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Thursday 6 March, 2008
GAMEPLAY
Going into the second hour, I managed to gain my Devil Trigger ability which lets me gives a boost in attack power and speed for a limited time. I can also grab multiple enemies if they are grouped with the Devil Bringer while in Devil Trigger form. It basically works very similar to Dante's Devil Trigger from the other games. From what I've played so far, the Devil Bringer is a pretty cool addition to the gameplay element. It makes the pace even faster than before and is a really useful tool for stunning enemies out of their attacks. I was a little skeptical of how it would work it out, considering that players have been playing as Dante for the past three games, but I've actually grown attached to it as well as the new character Nero.
DESIGN
As I stated before, the backgrounds and characters are gorgeous. Levels, although extremely linear, are very well designed. Everything in the game has a very dark Gothic tone and feel to it. You spend most of your time without any sunlight which also adds to the tone. As for gameplay, players need to be fast and have some good reflexes if they want to build up their ranks in order to get more orbs and proud souls. Unfortunately, this game has some issues that could have been easily solved.
The first problem is the camera. Although you are able to control it at certain times, it is mostly fixed at a certain point in a room. This leads to some disorientation and confusion, especially when you're running in one direction and the view suddenly changes and you end up running the wrong way. This was also an issue in the previous Devil May Crys which apparently hasn't been fixed. It would have been a lot better if the camera was focused behind the back of the character with the player having the ability to freely control it, like in 3rd person shooters. Another problem is the difficulty. After complaints of the previous game being too hard, Capcom decided to dumb down the game and made it incredibly easy. Enemy AI isn't all that aggressive and enemies usually wait around before attacking. It's a especially easier with the addition of Nero's Devil Bringer since you can snatch enemies out of their attack animations and deal a lot of damage with your throws. There's also the lack of weapons. Nero only has two weapons, his sword the Red Queen and his gun the Blue Rose. While guns in the previous games were pretty strong, Nero's gun in this game is pathetic and pretty much useless. It deals a negligible amount of damage and is really only good for keeping your style meter up. Players can go through the whole game without even touching the gun upgrades. Since you have only one sword, your attacks and combos are also limited. If Capcom ever decides to make a Devil May Cry 5 with Nero again, this lack of weapons needs to be fixed. Despite the issues, Devil May Cry 4 is still an enjoyable game, especially for fans of the series.
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