Devil May Cry 4

Devil May Cry... The Time Has Come & So Have I, I'll Laugh Last Cause You Came To DIE!

The fourth and newest installment in the over-the-top and awesome, 'Devil May Cry' series has finally arrived nearly three-years after the third release in the franchise. This latest addition brings us an entirely new storyline, setting and hero, yes folks, Dante is not the star of this entry. Our main protagonist is Nero, a young devil hunter with a mean attitude and a mysterious, demonic arm. So, does this sequel retain the trademark large, brutal battles? Cool characters and fun game-play? Read on and find out.

The plot follows our new main character, Nero, with his arm in a sling, as he rushes to reach the opera house. Where a sermon is being held by Sanctus, the leader of a group known as, 'The Order Of The Sword'. Of which Nero and many others are members, while there Nero talks with Kyrie, his friend and love interest. Things seems to be going normal until a mysterious man in red (Dante), comes crashing through the glass-panelled ceiling above. Lands directly in-front of Sanctus, aiming a gun at his fore-head and firing a single bullet through it, killing him. The people within are in shock and begin running around for an exit in a frenzied manner. 

Meanwhile the man in red begins slaughtering many of the Holy Knights, eventually boiling down to a battle between him and Nero. As they engage in combat, Nero removes his arm from the sling and shows his adversary the power of his demonic-arm. However, the man in red prevails and escapes, from here on, we take control of Nero as he attempts to find him, sedulous in pursuit.

The narrative is all delivered from cut-scenes, which a myriad play over the course of twenty-missions. Although, in the end, you still do not get a full-grasp of everything, most questions aren't answered, so you are basically left still wondering about stuff after it is over. Most of the cinematics consist of either Nero or Dante performing insane-stunts and fighting off demons in slick-fashion. So aside from unanswered questions and such, you get plenty of action-filled scenes, those who loved the ones in part three, will surely not be disappointed. As far as characters go, the game is packed to the brim with interesting oddities and bad-asses. 

Nero himself, as stated above is a young and skilled warrior loaded with angst and much power, although at first, most of it hasn't been tapped-into yet. Dante is the laid-back, smooth and overall powerhouse here, always calm and cracking one-liners under even the deadliest situations. For supporting characters, we have Kyrie, who serves as a love interest to Nero and a damsel in distress towards the end. Fans will also take notice of Lady and Trish, who sadly do not play large-roles, more of them would have been nice to see. Overall the plot is average at best, more explanation on certain things would have definitely benefited greatly, we are left with more questions than answers.

One of the best things about the, 'Devil May Cry' series has always been the combat and this one is no-slouch. Similar to the other entries in the franchise, combat consists of getting high 'Stylish' rankings and collecting, 'Red Orbs'. All of these including the length of time it took you to beat the mission factor in upon completion. 'Red Orbs' allow you to buy items, such as Vital Stars (Health) and Gold Orbs (Extra Life), also at the end of each stage, depending on how well you performed, you will be given, 'Proud Souls', which allow you to purchase new moves and upgrades for your weapons. 

Buying a new move or upgrade also increases the prices of other-ones, however a good aspect lets you 'redeem' your 'Proud Souls' if you wish to buy another instead. Also, in order to better 'orb-farm', a main-facet, you can simply save and quit the mission and you will still have the same amount that you have acquired throughout the level.

In the mission-menu, you can select between the standard or 'Automatic' modes, standard enables you to perform combos on your own input while 'Automatic' caters to those who want to mash-buttons. This allows for one-button combos, rather than pressing a series of them in order to perform a move. Playing on this mode can get you easier 'Stylish' rankings in the end if you aren't able to pull-off all of the many combos yourself. The combat is mellifluous, you can play as both Nero and Dante, however the story centers more around Nero, so expect to be seeing him much more than your favorite devil slayer. Nero has some unique abilities under his sleeve, pun-intended, his arm contains demonic power and makes for some refreshing combat-style in the series. 

He has access to the, 'Devil Bringer', this allows him to project an energy-arm to grasp objects that are far-away, reach high-distances, punch and throw enemies around like rag-dolls and extend combos. He also has his sword, known as the 'Red Queen', a specially-modified sword that allows for destructive-attacks, containing an 'Exceed Gauge'. This enables you to basically 'rev-up' your sword like a motorcycle up to three-times in order to boost-up the strength-power of the sword and unleash more wicked combos. Each extent of the gauge increases the power, when enemies are knocked-down or stunned is the best time to attack the opponents. His projectile weapon is the, 'Blue Rose', a double-barreled pistol that blasts powerful shots, it can also be charged to deliver even more kick, although it is slow to fire. 

Eventually, Nero will gain the power to perform a 'Devil Trigger', which projects a rather large demonic-entity from behind him and increases all of his attacks and speed. You are limited to using it though, depending on the amount of magic power that is available to you. This ability is especially useful against bosses and clearing-crowds away.

When the time arrives, you switch-over to Dante, his gameplay style is different from Nero's and it might take it bit to get used to at first, but eventually you will find tactics that work well. Dante is very strong and has many weapons and abilities at his disposal and the 'Red Orbs', 'Proud Souls' and items that you've gained from playing as Nero, carry-over to Dante, allowing you to upgrade him as well. Those who have played, 'Devil May Cry 3' will notice that he brings his four-styles over in this installment also. 

Those being, 'Sword Master', 'Trickster', 'Royal Guard' and 'Gunslinger'. Dante also packs his beloved sword, 'Rebellion', a shotgun named, 'Coyote' that can knock most enemies down with a single-blast. And his twin-pistols, known as, 'Ebony And Ivory', which are much-quicker than Nero's, 'Blue Rose' firearm. He also has a 'Devil Trigger' mode which transforms him into a Hellish-looking demon that can wreak much havoc. Along the way, you will gain access to more weapons as Dante and they are really amazing to use.

The difficulties from the beginning are 'Human', which is easy and 'Devil Hunter', which is on a medium setting. I recommend for newcomers to start on 'Human' to gain most of your abilities then move onto harder difficulties, by this time a lot of moves and items should be available and you can demolish most enemies with ease. For the veterans, naturally start with the more difficult modes. 

When 'Devil Hunter' is completed, hard difficulty is unlocked, which is known as, 'Son Of Sparda' mode, when this has been beat, the legendary level of difficulty, 'Dante Must Die' mode is unlocked, as well as 'Heaven Or Hell' mode. 'Heaven Or Hell' mode is when enemies can die in a single-hit and you can also, upon completion of this mode unlocks the final difficulty level, 'Hell Or Hell' mode. Enemies here are on hard difficulty and if you find yourself playing this game and having enemy attacks being ineluctable, you'd be better off not playing 'Hell Or Hell' mode, which requires a single hit to bring you to your demise.

Devil May Cry 4 is one beautiful game, packing some graphics that are wholly-incredible looking. Everything from gelid areas and enemies to fiery-monsters and gothic-settings. Character models are exquisite and environments are lavish with detail, packing nice colors and designs. The framerate runs smoothly and there is rarely any slowdown to be seen. 

The game saves directly to the Hard-Drive which basically eliminates loading-times, the time to install it takes awhile though, but in turn incorporates a movie detailing the events of the 'Devil May Cry' storyline. The camera-angles can be a pain at points as they seem to not 'follow' your character sometimes as they are mostly stationed in areas and when in combat, which can be very fast, you seem to lose him. It can be controlled however, so it is forgivable.

The sound for the most-part is very laudable, from sword-clashes and slashes to gun-fire and explosions, this stuff is top-notch. Voice-work is also handled very well, lines are delivered greatly with typical aplomb and arrogance from our two-playable characters. Bosses and enemies also give outstanding vocal-performances, the music features Industrial/Heavy Metal mixes similar to the other pieces in the series and some tranquil tracks also. I liked these songs much better than the ones in the last installment, but they too also become repetitive.

I played using the default control set-up, which in my opinion feels just fine, on the other-hand, if you do not prefer this arrangement, you can always set it up to suite your playing method. And like I mentioned prior, you are able to use the standard or 'Automatic' styles. The default controls are as follows, the Start button allows you to Skip Scenes/Open The Pause Menu while the Select button allows for Taunts/Rainbow (Drop-Kick). The Left-Stick moves your character and moves the cursor while the Right-Stick rotates the camera (When applicable). 

'X' allows to Jump/Menu Select/Examine while 'O' performs Devil Bringer/Menu Cancel/Style Action (As Dante). 'Triangle' performs melee attacks, Square performs gun attacks, R1 locks-on (Hold) enemies, L1 is to activate 'Devil Trigger' and L2 is to Exceed/Change Guns (As Dante). When playing as Dante selecting Up on the Directional-Pad changes your style to 'Trickster', selecting Down is 'Royal Guard', selecting Right is 'Sword-Master' and finally selecting Left is 'Gunslinger'.

The replay-value is great, it lies in the form of extra difficulty levels, which must be beaten in order to unlock harder ones. The infamous, 'Bloody Palace' mode, which you can play as either Dante or Nero and go through many stages trying to survive and reach the end as you battle hordes of demons. Unlockable art and movies from story-mode that can be re-watched, including a bonus ending if you can perform a certain task at the end. 

Also unlockable are Super Nero and Super Dante upon completion of 'Dante Must Die' mode, these are basically Dante and Nero with infinite Devil Trigger. And if you manage not to do these during your first play-through, you can always go back and try completing the, 'Secret Missions' for some Blue Orbs, acquiring 'Accomplishments' also. It also comes in a 'Collector's Edition', which packs a steel-case, a bonus-DVD and another DVD containing the 'Devil May Cry' animated series. Lots of replay-value to be had here, so you'll be pretty busy.

Overall, if you love action, demons, stylized-combat and a nimiety of over-the-top cutscenes, this is the game for you. Fans of the 'Devil May Cry' series will also not be disappointed with this installment. It brings non-stop slashing and shooting your way, with tons of 'coolness' to boot. Let's rock, baby!

NAME: DEVIL MAY CRY 4
SYSTEM: PC, Play Station 3, XBOX 360,