Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Been there, done that"

If this game were not called Devil May Cry, I'd probably rate it higher. Going back to Devil May Cry 3 after playing this makes me wonder how they can possibly call this game Devil May Cry and still be able to sleep at night.

Okay, it's not a bad game -- in fact, it's pretty good, despite its many problems -- but Devil May Cry was always something different and special, while this is not. The gameplay, voice acting, and cinematics are instead very typical and melodramatic, with barely any of the anime-inspired, party-thrash, over-the-top ridiculous, testosterone-fueled Japanese mayhem of past DMC titles.

Story:

I'm not going to talk about the story itself much, because I didn't get into it. One thing that always separated Devil May Cry from other games, for me, was the interesting pre-rendered cutscenes that I actually wanted to watch. They were artistically thoughtful, original, exciting, and funny. In this game, while the plot points are decent, the presentation is all very typically lowest-common-denominator melodramatic.

And there's no escape from them, thanks to a lack of any button that skips them. Trust me. I've mashed the keyboard enough to know.

On top of this, we have the real world as a recurring storytelling device. Most gameplay takes place in the alternate dimension called "Limbo," where your character is constantly being "pulled" from reality. Gameplay sequences in the real world are basically additional cutscenes that are unnecessarily interactive, and consequently tedious. They're comprised of walking and talking, during which you have no ability to so much as jump or draw your sword. This contributes to neutering your superhero feelings, as the real world seems to render your character rather powerless.

When the visuals start becoming dreamy, and someone mentions that we're being "pulled" into Limbo (again), that's when you know actual gameplay is about to continue. Similar feelings when your character asks "Okay, so how do we do that?" and the answer invariably comes back, "You'll have to do it from Limbo". It's a repetitive theme that gets old very early.

Graphics:

One place where you can tell they put in some significant thought was in the "demonish" effects, the way the level elements change around you in unnatural ways during some event, to make you feel like you're in an unholy nightmare. I'm not talking about the general ambiance, but action sequences where a wall or floor is yanked into a new position, or something similar. I have to give some kudos there.

The general ambiance effects are decent, but repetitive and unimpressive. Our frequent trips to the "Limbo" dreamscape represent a missed opportunity to make the player feel some sort of unique atmosphere, but the visuals, while not bad, don't quite succeed in a bona fide feeling of gloom or foreboding.

The rest is on par with your average third-person action game of our current era. Good, but far from mindblowing, with a conspicuous lack of bloom or HDR. And, speaking of which, it's really no wonder that people with older PC hardware are saying they can get the "HD" and "Ultra" graphics settings to work smoothly, as nothing all that spectacular is occurring graphically, even in those modes.

Gameplay:

It's disappointing. Gone is the twitchy Devil May Cry fluidity and wave-after-wave of enemy hordes that made you feel like a superhero as you slashed your way through them with style. That's been replaced with a typical wave-pause-wave-pause approach. Each combat scenario requires an intricate combat strategy, replacing the instinctive adrenaline-impulse style of previous iterations, which quickly devolves gameplay into a chore that I felt the need to take breaks from often. Further frustrating matters, there is frequent use of a "learn-by-dying" platforming design, which is a sad step backwards in gaming history.

There are two new weapon modifier keys (Angel & Demon) that, while probably being the only original elements in this game, are difficult to handle on a PC with a standard keyboard and mouse. These new keys need to be held down, and to further complicate matters, there's a secondary keyboard attack button (the "special melee attack" button) that can itself be modified with the Angel and Demon keys. Since several keyboard fingers are already tied up in movement, having to often use another TWO fingers for attacks -- as opposed to keeping weapons tied to the mouse hand -- often requires some impressive hand gymnastics.

Try moving diagonally while double-jumping, holding the Demon key, and using the secondary attack button -- all while keeping the (very essential) Dodge key ready to go. Then try some of the more complicated combo moves. It can be done, but without a control device specifically meant for gaming (eg. a mouse with some thumb buttons), it feels less-than-practical.

Other gameplay issues:

- No more precision targeting. You can cycle certain targets while shooting (without any graphical indicator, annoyingly enough), but only the ones they specifically allow; and not every potential target is allowed to be targeted. Several recurring game challenges are specifically built around your newfound inability to do this.
- No more cool independent arm movement while shooting, as in past DMC titles.
- Keys you continue holding through cutscenes and transitions are canceled when gameplay resumes. I was often left wondering why I was not moving forward even though my finger had a death grip on my W key. You need to lift and press again to get them to activate.
- No ability to skip cutscenes (arghhh....). You can't even alt-tab out (PC) to do something else while they play, as that simply pauses the cinematic until you return.

Menu navigation: (yes, there are enough issues with this to warrant a section)

- No mouse navigation (really? in 2013?).
- You can't scroll past the last menu item to arrive at the top again (another "really?" there).
- General unresponsiveness, as there is a slight delay between when you see a menu display and when you can start navigating it.

Conclusion:

This is a poor attempt at a Devil May Cry, and an average attempt at a standalone title. There are also several issues that could potentially be fixed with patches. We'll have to wait and see if they come.

Some might say it's a reboot and tell me to stop pining for the past. If this game were merely different from past DMC games while still being special in its own rite, I'd say fine, I just need to get used to it. But this game is just way too much like all the other third-person action games out there, and I, for one, am very disappointed with it.