"Great game...dodgy controls."

Devil May Cry is a great premier shooter that the PS2 was blessed with as one of its first Capcom games to be released. I do think that many of the factors of this game could have been overall a bit iffy and adds to the game's simplicity so in some modes it could have been way too simple for many hardcore gamers who are big fans of Capcom's action games. After all, the Street Fighter and Resident Evil games made some great series by the company, but would Devil May Cry have been an extra hit on their list? Well, I got the game two years after its release, at Christmas 2003 and for only £10 at a Cash Converter's store. I had heard some praises about this game and a few bad things as well, but for a tenner for a PS2 game, I was convinced that this game might not be so bad after all, but I decided to get it anyway, and after playing, was well convinced it was a bargain. The storyline was different from those other Capcom games, I would not describe it as classic, but well worth it for a game of this calibre. So what makes this game so good in my eyes?

Devil May Cry is one of those games that teenage PS2 hardcore game-craving kids really love to play. That along with others such as Metal Gear Solid 2 and the Grand Theft Auto series. I play a reasonable amount of these games mind you but like to keep my cool while I judge a game while I play and found the game's simplicity and some rather dodgy controls (possibly graphics too) could be its main weak spots. Maybe this game could be over-rated as I have read magazine reviews saying it's a game like none before, and even some claim it to be among the best. The praises I could respect, but was this game all it was cracked up to be?

The storyline of this game is rather simple I actually think. I mean, there's not much of a structure or a backstory to tell you why Dante's in the position he is before Trish invades his club and he's off on all these missions. The cut-scenes between many of the missions or while you play are pretty sweet, though, so you ca also learn a little of what's going on while you play, and it's strongly held together by the overall event which is the game itself. It's not exactly Resident Evil which I found interesting, because some other companies like to have their games based on the same kind of mood and have their storylines similar. In this game some things are not easy to remember in terms of background, meaning the story is not maybe as rigid as Capcom wanted it to be. However it is not too complex either but you can understand why Dante acts the way he does, why all these demons try to put an end to his miserable life and so on.

I did find that the emotional expressions were too unrealistic for PS2 quality, a minus on the side of this overall fascinating game. You can understand what the characters are saying and stuff, but there are no decent facial motions in the cut scenes and you can't really tell the mood of any of the characters because they always seem to keep straight faces. So if the game tries to reach out and touch you, it will have barely, if any, effect.

Devil May Cry does however, have some nice and interesting characters to its name. They have some great quality looks and texture graphics and they look like the stereotypical kind of people that you'd see in a film like this if there ever was one made. You got Dante, this half-human, half-demon guy who stands to keep the bond strong between Earth and the Underworld because of a war that raged on some many centuries ago, and Dante's father Sparda was a very popular figure among the underworld and Dante possesses the qualities of his old man. You also got Trish who you meet at the start and she's this sexy-looking but cold and calculating woman as you find out later on. The many creepy bosses throughout the games are also those kind you'd expect to find in the underworld. But the whole game revolves around a story of mystery...so you have to expect the unexpected.

Gameplay - 8/10

The main weakness I found about this game, which was also a problem with the Resident Evil series, are these dodgy controls. They were an improvement from those of the Resident Evil games (pure awful controls those were folks) but using the Left Analogue Stick all the time to move is a bit frustrating. I would have much rather preferred the D-Pad but the movement it allows you is pretty cool, so it would have been a win-win situation in my eyes, I suppose. You don't have to push the stick forward to move in Dante's view of forward this time, but when the ''camera'' view switches the controls stay the same unless you let go of the stick and re-adjust, which I don't like too much really. So the controls were not that impressive, but the game's quality sure was...

One of the best things about the gameplay of DMC is it's battling system. When you walk into a fight with some enemies, the hardcore music sets in, and I think this kind of puts you into a fighting mood, that's cool! But you're also ranked on how you fight, but you also got to be strategic while you do so, and you can fight quick-paced, close-quarters, or far away and use weapons and all the time you are controlling what you do, and this is something I found absolutely amazing. When you get to those tough bosses you have some good opportunity to brush up your skills, so it's all the better as you game on and mash your PS2's button while you slice up your foes.

So we've established the battles are decent enough, but what about the game itself? Well, before I get to the actual things that happen, I'll explain about what it's all about when you play. You have to complete 23 ''missions'', well if you want to call them missions, but really it's all one long simple chain of events split up by chapter names, but good enough you can power Dante up before you make some more progress if you need to buy some good attacks should you have the required amount of Red Orbs, or the DMC currency, simply put. There are also secret missions, yet these are mainly short and not really of much relevance to this game, but what the hell, whatever they do to make it better.

While you play you can have a big range of weapons for Dante to utilise at his disposal. You can be bare-fisted, have a sword to chop your meat or guns for a bit of point blank. So if you're a fan of giant cuts and slits with a giant blade, itchy trigger fingers or feeding someone a knuckle sandwich, your weapons will not disappoint you. This is one of the game's fortes truth be told, which is why it has such the hardcore image.

Dante's moves could also affect the way you play. Before you start a mission or if you find a Time Statue, you can trade in a huge bundle of your Red Orbs to acquire some earth-shattering abilities to use for your swords and fists, or find some better weapons around the areas as you play. You can customise Dante's fighting style to suit your needs. The cooler moves will be more costlier, but it's an added notch to the gameplay value, and it is yet another of those great points to slap onto the game's resume.

One of the other things in the game that are based on Dante's fighting ability is something called a ''Devil Trigger''. This will make Dante go berserk and you become like, almost unstoppable in this mode, so if you're a beginner against some of the bosses in the game, the Devil Trigger helps you out. Your attacks can be better and you don't need much concern for Dante's energy while you fight. So that's all I really have to say for the gameplay for Devil May Cry.

Story - 7/10

The whole storyline of Devil May Cry is a big load of mystery and difficult to understand parts. At the start you understand about Dante a little - about 2000 years ago there was a war between our world and the Underworld and this guy called Sparda was involved, and Dante is the son of this legendary Sparda. It's a good build-up to this game. Even at times this storyline can seem a bit chilling, but at others you can't be all totally understand of what's going on, so maybe there should have been more explanation gone into this game, yet these cut-scenes speak for themselves.

Now if a game has a storyline to make it what it is, to be interesting so you have a good interest while you play, you need some characters to go along with it right/ Each person has a suited role for Devil May Cry. I've already described Dante - the main character, and Trish, and these bosses as well. Their looks are terrific and they look unique in themselves compared to any other game, which is why it's so terrific.

Audio/Video - 8/10

Although I liked the graphics of the characters because of nice looks and such, I found some other areas of graphics in the game rather awkward and at times disappointing. For instance, the lightning looks nothing like lightning. It's just a bunch of jagged coloured in lines without any lighting up of anything around them, and blood looks like runny jam. Eugh. Yet it can still look to be some of the better graphics in the PS2's wide game collection. The game still has some attractive looks and stuff.

What I liked most graphic-wise were the looks of the areas you play around in, mainly these later ones. Your surroundings look very realistic and when you swim, it's as though you're...swimming. You'd control Dante form a first-person view, and the contrast of light and dark throughout the several places you go in DMC just make it look a whole plain lot better.

The visual effects are something to be impressed with as well. When Dante makes a slicing action with his sword you'll see it make a very quick movement and it looks totally cool too. Fire effects, water effects, and at times lightning look excellent whenever you play in my opinion. Another added good point about DMC.

The soundtrack of Devil May Cry however is something I don't think Capcom want to boast about, really. There are no attractive themes in the game apart from a couple of boss battles, and it could have been the thing that made a difference. Many of the soundtracks are just deep piano notes that try to build up tension, but do not serve their purpose to the maximum, truth be told.

However it's not all that bad. The great rock music while you fight enemies and bosses kind of motivates you to fight a good fight in order to boost your ranks significantly. The sound effects sound cool as well. That's about all really.

Replayability - Medium

There are many different modes to play through DMC with, and you can adjust your simplicity or difficulty depending on how much of a hardcore PS2 gamer you are. There's all these secret missions to try out as well or trying to obtain as best a rank as possible in each mission, so you'll definitely be interested for a while.

Overall - 9/10

So overall, that's why Devil May Cry is such an astonishing game. The many points I have made and why it is so popular are why the game's such a big hit, and why it's worth purchasing. Devil May Cry 2 is something to look forward to as well as it's supposed to be an even bigger expansion of this game, so if it is pure Capcom gaming satisfaction you want, you got it right here. And for such a cheap price I bought it for, why not?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/04