The kind of action game that you will likely beat a handful of times before deciding to place back on the shelf.
The game is set up in a pretty linear and simple fashion, allowing you to jump from mission to mission with little distress. You start off with some simple combos to perform in order to take down enemies. As you kill more and more enemies, you obtain red orbs that can be used to upgraded one of the many Devil Arms (Melee weapons) and Guns you will receive throughout the game, resulting in new attacks and therefore new strings of combos. The game settles you in slowly and then throws you into the mix pretty harshly after you defeat the first real boss. The good thing about this is that you have ample time to settle into the gameplay style before you are actually faced with real challenges.
Speaking of styles, on top of the many different types of guns and weapons you will receive (ranging from pistols to rocket launchers; from swords to magical guitars) which already adds a level of strategy and personal play style to the game for each person, there are Styles. These basically enhance specific parts of Dante and give you extra abilities. For example, Gunslinger will give each one of your games new features it wouldn't have otherwise, or Trickster will allow you to do extra jumps and dodges. These Styles upgrade with the more enemies you defeat. The downside to this is that changing Styles mid-game is impractical, because you will spend one whole playthrough fully upgrading that style (can be upgraded twice) through combat. So when you decide on a Style early on, you have to stick with it until you begin a new playthrough. There are also two unlockable Styles that are unique and helpful.
The combat itself is done wonderfully. You can hold two Devil Arms and two Guns at a time, allowing you to chain various combos in whatever way you see fit, since you can seemlessly switch between weapons by merely pressing R1 (Guns) or L1 (Devil Arms) anytime, even mid-combo. This is a necessary point to have because you will find that a lot of the enemies will require you to change strategies often, due to changing enemy numbers or even something as small as a sudden change in the angle of your attack.
All of this may seem daunting at first, but after your first few deaths after the first boss, you will soon catch onto the fast-paced and frantic gameplay that this game asks for. After settling into the groove, you will find a deep and satisfying combat system with a variety of enemies and varied, challenging, intimidating and extremely fun boss battles in what is one of the best action games to hit the PS2.
To help ease the player in, if you seem to be having loads of trouble, and die often, an appropriate Easy mode will be unlocked which you can play through.
As far as story goes, the game is wonderful. It does a great job of revealing Dante's past, his emotions about his family and introductions to things such as the Demon World, Vergil (aka Nelo Angelo) and even a brief hint of Mundus himself (for those of you who have played DMC1). The story plays out in fun cutscenes between missions and are each fulfilling. I actually found the story in this game to be quite a bit more enjoyable than that of the original Devil May Cry (and don't get me started on DMC2), which is a definite plus. For a game that is all about action, getting a good story too is definately a positive point.
The game also looks fantastic. The only problem I see is that since you spend a lot of time in the same areas, a lot of the environments, though striving for a level of individuality, will fail to impress. The detail is there, and the mood is there, but oftentimes you may get tired of seeing the same style. There is variety, but it is subtle. That being said, the enemies (especially the bosses) look absolutely fantastic and the game never stutters, which is a really good thing. Even though the PS2 is vastly inferior to the GCN and Xbox, this game manages to look quite good for its time.
The sound is fantastic as well. Sound effects are appropriate and satisfying, music is harsh and appropriate (not to mention adrenaline pumping) and the voice acting is usually done perfectly, with only a handful of noticeable flaws. This game excels in the sound department for sure.
To reward those who complete the game though, there is a lot. First of all you can play through the whole game as Vergil, who plays quite a bit differently from Dante. Unfortunately he doesn't have his own story mode, as he merely plays through Dante's levels, but it is still fun. There are also many difficulty levels to play through, each presenting a new challenge and reward (such as more artwork to unlock), but won't provide much for people who aren't really completionists. On the bright side, upon completion of the game, you keep all your upgrades, so tackling a harder mode isn't as daunting as it may seem, and this means you can also upgrade all your Styles as well. There are also 12 well-hidden Secret Mission within the normal missions that will give you Blue Orb Fragments (to upgrade health) which are challenging, as well as a handful of hidden Blue Orb Fragments throughout the normal areas in the game's 20 missions. There is a theatre mode where you can watch all cutscenes you have scene already, and you can watch a couple of original trailers for the game. To round out the package, is Bloody Palace, which is a seemingly endless survival mode of sorts. A nice challenge for those who like that sort of thing. Lastly, completion of the game on different difficulties will unlock costumes for Vergil and Dante. Most of the extras will seem pointless, but the game is fun enough to warrant a play through again on harder difficulties merely to try and upgrade all of the weapons and styles to see what kind of combinations can be made.
The challenge of this game can be very unforgiving on difficulties above Easy, but with the skill you will gain from playing after a little, you will learn that this game is a very fun-filled action game that deserves to be played from the moment of the silly beginning to the absolutely glorious final battle. This is one PS2 action game that should not be passed up, especially after the abysmal performance shown from its predecessor. Enjoy.
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 10/10
Value: 9/10
OVERALL: 9.0/10.0