Devil May Cry 4

"A step back from DMC3 but still an awesome game."

The long wait is over. Devil May Cry 4 is the first true sequel to the stylish demon slaying series. Capcom wanted to bring new comers in on the forth installment and thus we are treated with a new character called Nero wich has a demon possesed arm. Old fans will be pleased though as Dante is still a playable character but is treated more as a support character and isn't the main focus of the game. Does the game live up to the hype though.

Story

The game takes place in the city of Fortuna where a cult known as the Order of the Sword worships Sparda as a god and go forth slaying demons in his name. Our hero Nero is a member of the Orderr all though he has a sort of rebellious nature that displeases his superiors. One day as Nero is leaving the boring sermon, the old protaginist Dante comes crashing down through the stained glass and shoots the priest preaching. Nero and Dante clash using there guns and blades and than to Dante's surprise Nero pulls out his arm known as the Devil Bringer and proceeds to kick Dante's ass. After getting impaled by his sword for a third time, Dante just shrugs and leaves. Nero is thus ordered by Credo the general of the Holy Knights to pursue Dante and the intro ends. Now the main problem with the story line is it has alot of plot holes. Somethings that happen never get explained, and the things that don't get explained are actually a pretty big deal. Though the story remains mediocre and predictable, the cutscenes are done really well and movie makers should take a lesson from Capcom's fighting choreographers. In the end it probably remains the best story that the DMC series has ever pulled off though so if your happy with DMC's story already than you'll like this one.

Gameplay

This is what its all about. Again the DMC series makes slaying demons incredibly fun but there are a few things that could have made the game better. You still collect red orbs from enemies to purchase items but now you have to use Proud Souls to purchase new moves and abilities, to aquire them you just kill as many enemies as you can while trying to keep a high stylish meter and you'll collect them at the end of the mission. The real cool part about this new system though is now you can refund moves so you can get Proud souls back. Don't like the move? Refund it and buy another one.

Nero does play signicantly different from Dante with his Devil Bringer wich you can use to throw enemies and grab far away demons. The arm is also used to solve puzzles but theres none that can't be figured out in more than 5 minutes, really the hard part is figuring out where you got to go next, there was a couple times I ran around not knowing where I should go next. Also a new element with Nero is his Exceed system with his sword Red Queen. You can rev the motorcycle handle to cause the blade to burn propellent causing it to swing faster and do more damage and some moves change all together, if you can master the instant rev than your ready for some fun, however the Exceed system isn't necessary and you can finish the game without ever using it. The main problem with Nero though I feel is he doesn't actually get any new weapons through out the game. He gets the ability to summon a spirit that acts alot like Devil trigger but thats it. Thus I got bored of playing Nero for awhile because of his lack of variety but thankfully thats what Dante is for.

About halfway through the game you switch over to Dante who plays very similar to how he played in DMC3 but with minor changes in his moves. But the big improvement is now Dante can switch styles now, making incredible amounts of combo and defensive possibilities. Dante also gets more weapons all though he gets less than what he did in DMC3 wich is a little disapointing seeing as Capcom said that DMC4 was gonna have more weapons than all other DMC's combined. But what weapons there are are good but there is really only 2 new weapons to the series, Lucifer and Pandora's box. I didn't find Lucifer to useful but Pandora's box is one of the coolest weapons ever, I'll not spoil it for you here as you need to see it to be in true awe of this suitcase. Another disapointing factor though is that Dante doesn't actually get his own levels, in fact he goes through all of Nero's levels in reverse order fighting all the same bosses Nero did. Not a big problem but it does feel like Capcom got lazy with Dante's missions but I had so much more fun playing Dante that I didn't care about what the background was, though the background is really cool.

Graphics

Now I've only started getting into next gen gaming. But from what I've seen this has got to be one of if not the most beatufiul multi platform game out there right now. The character models were done really well and Dante just looks bout 100 times better than he did on PS2. The environments are also done really well but I always thought the the backgrounds in DMC1 and DMC3 were done really well but now that we're on PS3 and Xbox 360, I just want to take a picture of some of them and use it as my PC's desktop background. And running at 60 fps this game is also one of the smoothest running games too. The only real complaint I have is the shadows in the jungle area look jagged and for some reason are all staticy when you run around and for some reason causes the game to slow down. Seeing as this is only in the jungle area its not that big of a deal, just get done with that area as soon as you can.

Sound

The music is actually really good and fits the mood of the game. But like DMC3 there is only one track that plays during battle and it does get rather repetitive. I like the battle music but sometime I just got tired of it and decided to mute the TV and listen to something else. The voice acting this time is done surprisingly well. The only line that was delivered horribly was literally meant to be because Dante is wierd like that, but Jonny Yong Bosch did an AMAZING job playing Nero with adding just enough emotion but not enough to the point where its cheesey like the series is known for.

Replay Value

This is what the series is know for. Playing throuh it multiple times until doomsday, heck I still play DMC1 every now and than. But I feel that DMC4 falters a little bit from the rest. It does have multiple difficulties but no realy good unlockables aside from Bloody Palace and Infinite Devil Trigger.This is a HUGE step back seeing as how many unlockables that DMC3 had. Still the other difficulties are worth playing through for its more than just powered up enemies as now they have newer tricks up their sleeve on harder difficulties. The boss fight with Dante for example on Son of Sparda will actually pull out his other weapons to use against you other than just his signature sword and guns. Still if you like the game than your gonna replay through it regardless as you'll want to find more combo possibilities and further master the game.

Overall

Story: 7/10 Decent but to many plot holes.

Gameplay: 8.5/10 Still fun but not a big step forward. In fact Nero feels like a step back in some ways, i.e. no new weapons. Dante makes up for this though.

Graphics: 9/10 One of the best looking games out there.

Sound: 9/10 Great voice overs and soundtrack although repetitive battle music.

Replay: 9/10 You gotta play through the extra difficulties to really enjoy this game.

Overall 9/10 Though I think DMC3 is better. DMC4 is still fun as hell and any fan should go buy it right away and even those new to the series should enjoy it

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/20/08

Game Release: Devil May Cry 4 (Collector's Edition) (US, 02/05/08)