New Game This Week – Devil May Cry 4 (PC)

Finally.. I put down this game to write a short review. Details after the break..

Playing console-centric games on a PC is an experience many seem to think is far removed from the devs original intentions. Just a few years ago, these ports were often rushed, lacking proper controls or dished out to third parties who gave the impression of half-arsedness for a quick buck. Whilst some things still haven’t changed (why such a long wait?), fortunately this game features nothing to set it apart from it’s console heritage (OK, so you can alter advanced visual options, but hey this IS a PC game). In fact, it’s actually a very good play and you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was actually developed with the PC in mind.

For those who haven’t played this series of games before, it’s essentially a platform/fighter involving swords, guns and combos. Oh, and ultra-realistic, feminist-enraging breast wobble – but more on that later.

You play as Nero, a part-demon, part-human who one may suggest is a bit of rebel. I can only hope that the characterisation and dialogue has lost something in translation, but he does still show many traits synonymous with CAPCOM characters. Within minutes you’ll be torn between watching another out-of-engine cut scene, ladled with copious amounts of cheese  and unfeasible dialogue or just hitting ‘START’ and going for the sweet, sweet centre of combo-hunting beauty that this game pretty much boils down to.

In fact, I would go so far as to say the story is almost redundant. If you like beating armies of demons with huge, injection-powered swords and/or guns then you will like this game. It’s combo system is a joy, combining attacks, blocks, dodges and taunts together with Devil Trigger (think Street Fighter Alpha’s custom combo, except you fight with a familiar alongside you) and EX-Moves to attain a style grade. This style grade not only makes great bragging rights, but allows you to collect a higher and higher amount of ‘Red Orbs’ with which to purchase health and other consumables. At the end of each stage you are also given a grade relating to your overall style, time taken, and orbs collected.

Nero posses a long list of mind-boggling maneuvers with which to dole out pain on an ever increasing array of ridiculous beasts, with more still to be unlocked throughout the game. You can choose which moves you’d like to unlock depending on your preference, which is a major boon given the small amount of currency you receive the first time you play through. And you will - the mere 20 stages given to you seems paltry at first, but there are 6 Difficulty modes to unlock, a selection of secret mini-stages, as well as a bonus game where you fight arcade-style through 101 floors of enemies against the clock.

But wait! There’s more.. as you’d expect with a CAPCOM title, there are boss fights of epic proportions. And yes, you have to fight them more than once. And yes, they are tougher the second time round. For most people, this would be seen as a cost-cutting exercise, or a time padder. But to me, this reeks of the old-school gaming experience, of the arcade heritage with which the skeleton of this game has been created. It feels as if, without the storyline, this game could easily bean arcade game. The underlying mechanics of the combo system make you feel like you are in that environment.. sweaty of palm, third run through, knowing your next 3 moves in advance. This is why I love this game, even though it has the awkward framing and poorly delivered dialogue. You look past these things because that’s what you expect from a CAPCOM game – solid mechanics are always par for the course, however they wish to wrap it up.

I won’t talk spoilers in this review, but there’s even more to this game than what I’ve already spoken about. Much more to learn, much more to master. The game itself will take you between eight and ten hours on the first run, if you choose to watch the cutscenes. Subsequent runs will be tougher (assuming you choose to go to a higher difficulty) but the few puzzles that are in the game remain fairly similar across the board. Replay value is it’s greatest asset and will give you as many hours as you choose to give it. For most, this will be many, many hours of satisifaction.

And now for more of those breasts…

I’m sure there will be more from me over the coming days/weeks about this game, but for now I cannot resist the lure to pick up the pad for just one more combo..