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Tuesday 19 February, 2008
Summary: Devil May Cry 4 is the 4th installment to the hugely successful “Devil May Cry” series. Devil May Cry 4 is 3rd person action/adventure game, where the player leads the newly introduced protagonist “Nero” and “Dante,” the protagonist to the previous titles, through a gothic supernatural world. The game focuses on stylish combat techniques and includes a highly varied arsenal of weapons to chose from.
Gameplay #1: Devil May Cry 4 is definitely worth the $59.99 price tag. The gameplay of Devil May Cry 4 is similar to the previous title Devil May Cry 3, featuring many stylish moves and combat techniques. New features to DMC4 include: an improved combat system, new weapons, foes, moves, characters, and a more cinematic feel. One thing that I really enjoy is that Capcom, the developers of this game, encourages the player to perform various combinations. They do this through the style meter, which gives you more style points the more moves you perform. A new feature Capcom has added is the ability to change styles on the fly. When the player assumes the role of Dante (Yes, you get to play as two different characters! I will discuss this later), the player is able to chose from four different styles of combat: Trickster, Gunslinger, Sword master, and Royal Guard. In the previous title DMC3, Dante is only able to use one style and if he wishes to change styles, you would have to go to a checkpoint. I found the on-demand style change to be very useful in combat, in additional, it makes gathering style points a lot easier. Another new feature I found intriguing is the introduction of “Proud Souls.” In the previous title, “Red Orbs” was the universal currency to purchasing new moves, weapons, upgrades and items. In DMC4, Capcom has increased the level of difficulty in doing so by requiring players to purchase new moves using “Proud Souls.” Proud Souls are accumulated by completing missions, the amount of proud souls you acquire is based off what grade you get on the mission.
Gameplay #2: After an hour of running around, I found that you travel to the same areas a lot. This got annoying because it got confusing at times, the developers made it so that you have to figure some things out without hints. This is where the puzzle aspect of the Devil May Cry series comes in. At times, the “rooms” itself would become the actual puzzle you’d have to figure out. For example, there is a room where the path splits into 3 other paths. Choosing the right path will bring you into a new room, similar to the previous one, and from there on the same situation continues until you reach where you have to be. If the wrong room is chosen, you are brought to a room full of demons. After defeating these demons, a portal is opened and you are returned to the beginning of the puzzle until you solve it. Puzzles like this occur throughout the game, in my opinion, it adds to the gameplay rather than having a typical action/adventure where you “kill-advance-kill-advance.” I also ran into a couple of secret missions, which still retains it’s difficulty as it did in DMC3.
Design: The Gameworld of Devil May Cry 4 is simply breathtaking. The graphics of DMC4 is absolutely gorgeous, especially with the more cinematic feel of this fourth installment. When I first put the disc in, I had almost forgotten I was playing a game because the introduction was so epic. With that said, I think the developers did a really good job with the in-game cut scenes. It was enough to add a hint of humor and action but not too much that it dragged (like Assassin’s Creed). I thought the developers did a excellent job in reusing rooms that were already previously explored by Nero. The game starts out with the player controlling Nero, but as you progress you will eventually assume the role of Dante. With that, the developers did a great job with not making the player repeat what Nero has already done. One example of this is in reference to my earlier example of the different paths for you to choose. As you change from Nero to Dante, the pattern of the paths changes. So for example, if Nero went north, east and west to get to the other end – the pattern is now different for Dante and you must figure out the new pattern. The developers did a great job of utilizing rooms to their full capabilities.
The only complaint I have would probably be in reference to the shadows in the game. It’s funny because everything else looks phenomenal, but then you have these shadows that look really pixilated. This is especially noticeable when you’re in the forest, this could definitely be improved.
P.S. The secret missions are ridiculously difficult…
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