DMC: Devil May Cry

Before I kick this off, let me make one thing perfectly clear. I am NOT a DMC veteran. I know the basics of the story, I've played maybe half an hour of the previous games, but I'm somewhat familiar with the genre. Now, with that off my chest, let's get this review under way!

STORY
In this series reboot, you play as Dante, a young loner resigned to a life of drinking, loose women and occasionally fighting demons who drag him into their dimension (known as Limbo). After learning of his heritage and family, the Dante agrees to aid the Order (known widely as a terrorist group) in the quest to dethrone the Demon King.

The story is interesting for a few reasons. The relationship between Dante and Vergil (their constant one-upsmanship, their squabbling), the way that the heroes of the game are often demonized (ha!) by the rest of the in-game world and and the way that the demon world lurks alongside the human world in a twisted parody of it. They all add up to an memorable narrative experience.

The dialogue may not be Shakespearean in any way shape or form, but the casual nature of Dante's speech often provides hilarious moments. Sure, the swears get thrown around alot, but I think it uses them to good effect, whether showing Dante's own nonchalant attitude or one of the various demons absolute disgust at his existence.

PRESENTATION
The most striking feature, by far, are the visuals presented during the Limbo sections of the game. The standard world is grey and boring, and you know what? That makes sense. But then you're dragged into this often evil caricature of the surrounding human world. And there's bright colours, and messed up architecture. Everything gets a boost of awesome. And it often varies from place to place. A boardwalk carnival becomes an ultra-haunted house and a nightclub becomes a a neon, laser filled, smoke-machine covered realm, accompanied by techno/dubstep beats.

On the subject of beats, the soundtrack to this game is the perfect stuff to get your adrenaline pumping. Hitting the SSS rank combos whilst rocking out to heavy metal or dubstep is unsurprisingly enjoyable, and it fits the tone of the game perfectly.
The voice acting also fits quite well. Tim Phillips plays Dante as a somewhat impetuous smart-ass, but he's surprisingly likeable. The demons all sound suitably monstrous as well, but I have to mention the Succubus as a highlight. She sounds absolutely disgusting (matching the visuals), while ramping the swears up to eleven. Well played Ninja Theory.

I honestly ran into no glitches, which makes me glad, and the animations and visuals are smooth throughout the experience.

GAMEPLAY
At it's base form, DMC is your everyday hack & slash beat-em-up with intermittent platforming sections. And it does this damn well. But it does some pretty cool things control-wise. Let's face it, multiple weapons aren't knew to this kind of thing. But few games make it so easy to utilize your entire arsenal smoothly and effectively.

As the game progresses, you'll obtain around 6 or so weapons. The game helpfully maps two at a time (plus your default weapon) to the triggers. Switching between the weapons assigned to each triggers is a directional button away. This makes it so easy to swap from sword, to scythe, to big ass axe, to demon fists in a single fight. It also allows you to use firearms, mapped to another button. It makes combat very freeform, and easy to implement.

The platforming on the other hand is a bit hit or miss. At the beginning, double jumping across platformings seems very slow and not particularly enjoyable. However, with the addition of special hookshots later on, and an angel boost to clear large gaps, platforming eventually becomes really enjoyable. The main challenge ends up being remembering which hookshot to use and when.

Boss fights are challenging and inventive, but to avoid spoiling anything, that's all you'll get from me.

There's not a whole lot I can find to complain about, gameplay wise. The enemy variation is surprisingly high, and the arsenal you're provided allows for multiple approaches for almost all situations. The only thing I can hold against it is that it takes until the 3rd or so level to really pick up. But that's not really that long. So. Yea.

REPLAYABILITY
The unlocking of additional difficulty levels gives players a reason to come back after completion, but that said, playing the mode where everyone gets one hit killed without having to complete another playthrough would be nice. Aside from that, finding keys and unlocking challenge maps are probably the main draw. And they're pretty fun and challenging, despite being short. A nice diversion.

OVERVIEW
DMC: Devil May Cry is a pretty good start to 2013 for me. The gameplay is fast and smooth, with accessible controls making variation in combat a breeze. Locations are also nice and varied, with the Limbo concept being really cool. The story is pretty standard when you break it right down, but the relationship between Dante and Vergil, the lurking world of Limbo, and the way the protagonists are portrayed as evil-doers to the general public are all cool ideas. It's actually inspired me to check out the other Devil May Cry games. Newcomers to the series, like me, I can wholeheartedly recommend this game. Veterans of the DMC series, I would recommend this ONLY if you're open to a new take on Dante and his world.

Next week, I'll be doing an downloadable game roundup, featuring the Cave, Mark of the Ninja and possibly Retro City Rampage. See you next time!