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Devil May Cry 4 [ M ]
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Release: 07/Feb/2008
Platform: XBox360
Rating: M
Genre: Action
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Developers don’t make as many beat-’em-ups as they used to. One might argue it’s because players these days have moved on to fresher genres, though that angle loses stamina in light of the over-abundance of first-person shooters. A more compelling argument is that it has become exceptionally difficult to compete against the current crop of established blood-leeching brands. Ninja Gaiden, God of War and Devil May Cry are the more popular fist-to-face names that dominate this market and have, in all likelihood, shunted all would-be challengers. Capcom’s Devil May Cry 4 is the next of these bastions of biff scheduled at the plate and it’ll be keen to seek out an early advantage over upcoming competitor, Ninja Gaiden II.
Its first brave move has been to trade up its cover boy. The first three iterations starred the half-demon albino Dante, son of the legendary Sparda, who previously vanquished a batch of evil minions out to turn the world into a permanent Marilyn Manson concert. In Devil May Cry 4 Dante isn’t such a love muppet. In fact, he’s hooching about slaughtering Holy Knights who protect the world from the sorts of evil he used to smash. Enter Nero. Another albino with an unnatural ancestry, he’s out to hunt down Dante and make the ex-hero pay for his sins.
Apart from a change of hero, a few new abilities and improved appearance courtesy of the beefy hardware of both the PS3 and Xbox 360, Devil May Cry 4 appears similar to the first three games. For one, its Resident Evil roots are still apparent as the game uses a mix of preset camera angles and third-person views to convey the gothic goings on. Furthermore, while Nero
has a few distinct differences over Dante, the action is still focused on running through dank mountainous structures while killing swarms of ungodly spooks with a combination of sword swipes and gunfire.
Fortunately, there’s no reason why fans of the series – or action games in general – should have a problem with that. As usual the intensity is extreme, with all manner of gangly enemies gang-jumping Nero at the same time. Apart from his firearms and elemental sword attacks, the quest’s young spearhead now has a semi-possessed arm which he can use to pancake demonic forces into the ground or whirl them about like a baseball wind up. This lends itself well to the returning combo system. As in previous games, players are challenged with linking together as many flamboyant attacks as possible in a bid to boost up an on-screen style points bar. The more points they get, the more new abilities they can buy to kit out Nero.
This is a necessary task, too. While getting through mobs of low-level fodder won’t tax players beyond the standard use of blade and gun, Devil May Cry 4 is littered with an assortment of hellish end-of-level bosses. Often huge and always intimidating, these bad lads will require the hallowed combination of myriad abilities, elastic reflexes and a stern slab of strategy to beat. One such encounter set in a burning village sees Nero square off against a three-storey-tall flame demon reminiscent of the balrog from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. Moments like these are custom made to be placed on pause while you hassle your mates into coming over to your lair for a gander.
Finally, fans that have tried the series previously only to be put off by its extreme difficulty should put their old impressions on ice. Devil May Cry 4 is set to come with a difficulty option more appropriate for casual players who prefer not to finish up their gaming sessions with tufts of hair in their hands. |
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