Devil May Cry 4

February 29,2008 - Those of you who wanted Devil May Cry 4 own it by now—and with good reason. The series remains one of the most challenging, stylish, and addictive action games ever created. Though the middle years were a bit rocky, swaying from far too easy to far too difficult, we’re happy to report that the fourth creation is a bowl of porridge that’s just right. The question is whether or not it’s worth the purchase for those who have never faced the demonic hordes.

In a word, the answer is yes. The game does make some odd choices, though. Dante is frustratingly absent throughout the majority of the game, only making Solid Snake-like cameos for Dante’s Raiden equivalent, newcomer Nero. While Nero’s no slouch, he is quite young, and lacks the vintage cool that radiates from Dante’s spurred boots, crimson trench coat, and stubbly chin. He’s a few notches lower in appeal than the original pizza-eating, dude-calling Dante in the first game. He does have a mutated demonic arm that can toss ten-foot-tall demons like toys, though.

In terms of livening things up, making Nero the lead was a good choice. First of all, there are the beautifully choreographed fight scenes between the two bleach-blonde demon hunters (the game opens with a scene that can only be described as “pistol wrestling”), a new move-set that comes with Nero’s possessed arm, and the grappling portions where you’ll have to use his grab ability to navigate vertical scenery. Nero has other cool tech--like a sword that can be revved multiple times to inflict maximum damage on enemies. And there’s always the Devil-Bringer, which both Nero and Dante possess. Eventually, you’ll come across some new weapons that may just blow your mind. But you’ll have to discover those on your own.

If you’re not paying attention, though, you might miss all the new details. This is likely because DMC 4 plays almost identically to its predecessors. Don’t think this is a bad thing; the controls are perfectly in tune with your flinch-responses, and the combo system is deep and fun as ever. And stringing together a tossing, shooting, grabbing, and slamming combination is what Devil May Cry is all about. Make sure to choose your difficulty setting wisely at the outset—the challenge and fight system ramps up quickly, and you’re not able to change the difficulty without starting the game from scratch. And no one likes having to replay the same levels.

Which brings us to our next point—the back-pedaling you’ll be doing in this game. Dante does stay out of your control for most of the game—but when you do get to play as him, you’ll be retracing Nero’s footsteps. Including the boss fights. Yeah, we know.

Look on the bright side—most of the bosses look awesome, and are pretty challenging. But we can’t forgive Capcom for copping out when it comes to level design. There could have been an alternate underworld or a completely different story that involved Dante. Instead, it all ties into an initial murder, a grudge with Dante, and the pursuit of Nero’s busty lass. The story is nothing new, and it’s certainly not the main draw here. There are a few new faces—mostly over-developed, half-naked, half-demon huntresses. And the dialogue is unsurprisingly awful.

The presentation in DMC 4 stops just short of next-gen goodness. The visuals are smooth and the character designs inventive, but the lighting is terrible and half-finished, and in sheer graphics power, there’s nothing epic here. The game has its franchise-typical Victorian Gothic castles and bridges, and compared to most games, its dripping with its own unique style. But the linearity of the missions makes exploration non-existent, so as with many Capcom games, the design is reduced to lots of pretty, non-interactive backgrounds. Maybe this is for the best, considering that camera angles have always been a problem. This time around, you’ll be able to alter the view in certain areas with the right thumb, and in an attempt to avoid hate mail, Capcom has implemented proximity-transparency with eye-obstructions.

The sound effects are spot-on as usual, with the assaulting rattle and ricochet of bullets and the clang and slice of blades. The soundtrack, for the most part, is solid—though the crappy metal fight music still lingers from the last game. If only the developers would realize that the appeal of Devil May Cry is in its hereditary Gothic horror and not its anachronistic metal-head nods, the world would be a better place.

In the end, Devil May Cry 4 really does nothing new, but damn, if it isn’t fun to play. It has its problems—some poor design choices, an occasionally deceitful camera, uninspired puzzles and a linear mind—but it’s also one of the few action games around that’ll get your heart racing, and is actually a challenge. In our industry which is constantly accommodating the casual gamer, it’s nice to get a little hardcore fan service.

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