DmC: Devil May Cry Review
Game Emblems
The Good
I know the consequences for giving this game a good review, but I want to earn the Red Badge of Courage!
With assured storytelling, great combat, and imaginative design, DmC: Devil May Cry is a more-than-worthy reboot for a classic franchise.
The Good
- Tight, enthralling, and deep combat
- Big variety of weapons and enemies
- Imaginative demon designs
- Convincing voice acting
- Reboots the series without compromising its soul.
The Bad
- Boss battles aren't nearly as fun as regular combat
- Some minor graphical glitches
- Ending doesn't live up to the rest of the story.
There's a point in DmC: Devil May Cry where everything just falls into place, a point where--after being mollycoddled through hours of gentle combat--you're finally let off the leash. And at that point, chaos ensues. The gates of hell are opened, once-timid demons become tremendous horrors, and Dante transforms into a fighter of glowing theatrics and tense technical wizardry. Immense, over-the-top combos flow from the fingertips, unleashing all manner of visually enticing carnage with a precise, fluid feel. So entertaining is the combat, in fact, that it's easy to overlook what a wonderful achievement DmC is as a whole.
But to do so would do the game a great disservice. The story, for instance, is light-years ahead of previous games in the series. Where they were schlocky, B-movie tales of adolescent fantasy, DmC has a sense of restraint, and maturity. Not that it's entirely evident from the off. A slew of half-naked bodies and raucous rock music make for a less-than-enticing introduction to the new, modern-day Dante's world, where he lives the playboy lifestyle of booze, nonstop parties, and sleazy sex. It's only with the arrival of the hardened psychic Kat and the emergence of a frightening demon horde that Dante, and the story, begins to grow up.
What follows is a tale of evil, world domination, and love that weaves in touches of conspiracy theory and religious dogma to great effect. There's no denying that there's still a drop of Devil May Cry lunacy to it all, particularly in Dante's cheesy quips, but underneath that over-the-top exterior lies heart. There are real moments of drama and excitement that are coupled with some well-realised characters that walk a fine line between good and evil. It helps that they're backed by a terrific voice cast--especially the truly frightening villain Mundis--that delivers even the maddest of dialogue with the utmost sincerity.
DmC's greater focus on storytelling comes at expense of some freedom, but the game is no worse off for it. Gone is the tedious backtracking and repetition of Devil May Cry 4, replaced with an adventure that--for the most part--propels you forward at a breakneck pace. One moment you're escaping a blood-red city that's folding and crumbling around you, and the next you're infiltrating the offices of a famed TV network where the earthly world and that of Limbo have collided in an explosion of vicious demons and ghastly black ooze that drips from every wall.
Such is the variety in your adventure that it does an admirable job of glossing over the linear nature of the story. It helps, of course, that the action is exciting too. Dante is a man with some impressive physical skills that are augmented by an equally impressive range of deadly weaponry. Initially that weaponry takes the form of Rebellion, a sword with a medium speed and attack range that serves as the bedrock for combos.
With just a few taps it's easy to perform simple combos that cut a sharp path through enemies and launch them into the air where you can deal more damage before they explode into a wonderfully satisfying mess of gory blobs. It's not long before you reach the limits of what you can do with a single weapon, though, which makes the time it takes to gather new ones a tad grating. Still, once the game finally lets you loose with a bigger arsenal, the combat takes a rewarding turn. What opens up before you is a vast set of moves that can be smoothly chained together for some technically impressive and oh-so-gorgeous-looking combos.
The combat is done in a way that cleverly plays to the strengths of each weapon, and that of your opponents' weapons. For instance, lighter, angelic weapons like the Osiris scythe are geared towards juggling enemies in the air and dealing spinning swipes that take out large groups all at once. Heavier, demonic weapons like the Arbiter axe focus on all-out strength, pummelling demons into the ground with a hefty brute force, albeit at the expense of attack speed. Combine the two, and you can knock out enemies with the swifter, lighter weapon before neatly finishing them off with a deadly demonic blow.
As you gain more-advanced weapons and abilities, the combos that are open to you become more complex. Chains that let you pull yourself towards enemies, or pull them towards you, result in some explosive combos that see Dante zipping elegantly between enemies, dealing out brutal punishment between each throw of a chain. Then there are Dante's guns, Ebony and Ivory, which are ideal for dishing out short, sharp bursts of bullets and filling in the gaps between other attacks. Combine your moves, and the combat turns into a harmonious ballet of sword slicing, swinging, and all-out carnage that's not only impressive to look at, but delightful to perform too.
By
Mark Walton, Senior Staff Writer - Reviews
Writer, riff maker, purveyor of fine foods. Mark currently spends his days trying to overcome his small (large) obsession with high-top trainers and mobile games. He's known to respond well to Long Island Iced Tea, falafels, and karaoke, but not necessarily in that order.
995 comments
1 Like
The reviews on this site are getting worse!!! I have been a MAJOR DMC fan since the very first one came out! This game is awesome and everyone bitchin about it been a new dante just play the bloody game first! Its so fresh and up to date, has such a cool feel to it and for those moanin about the hair just get to the end of the game youll be happy! I have completed this and i am so excited for future titles as the old ones were getting stale and didnt even make sense! (e.g. Nero...) The ending is amazing! the reviewer has put the ending as one of the bad point but i dont know what this clown was expecting, lets just say i thought mundus was the end boss ha so glad he wasnt! Is an epic and exciting ending for any DMC fan!!!
1 Like
This game is like a source of bad acting, so terrible that i couldnt tolerate the gameplay to know those cutscenes are coming up
1 Like
Its a fun game and to say the least I'm enjoying it. My only gripe is the lack of a lock on button and Dante. Maybe after a while he'll grow on me but till that happens give me back the old Dante.
I know that it's better to play it before actual giving an opinion on the game. But this title looks mediocre at best to me, I'll wait till it goes down in price before picking it up.
1 Like
I like this game. I dont think its better than Dmc, but its definitely Equally good in its own way. It's like all the Dmc combined making Dante's moves more varied, but with a more "business and political" story aspect. Dante in this game is, a punk that likes to dig chicks. And Vergil is, pretty much more self controlled than in Dmc 3, but more aristocrat. still a badass. Mundus here, wow, hes what I expected if hes in human form: sleazy magnificent businessman that takes control of the world with style. It is an alternate universe of Dmc, and the character changes is surprisingly making them likeable and charming in their own way. The previous Dmc feels American fantasy + Japanese style execution, but this game is also American fantasy + Japanese style execution, but more American. Just to show that even though the character design has changed, its still Devil May Cry, but much more American. If you guys are fans of Dmc, this game will be very familiar to you. Don't be discouraged just because Dante is different. He's a punk now that looks like he's been having the greatest orgasm he ever had in his life, which he did in the opening of this game, but as a character, he's a more "sweary" kind of Dante, but still is a badass with style.
Methinks the magazines reviewers will be trusted, and the user reviewers discarded, for this game. It's obvious that the majority of people slating this game are just DMC purists-- who would say any version of the game made outside Japan is automatically awful.
1 Like
Yeah so i have now played this game for about 2 hours and i have to say everyone who was bitching about the game can quit whining. It plays exactly like the old DMC. Even the names and looks of his moves are exactly the same (with the sword of course). And for people complaining about it being a diff story line WELL NO SHIT THAT IS WHY IT IS CALLED A REBOOT NOT A REMAKE. AND IN ALL HONESTY IT REALLY ISNT THAT DIFF SO FAR.
Well now I know your full of shit because no this plays nothing like the last games, compared to those the gameplay is way to slow and sluggish, and has some very uninteresting combo and dodge mechanics.
@DigitalJeff51 @slikjohnson I'm not disagreeing with either of you, but I went and picked up DMC4 the night before this was released for $5, played a bit, then played this, and I gotta say that for me, personally, I find the controls in DMC4 to be clunky and sluggish compared to the new one. Just my personal feelings about it though.
I'm not a fan of DMC..so im not sure what to hate but i've played the old ones before..There sure abit of changes in Dante's looks but the game looks quite ok to me and it looks fun as HELL hehehe..i have not played this game yet but looking forward to.
1 Like
So the only difference between between this Dante and the old Dantes look is hair color and a jacket.
WOW THIS GAME REALLY SUCKS
Ninja Theory wanted to do something different with the series so they changed their protagonists look to fit with the new direction. This is inFAMOUS 2 all over again.
Got the demo so far and love it, the Main Menu with the female angels seducing (not sure what else to call it) Dante is trippy! I wonder if there is more slight motion scenes like that?
I don't have the game yet, still waiting for the 25th, but from what I`ve seen in this review and in the 4h extravaganza I can say the game looks awesome. I wasn't all that excited about the game till recently, the combat seems great, maybe not that fast as DMC3 but still fun, good sound effects, a decent story (although it reminds me of the last season of "Supernatural") and I like the real world approach of the game more than the fantasy world of DMC4. Any way these are just first impressions, I would`ve liked to actually play a demo, but I guess they were too cool to release one for PC. Overall a great reboot of the franchise and a nice start for 2013 games.
@cip_raziel "like the real world approach" define that world called "Limbo" as real world
1 Like
@DarckArchon @cip_raziel I think he means that it takes place in a more "realisitic earth" setting, like the world we actually live in and that limbo parallels our earth , as opposed to a "fantasy world" setting, but I get what you mean.
1 Like
Do people on the Internet seriously have terrible reading comprehension or are they misinterpreting other user's post in a awful way on purpose as a cheap way to defend something?
Misinterpreting: The best defence mechanism next to trolling.
1 Like
This game is not made by Capcom Japan, instead it was produced by a company disguised behind a name formerly known as Just Add Monsters Ltd. Not going to buy it, bye.
6 Like
Just finished the first play through ..it turned out to be damn good. Meh, hope others give it a shot and look at it as a new DmC instead of relating it to the old.
"Ending doesn't live up to the rest of the story."
Offcourse it doesn't. This is a Capcom game, the real ending will be available for download in a few weeks for just 10 Dollar!
I got my hands on this baby on 13th! Don't ask how...answer isn't pretty ! But the same is and it sounds great on my Logitech z5500
What's so hard about keeping Dante looking like the original Dante........other than that from what I played on the demo it seemed pretty good
1 Like
This is bullshit. Bring back the real dante,not this wetsern basterdized version. why change a cool ass kicking character for one that is over the top with profanity, looks like a druggie and retains nothing that made the original so awesome. Thanks for ruining my favourite video game series Crapcom.
@Xionslayer14 Fun fact: The new Dante is designed by British developers. Nice "western" version.
@thehawkdaddy @Xionslayer14 Yeah...the term westernized means anything made West of the Orient. That includes England.
4 Like
@Xionslayer14 you do know that this is all made up and that there isn't a "real" dante
1 Like
@Biggs613 @contentxcontext yes i'm sorry. but you'll be ok, as long as mr.metal snake is still out there saving the world from solid gear robots!!
5 Like
The game is nice. It might have some issues. However, its a fantastic game. ppl are commenting about the looks rather than the game itself. Stop telling ppl not buy it. let them try it out first. WHO are you to judge???!
Fans of these genre type of games will like it. (8 out 10 for me).
2 Like
@sanghone
No people stopped complaining about the look of Dante the minute the demo came out and it confirmed that the game is no where near and good as the past games. Its slow and sluggish and dodging feels to cumbersome and overall is just not as impressive as Trickster and Table Hopper.
@contentxcontext @DigitalJeff51
No but it represents what the game is going to be like.
And from the looks of it they didn't really change a lot.
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DmC: Devil May Cry
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GameSpot Fuse
- Publisher(s): Capcom
- Developer(s): Ninja Theory
- Genre: Action
- Release: Jan 15, 2013 (US) »
- ESRB: M
DmC: Devil May Cry Navigation
