VIDEO GAME: Devil May Cry 4

By Connect Mason Game Reviewer Daniel Sims

When Capcom put out the original Devil May Cry on the Playstation 2 in 2001, its hardcore hack n’ slash gameplay and classic adventure undertones inspired its own niche within the action adventure genre, eventually inspiring sequels and competitors like God of War , God Hand, and the Ninja Gaiden remake.

Devil May Cry 4 is that subgenre’s introduction to next generation consoles (unless you count Heavenly Sword). That considered, some might expect Capcom to use the game to set a new standard for action adventure games.

Unfortunately, Devil May Cry 4 doesn’t really try to be that next big evolution. What it does do however is offer a competent rebalancing and further fine-tuning of the Devil May Cry formula that through a well-played duality between characters, aims itself at both hardcore fans and franchise newcomers alike.

The Devil May Cry series has always been about its main star Dante – the son of a legendary demon knight who fights demons and other monsters with an irreverent, playful sense of humor that drives the series’ intentionally campy, action movie-like presentation style. Devil May Cry 4 centers around the contrast between Dante and newcomer Nero, similar to how Metal Gear Solid 2 made the switch between Solid Snake and Raiden. The results in DMC4 however are probably much more likeable.

From the beginning it’s probably apparent to Devil May Cry fans that playing Nero and Dante off of each other is an attempt by Capcom to directly contrast the older, more experienced Dante of DMC1 and 2 with something resembling the young, rough-around-the-edges Dante of DMC3. Capcom even goes as far as to make them enemies at first before they come to common ground later on. This dynamic makes Devil May Cry 4 sort of mirror-like in how it’s laid out.

As of Devil May Cry 3, Dante had available to him an incredibly broad arsenal of weapons, fighting styles, and combos in order to accommodate the preferred styles of various kinds of players. DMC4’s Nero on the other hand has a much simpler move set with a few small innovations that greatly differentiate him from Dante.

The most important difference with Nero is his demonic arm called the Devil Bringer. At first it’s basically a grab button that allows Nero to perform grappling attacks on enemies. Eventually it gains the ability to extend and become something of a grappling hook that Nero can use to grab objects and enemies from afar. For skilled players this brings a whole new dynamic to fighting battles and. With it, Nero can grab enemies he’s knocked far away to continue his close-range combos or even grab enemies while in mid-air to initiate extremely long air juggles in the hands of expert players. This along with Nero’s smaller move pool makes him feel like a very well-balanced, relatively simple-to-use character.

Players spend most of the second half of Devil May Cry 4 playing as Dante who brings back his various styles and weapons from the previous game. As soon as players gain access to him, Dante already has a wealth of combos and abilities available to him which can be overwhelming to some. Dante replaces Nero’s Devil Bringer with his own various fighting styles and weapons that can be switched on the fly, including a briefcase called “Pandora” that can transform into 666 different guns. Most players will probably never use all of Dante’s abilities, but he provides enough room to encourage various tactics from players.

Where this mirror-like nature may hurt Devil May Cry 4 is in its progression of levels. The first half of the game played with Nero climaxes with two excellent boss fights that lead into Dante’s half – which turns out to be a backtrack through all of the areas and challenges players went through as Nero. All of DMC4’s major bosses (except the ones that beautifully capped off Nero’s side of the game) will be fought three times before the game is over. It is interesting to revisit Nero’s challenges with Dante’s fighting style, but to many this will probably make DMC4 feel like a small game that has to rely on repetition to extend its length.

Despite this repetition, Devil May Cry 4 still remains a solid, fun game throughout with enemies, bosses, and other obstacles that always succeed in challenging players like few other games do. Concerning how Devil May Cry 4 does utilize next gen hardware, its improvements are subtle but still worthy of merit.

For one, Devil May Cry 4 is a very good-looking game. It’s fixed, drawn-back camera angles help the detail and lighting in each environment create very picturesque set pieces. The graphics also set this game’s cut scenes apart from the already excellently-directed scenes in Devil May Cry 3 on the PS2, carrying the same deliberately over-the-top camp and humor that has characterized the series. The cut scenes featuring Dante in the second half of the game are especially entertaining.

Devil May Cry 4 also features online leaderboards which may not seem all that important to most, but considering the kind of game DMC is, it’s a pretty nifty feature. Many of the most popular and difficult singleplayer games often spawn communities of skilled, dedicated players always going for the best times and skill ratings, not unlike high scores in arcade games. Devil May Cry has always been considered a pretty hardcore game in how difficult it is and in how it constantly rates players’ progress. As soon as players boot up DMC4, it gives them updates on the progress and ratings of people on their friends lists. Keeping tabs like this is sure to facilitate competition between the more hardcore players.

BOTTOM LINE:

Despite being the series’, and really the genre’s first next generation game, Devil May Cry 4 does not attempt to really evolve or re-invent itself. Fans will still be getting the same kind of action they got in the last three games. Furthermore, DMC4 itself heavily recycles most of its content. However, fans will still find a very solid game in DMC4 that retains the series’ place in the top tier of action adventure games (even though it fails to dethrone Ninja Gaiden as the very best). For newcomers, if there was ever any good point at which to jump into Devil May Cry, this game is probably it.