DMC: Devil May Cry

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The Devil May Cry franchise has long been one of my favorites. The games hold a special place in my heart and memory, they were the most cathartic way to get rid of frustration and anger in my angst-filled teen years. Now even as an adult I enjoy popping in one of the originals and battling demons for an hour or two with the wise-cracking Dante. I was in love with the story, riddled with holes as it was, and helplessly in love with Dante.

Upon hearing that the current DMC universe was being abandoned you could not find anyone else more upset about it than I was. I was angry and felt betrayed by Capcom, who were cutting short a story I had spent years in. The new Dante character design was bad, his attitude was at best childish. Stubborn as I am, months turned into a year and I began to realize that change was indeed needed. Ninja Theory seemed to be at least listening to what the fans were saying and with the release of the first player footage my mind began to slowly turn from general hatred of the game to feeling that maybe it would not be so bad.

So, last Friday I decided to just march into Gamestop and pick it up despite my reluctance. After being somewhat shocked that I, a human of the female variety, was buying DmC for myself (he even asked), the Gamestop manager told me that it would be worth it. I got it home, loaded it up, and never looked back.

It has only been one weekend and I have managed to complete it, but this should only be a testament to how amazingly fun this game is. I love the combat, the game levels are works of art in and of themselves, and the story appears to be coherent enough to follow. I could not have asked for a better re-boot. If it had to be done, which it did, Capcom was right to do it this way.

The manager at Gamestop was right when he told me it is no different than the old one. It is updated for modern times but still holds true to the vision that the original had. Though I have to admit that I went into the game expecting something completely different, I was happily surprised to see how much of it was still the same. It is a complete re-do, the slate is wiped clean, and I think that lends to it a certain amount of success. They could have taken it to a whole new direction and done terribly, but sticking with what they know how to do really helped maintain the integrity of the franchise.

Characterization is really great this time around. The dev team really used the most of this generation's console power to use body language and facial expression in order to tell just as much story in a characters appearance as in their dialogue. If a character is barely keeping insanity under the surface, you can tell. If a character is hurt, sad, happy, pensive or just plain bored it can be read in the facial expressions. This makes the new Dante and Vergil duo have depth to them that the originals never really could have achieved. Sure, we love them in DMC3, but Capcom painted themselves into a corner, giving neither of them a real personality. It is safe to say they fixed that issue this time around.

Now that I have said all of that, there are a couple of things that did not do as well:

First off, while the story arc appears to be less hole-filled than the original, there are still points in the plot that had me thinking that either something was missing or they did not explain thoroughly enough. It did not detract from game-play, I knew what was happening and why Dante was doing something, the motivation for the story never really slowed down. It does leave a lot of questions unanswered but the last scene is essentially a guarantee for a sequel. All-in all as far as storytelling goes, it is not the best, but point to a DMC that has good storytelling in the first place. I feel that it is excusable because the designers were tasked with taking a series with a story and a fan base, and making it completely new while at the same time having to make a game that newcomers would enjoy. Perhaps if they were not so overburdened in that area the plot would have gone over better.

Second, the camera. Good lord the camera.

It was not so incredibly bad that I noticed it all the time. But particular enemies, specifically ones that can teleport around the battlefield, made it frustrating. There is no lock-on feature, the game automatically does that for you based on whatever Dante is facing. But, the camera will always pan around to where an enemy is located. So you can imagine that if your one enemy is disappearing and reappearing all over the place the camera gets a bit frustrating. This and a couple of times I just wanted to run away from enemies and would manually pan the camera around only to have it revert back to looking toward the enemies. This caused me to fall off a cliff into the abyss a couple of times. Luckily if that happens you just come right back with some of your health bar missing. Again, this really didn't hurt game play too much. Only after I noticed it the first time did I really start paying attention to it.

Neither of these things really upset me enough to give it a 4 star. This is a 5 star game.

Altogether this game was immense fun and I can see myself playing it just as much as I have the others. There is plenty of room in the maps to get yourself a bit lost while looking for souls to free or keys to secret mission doors. There are, in usual Devil May Cry fashion, multiple difficulty settings and rewards for beating them. Many demon slayings and a couple of interesting plot-twists later I have found a new favorite game.

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DmC is the reboot of the Devil May Cry series by Ninja Theory. It is intended to direct a franchise in a new direction and gain a broader audience. I had no cons about the ideas behind the revitalizing of the series & its mythos, but merely with the execution of the ideas.

PRESENTATION: Very Good. The artistic story telling is fantastic in the game, as well as the in game text to amplify some action scenes. Menu has framerate issues but well laid out and simple to see.

GRAPHICS: Good. Environment immerses the player into it and framerate is fluid to follow the action. The game overuses the orange / red color palette as well as the green / blue one which tends to saturate the world you are in after a couple of hours into the game.

SOUND: Very Good. The soundtrack in the game is great and it delivers the theme of the game quite nicely. The voice acting is well done too, you can tell the brothers apart when they speak but also sense their relation...Mundus also delivered an impact performance. Sound effects are also very good but at times overwhelmed by the soundtrack.

GAMEPLAY: Good. Heavily hindered by the level design, the gameplay mechanics are seamless, very well rounded and easy to implement. The amount of combos stretches as far as your imagination can, switching between Devil & Angel weapons is fast and fluid and the controls are quick and responsive. The pacing of the game is questionable for an action game, specially for one with such a deep combo system. The camera is good and user controlled for the most part and even pauses enemies from attacking you if they are off screen. The Devil Trigger suspends enemies into the air this time around while you inflict damage. As usual some health regenerates and there is increased damage.

LEVEL DESIGN: Poor. This is where all the bad spots of the game came back to. The traversal through the game is mainly compromised by jumping. EVERYWHERE. It became tedious after seeing how much it consisted to go through a level, and it broke the pacing of the game considerably, since some areas there was just too much of it. Overall Limbo is designed somewhere out of the Deconstructivism movement, where things are broken parts of themselves and the pieces make up an ugly whole. The best level design for me was the Disco level, and something I'd revisit, weird boss and all. The environments turn dull towards the end, slowing the adventure down. One of the Boss fights implements the platforming quite well, and that probably was as far as it should have been taken to make up the level design.

STORY: Good. The new direction that they deviated the original storyline from was well implemented. Dante and Vergil being sons of a Demon & Angel, some type of anomaly that can extinguish evil is a believable storyline to start from. The explaining of their origin was engaging as well. The middle and ends of the plotline of the game however, are not.

BEASTIARY: Very Poor. The enemies in DmC are not much for variety. Apparently anywhere you go in Limbo the demons are pretty much the same. They have different types of the same enemies, where ones are vulnerable to either Angel or Demon weapons. Overall you will face upgraded versions of the same enemies throughout the game. One in particular should have been a boss because he was really cool to face, and his upgraded versions, since the 5 & a half boss fights in the 20 level game are deficient for an action game. They are mostly large, blob like figures instead of the fearsome creatures prevalent in games of this genre. They are quite the mixed bag & the fights consist of yes heavy PLATFORMING.

DIFFICULTY: Easy. Accurate. I played the game on the Nephilim ( Hard ) difficulty and I barely died, ever. The game difficulty seems just about right so anyone can just pick this up and kick ass. Be aware that restarting a checkpoint counts as a death in the game ( what? ) and the autosave feature will NOT hold on to your items if you've used them and then died ( or restarted ).

LASTING APPEAL:

Players of the previous games will most likely not favor this game too much. The story mode may be good for one play through, but the excessive platforming may anger God of War veterans as well as the lack of boss fights. Also being a short adventure ( +/8 hours ) and the lack of the Vergil DLC at launch to extend it, sadly is not enough to warrant a full retail purchase ( like I did ). I'd recommend holding off for God of War Ascension instead.

I rate it a 7.5 / 10.0

Buy DMC: Devil May Cry Now

In October of 2001 the original Devil May Cry hit store shelves. At the time the game changed the way action games were designed and played. It was stylish and filled to the brim with a lot of intense set pieces and graphical effects. It was a truly groundbreaking game. Since then Devil May Cry has been on a roller coaster. The second game was not well received, while the third one hit just as high. The fourth game was met with some mixed reception. Ever since then Devil May Cry has been on a hiatus. When the new DmC was announced fans were in for a shock. The first was that it was going to be a reboot. The second was that it was going to be an entirely different game all together. If you're a hardcore fan of the original Devil May Cry games this is going to take a moment to get adjusted to. The thing is, however, from a gameplay standpoint DmC is quite fun. From a narrative standpoint, not so much.

Devil May Cry has never been much for story. Even the previous games aren't much for story. They were action games filled with cheesy one-liners and a protagonist with a cocky attitude. The original Dante was a cool guy, but more of a caricature than an actual character. Still a fun character, but not a well fleshed out or developed one. Which is partially why people seemed to be drawn to him. He was just good fun. The new Dante isn't exactly like that. It will take a moment to really get used to him. Where as the old Dante was a cocky guy that was half human and half demon, this Dante is a foul mouthed, sex crazed, booze drinking... kid. He also happens to be half demon and half angel. This makes him and his brother Vergil a Nephilim. Which means they'll be able to take down corporate Kingpin Mundus. It's not nearly as absurd as it sounds. The story actually goes somewhere for a bit, although it's hard to ignore that the game seems to try way too hard to be gritty and "mature." The themes it tackles are a lot bigger than the previous games, for sure. Aside from some sexual themes and alcohol, the game isn't afraid to talk about corporate greed or economic issues. Even going so far as to provide a pretty big structure for the world it takes place in.

The game tries to provide some depth to the characters. Dante and Vergil are built with tragic backstories. The game actually tries to flesh them out quite a bit. They certainly come off as interesting characters. Vergil more so than Dante, however. Dante comes off as that guy you probably knew in high school who was trying to be cool and rebellious. He begins to grow from that, but upon first meeting him he comes across more like a brooding jerk than as someone you want to spend the next ten or so hours with. Vergil by comparison, is actually more interesting and easier to deal with.

There are times when the story tries so hard for the mature stuff that it sort of comes off as a lot more childish than it should. When Dante swears it almost comes across like a middle school kid that just learned what curse words are for the first time. The villains are somewhat similar in this regard. It's as though the developers seem to think that if you drop enough f-bombs, flash enough exotic skin and show enough gross and disgusting fluids that this will make the game instantly mature. Those "mature" themes and moments often get ruined by some of the badly written dialog (from the villains, especially) and some of the over-the-top cutscenes. It adds some shock value and great eye candy but it more often than not undermines the characters it's trying to build and the story it's trying to tell. A story, mind you, that the developers clearly want you to take more seriously than the 2001 release just based on the themes and economic turmoil it's trying to present.

It isn't that this stuff is there, it's actually that DmC tries too hard with it. Simply put the story isn't well written, but unlike the 2001 game it is still begging you to take it seriously. Meaning it's not intentionally poorly written for the sake of cheesiness. It can be given credit for trying to reach a little higher, but it's hard not to notice that it comes across like a teenager trying to show the world he's a not a kid anymore. DmC wants to be seen as a "grown up." And it goes just a little too hard in the gritty direction to do it by trying to stuff in as much "adult" content as it can muster to drive the point home that this is supposed to be gritty and serious fare. It's more about the context that this stuff is put in than anything. I'm sure several won't mind this sort of thing, but by now I don't think gaming needs to try so hard to prove it's grown up and mature. At least not like this.

The biggest strength of DmC is that the combat and gameplay is really fluid. The missions themselves are pretty straightforward. The gameplay takes place in a parallel world called Limbo. Each level is pretty linear. You'll always know where to go no matter what. You can explore quite a bit, though. There are usually hidden items and secret missions off the beaten path and lost souls to find. You'll find yourself having to replay levels to find it all. After each mission you're ranked in style points, completion, time, items used and deaths. It's tempting to play through some levels to get the SSS rating.

The combat is pretty fluid, though. It's actually a lot of hack and slash fun because of how fluid it can be. It does take a moment to get used to. Dante can go between his demon and angel halves when fighting. The angel weapons tend to be more agile while the demon weapons have more brute strength. What works about the system is that you can switch weapons in midstream. This makes for some fascinating combos and juggles. And Dante still has his guns and his sword that he can utilize as well. There's a lot of variety in the combat. Dante also has a grapple to him. He can use it to pull platforms or enemies to him. This all goes into making a pretty cool and complex system.

The only big problem with it is that there is no way for Dante to lock on. And sometimes in the throws of combat Dante targets and shoots or grapples the wrong enemy. It can disrupt the flow of combat at times. Likewise, the other problem isn't as big. While fighting normal enemies is fun, the boss fights are strangely no where near as fun. Some are creative in design but at some point they just fall into predictable patterns. For as much fun as the combat can be it's pretty stale when a boss battle starts.

The combat system is, for the most part, pretty easy to learn. You'll also slowly ease into much of it. You'll be able to purchase and upgrade new abilities as you progress and you'll always be able to train with them with a test dummy that never actually dies. It's a great way to practice.

DmC isn't an easy game, though. It's got quite a few difficulty levels to choose from and they actually play differently from one another. Mastering the game on one difficulty won't prepare you for the next. We're talking more than just enemies hitting harder or you taking more damage. Stronger enemies will appear in place of the standard enemies. Some of this stuff amounts to some decent replay value. The levels are well designed enough that it's alright to play through them. It's a lot of fun to try to master various combos and you can always try tweaking the difficulty for a bigger challenge. All this will easily make the story more passable.

On the other hand, the game is hit or miss with its presentation. It crunches a lot of pixels but the art style in and of itself takes time to get used to. In one regard the game pushes for this gritty, serious look that so many games have been gunning for lately. This is especially true in the cutscenes. The missions, however, where you're in Limbo are actually quite vibrant and colorful, yet they also have a madhouse and insanity like feel to them. You'll run down corridors that close in on you and you'll see writing on the walls or floor like "Found You" or "Kill Dante" etc.. It's elaborate and certainly helps separate the two parallel worlds. Once you get used to the style of the game it's easy to settle in. It's overall a good looking game.

It's hard not to compare it to the 2001 game. Back then the original Devil May Cry was groundbreaking. This one... not so much. There are still shades of the original Devil May Cry here. You can still do plenty of juggling and stylish moves. Even some of the over-the-top nature of the cutscenes show that the developers were inspired by the original in some way.

In the end, however, DmC needs to be able to stand on its own. As such the game is pretty fun to play but beyond that there isn't much to it. It seems to be reaching higher than the 2001 release, but it's undermined by how hard it tries to be taken seriously. It's not a terrible game, but it's certainly not as rewarding as it could be either.

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I did not like the direction this franchise took with this game. I did not even play halfway through it before trading this one in. Not impressed at all.

Want DMC: Devil May Cry Discount?

First off I come from DMC (old) I've been a fan since DMC1 launched back than and been with the series since. Even went off to buy Bayonetta since they shared similarities. Anyways don't come here expecting this to be a continuation to the DMC we all have come to love. It's a REBOOT, a reboot technically means it's a new game of something old. Take for example the new Tomb Raider game or Hitman Absolution. This Dante starts out immature not caring of life around him just like the DMC3 dante but in the end makes a big turn around.

Story: I personally feel this game to be somewhat of a prequel to DMC3. There's a lot of interaction between the brothers in this game. And in the end I believe is the reason vergil despises his brother dante in the classics. Now the game revolves around propaganda and a group of revolties. Very similar to the antics of V of V for Vendetta. Mundus makes an appearance as once again the antagonist of the game. They even gave him the 3 eyes just like his DMC1 counterpart as a reference. If you played DMC1 than you know Mundu's wants to rule the world and our hero has to stop him, but it's more than that. All this little things really help build up the story till the very end. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll leave it at that.

Gameplay: Awesome, Very smooth transitions from the sword swings. And for a game that supposedly only runs at 30fps I didn't see a single frame drop during combat. You only get around 7 weapons, 3 guns, 2 angel, 2 demon weapons which is a downer for us who like to have more in our arsenal. If you are expecting dante to give us a little exhibition like he did in DMC3 when he acquires new gear than think again. Now for the DT (Devil Trigger) it's done by pressing both analog sticks when you acquire it, and sadly it's not very good. You do more damage, are faster, get white hair and a vibrant red coat. To me it's not as cool as the other DMCs but again this is a reboot so it's expected.

Sound: For the most part it's pretty much what you would expect. Voice acting is top notch, music is metal and screamo. It's alright imo.

Graphics: Absolutely beautiful, the game takes place in Limbo and the human world. The human world is pretty dull with natural colors, but Limo is amazing. It has very bright oranges and blues as you see in the cover art. It just looks nice.

Verdict: it's a must have title for any action lover. It took me two days to beat it, but only because I couldnt put it down. Still playing it at this moment trying to max out my health, dt and arsenal, I really recommend you buy the DLC for this game (Vergil's Downfall) It's 8.99$ on the PSN store. I'm currently doing a playthrough of the DLC which can be found here http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPBq81xAJkBKNb9vqltJziDS5N-tbI4Ke