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| Super Stylish. |
Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 3 were two of my favorite action games of the PS2 era. A cool protagonist, neat gameplay and action, and a kick-ass soundtracks made them classics. The reason I ignored Devil May Cry 2 is that it was ultra-disappointing and failed to capture the spirit of the series. As for Devil May Cry 4, Capcom has lately been remastering most of their past games and this time-- or should I say last year-- 2008's action hit, Devil May Cry 4, returned better than ever on the 8th gen. consoles! Devil May Cry 4 marked the series' first entry into the HD generation of the PS3 and Xbox 360 and brought some neat gameplay improvements. Dante and company are back with brand new features such as an added difficulty level, new characters to choose from, an enhanced presentation, and more.
STORY- The story follows Nero, a young demon hunter working for the Order of the Sword, a cult that worships series protagonist Dante's father, the legendary dark knight Sparda, as a god. Nero soon starts hunting down Dante for assassinating their leader and ultimately get caught up in a conspiracy regarding the Order of the Sword. The game is played from the perspectives of both Nero and Dante as they stylishly kill countless demons.
GAMEPLAY- The main attraction of the DMC games is obviously the slick gameplay. Like the games before it, Devil May Cry 4 is a hack and slash game. You'll fight your way through 20 missions that are filled with high octane action and awesome cut-scenes. You are graded for how well you do during battles and towards the end of a mission. Grades range from D (Deadly), C (Carnage), B (Brutal), A (Atomic), and even further with S (Smokin'), SS (Smokin' Style), and finally SSS (Smokin' Sick Style). Chaining combos and avoiding damage will nail you a high grade. With the basics out of the way, let's get into how the characters play. You can buy items and abilities for your characters before and after a mission. Red Orbs are back and are used to buy items. "Proud Souls" are a new currency to buy abilities, the amount also depends on how well you perform during missions.
For the majority of the game, you play as Nero. He wields his customized sword, Red Queen, and a powerful revolver, Blue Rose. He is also accompanied by the Devil Bringer, his right demonic arm that grab enemies from a long range. The "Exceed" gauge near his health allows for more powerful attacks when charged. Later during the game, you'll finally be able to play as Dante... for like seven missions. He plays similar to previous games. He uses his trademark demonic sword, Rebellion, and handguns, Ebony and Ivory. Unlike Nero, Dante uses his Devil Trigger to dish out more powerful attacks while at the same time slowly regenerating lost health. The style system from Devil May Cry 3 makes a return. Instead of choosing a style before starting a mission, Dante can switch among the four different styles on the fly during combat. Gunsliger, Swordmaster, Royal Guard, and Trickster all offer a variety of moves for Dante to kick-ass.
New characters that are available to play as in the special edition of DMC4 are Vergil, Lady, and Trish. Lady and Trish follow the same route as Nero and Dante while Vergil can go through all 20 levels. Lady makes her debut appearance as a playable character in the Special Edition. Her play-style relies heavily on her guns. She is accompanied by two handguns, a shotgun, and her signature weapon, Kalina Ann. Additionally, she can grapple enemies to her, similar to Nero's devil bringer, and can perform a powerful attack when her attack meter is full. Trish makes her second playable appearance since Devil May Cry 2. She retains most of her moves from DMC2, but is a lot more faster and aggressive.
Vergil retains his move set from DMC3 and is accompanied by his signature katana, Yamato, and two other weapons, Force Edge and Beowolf. A new mechanic given to Vergil is "Concentration". Basically it's a gauge near Vergil's life bar that has three levels to fill. As long as Vergil lands attacks on enemies and avoid their attacks, he'll grow stronger. However, if the enemy hits him or he misses an attack, the gauge will drop down.
Two new features the special edition brings are turbo mode and the Legendary Dark Knight difficulty. Turbo mode, which was a PC-exclusive feature, increases the gameplay's speed by 20% allowing for more fast-paced action. The Legendary Dark Knight difficulty mode increases the enemy count compared to other modes, which in turn can make things such as maneuvering a tad tricky. Personally, I loved these two features and though they were neat additions to an already awesome package.
With all the good things said, it's time go over some of the game's flaws. Firstly, backtracking through previous levels felt like a chore. I ignored the first time, but having to through them again with Vergil, Trish, and Lady felt repetitive. It would have been nice if there were new levels for the three new characters to traverse through. Furthermore, over the course of the game you'll come across some platforming segments that can be annoying. Lastly are those damn irritating dice games which were tolerable during the early stages of the game, but ultimately unbearable near the end of the game. That's all the flaws that I had with the game. While I've gotten used to the backtracking and the platforming segments, I'm still not liking those dice games...
PRESENTATION- For a nearly 9-year-old game, Devil May Cry 4 holds up well and is by far the best looking DMC game to date. The character models, environments, and weapons were stunning back in 2008 and still are now thanks to the 60 frames-per-second and 1080p resolution that the Special Edition brings. The game's audio is another good aspect of the presentation. The vocal performances by Reuben Langdon and Johnny Yong Bosch are great and fit their roles as Dante and Nero, respectively. The soundtrack is great like all Devil May Cry games. providing some upbeat, fast-paced tracks.
OVERALL- I enjoyed my time with DMC4, especially the Special Edition. Capcom did a great of polishing Devil May Cry 4. Dante and company are looking great on the 8th gen consoles and the gameplay is still the best in the series. While some irritating aspects of the original game still remain, the many improvements the special edition brings should entice DMC veterans to check it out. At $25, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is a Smokin' Sick Steal!
STORY- The story follows Nero, a young demon hunter working for the Order of the Sword, a cult that worships series protagonist Dante's father, the legendary dark knight Sparda, as a god. Nero soon starts hunting down Dante for assassinating their leader and ultimately get caught up in a conspiracy regarding the Order of the Sword. The game is played from the perspectives of both Nero and Dante as they stylishly kill countless demons.
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| The story is alright, but not the main attraction of the game. |
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| The stylish, frenetic gameplay is back. |
New characters that are available to play as in the special edition of DMC4 are Vergil, Lady, and Trish. Lady and Trish follow the same route as Nero and Dante while Vergil can go through all 20 levels. Lady makes her debut appearance as a playable character in the Special Edition. Her play-style relies heavily on her guns. She is accompanied by two handguns, a shotgun, and her signature weapon, Kalina Ann. Additionally, she can grapple enemies to her, similar to Nero's devil bringer, and can perform a powerful attack when her attack meter is full. Trish makes her second playable appearance since Devil May Cry 2. She retains most of her moves from DMC2, but is a lot more faster and aggressive.
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| Lady is a playable character for the first time. |
Vergil retains his move set from DMC3 and is accompanied by his signature katana, Yamato, and two other weapons, Force Edge and Beowolf. A new mechanic given to Vergil is "Concentration". Basically it's a gauge near Vergil's life bar that has three levels to fill. As long as Vergil lands attacks on enemies and avoid their attacks, he'll grow stronger. However, if the enemy hits him or he misses an attack, the gauge will drop down.
Two new features the special edition brings are turbo mode and the Legendary Dark Knight difficulty. Turbo mode, which was a PC-exclusive feature, increases the gameplay's speed by 20% allowing for more fast-paced action. The Legendary Dark Knight difficulty mode increases the enemy count compared to other modes, which in turn can make things such as maneuvering a tad tricky. Personally, I loved these two features and though they were neat additions to an already awesome package.
With all the good things said, it's time go over some of the game's flaws. Firstly, backtracking through previous levels felt like a chore. I ignored the first time, but having to through them again with Vergil, Trish, and Lady felt repetitive. It would have been nice if there were new levels for the three new characters to traverse through. Furthermore, over the course of the game you'll come across some platforming segments that can be annoying. Lastly are those damn irritating dice games which were tolerable during the early stages of the game, but ultimately unbearable near the end of the game. That's all the flaws that I had with the game. While I've gotten used to the backtracking and the platforming segments, I'm still not liking those dice games...
PRESENTATION- For a nearly 9-year-old game, Devil May Cry 4 holds up well and is by far the best looking DMC game to date. The character models, environments, and weapons were stunning back in 2008 and still are now thanks to the 60 frames-per-second and 1080p resolution that the Special Edition brings. The game's audio is another good aspect of the presentation. The vocal performances by Reuben Langdon and Johnny Yong Bosch are great and fit their roles as Dante and Nero, respectively. The soundtrack is great like all Devil May Cry games. providing some upbeat, fast-paced tracks.
OVERALL- I enjoyed my time with DMC4, especially the Special Edition. Capcom did a great of polishing Devil May Cry 4. Dante and company are looking great on the 8th gen consoles and the gameplay is still the best in the series. While some irritating aspects of the original game still remain, the many improvements the special edition brings should entice DMC veterans to check it out. At $25, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is a Smokin' Sick Steal!
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