Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition

"As a newcomer to the Devil May Cry series, I am quite impressed."

I was told by my friends to get Devil May Cry 3 : Dante's Awakening. The next day, I found out about Devil May Cry 3 : Special Edition. Since DMC 3 : DA had recieved amazing reviews, I thought DMC3 SE would be even better. I waited. When I got it....I can't really say it in one sentence. So, here goes -

The game looks ok, nothing great, though. Everything's clear, and that's all what I expect. No real-life graphics or something. However, those would be favorable.

I can't really say anything about the sounds. Dante (the main protagonist) has that "cool jock who is always chased by girls" voice. Vergil has that "super-cool guy with evil intent" voice. The music can be classified as rock. Sometimes, it gets slightly annoying. But, nothing to worry about.

The gameplay was perhaps the best in all of the games I have ever played (mind you, that includes God of War). A very fluid combat system. At first, I was confused at the rather huge number of combos. Slowly I got the hang of it. It's fun blasting down a demon with a shotgun at close range, then jumping back, shooting two rapid fire guns in the air, slicing a demon in half by a sword and wall running and *I could go on and on. Some things are very hard at first. For example, rolling. You actually have to flick the analog stick to the character's left, in order to roll left. Can be a bit confusing at first. This is the same for most of the combos. There are also 'styles' of combat that each give different 'style' moves. Most of these moves are very cool

I'm a newcomer to the story, but whatever it is, it sure is cool. Lots of characters, and something cooking up in Vergil's (Dante's brother) tower. I won't ruin it for you. But, let me tell you, it is awesome.

The first time you play this game, you will surely die in the first four levels. However, after dieing 3 times, you unlock easy difficulty mode (now that's strange). After completing normal mode, you unlock hard, after completing hard, you unlock Dante Must Die mode. After DMD, you unlock Heaven or Hell, which (I presume), is the hardest difficulty. There are also a host of unlockables to unlock, like costumes.There's this "Bloody Palace" feature, that has 9999 levels. Once you finish them, you get a nice prize. There is also another character that you can finish the game with (Vergil). Vergil has a different set of moves and weapons, and even has his own 'style'!

Overall, this game stands out from a score of other action-adventure games. I think this game deserves a 10, but it doesn't have that perfect 'touch'. But, hey, all this for 20 dollars... thats a bargain.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/06