| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 3 | 9.00 |
| Overall | 9.00 |
|
I was one of the people that were livid when it was announced that DMC was being developed by Ninja Theory. The NT games I played did not have a combat system any where close to what DMC games have. I wanted to dismiss it outright, I wanted it to fail badly. Now I have the game and I have been proven wrong. Maybe its the guidance of Capcom, maybe NT simply needed a few games to get it right; whatever the case DmC is absolutely a DMC game. The combat is every bit as exciting, fast paced and skill based as before. The core change to the combat in DmC are the trigger activated quick or strong weapon types. With the push of a trigger you instant switch weapons to one of two color coded types. The strong weapons break shields and do massive damage but are really slow. The quick weapons do minor damage but are excellent for crowd control. Of course you still have your trusty Rebellion which controls identically to every other DMC game. It is interesting what NT has done with this system as the variety of weapons is pretty similar to past DMC games but in this game their role is much more defined. I feel every weapon (there are five melee ones) is absolutely needed and all have their place against certain enemies. The ease at which you can string combos and mix and match all your weapons is the best part of DmC combat system. The ranged weapons are present as well and for the most part they remain unchaged. I found that NT made sure to have enemies where shooting is the best course of action, giving the guns a clear role. Evading is done with the other triggers and like in all DMC games you may cancel out of almost any attack. In general canceling has been made easier, especially the jump cancel which no longer takes zen like reflexes to pull off, a change I welcome a lot. Overall when you look at the combat system it is not as deep as past DMC simply cause they focused on trimming the fat. Hardcore experts will miss the total freedom and control they used to have but most players will find the more accessible combat to be better. Where this game is clearly inferior to past DMC games are in the boss battles and general enemy loadouts. The boss battles in this game are simply pathetic. They are the worst kind of simple pattern bosses that you'd find in a Zelda game not a DMC like skill based action game. There is also a huge lack of them, only 6 in the entire game with 3 bosses occurring at the first chapter and the last two chapters. Which means in the middle 17 chapters there are only 3 boss battles, you can clearly see the pacing is way off. The final boss is the only one worth mentioning as it is a traditional DMC battle and a great one at that, kind of a shame that they had the ability to make those kinds of bosses and chose not to. The standard enemies don't provide the same level of challenge you find in the past games even at the highest difficulty levels. Don't get me wrong I love most of the enemies in this game, there are even a few stand outs that are worthy of being some of the best in the entire series. It just gets to a point where you follow a pattern to beat each wave of enemies. Rarely do you get a mix that really makes you do a double take and rethink your strategy. The combo scoring seems a bit off because it favors strong attacks and demon dodging heavily, rather than a true mix of moves. I have never cared much for the level design in most DMC games though generally each game is well made with a few stages offering some surprises. Ninja Theory thought it would be fun to add a basic platforming element to the game and what can I say it works rather well. It is never a big challenge but it serves to break up the action and certain levels use them very well. I found the first half of the game to be rather uneventful with some very basic level design to the point where I was getting bored in a DMC game. If you read my first impressions of the game you would see I was not pleased. This all changed in the second half where the levels got much more interesting, with mission 13 in particular being an absolute masterpiece. I wish the entire game had the spirit of creativity that mission 13 showed, it truly is a level to admire and study. The main reason Ninja Theory was brought in was because the franchise needed a reboot in the story department. Much has been said of Dante's new look, I honestly don't care, believe me it works in the context of this game. The story begins in an over the top fashion, almost poking fun at what you would expect from a DMC story. Soon after the drama kicks in and characters develop in meaningful ways, well for an action game at least. I find this Dante to be the most human and his relationship with Virgil is going to be the centerpiece to this entire new reboot which is the best way they could have gone. They are going to give us fans what we want, this time in a large multigame story arch. DmC is about the same length as any other DMC game, maybe its a bit shorter simply cause you die less and the checkpoints are extremely generous. The extra difficulty modes change up the enemy loadouts and their behaviors just as you would expect. Bloody Palace is not available yet but it will be in a month for free, still it is an absolute shame that it was not ready at release. The secret missions return but like the rest of the game, they are much easier than in past DMC games. Graphically the game has a unique style which I found to get a bit repetitive after a while. The music is standard DMC fare, some metal band yelling at you. I basically filter it out, I dont even hear it as I play. The only exception is mission 13 which has great music. I played this on the PS3, have no worries it plays just find. The only issues are some sound screw ups during the cutscenes. I got to hand it to Ninja Theory they have made a believer out of me. I have no issue with them continuing on with the franchise, they just need some help with the bosses. I went into this game apprehensive, almost playing it out of obligation to see where one of my favorite franchises stands. What I got was a true DMC game, yeah its different in some ways but at the core it is absolutely Devil May Cry. And I love me some DMC, this year is off to a great start. |
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Posted by Dvader Fri, 25 Jan 2013 05:41:07
Sun, 27 Jan 2013 19:14:45
Definitely want to pick this up once it drops in price. Nice review tittyfucker.
Sun, 03 Feb 2013 07:43:04
Good review, I agree 100% game is awesome. Needs more bosses.
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