Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

"Worth it if you have the patience."

Previously I had rated this game a 5/10 for purposes regarding difficulty and such. Some people didn't seem to like my opinion. Some people were mature and resorted simply to convincing me to keep on playing, while others had me laughing for hours with unoriginal flames, trolling, and a lack of any sort of english skill. I decided to listen to the former and give the game a second chance. After beating the game, I decided I was a little too harsh. Devil May Cry 3 mixes a lot of old with a little bit of new, and Dante isn't short on cans of kickass.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is great. You go around, kick ass with guns and swords and other various weapons, and solve puzzles. All of these greatly compliment each other in a game that ensures action packed battle sequences, exciting cutscenes, and always keeping you on your toes. The game doesn't allow you to take a nanosecond off from the action, as it will mean taking a lot of damage. There are five devil arms and five guns to choose from (but you have to obtain them first), and they all have their ups and downs. The weapons aren't repetitive either: from nunchaku to guitars, from shotgun to laser-esque guns. Really, the game makes sure that you aren't short of weapons to own enemies with.

The puzzles are also fun yet not overwhelmingly difficult. I admit, I had to use a guide for a couple, but for the most part you know what's going on. Overall, the gameplay is the main draw of the game. It's one of those games where you see enemies and instead of saying "Man I hate enemies, why do I have to fight them?" you say: "Alright, more time to annihilate a bunch of poor, unfortunate souls." Great gameplay; 10/10

Learning Curve/Difficulty:

The biggest turn off of the game. People say I'm wrong, but I'm absolutely adamant about this: THE GAME IS TOO HARD. It's nice to have a hard difficulty to choose from, y'know? It's nice to be able to say "I'm looking for a real challenge, I think I'll play this." It's also crappy to have to say: "Hey, I'm playing on the simplest or next-simplest difficulty and getting destroyed." Once you learn how to do everything in a steady pattern (takes awhile), you're basically fighting some of the hardest enemies in the damn game anyway, so it's pretty much evened out. I mean I'm up for a challenge but good god, this is ridiculous. One of the reliefs though is that pretty much every boss after mission five is cake. I mean really, the hardest parts are the first 25% and the last 10%. At any rate, I suppose that's sort of how it works out. Regardless, the game is too difficult, and it takes away greatly from the score; 4/10

Music/Sound:

The music and sound are pretty good on this game. Most of the battle scenes include heavy metal; many cutscenes include dramatic ensembles, and that's about it. So basically, there's little variety. However, the music as a whole isn't that bad, you're usually too busy battling enemies to worry about the music. The sounds are pretty repetitive too. Here is a text based rendition of the sound:

BANG BANG BANG SLICE SLICE BANG BANG BANG BANG GROAN BANG

However, as with the music, you're usually too busy whoopin' some baddies to really give about the sounds. The music and sounds are fairly good, but nothing to wow over; 8/10.

Graphics:

Let me start by saying that the cinematic scenes are extremely impressive, and the cutscenes are very good too. The game's normal graphics, however, are nothing amazing. They're good, yes, but many games surpass it in graphical achievements. However, like I said, they aren't anything to whine about. The graphics are fine, and include beautiful cutscenes; 9/10.

Controls:

Okay, I used to say the controls sucked because of the poor camera, as it is possible for them to work in relation of one another. However, I think that's a little tough on the game. The game really utilizes every single function of the controller. You name it, it's used. In one sense this is awesome because it allows you to do more. In the same sense, it's easy to get confused in the beginning, and while you're busy looking down at your controller trying to remember what circle does, you get sliced in the face and fall down (and don't get up). However, once you've got the main function of all the buttons down, it's really quite simple to remember how to waste enemies.

The unfortunate part is that a lot of times you'll have a specific pattern of buttons you press that you like to use because you can remember it easily. This can lead to a lower score... but that's so insignificant I can't see why it would be a con. The roll function kind of sucks, as you have to use it in coordination with the direction of the camera and such. And, as you'll read later on, the camera isn't done very well. Normally I wouldn't care since I'm sort of a "shoot now, dodge later" sort of gamer, but in DMC3 there's almost an unwritten law about dodging and how you must do it all the time. I could jump, but that doesn't always work. Regardless, the controls are actually pretty good, not perfect, but they're done quite well; 8/10

Camera:

Then we have the camera. Oh dear god... Alright, well Capcom decided, "Hey, I know, let's just let them control the camera with the right analog stick and call it a job well done." Actually, yes, that sounds quite easy. But yet again, Capcom found a way to take one of the easiest functions in the world and make it complicated. You're so busy moving around and such that sometimes you don't have an opportunity to move the camera, not to mention the fact that in some cases you can't move the camera. This is actually almost more frustrating while just walking around than in boss fights. For example, there's a mission where you have a time limit to get somewhere otherwise you die. You jump on these gears and such and then in mid jump the damn camera changes angles and you fall and die. Thanks, guys. Words cannot express my feeling towards the camera, it is the worst of any game I've ever played; 1/10

Replayability:

Well, if you hate extremely hard games and/or get frustrated easily (usually me), then this game might not be for you. Once you have the luck and yellow orbs (extra life, basically) to beat the game, guess what?! There's normal mode! I can't imagine how you could possibly not go insane while redoing the game on a harder difficulty considering how hard it starts out, but hey, some people dig that. If you want me to be more specific, I'll put it briefly: Challenge = good? This game = buy. Challenge = bad? This game = no buy; 6/10

Overall:

Overall, Capcom took various elements of action games and put it into one. While it has its share of crap, it also has a lot of fun and good components. I'd say if you love difficult games, this game is for you. Otherwise, stay away from this extremely challenging sequel... or rather prequel; 7/10.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/05, Updated 07/12/05