DmC Devil May Cry

I have not been a fan of the first four Devil May Cry games. If not my affection for new developer Ninja Theory, I would've likely ignored this entry. I am glad I didn't as this was the first DMC title that I actually got into.

I suppose the big issue in the past was the lack of a feeling of power. Dante always felt like a stylish badass, but that it took so much work to kill a minor enemy that major ones seemed daunting. That is not the case here. Dante feels like a stylish bad-ass who can put the hurt on enemies without a huge problem. The "cannon fodder" does are still able to hand you your butt if you're less than careful, but if you're on your game at all, you will feel like the most lethal individual out there. Your stylish combat is simply there as a tool to make you slaughtering enemies more entertaining, not desperate necessities. You can slaughter in a straight-ahead style if you so wish, but it is more fun to chain together numerous moves to make yourself look like the baddest man on the planet.

Dante, let's be honest -- is a bit of a douchebag here. He's hard to really like. He's an effective fighter, but he is a bit of a whiny little shit. It seems to be an odd new thing to make a great game with a protagonist that one almost hopes to see get their head cut off (see Far Cry 3). You fight through pretty levels that are large enough to not feel claustrophobic but small enough to not allow you to really get hopelessly lost. You and Vergil travel through surprisingly nice-looking environments to deal with the evil of Mundus, the demon king.

This is an excellent, well-designed "character action" title. The changing between angelic and demonic attacks on the fly adds needed depth to the combat. The setpieces are gorgeous. Travelling is a lot of fun with powers Dante unlocks as well. There really isn't a major flaw with the title. It is not perfect, but it is the best of this series to date.