Devil May Cry 4

"A great game that would make any devil cry"

Introduction
Devil May Cry 4 is the latest installment in the series. Rather then playing as Dante however, the player is given a new character to control. You play as Nero, a knight of the Order of the Sword for the town of Fortuna. If you're a little uneasy, don't worry, you get to play as Dante, however short the period is. The game was well-done for the most part and will most definitely be enjoyed by the casual gamer.

Gameplay: 7/10
The gameplay is great at the start, but if you're not a DMC (Devil May Cry) fan, you may find it repetitive. This is because all you really do is fight hordes of demons. While there are some puzzles in the game, they do not require a lot of effort or thought to complete and usually involve combat of some sort. For example, there are blue switches that you can activate by either striking them with your sword or hitting them with Nero's devil bringer (his demonic right arm). Another puzzle involves a single die that the player must strike to move their piece across a map. There are also a lot of areas in the game where Nero ventures into an area and is trapped by magic bordering off all the exits until he destroys all the spawning demons. The game basically traps you with a group of demons and forces you to fight them. For that reason, the game was somewhat linear and you knew exactly when you were going to have a fight on your hands. It would be nice if a demon popped out at you every once in a while like certain enemies did in "Resistance: Fall of Man". Instead, the fights were very predictable. If you were coming into an empty clearing, which happens often, chances are you had a fight coming your way.

Are you low on health and cursing left and right because you can't find any Green Orbs to heal your wounds? Don't worry dudes, Capcom's got us covered. When players kill demons or smash things like boxes and pots, they get Red Orbs, which are crystallized demon blood. You can offer Red Orbs to the Divinity Statues scattered across every level to obtain special healing items, such as Vital Stars which restore your vitality or Devil Stars that restore some of your Devil Trigger gauge. The bigger the star, the more they can restore. You can also use Red Orbs to buy Purple Orbs which increase your Devil Trigger Gauge and Blue Orb fragments (once you obtain four Blue Orb fragments, your health bar will increase). At the end of each level, players are awarded with Proud Souls. The number of Proud Souls you collect at the end of each level is dependent on your Style rank for that level, the number of Red Orbs you collected, and the time it took you to complete the level. What are these wondeful Proud Souls used for, you ask? You can offer them to the various Divinity Statues in the levels to give your weapons some upgrades. Proud Souls can be used for things like purchasing new techniques for your sword and learning new techniques such as dodging attacks and following up with a counter.

There was only one challenge throughout the entirety of the game I found, and that was the "Lost Woods" portion of one of the levels, which I won't spoil for you. There are some great combat elements, a prominent one being the ranking system of combat. When you successively hit enemies without being interrupted or damaged, your stylish rank goes up. It will only go up if you use a variety of different attacks, so combat will likely never get boring or repetitive. The style rankings are D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. Players will find themselves jumping in glee when they pull off great combos and attain high stylish rankings.

There is also something else I would like to mention. Since DMC 3, the series has taken more of an "anime" approach. I personally was hoping for a gothic horror style game like older Castlevania games, where enemies consist of things considered "unholy" and vile. Instead, some of DMC 4's enemies are Scarecrows which look nothing of the sort, floating insect-like demons called Mephistos with a cloak of darkness over them, and mutant plants known as Chimera. I did like however the fact that the Chimera could take over other enemies, resulting in a powerful hybrid for you to fight. Also, there are different kinds of demons for each class so while they may seem similar, certain types of demons are not exactly alike. For example, the Scarecrow Leg looks and acts differently from the Scarecrow Arm. Fausts are more powerful than their Mephisto demon counterparts. A demon I found neat were the Blitz demons that attempted a suicidal final explosion when they were low on vitality. If you find anime cheesy and awkward like I do, the story won't really have any appeal to you, and the only reason you'll play is because of the combat element of the game.

DMC fans will also be glad to know that Dante's "Class" system is still in effect. Once you aquire control of Dante, the directional buttons will correspond with the four different classes. To activate the power for the currently equipped class, you press circle. For example, pressing circle while having Trickster equipped will make Dante dash forward in an evasive-like movement. Pressing circle with Gunslinger equipped will have Dante fixed in a position shooting in one direction, while player uses the left analog stick to aim the other gun in another direction. Royal Guard allows Dante to block attacks, and Sword Master allows him to launch enemies in the air with a sword strike. The gameplay aspect really depends on your preferences, so I won't say anymore on it, although there is something I should state. The Dark Slayer class is also here, and can be attained at a later point in the game. To activate it, press the directional button that corresponds to the class currently equipped. I won't spoil that class for you, I'll just leave it at "pure awesomeness".

While the levels are nicely rendered and great to look at, the developers didn't try very hard at this department. When the character finishes the portion of the game with Nero, you must take Dante and back-track through the same levels. Dante gets nothing fresh, he gets to go through the exact same levels to destroy the same bosses fought as Nero. I think Capcom could've at least created different bosses if not new environments for Dante.

Storyline: 7/10
As stated earlier, I cannot go into much depth wih this because it falls on preference. I don't like anime, but the story was actually somewhat enjoyable to me and it was rewarding to see the cutscenes. I also cannot say much about the story without revealing spoilers. Even if the story does not catch your fancy, the gameplay surely will, so don't give up on the game too early. For a brief idea on the story, think of Super Mario. The woman that your character loves is kidnapped, and he quests to save her. There are parts where he is almost able to set her free, but fails and tries again later. Dante makes an entrance and helps Nero to save a whole Kingdom. Unless you like spoilers or knowing exactly what happens in a game, that's all I can say for the storyline.

Graphics: 8/10
Very well done graphics, here are some great bonus points for Capcom. The cutscenes are great, and there is not a single framerate issue. Everything is smooth and the colour pallet used was diverse and exquisite. The characters were made with just as much effort as the environments, everything from Nero to the demons he encounters are well detailed. I wouldn't say that it would make up for anything you may not like in the game however, because it's brutal to play through a single player game with a story you really find lackluster and boring.

Sound: 4/10
I found the battle music absolutely horrid and atrocious. Boring vocals, no variation in the guitar work, the "I hate you because you're better than me" feel to the song as a whole. The sad part is, you have to hear the music every time a battle ensues in the game, and battles make up pretty much 100% of the game. There was a rare occasion where they would play somewhat of a metal theme in their music and incorporated cryptic piano playing, one of the few battle songs in the game I actually liked. It would be nice if the Playstation 3 had the 360's music feature that lets the player play saved music even during a game, I would've loved to blast some death metal instead of hearing that dreary attempt at "badass" music every time I found a group of demons. I will say that the sound effects were realistic and crisp, such as firing your gun or hearing your sword rip through demons when you strike them. The voice acting was also excellent and hit the mark spot on.

Length/ Replayability: 8/10
I completed the game's story in no more than two weeks. However, it depends on the level of difficulty you select. I would imagine the game would take much longer on the harder difficulties. I liked the Bloody Palace mode that they included as it was challenging and included boss fights as well as large groups of demons to fight. There is some great replay value, such as hard modes and the "demon rush" mode mentioned earlier called Bloody Palace, where players must kill all the demons that spawn on the current floor in order to gain access to other floors. This mode is very enjoyable and rewards you for your efforts by allowing you to keep all Red Orbs aquired as well as throwing in some Proud Souls. This mode is quite challenging and will keep players on edge. It was also enjoyable to aquire different art pieces to view in the gallery on the mission menu after certain conditions are met. The different difficulties are also challenging, players will notice how much harder bosses become and how different demons are found in different spots. For example, you might come across an area in Human mode where there are Scarecrows and then find that in that same area in Son of Sparda mode, there are Assaults instead of Scarecrows. I would recommend that after beating the game on Devil Hunter, you should take a break from the story. Instead of playing the game on the new difficulties, play through Bloody Palace for a while. Reason being, you may get rather sick of the story if you are constantly experiencing it.

Final Thoughts
A more than decent game that will hold your interest until you have completed it. The Bloody Palace mode was great and gave the player something to do other than replay through the same story on different difficulties. The story may not appeal to everyone, but the gameplay and graphical design was outstanding. I would definitely recommend buying the game simply because you'll regret not buying it during the last few days of your rental.

Tasty
- Dante remains a playable character
- Combat is very immersive
- Graphics are well done
- Challenging bonus mode is included
- Statistics and Style rankings in single player are recorded on an online leader board viewable on the mission menu

Yucky
- Combat can get repetitive due to the "you're trapped and can only get out by eliminating all demons in the area" feel
- You cannot choose what character you want to play as
- Dante can only be played for a much smaller amount of time than Nero
- Storyline may not appeal to all
- Levels are limited
- Bosses encountered as Dante are the same bosses fought as Nero
- Puzzles are simple and not challenging
- Somewhat linear gameplay
- Battle music may make you puke

Note: There is no online playability, the online portion is there merely to record your statistics of your gameplay on a world-wide leader board, such as play time, difficulty, and battle rankings.

The negatives seem to out-weigh the positives. However, I would like to remind everyone that reviews are nothing more than opinion and when deciding on a purchase, you should read reviews of all scores. I personally do not regret the purchase and recommend it to my fellow casual gamers.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/25/08, Updated 03/10/08

Game Release: Devil May Cry 4 (US, 02/05/08)