Devil May Cry 2

"With a semi-Resident Evil 2 format and use of the directional pad, DMC2 is one of the funnest titles yet."

Devil May Cry 2 is definitely a step up from the predecessor. Although the previous installment of the game wasn't totally bad, frustrating camera angles, the lack of use of the control pad and muffled dialogue seems to have all been addressed here. Though there are concerns about the game, but those issues will be addressed later.

Graphics
Graphically, the game looks great. Definitely a step up from the previous game(if you can believe that) as the whole setting is set in a modern-city like atmosphere. The areas look almost real sometimes to a point where you're thinking you're watching an actual action series.

The camera angles have been a bit better in this game, but the improvement overall is pretty mediocre. It's frustrating that you can't control the camera angle sometimes. There are several points in the game where the character actually goes off-screen, and it sometimes gets worst in boss battles since it can mean disaster when you can't see which direction you're facing, forcing you to jump to finally see where you are. The game tends to use a bird's eye view when it's not needed, as the game's camera angles are fixed. Some off screen enemies that have projectiles can be fustrating to battle sometimes since you can't see them and you're being hit, almost like a shot in the dark. This game is easily not one of Capcom's better efforts in the camera department.

Sound/Music
The music is nothing to brag about. It's the same heavy metal music during battles and erry music when the action is idle. It's roughly the same as the last game, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since this is an action game after all.

The sound department seems to have went up a notch, even though the last game the sound was just awful, so this isn't really a compliment depending on how you look at it. The sound is detailed to the game though, you can hear footsteps and there's nice echo effects in large rooms. The dialogue seems to be a bit better as it's no longer muffled, but the characters speak less...A LOT less. There's no more cheesy one-liners that made DMC so funny at times, just about 15 minutes worth of dialogue in the whole game that's about it. Kind of disappointing depending on how you look at it. But I think Capcom went with this since action games are generally that, just action and not much more.

Replay
Other than the standard difficulty settings after you beat the game, new costumes are available for the players. You can even play as Trish, which is interesting since Capcom never even hinted that Trish was a fighter of that caliber to be taking on demons. She holds the same animation as Dante, but she has a different voice to accompany her attacks(obviously). Though the awkward thing Capcom did was treat Trish exactly like Dante, so all FMVs and even cut scenes involves Dante with Trish nowhere to be found except for in game combat. The game's overall replay is pretty decent. Even though the game has 2 discs, it's really a lot shorter than it looks since Lucia is the 2nd player available on the 2nd disc, but fortunately she can be played from the get go rather than having to beat the game with Dante. But if you beat the game once, that's really all you need if you just play the game for the ending(which is not much of an ending).

Additionally, each character has a Bloody Palace mode once you beat the game, though it's just another name for Survivor mode with apparently no end that seems to be a total waste of time more than anything else. The 2nd disc was a waste of plastic, it could've easily all fitted onto one DVD-ROM and it would've done the environment some good but not using more oil...but eh, that's another issue.

Gameplay
Gameplay is simply a lot of fun. What has changed from the last game is that you can no longer go back to areas you've visited in previous missions, which hurts the game sometimes as you might miss an item and be forced to start the game over if you want to retrieve it. The game itself seems to be a bit bigger too, there's no sense of claustrophobia present in DMC2. DMC2 sort of mimics Resident Evil 2, by having 2 characters have their own disc and playing through the game and seeing the game through their own eyes. Yet the discs do not interact with each other, they play like separate tiles.

The gameplay system is a bit different this time around. You no longer have to live off continues, instead the yellow orbs you now collect will be an extra life, and instead of fighting for your special abilities, most of them are given to you at the beginning of the game(like the lightning-strike) and some are found within the game. Instead of using the red orbs to upgrade Dante's/Lucia's abilities, it's now used to upgrade the player's weapons. Though you can still purchase the accessories such as Blue Orbs and Holy Water, but the price for each of them increment higher each time you buy them, making the game more difficult.

Speaking of difficulty, the game's difficulty has been lowered dramatically. Before the game was so frustrating that I would find myself throwing the controller, despite the game's ''cool'' techniques. Now the game is so easy that it'll make you yawn. Though you can set the difficulty a lot higher once you beat the game, but chances are you are unlikely to play as the same character through the game again and the difficulty is still pretty easy on a higher difficulty.

The techniques in the game have been replaced with some newer ones. The most notable subtractions to the gameplay is the hesitate attacks Dante used with his sword in the previous game, but additions outweigh the subtractions. Players can now climb the walls with their feet in various ways, matrix style. Players can also front/back flip or cartwheel to the sides to avoid attacks more easily. Players can now do air combos in the air, though Lucia can't do combos in the air after her launcher. But aside from the additions, the game still plays pretty ''cool.'' You can juggle opponents with hand guns(though the effect isn't anywhere near as good as the last game unless you have machine guns) or daggers, combo the heck out of your opponent, and use the devil mode. The devil mode in this case is a bit interesting since certain abilities are unlocked as you find them. These abilities include healing up faster, attack stronger, run faster, fly, or attack with different Earth elementals. You can only equip 3 abilities at one time during Devil Mode, and only 1 from each category.

The game's other main character, Lucia, plays very similar to Dante, with slight tweaks. She uses daggers instead of guns, and she uses a lot more kicks to launch her opponent and come down on them. She can pull out more hits(though they are a bit weaker) on her combos and use Devil-Mode like her counterpart. Her animation is a bit more active, especially when she throws her daggers in the air.

The game's story on the other hand is a complete mess, it's short, barely worth watching, and doesn't even have enough text to fill a Dr.Seuss book. To top it off, the endings are short and the storyline is lame. There are a lot of parts between missions where the story never explains how you get there, and the mission objectives are often vague and unclear. The game itself is very short, you can finish the game off in 4 hours with one character, and probably 7 hours overall with both characters combined.

Finally, the characters in the game are a bit of a mixed bag. Sure they move great and kick ass, but their characters are never explained properly and they don't even speak enough to do them justice. Dante is a bit more stoic in this game, the voice acting is horrible. Capcom made Dante too cool at times that it's almost cheesy and unbearable to watch. Lucia is an odd one, despite looking dead sexy, her voice doesn't even fit her character and her accent seems phony. Either it's a French accent or a squeaky high pitched American accent, it's not very consistent and ruins the game a bit. But this is an action game, a good storyline, nice dialogue, and mission objectives are pretty much seldom expected in a pure-action flick like this one.

Overall
Devil May Cry 2 is a lot of fun, that's what the game is here for. It's not going to wow you with music, story, or game length, and while it's not a great game it is a good game and just pure fun, as you can expect from an action-genre. It's probably not worth the money and one can easily beat the game with all 3 characters in one rental, assuming one doesn't have errands or chores to do within that rental.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/02/03, Updated 02/06/03