Developer: Ninja Theory
Publisher: CAPCOM
Platform: PS3, 360, PC
DmC: Devil may Cry – Review
The release of the reboot of the DmC series has been marked on the calendars of many gamers, even though the game received its fair share of negative attention before it actually hit the stores. Not everyone was pleased with changing the characters they’ve come to love or hate, or even the fact a new developer was at the reigns for this series that is pretty well known throughout the gaming community. In the end it seems the negative attention was nothing Ninja Theory couldn’t overcome.
Story:
Even in this reboot the game revolves around the not so typical hero Dante. The first time he is introduced to us you instantly feel like this Dante might be a true asshole and isn’t really cut out to go on big adventures to save mankind from evil. He is too caught up in picking up girls, drinking and pretty much anything that gives him that extra buzz. His party attitude gets him noticed by the demon king Mundus, who is out for Dante. (without him actually knowing) Dante, who knows he isn’t really like other humans gets dragged into limbo, (which is between the real world and the demon world) a place that is quite known to him. Knowing he will encounter demons here he suspects nothing more than his previous visits to limbo. The sudden appearance of a mysterious girl, who can communicate with him from the real world, warns him that this encounter isn’t like the ones he is used to. Dante, still being in douchebag mode, thinks nothing of her warnings until the very moment it becomes clear she might actually be on to something.
As the story progresses Dante’s likeability starts to surface and you might actually start to love this swearing son of a gun. The mysterious girl who turns out to be ‘Kat’ will surely make the game that much more pleasing because her likeability factor pretty much hits the roof the moment you get to know her better. Overall the first section of the story will revolve around Dante getting to know his roots before taking on the demon king and his ‘officers’ who tend to help him control the human world. All of this can only be achieved with the help of Kat and his long lost brother Vergil, who tends to care more for other things, while claiming he wants to free mankind from the evil demon king.
In the end the story is pretty typical but has its share of plot twists and original aspects to keep it fresh and interesting.
Graphics:
Having tried the xbox 360 version it was fairly easy to notice that the developers did their best to really push the console to its limits. The characters look simply amazing and this will only add up to their personalities. The environments really come alive when Dante enters limbo and changes even when you’re running through them. Experiencing areas that collapse, open up and simply exploring them look as if you might actually be in a world that is hidden behind ours. Last but not least the developers did their effort in creating enemies that really match this purgatory world.It’s clear even when pushing the console to its max, there is hardly a drop of frames per second at any given time.
Sound:
This game has a soundtrack that pretty much revolves around 2 bands, namely Noisia and Combichrist. I can honestly say DmC’s soundtrack will get you pumped up and ready for butchering the demons that come after Dante. The music is ‘limbo worthy’ and even when it’s played subtly on the background it will still keep you going. The voice acting gave an extra boost to the overall sound of the game. If you disliked the new looks of the characters you will surely love the new sound.
Gameplay:
In essence DmC is a hack and slash game with its fair share of platforming. Every new are you enter you can expect (heavy) resistance and you can only progress after defeating the minions of the evil demon king, which again is fairly typical for games in this genre.
The game has its own progress system in which you collect orbs when defeating enemies (or certain objects). With the red orbs you can purchase items to aid you when your health or devil energy is running low or to upgrade your current health and devil trigger bars. Harvesting white orbs will give you ‘upgrade points’ when you harvest enough. These upgrade points can be used to upgrade Dante’s basic abilities like better ways of dodging, kicking enemies away or you might opt for upgrading your weapons for increased damage, new combo’s or even new attacks. (There are green orbs as well. These are only for replenishing your health points.)
During your playthrough Dante will find and unlock several new weapons. Each of the weapons will fall under a specific category, namely ranged, heaven or hell. Ranged can be used when you’re in normal mode (together with your normal sword). The other 2 categories have to be used when activating them, which in this case is by holding the left or the right trigger. This combat system allows for Dante to switch between weapons and modes at any given time, allowing you to use all of your weapons in long fights, creating awesome combos. It’s easy to say the fighting system is fairly complex for you to explore it, but will feel natural and easy at the same time. Sadly, the game allows you to create epic fights, but sometimes the waves of enemies are too small for you to fully let yourself go.
Platforming is a big aspect in Devil may Cry and one that tends to be nicely done, but also feels like it’s lacking something. The system in which you have to pull yourself towards objects or objects towards yourself tends to feel a little off from time to time. Sometimes even when close enough the game will not recognize it and this may cause you to fall off certain platforms. Luckily this doesn’t happen that often and will be one of those minor annoyances that won’t haunt you for days to come.
DmC’s game length isn’t really that long but then again, games in the hack and slash genre tend to be short anyway. The game counts 20 missions, each having a game time between 8-20 minutes. Luckily the game offers you a decent amount of replay value for you to discover hidden areas, unlock challenges and free tortured souls. The challenges you unlock can be played again seperately and are pretty much always the same style, namely killing baddies or reaching a specific point and so on. A fun attribution to the game but one you won’t spend that much time with.
Conclusion:
DmC’s reboot is one of those games that had to put up a reasonable big fight upon it’s release. Having to fight against a negative attitude of fans of the ‘old’ DmC series is not to be taken lightly. Ninja Theory wiped all of the prejudice off the table when the game actually came out and proved all those negative gamers out there wrong. It’s still something to get used to after knowing the ‘old’ Dante for so many years, yet this game doesn’t miss that DmC vibe and will surely prove to be a great new start of an adventure we loved in the past.
DmC: Devil may Cry - Review,
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