove people and things out of your way. One of the coolest abilities is basically a lightning grenade., Cole throws out a ball of lightning that explodes a second or two later. If that weren't cool enough, if you hit an enemy with it, it sticks to them. How awesome is that? I already mentioned the glide ability. You can jump from high places and glide to the ground. It's pretty cool.

It is a sandbox game. If you have played any Elder Scrolls, Fallout or GTA game, you should know exactly what that means. You can go anywhere and do anything. The city is full of civilians and how you treat them effects your status with them. You gain or lose karma based on your actions in various missions as well as what you do inbetween missions. If you help citizens or save ones that are dying, you gain karma. If you kill citizens or drain them of life, you lose it. Not only does karma effect how people react to you, but it also effects your physical appearance. That is a cool little touch that Sucker Punch threw into the game. Your lightning also turns red when you are evil. That's a cool little touch too. The red lightning looks badass. The game lets you play missions both as a good and a bad guy. I think there are 2 missions as a hero and 2 as a bad guy. It seems like the karma system is really well done here.

All in all, this was a good, long demo that shows just how good this game should wind up being. Sucker Punch is a top notch company. If you have played the Sly Cooper series, then you probably already know that, though. These guys know what they are doing. I was a bit worried because they haven't done serious games like this before, but this put my fears to rest. Color me impressed, and keep your eye on this game. IT should be very good.