Devil May Cry 4-PC Review

Its Back....again..


Smashing demons with flashy, extended combo chains has been Devil May Cry's draw since the original came out on Sony's PlayStation 2 back in 2001. For any PC gamers out there, you probably haven't been following along since then. Devil May Cry 3 did come to the PC in 2006, but the game didn't exactly make a smooth transition to the platform. With Devil May Cry 4, which came out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this past February, Capcom has done a much better job bringing the franchise's blistering action gameplay to PC with smooth graphical performance, a new difficulty setting, and a turbo mode to speed things up even more.


Gameplay
Gameplay in Devil May Cry 4 is similar to previous games in the series. The player must fight through levels called "missions", occasionally solving puzzles or gathering items.The game's overall structure isn't all that complicated. You walk into a room, the exits are blocked, and enemies spawn in. Your job is to use all available offensive options to deplete their health bars and snag the orbs that drop once they're vanquished. The higher the difficulty setting, the more damage they can absorb. Stringing together combos without taking damage, completing levels quickly, and snagging as many orbs as possible increases your score at the end of a level, giving you more points with which to buy additional moves and combos. 


Performance in a mission is graded from D being the bottom grade through C, B, A, and S being the highest grade. Grades are based on items used, Red Orbs gathered, time taken, and the amount of Style Points accumulated. Each Style Point grade has its own tag-word. The stylish grade shows up on the side of the screen and starts at "Deadly"(D); progresses through "Carnage"(C), "Brutal"(B), and "Atomic"(A); then, progresses through one last bar of grade containing the phrases "Smokin'"(S), "Smokin' Style"(SS), and lastly "Smokin' Sick Style"(SSS). Stylish combat is the main focus of the game, which is conveyed through unbroken combos of varied attacks while avoiding damage. The player must avoid enemy attacks to continue performing combos, often by memorising attack patterns.The Devil Trigger is a super state that enables the player to become more powerful adding a slow but steady health regeneration, with increased damage done. Devil Trigger can be activated by pressing the button to trigger it when the minimum amount on the gauge is filled.

Dante is back and is much tougher than before....

Some changes introduced into Devil May Cry 4 are the presence of two playable characters, Dante and Nero, and a slight modification to the shop system. A new currency, Proud Souls, is used to buy new abilities while Red Orbs are used to buy items. Proud Souls are rewarded at the end of missions and the amount varies depending on how well the player performed. Cost of abilities also increase with the purchase of other abilities, though all abilities can be sold back for the original price.


The player plays as Nero throughout most of the game. He starts and ends the game with his Red Queen sword, Blue Rose revolver, and the powers of his Devil Bringer (his demonic right arm). The Red Queen features an Exceed Gauge that can be charged up, allowing for subsequent attacks that are more powerful than regular slashes, until the gauge empties.
Nero also has the powers of his Devil Bringer, and can use it to pull himself towards enemies or vice-versa. The Devil Bringer may also be used for context-sensitive throw attacks, leading to high damage and various effects depending on the enemy.


The player plays as Dante through seven missions, taking over halfway through the game. His gameplay is similar to that of Devil May Cry 3, with him having access to multiple melee and ranged weapons which he gains after boss battles, and being able to cycle through them freely in combat, being no longer limited to equipping two weapons of each type as he was in the previous game. Dante also starts with his four styles (Trickster, Royal Guard, Sword Master, Gunslinger), each of which grants him different abilities. He also gains the Dark Slayer style near the end of his appearance. Styles must be upgraded like other skills in the shop screen in between missions or at statues. Dante can also enter Devil Trigger; in his Devil Trigger he gains most of the benefits that Nero's Devil Trigger has, though, as he does not have the Devil Bringer, he gets animation and property changes on some of his normal attacks instead.


Boss Fights

Berial Boss Fight.

To break up the routine slaying is the occasional boss fight and some light platforming and puzzle sequences, and not all of these work as well as the standard DMC monster killing action. While the boss encounters are entertaining and can vary depending on difficulty setting, with a few you wind up fighting the same creature three times, and considering they're all behaving according to pre-set patterns, the experience loses its appeal rather quickly. 


Fighting Dante is really tough and exciting. The puzzle sequences aren't all that complicated, but they are annoying in some cases (fountain maze, disappearing platform section, mist warping in the forest), preventing you for no good reason from engaging in the much more enjoyable combat. some times it becomes frustrating to solve puzzle and the scarecrows (which are the like pests) turning up can make you lose your patience. 


Nero over Dante
Nero plays quite a bit differently. Like Dante he brings swords and guns to battle, but his most unique feature is Devil Bringer, his glowing blue arm. With this thing he can snatch enemies from afar and perform powerful grab moves which differ depending on the enemy type. Standard scarecrow enemies are simply body-slammed but some, like the game's ice demons, are flung around and smashed into the ground several times, damaging others in the area and acting as a sort of impromptu shield.
Another technique useful for Nero is his sword's charge-up ability, called the Exceed system. By hitting the right button just after a sword swing you can increase the sword's damage output, and with the correct power-up you can even max out the charge. So, theoretically, if you're good enough it's possible to have a fully charged Red Queen for nearly every swing. Good luck getting that timing down, though. It's not easy. If you really get in trouble, you can also activate Devil Trigger mode for added damage and a slow health regeneration effect. 


Instead of Dante, Nero's the star of the show this time around. He gets wrapped up with the mysterious Order of the Sword, a religious group with suspect intentions, chases after his love, Kyrie, and battles demons for around the first half of the game. Then things transition over to Dante which, given how differently he plays, is a little jarring.I myself took a lot of time to get used to his controls :P.
But then Dante was way much better than Nero.


Presentation/Graphics
DMC4's visual presentation is also fantastic, in higher resolution on the PC and in DX9 or DX10 modes.Sometimes you just want to enjoy the visuals around you. In addition to the action, you're also treated to some fantastically directed in-game cut-scenes that flesh out the story and show off slick, stylish action sequences. 

For sound, you'll mostly hear grunts, item pick-up effects, gun shots and sword clangs during gameplay. Character voice-overs are generally well done, but why oh why does the battle music have to be so awful? With every fight you're assaulted with trashy electro-rock that really just needs to go away. 
Sometimes this is really frustrating.


Wait....?!! Is it really good?
Well, if its a game one can always find some bugs in the game or story.
The level design in the game is strange, which basically forces you to retrace your steps in the second half of the game(by Dante), bringing you back to the beginning. You fight through the exact same arenas twice, which is, in addition to a painful dice game sequence near the end, what accounts for all the repeated boss encounters. Devil May Cry 4's story doesn't feel much like a quest at all in this respect; it's more like a tumultuous shopping trip. And at the end it becomes frustrating as you have to fight boss three times and they are much stronger than before. After playing as Dante you will realize that you actually played to get back from where Nero left off. As Dante is much better you may regret as you are not given many missions to play as him. You might feel like he was just used to complete the story. Well also final boss is also defeated by Nero, while Dante is much deserving.


It's also unfortunate that Nero is the focus here, as he's nowhere close to as strong a character as Dante. By the end he comes off more like a kid chasing a stolen juice box than a fearless hero in pursuit of his girlfriend. When Dante steps into the action, he's so endearingly arrogant that he even manages to soothe some of your concern regarding the challenge ahead. 


And now onto some of the particulars of the PC version. With a game like this so focused on twitch elements, control is a primary issue. With DMC4, you basically have to use a game pad. There's really no way around it. The first time i played i didn't find controls really easy and stopped playing it but who can stop when someone has a thirst for games ;).


CLOSING COMMENTS
So are you going to enjoy Devil May Cry 4? People who are expecting different action every time they play aren't going to care as much about the wrap-around level progression and repetitive encounters as they'll likely be busy replaying stages for the highest ratings.  If you're one of those who are just looking for a one-shot action experience, then you should probably enjoy this franchise. Regardless of how much weight you put on each category, the action gameplay is accessible and possesses quite a bit of depth if you're willing to put in the time. The higher-resolution graphics on the PC shine and flow smoothly, and the fact that a game pad is the best way to go shouldn't turn you off. This type of game couldn't really work any other way. So while it's not without flaws, it's still one of the better pure action experiences on the PC platform. 

My rating would be 8.5