Five months after its original release, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty finally gets a demo.

Prior to this announcement, the only way to get a free taste of the SCII experience was to nab a "guest pass," which provided limited access to the game. These passes were available in limited quantities to those who purchased both SCII and the Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcraft. Those who received keys could either use them or share them with a friend. However, these guest passes required a Battle.net account and, though they provided access to most of the game, were only good for a limited time.

The free demo removes many of these restrictions. You no longer need a Battle.net account, which of course means that the game can only be played offline. And the time restriction is no longer in place, so you can play the demo for as long as you want. As for the actual content of the demo, you'll be able to play the first three missions of the campaign as well as solo skirmish, though only Terran vs. Terran is available.

If for some reason you're still on the fence about SCII—maybe you want to make sure the game runs properly on your computer before buying, for instance—this is a great, if long overdue, way to give the game a shot. You can download the demo right here.