DmC: Devil may cry
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Ninja Theory
Release Date: 15/01/13
Format: PS3/XBOX360/PC
Players: 1 (offline)
Devil May Cry is my favourite game series of all time, with DMC3 being my favourite ever game. You may think that's irrelevant to this review, but it’s not, as I can now say I never want to see another Devil May Cry game again. Ninja Theory have outdone themselves! I want a DMC sequel! The game's final 10 missions were the greatest, most well balanced, dramatic, and exciting I have played since I can remember. The final fight is up there with the fist fight at the end of MGS4, and the story was fantastic. Although the first 5-8 missions are slow paced, the rest is exquisite.
The places where DMC excels tend to excel all other games on the market. The environments and level design are outstanding, and whether you're battling in a sound system, news channel, or water reflection (yes), it all looks and runs superbly. The enemy designs are great too, with ink oozing out of armour plates, and rusty blades being dragged towards you. The bosses are excellent in their design too, and all of the pack personality. In terms of characters in the game, Ninja Theory ailed it! Dante is less of a catch-phrase shouting jock, and more of a Ricky Gervais, Office actor, with subtly whispered one liners bringing genuine laughter. Kat is an excellent addition to the DMC family. She is someone the player really cares for. Now, as for Vergil, it is hard to say how well Ninja Theory portrayed him without spoiling the story. All I'll say is that his performance, and role, was the highlight of the game for me.
Now for the combat, in one word; perfect. Ninja Theory have done what the original DMC accomplished: every other game's combat now feels boring. It is like a blend of DMC4 and Batman AA. The number of different ways to kill is staggering, and all the weapons are both useful in combat, and fun to slash. There are no silly gimmicks in your arsenal, so don't expect thing like the guitar from DMC3, which looked amazing but was impossible to use. All weapons have a purpose, and the game forces you to use all of them with the new, angel and demon system. Basically, out of the games 4 "boss" weapons, 2 are set to angel and 2 are set to demon. By holding L2 or R2 you can unleash the said weapons in combat, mid combo. You are also given an angel and demon grab, which serve as a way of implementing Nero's much loved "demon hand" from DMC4. These powers allow you to not only pull yourself towards enemies and yank them towards you, but also act as the main platforming aid throughout the game.
The main story can be completed on normal difficulty in 6-7 hours, but the fun doesn't end there! Once complete, Son of Sparda mode is unlocked, aka: the real DMC. It gives enemies new attacks, strategies and completely remixes enemy waves. The toughest foes are in there from the start, but to compensate, you have all your gear and upgrades from your last playthrough. Bosses also come into their own here, as each get a set of new attacks, and a much larger health bar. Now as to why DMC falls short of being the best in the series. As I've said before, the game starts slowly and it’s not until mission 8-ish that the story kicks in, and you have the majority of your weapons. Also the boss battles were fun, although too easy. Their attacks are easy to dodge on normal difficulty, and they are dispatched quickly. However, this complaint is not aimed at the final boss, which, without
spoilers, is one of the best in the series. It combines difficulty, fairness, fun, epic-ness, and even a Kojima style "Wait, I can't kill him/her, wtf! Oh wait, I wouldn't need to do that would I? No way! I DO!" The final problem with DMC comes in the form of the devil trigger. Use it and zero-gravity is activated, launching all enemies into the air, allowing you to bash away at them. The problem is, you are not in zero-G, so enemies float away from you mid combo, meaning you'll miss out on a lot of damage.
To put it into perspective, if it was released in 2012 it would have been my game of the year. Exceptional! It sits behind DMC3 as the best game in the series, and is 2013's first "must play" game.
By Jack Gillespie 9.6/10
Developer: Ninja Theory
Release Date: 15/01/13
Format: PS3/XBOX360/PC
Players: 1 (offline)
Devil May Cry is my favourite game series of all time, with DMC3 being my favourite ever game. You may think that's irrelevant to this review, but it’s not, as I can now say I never want to see another Devil May Cry game again. Ninja Theory have outdone themselves! I want a DMC sequel! The game's final 10 missions were the greatest, most well balanced, dramatic, and exciting I have played since I can remember. The final fight is up there with the fist fight at the end of MGS4, and the story was fantastic. Although the first 5-8 missions are slow paced, the rest is exquisite.
The places where DMC excels tend to excel all other games on the market. The environments and level design are outstanding, and whether you're battling in a sound system, news channel, or water reflection (yes), it all looks and runs superbly. The enemy designs are great too, with ink oozing out of armour plates, and rusty blades being dragged towards you. The bosses are excellent in their design too, and all of the pack personality. In terms of characters in the game, Ninja Theory ailed it! Dante is less of a catch-phrase shouting jock, and more of a Ricky Gervais, Office actor, with subtly whispered one liners bringing genuine laughter. Kat is an excellent addition to the DMC family. She is someone the player really cares for. Now, as for Vergil, it is hard to say how well Ninja Theory portrayed him without spoiling the story. All I'll say is that his performance, and role, was the highlight of the game for me.
Now for the combat, in one word; perfect. Ninja Theory have done what the original DMC accomplished: every other game's combat now feels boring. It is like a blend of DMC4 and Batman AA. The number of different ways to kill is staggering, and all the weapons are both useful in combat, and fun to slash. There are no silly gimmicks in your arsenal, so don't expect thing like the guitar from DMC3, which looked amazing but was impossible to use. All weapons have a purpose, and the game forces you to use all of them with the new, angel and demon system. Basically, out of the games 4 "boss" weapons, 2 are set to angel and 2 are set to demon. By holding L2 or R2 you can unleash the said weapons in combat, mid combo. You are also given an angel and demon grab, which serve as a way of implementing Nero's much loved "demon hand" from DMC4. These powers allow you to not only pull yourself towards enemies and yank them towards you, but also act as the main platforming aid throughout the game.
The main story can be completed on normal difficulty in 6-7 hours, but the fun doesn't end there! Once complete, Son of Sparda mode is unlocked, aka: the real DMC. It gives enemies new attacks, strategies and completely remixes enemy waves. The toughest foes are in there from the start, but to compensate, you have all your gear and upgrades from your last playthrough. Bosses also come into their own here, as each get a set of new attacks, and a much larger health bar. Now as to why DMC falls short of being the best in the series. As I've said before, the game starts slowly and it’s not until mission 8-ish that the story kicks in, and you have the majority of your weapons. Also the boss battles were fun, although too easy. Their attacks are easy to dodge on normal difficulty, and they are dispatched quickly. However, this complaint is not aimed at the final boss, which, without
spoilers, is one of the best in the series. It combines difficulty, fairness, fun, epic-ness, and even a Kojima style "Wait, I can't kill him/her, wtf! Oh wait, I wouldn't need to do that would I? No way! I DO!" The final problem with DMC comes in the form of the devil trigger. Use it and zero-gravity is activated, launching all enemies into the air, allowing you to bash away at them. The problem is, you are not in zero-G, so enemies float away from you mid combo, meaning you'll miss out on a lot of damage.
To put it into perspective, if it was released in 2012 it would have been my game of the year. Exceptional! It sits behind DMC3 as the best game in the series, and is 2013's first "must play" game.
By Jack Gillespie 9.6/10
