Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

"A good ride that ultimately doesn't deliver"

Swords or guns. For far too many years, game designers, movie makers and fantasy writers have had to choose between the two. There was no middle ground, no way in having both be their hero's method of operation in their work. Along came Devil May Cry, a game that would seamlessly incorporate both and revolutionize the action genre. Style became substance, and violence became art. Gamers were impressed, and the hardcore gamer became fanatical. Here was an action game with depth AND challenge? It was almost too good to be true. Then came the sequel. A lot of people were disappointed, but to be fair, DMC2 introduced a lot of good ideas to the franchise. Ideas such as dual targeting, wall running, an evade/dash move, and leveling up guns. DMC3 sought to build on these ideas, bring back the hardcore fanatics, and give the franchise a much needed shot of adrenaline. Sadly, they only succeeded in part.

Presentation (8.0/10): The presentation in this game is great. Visually and aurally stunning, with Dolby support and cutting edge graphics. DMC1 was kind of blurry and had this bleeded out effect that added to the gothic atmosphere, but DMC3 has a crisp, clear visual style that is quite impressive. The cutscenes are great, over the top fun, but there are a few clipping issues in them. Gun sound effects and the swipe of the sword are all adequately loud and painful sounding.

So why only an 8 out of 10, you ask? Well, graphically and aurally this game is a 9/10 (for the PS2). However, Capcom seemed to try and do a bit too much with their engine. The game can handle many enemies on the screen at once, but when they start to overload the particle effects of them, the game does chug at times. No more for a second or two, but my main beef with these effects is that it makes the screen very difficult to see, and it becomes easy to lose Dante. This isn't helped by the horrible, horrible camera they've added. Gone is the fixed camera that would dynamically lock on to enemies. It's there to a degree, but the lock on is a joke. It works well with a boss, but if you try it in a crowd, your enemy can jump off screen and the camera won't swivel to stay locked on. Yes, you can reset it with R3, but you shouldn't have to. Why would I want to lock on to an enemy off the screen? This isn't helped when you have to fight two boss type enemies at once. Standing between the two, you can imagine the frustration as the camera swiveled to ABOVE me, with both enemies missing from the actual screen. The emphasis of DMC is to study your enemies to learn the "tells" of their attack, so how am I supposed to do that when I can't see them? Also, add the fact that one hit more often than not leads to several hits, and you can see how this game is considered needlessly difficult by some. The game isn't that hard, it's the poor design that makes it hard. Another good example of that is when you have to deal with some traps. That's fine and dandy when the camera is behind you, but then they make you run towards the screen to dodge things you can't see. Did I mention that the camera is only controllable in some places? Isn't the point of camera control so we can see what Dante sees? In this, the game fails, and it fails miserably.

Gameplay (8.5/10): The gameplay is the saving grace of this game. The action is fast, furious, and unrelenting. Let it be said: this is a hard game. Probably one of the hardest I've ever played, but the game is gracious enough to give you responsive controls that are tight and adjustable to your desires. You can instantly switch between two weapon types to maximize your comboes, and even your guns. However, it must be noted that with the spastic camera, Dante's left is only his left for a fraction of a second. Shotgun blast a locked on enemy, and expect the camera to jitter like a school kid on a sugar high. This easily could have been solved with an Onimusha type option for controls. Once I lock on, pushing right on the analog means Dante going to his right.

Another qualm with the control options is that the camera options weren't nearly deep...or offered, for that matter. The few times I did rotate the camera, it would be opposite. Now I'm an inverted view, reverse look kind of guy, so I understand I'm in the minority. Still, it would've been nice if Capcom at least gave me the option. Or better yet, the option for the old DMC camera.

Another failing of the gameplay system (though this is really just a matter of opinion) is the Style system. The game allows you to choose from four distinct styles that open up a variety of moves for Dante, to emphasize swords, guns, defense, or manuverability. There are two more unlockable ones, but those feel tacked on without any real depth. After all, you can't even level them up like the others. Many gamers simply love this new system; I actually find it extremely restrictive. What I loved about DMC1 is that I, as Dante, could pick and choose each move I wanted, and create my own style. Capcom pushed this idea of "My Dante" where we could create the style in DMC3. Instead, we're given cookie cutter styles that were predetermined in development. I'm sorry, but I want to mix and match, I want freedom in my gaming. The style system does open a few doors, but not nearly enough to warrant the praise it's getting.

Replayability (7.5/10): Unlockable difficulties that are actually quite challenging, a wealth of costumes, and tons of art and videos. My only qualm with the replayability is that the few, big flaws that I found playing it the first time will still be there on Round 2.

However, for those seeking a challenge, DMC3 is it for you. Like I've already said, this is a very difficult game, but those that love to be challenged (like myself), Capcom must have us in mind when they make games like these. The game isn't "cheap hard" like DMC2, but it certainly feels that way sometimes when you're repeatedly hit by an off screen enemy that you were sure you killed.

Tilt (6.5/10): So, after beating the game yesterday on Normal, I sat and stared at the screen for awhile, asking myself "Is this it?" Is this supposedly the best action game of our console generation? Sadly, it isn't. I was never wowed, not even once. Now, is that really fair to say, with all the great action games that have come out? Yes, I acknowledge that I might be a bit more jaded since DMC1 won me over. But hey, that is the challenge of game design; to give us fresh, new ideas that challenge and entertain us. Let me go over a few more flaws I found in the game: enemy and level design, item management, and the menus. The enemy design is certainly a step up from DMC2, but it is far from inspiring or fear inducing. No enemy really made me nervous. After all, I could carry 30 (THIRTY!) of each healing item. Quite a change from DMC1, where you could carry one. Another qualm I have is with the item managment; you can only carry two guns and two swords into a mission. Granted, you can switch at certain points within the mission, but let's be reasonable. We don't know what's ahead. We often go in unprepared. While I understand the balancing issue here (thank you Halo), it really just doesn't make sense. How is it Dante can only switch weapons at these statues? Do they inhabit the same void that the item chests in Resident Evil do? It would make the gameplay far, far better if they had let us switch within the menu. After all, it's a pain to go in there, so it's not like we're going to abuse it. Since we're on menus, let me complain about the little pain that is menus. Each menu takes more than a few seconds to load, and the menus aren't even connected for easy access. Try going over the move lists and see how long they take to load each one. Nothing more than a few seconds, but in a kinetic action game, I want instant gratification.

Overall (7/10): You're probably thinking I'm dwelling too much on the negatives. That's probably true; with all the praise out there for this game, I thought there should be other point of views out there. As such, let me state the many positives in this game:

-breathtaking graphics, smooth frame rate
-responsive controls
-amazing combat engine with tons of possibilities
-an equal emphasis on guns and swords
-loud, explosive sounds and a catchy soundtrack
-good voice acting and sick cutscenes

This is a good action game. It's got challenge and it's got depth, but face it people...it has flaws. Little nitpicky flaws to some, but grating, annoying ones to others. You can always nitpick the camera for nearly any action game, but it seems to me Capcom got lazy with DMC3 and figured that giving us "control" of the camera was enough to satisfy us instead of them actually working on that dynamic, fluid camera fans of DMC1 had grown to know and love. To me, this game is too much of a response to the negative backlash of DMC2 and not enough of a "fresh start for DMC". Just look at how they amped up the difficulty
and zoomed in the camera to a ridiculous degree; two major complaints against DMC2. As such, I find this game to be a disappointment, as it doesn't do enough on its own, focusing instead on correcting "mistakes" of prior titles.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/09/05