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DmC – Devil May Cry

There has been a good deal of concern over the new direction Capcom’s reboot of Devil May Cry has taken but with the mighty Ninja Theory at the helm I’ve found it hard to worry too much. The short hands on I got at GamesCom earlier in the year left me aching to play more and having just finished playing through the first half of the preview build of the game I’m happy to say that my faith in Ninja Theory has not been misplaced.

Yes, the story is new and both Dante and Virgil look different but this is, without a doubt, a Devil May Cry game except, dare I say it, better. The completely revamped combat system that is essential to the  series manages to feel natural and intuitive while still being packed with depth for those that wish to master it. Instant weapon switching combined with the Devil Pull and Angel Lift abilities opens up the opportunity for seemingly endless combos.

    
But the real stand out here is the new visual style of the DmC world. The characters are as believable and relatable as the offspring of angels and demons can be, drawing you into a story that not only makes sense but also offers a degree of social commentary. The manner in which the ‘real’ world morphs as Dante is pulled into the parallel world Limbo is not only visually striking but often disconcerting and unnerving. Something most ‘horror’ games don’t seem to be able to pull off any more.

There is a huge amount to like about DmC and I’ve yet to find a single thing I dislike, the humor may not be to some tastes but I found certain part of the game utterly hilarious. Dante’s new look and attitude are a perfect fit for the new setting with his only failing being the occasional ‘mis-quip’ but these are quickly countered with some genuinely smart smart-arsery.

Short version, I love it and can’t wait for more and all I have left to do is ask your forgiveness for my lack of skills in this gameplay video running you through the Virility mission that leads up to the Secret Ingredient boss fight you may have played in the demo.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO2XoUOUkQY[/youtube]

DmC Devil May Cry is released in the UK on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on January 15th 2013 and on PC on the 25th.

 

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4 responses to “DmC – Devil May Cry”

  1. Asim Mehmood avatar
    Asim Mehmood

    This game is going to flop hard no matter how much you try to make it the best game DMC game ever. It is not even in the TOP 30 pre-order list at VGChartz which shows the lack of anticipation for this game. Games which are more than a year away have more pre-orders than this. In addition to rebooting the whole story and characters, the gameplay has been severely dumbed down. It isnt deep or better, it is just EASY and that is why many are loving it. They can pull combos the first time they start playing the game while the enemy just stands there and they feel like instant pros.

    1. Mark Paterson avatar
      Mark Paterson

      The fact that people aren’t pre-ordering it as much as other games only goes to show how little faith the “fans” seem to have in the game. I’ve also played it, and it’s ace.

  2. Dan_ReadyUp avatar
    Dan_ReadyUp

    I think you’d really enjoy it if you gave it a chance, I get what you’re saying about it being easier but the are ton of difficulty setting for those that want more of a challenge, seven in total if I recall correctly, with normal being the second.

  3. James Stephen Archer BSc avatar
    James Stephen Archer BSc

    Ive played the demo, and I’ve got to say I’m not impressed so far. The lack of lock-on and pointless change of control-scheme seems counter-intuitive and, as a long-term fan of the series, nothing about the combat seems improved to me. This is the first game (except for maybe the pretty poor DMC2) that I felt that fighting enemies was a chore, rather than exciting.

    Everything seems less responsive, and fighting many of the enemies (especially the ones that are only vulnerable to certain weapons) felt far less fluid than in previous titles. I never liked Heavenly Sword, and the combo system feels more like an evolution of that game’s weight-switching combos as opposed to an improvement on the DMC gameplay. Also, I really dislike the devil pull (as I equally disliked the Devil Bringer in DMC4), as the ability to be able to pull enemies to you really spoils the need to be clever about manouevering between enemies.

    Aside from that, I really dislike this “angry” take on Dante. I generally dont like swearing in games unless the character has a real reason to be p*ssed off, and the slagging match between him and the Succubus came off as really immature. I don’t hate the new character model for Dante (though I prefer the old one), but his character definitely grates on me more.

    I will say that I really enjoyed the level design of the game – it can’t be denied that the shape-shifting world is pretty special, and that DMC’s level design is perhaps the element that needed the most work. Sadly, I don’t feel that improved level design can ever make up for unenjoyable combat, so it’s not enough.

    I’ll be playing DmC, as I feel I owe it to the series, but it’s going to take a lot to change my mind. Believe me, I really WANT to like DmC, but so far it seems like its just taking my favourite action series down the wrong path.

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