DmC is back and with NinjaTheory at the helm, is this the swan song or the rejuvenation of the series
The newest game in the Devil May Cry series is finally here, and the most asked questions have been, "Is it good?" and "Is Dante still Dante?". I'm glad to say give the affirmative on both those questions. A lot of the hype for the game was squelched under the weight of increasingly negative rants by hardcore fans, who were irate over the look of the "New" Dante. These nasty little forum trolls were proved very wrong in almost every thinkable way. Not only is Dante still essentially the Dante we remember, just younger, and a bit more rebellious, and physical changes completely aside there is nothing wrong with this incarnation of Dante, and the same goes for the game as a whole. Make no mistake this is Devil May Cry, only better than i think people are ready to admit.
Devil May Cry in the hands of Ninja Theory has proven to be an exceptional game, and something this series has needed for awhile. If this is the new direction for DmC than i am all for it. The game plays just as you would expect from a DmC game, the action is fast paced and the adrenaline will be pumping. The enemy types are varied and fit well with the art style. The transition from the "Real" world to "Limbo" is striking and often very creative. The progression through the game is balanced well with the progression of your ever growing arsenal. Even in the final levels your still getting weapons. Combos is once again the root of the gameplay. The bigger the better. While in the past the heavy emphasis on crazy, complicated combos steered many people away, i feel that the combo system, while deep, is far more accessible than it used to be. While the many unlockable difficulty settings and the many items such as keys and lost souls, and higher mission rankings make multiple play throughs a must.
The story is actually one of the better parts of the game, something the previous games seemed to lack, not in creativity but perhaps in believability. The characters are well done and the voice acting and motion capture are excellent. Dante is now a "Nephilim", half-demon, half-angel, as is his twin brother Virgil. The new member of the cast is Kat. She is a witch who works for "The Order", Virgil's group of freedom fighters. She assists Dante on his missions, as his guide and virtual one way ticket to and from "Limbo". While a seemingly useless character, by the end of the game you will find that Kat has had a larger impact of Dante and the story than you might of thought possible. Mundus is back and causing all sorts of trouble as he closes in on his goal of global conquest. The story progresses as you would think, and the inevitable "Twist" in the story can be seen a mile away, but it doesn't really damage the impact of the story. By the end sequence i was actually wishing that the game would go on so i could see more of the story, but i suppose we'll just have to wait for the sequel.
All in all this may or may not have been the game you were expecting, it certainly wasn't the game i thought it would be, and i think thats a good thing. As a gamer who was never really a DmC fan, i still highly recommend this game to anyone who wants a fun action adventure game with a unique atmosphere and art style that only Ninja Theory could mastermind.
