Devil May Cry 4

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Firstly, let me say that this game is wonderful, as the title of my review would lead you to believe otherwise. I have followed the DMC series since it's initial release in October of 2001, through the horrendous disappointment that was DMC 2 in 2003, and the controller-shattering goodness that was DMC 3 in 2005, so, it's safe to say that I had HIGH expectations (as most did/do) for this sequel. For fans of the original and the prequel, nostalgia will abound, both in good and bad ways, but for some gamers requesting an NG or GoW experience, well, you're not going to find that here. Instead, you're going to find gorgeous graphical presentations on BOTH systems, well done but sometimes cheesy voice acting, some back-tracking (think classic DMC and you'll get it), and completely offensive (as compared to defensive) gameplay filled with enough challenge to satisfy fan boys and newcomers alike.

My biggest complaint about Devil May Cry 4 is also my biggest praise: Old School. For whatever reason, the developers decided that recycling levels and bosses would be a great idea, and, in theory, it is, because you are using two different characters who play, suprisingly enough, rather differently during a majority of the confrontations . My first thought was that Nero is the "Richter Belmont" stand-in for the "Alucard" Dante, and I wasn't too far off. The possibilities of heavy-hitting, nasty looking combos out of Nero are almost endless, thanks to the inclusion of the whip-like Devil Bringer, whereas Dante, with the ability to switch weapons AND styles on the fly leaves ample opportunity for, we'll call it, ecclectic devil destruction. Seriously, the combat in this game is fast, fluid, and aggressive, and may take some getting used to for newcomers to the series. Don't think that I'm equating it to a Dynasty Warriors experience, but more like NG sans the defensive tactics.

The sound in the game, while not top quality or reinvented, fits the experience perfectly. Techno-Rock + Goth-Classical Music certainly add to the experience, considering the locales, which I'll get to later. If you're wanting a brief summary of the music for this game, just listen to any other DMC soundtrack and you'll be right at home. Also, the voice acting in this game is fabulous, in part due to the recruitment of Johnny Young Bosch as Nero, who, after Trigun, Bleach, and Wolf's Rain, to name a few, has had more than enough time to master the honing of paper characters into vocalized existence. Dante is played by the same voice actor that played him in DMC 3, so not much has changed in that dept. My only complaint comes in the form of the translation from Japanese to English, as some of the phrases uttered by the characters come off as silly, childish, or simply confusing. Outside of this, being a fan, I couldn't ask for anything more.

Graphically speaking, this game is pretty. It may not be Uncharted pretty or Mass Effect pretty, but, for a beat-em up game, they are more than enough to satiate the pixel gods. Character-wise, the game is polished and flowing, with hardly any aliasing, clipping, or tearing involved. Location-wise, the game shines, as each location, although there are few, evokes a distinct feeling once entered and explored. What I'm trying to say is that each locale has it's own vibe, that, if you let it, will suck you in, that is, until the back-tracking begins (again, remember old school DMC). My biggest complaint about the graphical presentation of this game comes in the form of shadowing. In some stages of the game, it resembles the blocky, almost super-deformed style of the original DMC, whereas, in others, the shadows are cast almost haphazardly, not appearing in their natural position at all. All in all, however, the graphics are truly a beautiful aspect of the game that do not hinder the enjoyment level of this game in many ways.

Overall, this game is a must buy for any action-adventure fan. Notice that I did not bash the game for the 20 minute install time (PS3 Only) or the fact that, in essence, this game is DMC 1 Redux. If you loved, missed, ranted, or raved about the old style of DMC, well, then you're in for a suprise, as Devil May Cry 4 delivers on all fronts with a retraced but enhanced formula that, while good and bad, has influenced games like God of War and Ninja Gaiden since the series' original inception in 2001. In the immortal words of some guy I'll never meet:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

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Devil May Cry 4 is a game of contradictions. For every instance where the developer improved the DMC formula there is an opposing area where things have remained untouched since the original game dating back to 2001.

I'll begin with what players will likely notice first about DMC 4 the graphics; simply put they are gorgeous. Throughout the game the player will be treated to an assortment of environments from urban to jungle and even arctic. Each area is rendered beautifully and I found myself stopping to admire the scenery several times. However, as much as the environments have improved graphically there is one glaring issue, they're still pre-rendered static backgrounds. Just like the original DMC on the PS2, the backgrounds provide no interaction, other than a few props like chairs and benches nothing in the environment can be affected by the player. No matter the level of destruction you render on your opponents and some of the combos in the game are fantastically destructive you'll never scratch the environment around you.

The pre-rendered backgrounds also present another problem the camera. Although certain environments do allow the player to adjust the camera for a better angle of the action around them, many areas do not. You'll be stuck with the same fixed camera featured in games like Resident Evil. I can't for the life of me understand why Capcom loves these fixed cameras. The frustration of repeatedly failing to make a jump or accomplish a given task because of the poor camera is only amplified when you're faced with fighting multiple enemies. Often times you'll be completely blind as to where your enemy is, resorting to mashing the attack button in hopes of escaping the area alive. The camera in short is simply not up to par with the attention paid to the graphics.

The game includes 2 playable characters Nero and Dante. Both have their unique weapons and combinations though Dante is clearly the more diverse character with access to far more weapons than Nero. Here again the graphics for the combinations are spectacular. The unfortunate part of the combo system is that it's mostly centered around a single button. There are some slight deviations based on what character your using but nothing very diverse.

As I mentioned the game features 2 characters. At some point in the story you'll switch control from one to the other. Without wanting to spoil anything I'll leave out most of the details, suffice to say though that it marks a huge disappointment in DMC 4. One you do advance far enough into the game to switch characters be prepared to travel back through the exact same landscapes only in reverse order. You'll be seeing the same environments and inexplicably battling the exact same bosses that you just defeated. I feel as though Capcom finished the game and realized that it was far to short to sell as it was and made the player trudge through the game again just to artificially lengthen it. To make matters worse you'll be fighting the exact same bosses a 3rd time before the game ends.

The music and sound effects in game are merely passable. There are moments where the soundtrack is actually quite good and fitting for the cut-scenes. However, when in combat the exact same terrible heavy metal track plays over and over again. It's aggravating having to listen to the same song time and time again.

Speaking of cut-scenes Capcom included an abundance of them throughout DMC 4. They are generally quite good in terms of graphics and voice acting, however, the love story infused with a generic betrayal/revenge subplot falls flat. I found myself caring less and less about the confusing story as the game progressed. It basically boils down to "kill the bad guys, save the girl". Nothing revolutionary here.

Aside from the revamped graphics and some slight online implementation in the form of leader boards and achievements there isn't much new to the series. I keep reading in various articles how western developers are pulling ahead of their Japanese counterparts and I think games like DMC4 are a prime example of why. Instead of changing the more trivial and frustrating aspects of the game Capcom has only wrapped them in a prettier layer. I lost count of how many times I stumbled into a new area in the game and was sealed into the room by a "ghost web". The only way to proceed was to destroy the enemies in the area. Why is there a need to even have something like that? There are many other ways Capcom will test a gamers patience as well. A confusing layout to some of the maps, random mazes that have no logical reason and don't fit into the game are everywhere. It seems like Capcom just threw these things in to lengthen the game. The worst part is that you'll have to clear these areas and mazes more than once since you're forced to play back through the same areas you cleared.

Devil May Cry 4 is worth playing and die hard fans of the original game will likely be satisfied but there are far better games out there. Try before you buy, even at a discount price, it may not be worth admission.

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The latest in Capcom's Devil May Cry series, DMC4 introduces some new elements but keeps a lot of the styles and conventions that made Devil May Cry popular in the first place.

The story this time revolves around Nero, a member of The Order of the Sword, a group of holy knights that protects the world against demons. Nero sees Dante, the hero of the previous games, kill the holy leader of their order in the middle of a crowded sermon. After fighting Dante the story's introductory battle, which ends in Dante leaving with a smart remark Nero must protect the city from the incursion of demons that have overrun it. The mystery of the occurrences and the truth behind Dante's purpose runs deeper as the story progresses.

As mentioned, the main character is Nero, not Dante. However, for the most part, Nero is similar to Dante and Vergil a white haired pretty-boy in a long coat with a sword and a gun. Nero has three main weapons his sword, the Red Queen, his dual-barrel revolver, the Blue Rose, and his glowing demonic arm, the Devil Bringer. Each has its own purposes and abilities. The Red Queen is used for most of the game's combat. Besides combo attacks and the like, it can also be "revved up" like an engine (the sword's hilt resembles a motorcycle's handle) to increase its damage. The Blue Rose isn't as damaging as either of the other two weapons, but can be used to wear down enemies particularly bosses from a distance. The Devil Bringer is used for throws, but also functions as a grappling hook for use in certain areas and against large enemies. Fans of Dante need not fear, as he is playable as well in parts of the game, using the weapons and styles he possessed in previous games.

DMC4 has a lot of callbacks to old games moreso than the others do, anyways. The presence of the female leads from DMC 1 and 3 ties connections to those games (the other ones simply acted like they weren't there, similar to Bond Girls) and the introduction of the almost hilariously sexualized Gloria adds a new face to the series. Despite the difference in character styles, Nero and Dante play fairly similar apart from a few differences. This makes Nero familiar to fans of Dante, and Dante familiar to people who have played only this game and played Nero. Finally, the difficulty options are classified as "Normal" and "Devil Hunter", the latter being for people who have played the previous games and are used to the difficulty level established by it.

The graphics are phenomenal in this game, especially in the cutscenes this actually leads to some parts where the in-game fighting seems drastically overshadowed by the cutscene fighting. As a whole, the game is very nice to look at, with plenty of cool effects to add to the stylish combat system that DMC loves. The sound is pretty good, with a rock-and-roll soundtrack during fight scenes, but it's nothing particularly exceptional. On another technical note, while the installation on the PS3 version does take 20 minutes at the beginning, I noticed almost no loading time during the rest of the game the entire thing was smooth and seamless.

The gameplay, style, and graphics in this game are all fantastic. Capcom definitely knows what people want from a DMC game, and 4 delivers. The only mitigating factor is, even with the "normal" difficulty level, DMC4 can still get insanely hard at times (outside of combat as well as in it). But, as a whole, DMC4 is a solid package with a lot to love, and if you're willing to invest the time and effort it's worth it.

9/10

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this is one fun packing game. if you liked dmc3, you will love this. i could not stop playing. just a few minor cons though: a) too little collectible weapons, i wish this game would have more weapons to collect b) not enough gameplay with dante, just a few missions with him. c) it's in 720p not 1080p, but the graphics look pretty good so it doesn't really matter. other than that, it's a super cool game. love the cutscenes, love the new character "nero". get it now if you love hack and slash action/adventure.

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I stopped playing DMC since part 2 came out. I didn't even bother with 3 with the fear it would be the same thing as 2, but I thought I would give 4 a shot and I was surprised. This game is really something different.

Among the huge difference; this game is also probably one of the longest DMCs ever. There is a lot of replay value and lots of achievements to unlock, giving a gamer access to hours of gameplay.

The music is also really great! DMC's music has never been a disappointment, it still has that exact same feel from DMC1.

Another great thing about this game is it's storyline and cut scenes that are action packed.

If you haven't even tried DMC, I highly recommend this game; or if you've already played the DMC series, but never played this game; get it! Trust me, it's well worth it.