Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

"Dante's back."

Originally intended as a new game in the Resident Evil series, the Devil May Cry series has been a cult hit since its debut. Smooth demon-hunter Dante grew his own fanbase, with the original Devil May Cry being a tremendous success. When the sequel to Devil May Cry hit the masses, some fans became underwhelmed. Devil May Cry 2 was a hit-and-miss release. Unhindered by the mixed thoughts of the masses, Capcom continued their action genre series with Dante's third game, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, hit stores in 2005. Does it redeem the Devil May Cry name?

The story is actually a prequel to the events of the past Devil May Cry games. Heat-packing half-demon Dante is just opening his demon-extermination shop and gets an odd call from some angry demon hordes. Dante has no choice but to challenge the world of the hellish and along the way, meet up with his brother Vergil, who really isn't in a mood to say “hi” to his family. Dante is much different from the other Devil May Cry installments; he's younger and a bit more hot-headed than the cool demon hunter he later becomes to be. He's ready to shoot, slash, and ride demons like skateboards to get the answer, of course meeting up with his serious and seriously angry brother. Along the way, Dante is led by the mysterious demon huntress dubbed Lady, and the mad-laughter spewing Jester, whose roles quickly become essential to understanding the world of Devil May Cry 3. The story isn't dragged along, and the interesting twists and turns do link the crazy action game elements together well.

Devil May Cry 3, plain and simply, is one of the best action games for the PS2, and the most incredible reason is the combo-happy, chain-linked, pole-spinning, slash-em-up, action-loaded gameplay. Controls are simple at first: jump with X, slash a melee with triangle, use firearms with square. Dante can lock onto enemies with the R1 button and can switch weapons on the fly with the L2 and R2 buttons. Dante can, in mid-combo and real-time, switch weapons. Going immediately from an aerial juggle to a finishing move is amazing, and brings new importance to each weapon's strengths and weaknesses. The combo system's result is one heck of a fight. The battle system is smooth and fluid; switching enemies, attacks, weapons, or strategies can be executed on the fly, making the game one intense battle after another. Racking up huge combos is one of the many reasons that Devil May Cry 3 is an incredible action game. The circle button is where Dante can use a special style attack, which introduces one of Devil May Cry 3's most impressive gameplay elements: the Style system.

Dante can be equipped with a Style, which affects how Dante is capable of attacking. You wanna fight with your swords? Try the blade-turning Swordmaster style to let the weapons unleash aerial melee or huge ranged attack. You like the firearms more? Use Gunslinger to unleash powered up gunshots or finish off a grounded enemy with a point black shot. You like Dante's acrobatic techniques? Run around levels with wall-running ease in Trickster. There are more unlockable styles, but some of them like the defense-oriented Royalguard aren't anywhere near as fun as linking huge combos with the others. But for the ones that really define their styles, the attacks are over the top and intense. The different styles can be strengthened with new weapons and level up over time so even more crazy moves are unleashed. There are some weak points in some of the styles, but the good ones work brilliantly, knocking another level of intensity in the amazing battles.

The world of Devil May Cry 3 mostly takes place in the hellish tower, the Temen-ni-gru, a haunted place filled with monsters. The tower is filled with traps and strange tricks and Dante must fight through them all. Spiked floors, hordes of hellions, monstrous guards, even some folks from the human world make some interesting appearances. Enemies appear in swarms, which compliments Dante's abstract and unpredictably stylish effects. Usually a locked door will prevent passage until a select group of enemies are defeated or a specific goal is completed. There are some simple puzzles here and there, but Devil May Cry 3 tries to keep the action at a steady pace, only breaking up the over-the-top battles for a moment before another horde of enemies steps in. Battles are ranked as to how different and how frequent techniques are used. The game assigns rankings depending upon how well the player creates such combos, which appears at the end of any completed mission. The game has a tendency to evaluate rather harshly and getting a really good ranking can be pretty difficult. But Devil May Cry has never been about easiness, and Devil May Cry 3 makes reminding the player that a habit.

On the whole, the game involves running and jumping around as Dante, while completing pretty basic tasks. Usually such tasks involve fighting through a slew of enemies in order to get a type of item that is used to proceed further. Hit a switch, fight some more; the entire pattern is pretty generic. Some of the tasks involve juggling a time-keeping switch with a simultaneous fight and can be quite challenging. The game expects quite a bit of the player; Devil May Cry is a truly challenging game. Well-timed reflexes are key in taking on the trials throughout Devil May Cry 3. Enemies come in many different forms, some more difficult than others. The enemies can be logged away in a logbook, where Dante can look back on enemies, weapons, styles, and techniques. It's surprisingly deep and shows an interesting approach to battling, throwing in that pinch of strategy into the melee.

The bosses especially are incredibly challenging, with tremendous strength, tricky attack patterns, and a great deal of stamina. Healing items must be bought through a “store” of sorts, and the items' prices increase depending upon how much the items are purchased. Dante does possess a demon form for increased strength, speed, and stamina, but on the whole, there isn't many tricks to make Devil May Cry 3 any easier than it's intended to be. It's not as approachable as other action games are, but Devil May Cry 3 is incredibly rewarding for those who enjoy a challenge in their action games.

Devil May Cry 3 looks gorgeous. The Devil May Cry series has taken a great deal of its trappings from another Capcom series: Resident Evil. A long-time fan of the Devil May Cry series will find their familiarity; the gothic castles and dark atmosphere is spot-on. Many of the more cryptic rooms involve multi-tiered rooms and twisted staircases. On ambience, the game is stunning. When the hordes of demon minions come, the game's frantic pace is taken into effect immediately. The haunting score changes into striking guitar rock. The game's theme, “Devils Never Cry” is a marvel in metal music, elaborately written with metal yells and excellent instrumentals. The game doesn't completely solve the camera problem of the previous installments. The game can lead to attacking enemies off-screen, but this is generally infrequent. It's a problem that usually arises in simple minion battles, so it doesn't make the game any more difficult than it already is, which is a lot to begin with.

Devil May Cry 3, for the challenging and intricate game it is, is surprisingly long. The story mode can take up to 25 hours even for the most dedicated gamer. Any casual fan will most likely take longer, due to the game's intense difficulty. Even when the story is done, replaying missions on different difficulties or earning higher rankings for levels can take up a good amount of gaming time. Racking up currency for new weapons and skills can be pretty involving as well. The bulk of the game is shown in its excellent story mode, and going back to play a mission can be even more fun the second time around.

Pros
+ Combat system is top notch
+ Plenty of challenge
+ Diverse and versatile weapons
+ Colossal bosses
+ Excellent and gothic levels

Cons
- Difficulty is high
- Not all weapons or styles are fun
- Camera can be problematic

Devil May Cry 3 is a superb way of bringing the series back with a bang. Devil May Cry 3's intricate story and new approach to the franchise is a welcome change from the previous installment. The Style system offers plenty of ways to approach a battles, and the real-time weapon system makes stringing huge combos smooth, challenging, and fun. The amount of unique aspects in each level or boss is staggering, and the end result is a fast-paced blast of swords and spells. The difficulty and camera aren't forgiving, but any action game fan with courage and skill will no doubt fight through the defeat until the good shines through. There's plenty of things to do when the story ends as well. Dante's newest adventure looks good, plays good, and is an all-around joyfest for any passing fan of action games. It's a must-play for gamers, and a must-have for action fans.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/04/07