From its debut nearly seven years ago and its two follow up games since, the Devil May Cry series and its gun slinging, sword packing anti-hero Dante have never failed to bring gamers the fast and furious action that they oh so avariciously desired. With the fourth installment, the first on a next-gen system, the game looks to raise the series to an all new plateau, and the results are for the most part spot-on.
As the game starts, you witness Dante infiltrating a secret meeting of the Order of the Swords, assassinating the head of the Order. As chaos and confusion spreads within the service, a knight of the Order named Nero is commanded to keep Dante busy while reinforcements arrive to finally capture the son of the dark knight Sparda. Once the initial introductions between Nero and Dante are over, Dante heads for higher ground and you finally begin the game in control of the newcomer to the series, Nero. Although much more emo and not as experienced as Dante, Nero proves more than adequate to handle himself against the army of demons that have begun to infest the land.
As you start on your journey to pursue Dante for murdering the head of the Order, plot twists rear their head throughout the story and it seems that the order is not telling the whole truth as to why you have been sent after Dante, nor what their true intentions are in regards to their religion. For each of the 20 missions throughout the game, you will find a familiar pattern, one that is synonymous with the Devil May Cry series. When you enter a doorway or a new area, as you progress through missions, you will need to clear out the demons that occupy the area to be able to proceed. Once they are down, the barriers blocking your path will dissolve and allow you to continue on your way. Rinse and repeat over and over and you have the pattern of gameplay through most of the game.
Although thankfully, when you do need to back track through certain areas, or when you get lost, entering the same areas may spawn the same enemies, but the barriers won’t appear again, making the initial purpose much less aggravating. The camera system is something that will definitely get under a few players’ skin, as sometimes you are able to control the camera and sometimes it is fixed to a static viewpoint, and it’s more often than not that the static view doesn’t allow you to see exactly what it is that you want or need to.
The fighting mechanics of both characters will be familiar to anyone who has played the games before. Much like the previous games, juggling enemies into the air with a combination from your sword and guns for numerous hits is the norm for each and every foe you face. Unlike previous games however, Dante will now be able to choose his fighting style on the fly from four different types, allowing for some incredible combos and some hectic action. Nero isn’t able to choose different fighting styles and unfortunately is limited to only one, but he has a trick of another sort up his sleeve. Nero is the owner of the Devil Bringer, a power which possesses his right arm and allows him to use it much like a grappling hook. Nero can shoot it forward to snatch objects and enemies at a distance and pull them closer, or use it to bring himself closer to their position.
The Devil Bringer is a nice addition and very handy during battles as you can pull yourself out of harm’s way by vaulting yourself behind or above enemies as well as tossing demons around, slamming them to the ground for impressive amounts of damage. Both Dante and Nero also have their own power attacks, The Devil Trigger and Exceed, respectively, which can be upgraded and allows each of them to deal a hefty flurry of time limited hits when it is activated. As you continue to make your way through the game, at around the half way mark, you will eventually run into your prey Dante and have an exchange of words once again. From here on out, for almost the rest of the game, you take control of Dante and play through the game in reverse of what you just played through with Nero. You play through the same areas, fight the same enemies, with one or two new ones thrown in to mix it up and, yes, you will fight the same bosses again. Although the gameplay is different the second time through since you don’t have the Devil Bringer to aid you in the same way you played with Nero, Dante is more powerful with the multiple and varying weapons he comes across and it doesn’t prove to be all that much more of a challenge in the long run.
If playing through the entire first half of the game in reverse doesn’t trample the fun out of the last half, it sure rains on your parade that not only do you have to face each boss again, but you have to face them each three times in total. Even though they are some of the largest and most impressive bosses seen in the series to date and it’s jaw dropping the first time you see them appear, facing them over and over, no matter how great they are, is monotonous and unfortunately makes the later levels of the game frustrating and feel dragged out.
