Devil May Cry 2

Devil May Cry 2 will make you cry... for a pretty good reasons.

As a lover of the original game, Devil May Cry, I looked towards this game with a lot of eagerness and expectations. And when time began to grow short, and the release date began to get closer, I felt like dying from the wait. But then... the reviews started pouring in. IGN, Gamespot, EGM, etc., all said this game was a disappointment. A disappointment? Not in my eyes. 

GRAPHICS: This is one of the shining qualities of this title. Dante looks great. Lucia looks hot. And most creatures have wonderful detail. The character models, especially in story scenes, shine out, and keep their same polish and shine during gameplay.While the backgrounds and settings of this game certainly aren't very gothic like it's predecessor, the backgrounds are good to look at, and some may even remind you of Capcom's other popular series, Resident Evil (especially while fighting through the more modern, downtown-ish area's). The first few missions feel a bit repetitive, and the area's are so huge you'll be doing lot's of walking, but that's only a small gripe. The settings and backgrounds start becoming more interesting by Mission 10 for both characters, in my eyes. Load times are short to nonexistent, considering how large the area's are, which is a definite plus.

GAMEPLAY: In one word, great. Lots and lots of improvement over the first game. Dante has so many new moves, and abilities, if you found yourself limited at all by the move set in the original game, you certainly won't feel that in this game. New features include wall-running(one of the coolest looking actions in a game ever. Dante's wall-running hands down beats Hotsuma's from Shinobi), shooting at two different foes at the same time, new and more powerful moves while in Devil Trigger state, and this is all just DANTE! Lucia is a blast to play as well. What she lacks in power, she makes up in speed and maneuverability. The one major gripe almost everyone has with this game, is it's apparent lack of difficulty. 

Now, I'm not one of the people who mastered Dante Must Die mode in the original, but I beat Hard Mode, and I find this game, and it's normal setting, a moderate challenge. The enemy A.I. is a bit lacking, but once you reach Hard Mode, or Dante Must Die, or Lucia Must Die modes, enemy intelligence picks up a bit and the intense battles from the original will feel like they're returning. My only gripe with the gameplay, the already mentioned poor A.I., is easily remedied by playing the harder modes of the game(which opens up after you beat the game once), which leaves me without complaints.

CONTROLS: Solid. Responsive. Players of the first game will find it a bit tough at first to get used to the new controls(which sadly, aren't changable). After the first few missions though, the most hardened DMC1 player should have the hang of all the controls, and be able to move Dante fluidly. Lucia is the same. The controls take a bit of getting used to, especially if your a DMC1 player, but after sometime playing, you'll have a perfect handle of them. 

The controls are responsive, although sometimes I find that when I press and hold the shoot button, I keep shooting even after I've let the button go. But, that's a small gripe, as most players will probably still tap the button instead of holding it, hoping for a faster rate of fire. Wall-running as well, takes very spot on controls, which sometimes I mess up. But that's probably more player error, than the game itself, so I won't dock it for that.

SOUND: If you loved the first DMC's soundtrack, you'll love this one. The same rock/techno beat stuff from the last game is present in here. They really add to the intense fighting, and are very welcome. There's a usual theme for regular battling, a ambient theme for when you're alone in a setting, and boss themes. The different themes for different situations are really more than welcome, and this is the one case where DMC2 seems so closely related to it's predecessor. As for sound effects, they're great. Shell casings hitting the floor, the sounds of dual handguns firing, or a sawed-off shotgun blasting an enemy in the face. 

It's all there. A lot of the sound effects from the original are still used in this game. The voices... are fine, but there's disappointment with Dante's voice actor not being the same as the voice actor from the last game. So don't go in expecting to hear our ol' Dante saying ''Let's rock, baby''. You'll be sorely disappointed.

STORY: Ok. I'll make this short and sweet, as to refrain from spoilers. Dante is hired by a mysterious old lady to bring peace to this island seemingly swarming with demons. Lucia seems like almost an afterthought storyline-wise. Honestly, the biggest disappointment of this game, is the story. There ISN'T one. No continuation from the last game, at all. You won't see Trish(you'll see her... just not storyline-wise), or Mundus. You'll see a FEW familiar faces in the form of a boss enemy, but I won't spoil that for you. This isn't too big of a problem, because honestly, what action games do have a stellar, RPG-esqe story? 

But, at least the original had one. This one is sorely lacking in the story, and characterization department. Bosses have no personality, unlike the original, and you don't care either way really when you kill one off, unlike the satisfaction you would get from killing Phantom, or Griffin in the original game. Likewise, the character's have almost no personality. You won't see your kick-ass, smart mouthed Dante until near the end of the game, and poor Lucia just seems... tacked on.

OVERALL: I can see why some people are really disappointed in this game. I feel it isn't quite up to par as a Devil May Cry game, compared to the original. But, as a stand alone game, is the BEST DAMN ACTION GAME out right now. If you love action, and love kicking ass indiscriminately as arguably the most bad-ass dude in gaming, do yourself a favor and pick this solid action title up.

NAME: DEVIL MAY CRY 2
SYSTEM: Play Station 2, Play Station 3, XBOX 360