Review: Devil May Cry 4
By Dimorphic
NOTE: Sorry for the lateness of this review (game came out in Feb) but I have been under an embargo with the review as it was entered into a competition and couldn’t be posted until the comp ended.
For so long Devil May Cry was one of Sony’s big gun titles. A stylish action game that has an emphasis on outlandish fighting, huge boss battles and an involving plot. In 2007 Capcom announced that Devil May Cry would no longer be a Sony exclusive, with number four getting a simultaneous release on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 in a very large coup for Microsoft.
The story begins in DMC 4 not with Dante, but a new hero, Nero. Nero is a member of the Order of the Sword, a religion that worships the demon lord Sparda who veteran DMC players will know well.
You won’t wait long for Dante though, as he soon appears and assassinates the order’s leader. Nero then has his first confrontation with the anti-hero which doubles as a tutorial mission.
There are several basic moves that Nero begins with, his slash attack, his magnum and undoubtedly the coolest; the Devil Bringer. The Devil Bringer is Nero’s demonic arm that gives him the ability to pull enemies toward him as well as do some fantastic finishing moves. Easily the greatest innovation to the series since the original game, the Devil Bringer is upgradable throughout the game, as well as all the other weapons and move sets. You unlock these buy spending the red orbs you collect throughout a mission which spill out of enemies and environment objects you’ve destroyed.
The combat system is very deep with the amount of moves you can pull off and chain together mind-boggling. You have a combo meter that fills as you fight giving you style points which adds to your end of level grade. This system pushes you to learn all the moves and combos so that you can upgrade your score which are recorded via Xbox Live leaderboards.
The enemies vary from lower level scarecrows to the larger magic powered knights and winged ice demons and they are all fun to fight, each with a weakness you have to learn and exploit. But the boss fights are what you’ll remember most. Ranging from giant flaming horse demons to gigantic toads and evil angels the fights are fast and frantic and never boring.
While the combat system is incredibly deep the rest of the gameplay is quite old school with the mass of the game being viewed from a fixed camera perspective with very static environments. You’ll enter an area; wipe out all the enemies and then move on, engaging every now and then in some puzzle sections. While this doesn’t sound particularly positive the game doesn’t suffer from this, as the deep combat system and involving story are what you’ll be playing for. Though for a next-gen title you would expect more innovation to be put into these things and while it is disappointing it isn’t a game breaker.
Another interesting approach with the gameplay taken is that about half way through the game the story turns and you find yourself in the shoes of Dante, who has a very different style to Nero. After learning your Nero move set being thrown headfirst into Dante’s shoes who has no devil bringer and different moves of his own is a bit disorienting. Dante has several styles to choose from, you can focus in on gunplay or swordfighting or even trickster moves which involve fast moving counters. Once you get used to it again it’s a great addition, but throwing you straight in may not have been the best idea.
So with the combat and story getting ticked off how do the graphics and sound fare? It typical Capcom fashion the graphical bar has been raised, with DMC 4 showing off some fantastic visuals. Right from the start the graphics and animations look fluid, streamlined and down right jaw dropping. The music isn’t as good though, with the ambient level music and cut scene score being a little underwhelming. But by far the worst part of the soundtrack is the repetitive techno music that is played in fights, it is always the same song over and over again, and in a game built around its combat you hear it many, many times.
The positives far outweigh the negatives though and having many difficulties and a rather long arena mode when you finish the game, DMC 4 is a great return to the series and a welcome addition to the 360 library. If you love all out action with a touch of style, this is the game for you.
Visuals - 9/10
Sound – 8.5/10
Gameplay – 8/10
Longevity – 8.5/10
Overall – 8/10
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