Official Wii60 Review: Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry 4
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3 - Developer/Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Action/Hack and Slash - One Player
Reviewed by Chris Cesarano (a.k.a. Grohdinger)
Introduction:
I originally had a few misgivings about doing a review for Devil May Cry 4. I had never played any of the previous titles, and I was afraid that one little comment about a mechanic that didn’t please me would bring the franchise fanboys clamoring in anger and rage.
However, it is just that fact that makes me an excellent choice to review the title. Capcom has attempted to create a new entry in the franchise that can bring in new fans, as well as please the old. The result: huge success.
Note: Some of the screenshots of this review are of older builds of Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry 4 is a certainly well-polished title in terms of the basic mechanics. The control is almost completely responsive, though occasionally it seems to refuse to dodge when you command it to or performs a move you didn’t intend. The performance is mostly perfect, though on very, very rare occasion it may experience some lag. The graphics are absolutely beautiful, never zoomed in enough to point out blurred textures or low polygon count. The musical score is rather limited, yet always fitting to the mood. You never get tired of the combat theme, and the accompanying sound effects all sound appropriate and even awesomely pleasing.
What truly stands out, though, is the voice acting. After the past two generations of video games, voice acting has become a hit or miss with most titles. However, Devil May Cry 4 really hit it, particularly with Nero’s actor. He delivers one of the most amazing performances I’ve heard in a video game, and truly shocked me.
The game’s difficulty, and simultaneously its length, will vary on whether you are a newcomer to the franchise or not, as well as which modes you choose to play. If you are new to the series, the Devil Hunter difficulty mode will be incredibly hard, even frustrating. However, the Human difficulty mode will prove pretty easy even for newcomers. Only much later in the game will this mode provide a challenge to new players. It is best played just to gain new abilities for the Devil Hunter mode, which is still challenging even with additional health and abilities than if you began the game anew.
This fact would be pretty devastating, except the game is completely replayable. After an easy enough completion on Human, the replay on Devil Hunter is incredible, allowing you to explore all the abilities and features from before, only in a much more skill challenging environment. This trend continues as further difficulty modes are unlocked, as well as the Blood Palace, keeping the urge to keep playing the game alive.
The first playthrough of the game will also take you around eight to ten hours, though each following play will take considerably less if you cut out the story, as well as consider knowing how to progress through each level.
Speaking of the levels, the game is broken up into a total of twenty missions, as well as twelve “secret missions” scattered throughout. Each mission is pretty linear and straight forward, leading you from one room to the next, always fighting different monsters. This is a pattern that works, though it is occasionally broken up by forms of puzzles or multiple routes. There are occasions that one may get lost. However, the biggest issue to the game is that a good half of it is simple back-tracking with Dante. Yes, you do get to play as Dante, but all you do is go back through Nero’s steps to the very beginning, only to play one long, time consuming level. It’s almost as if the developers were stumped as to how to make a decent final dungeon, and chose to go a lengthy, tedious and annoying route. Half of the game’s missions are designed well, and the other half are just plain tedious.
The secret missions, meanwhile, are a combination of good and fun ideas, and some horrendous executions. Finding the secret missions isn’t all that difficult, and there are plenty that are pretty simple to master and complete. Others, however, just last so long or require such a difficult task that any motivation to complete it is almost destroyed. That or you spend way too much time trying to complete a mission, as you almost get to the end just to be outdone by one simple problem.
The missions, however, are really the only problematic aspect of this title. As stated, the game is designed for both familiar Devil May Cry fans as well as new ones, and the story certainly takes this into account. Instead of throwing you right into the shoes of franchise hero Dante, you are given control of new and younger hero Nero. Through him, the players are introduced to a new kingdom to the game’s franchise. Unfortunately, there are still many elements that are mentioned, but never really discussed. For example, why so many demons? It just happens to be the way of the world in this universe. Who is this Sparda guy? Apparently he is Dante’s father, and somehow Nero is also descended from him. There are many details glossed over, but with or without them, the game’s story is pretty enjoyable and understandable for newcomers as well as old hats.
All that leaves to discuss is the combat to the game, and is ultimately the reason you will be playing it. The game is pretty much built on the idea of juggling enemies and spamming enemies with attacks. At first the system seems pretty simple, but as you begin to encounter bosses and more complex enemies than the Scarecrow fodder, you begin to seek out the best abilities to add to your prowess. By unlocking more abilities it becomes easier to increase your style ranking, which, simultaneously, makes it easier to purchase more abilities. Of course, each time you purchase an ability, the cost of all others raises. This may seem unfair at first, but it actually balances the game out as you move onto further difficulties, keeping them challenging. It also provides plenty of reason to keep on playing, earning more points to buy the remaining abilities with.
Each character, Nero and Dante, has their own unique set of abilities, which makes the game more interesting as well as problematic. Nero is all about the different combo techniques, the ACT gauge and his demon arm, keeping combat constant and frantic. Dante, meanwhile, is a very different experience, as his abilities focus on a larger arsenal of weapons with different fighting styles, as well as four different fighting styles altogether. Playing as Dante is less about the constant sword swinging and more about well-timed and executed moves as well as using certain abilities at the right time. Going from one character to the next causes problems as you will keep trying to use the same fighting style as the previous, yet eventually makes the game more interesting. Overall, the sheer number of abilities and weapons at your disposal takes a simple idea of juggling and builds it into a pretty complex system of mechanics.
Of course, the enemies also help make this system easy as well. Not all enemies can be fought the same, and in fact some are very hard to juggle. New enemies are introduced throughout the game, even as far as the end, and each of them has their own unique attack and evasion set. Some enemies will be fun to fight simply because it’s easy to juggle them all, while others are fun due to how much more evasion and precise strikes you need to make. Once all the enemy behaviors have been learned, trying to keep your style high becomes an added challenge.
The boss fights are also some of the most enjoyable in any game, and even on the Human difficulty provide a greater challenge than is typical in games today. A simple strategy of charge and strike can work, but it will guarantee a lot of spent health and resources. By learning the enemy’s patterns and when to dodge, you can time your attacks best. The only real problem with the bosses is that the difficulty balance seems a bit skewed. The first boss will be more difficult than some of the ones that follow, while the hardest boss isn’t even the final boss. Speaking of, the final boss technically has three phases spread across three separate missions, and taken altogether is probably the most satisfying final boss to be made in a long, long time.
So when all of that combat is done, what left is there to the game? Quite a bit of bonus content, though not much of it is impressive. You get a complete encyclopedia of the monsters and characters as you encounter them in the game, a summarized history of the first three games of the franchise (after completing the game, though), and some bonus art galleries. Nothing too amazing, unless you complete the game on Devil Hunter and unlock Bloody Palace. This mode is a simple timed survival mode, where you fight one set of enemy encounters to the next, totaling in one hundred different combat encounters. This is easily the most fun and replayable part of the game, as well as an excellent way to build up points to buy more skills and abilities. This alone could have been all the bonus content and been worth it, as the remaining is appreciated, but a bit lackluster. The encyclopedias and history only provide a real bonus to new players of the franchise who are unfamiliar with the universe, after all.
Conclusion:
Devil May Cry 4 may have some issues here and there, and the attempt to balance the difficulty may be a bit, well, unbalanced, but all in all the game is well polished and solid. It defines itself as a unique hack and slash with a simple concept of juggling with a complex set of abilities. Capcom has succeeded in an excellent addition to a franchise, as well as a fantastic introduction for those new to it.
Pros:
+ Excellent performance and control
+ Gorgeous graphics
+ Top tier voice acting
+ Simple combat concept with complex abilities and mechanics
+ Infinite replayability
Cons:
- Story has some confusing, unexplained elements for those new to the franchise
- Half of the missions backtrack and feel tedious
- Some secret missions seem irritatingly impossible
- Mostly lackluster bonus content
