Devil May Cry

I have played a lot of great games this year, but none of them -- not Silent Hill 2, not Gran Turismo 3 and not even ICO can compare with Devil May Cry. It seems like every month I am blown away by a game that goes above and beyond everything else. But that may finally stop here. Capcom has taken everything I love about the Resident Evil, Dino Crisis and Onimusha series and created an entirely new game. It's a somewhat familiar experience, and yet in many ways unlike anything I have ever experienced before. At the time I am writing this part of the review, I am only a few hours away from going back to Nintendo's GameCube event called the Cube Club. That is all I have been able to think about all week long -- Pikmin, Rogue Leader and Wave Race really impressed me and I just couldn't wait until December 3rd (Pikmin's release date) to play them again. But now, believe it or not, the Cube Club seems so unimportant. Instead of spending the next six hours in the cramped basement of the Grande Building, I would rather stay home with Devil May Cry. If Devil May Cry was exclusively on GameCube, I'd wait in line for 24 hours, I'd willingly pay any price -- I would do anything, absolutely anything to get that system at launch. Even if it meant forgetting about the Xbox and other highly-anticipated PS2 releases. Saying that Devil May Cry is "that good" would be an understatement.

What makes it so good? What makes it more enjoyable than GT3, the best racing game of the year? To make a long story short: everything. The base of the controls are exactly the same as RE: hold down R1 to draw your weapon and press X to fire it. Give the left analog stick a push, however, and you'll see the first major difference between Devil May Cry and other survival/horror games. Dante (the main character) will move in whichever direction the analog stick is pressed. Unlike Extermination, however, the view is pre-determined, retaining that Resident Evil-like feel we all know and love. The result is full-3D controls that allow you to move around the environments with precision not seen in a game since The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. It's actually superior to Zelda in some ways because you have the ability to jump and backflip whenever you want. I honestly haven't had this much fun just hopping around since Mario 64. Speaking of Mario, Dante can double jump! As evidenced by the recent announcement of the Resident Evil series moving to GameCube, Shinji Mikami appears to be a huge fan of Nintendo's most beloved character. One can only wonder what kind of a game Shigeru Miyamoto would make if he was a huge fan of Devil May Cry...

Collecting and mixing multi-colored herbs to heal your wounds is a thing of the past. Instead, Devil May Cry uses multi-colored orbs (what else!), which are obtained whenever you defeat an enemy or complete a secret mission game. Red orbs are the most valuable orbs in the game because they can be exchanged for new Alastor (Dante's special sword, acquired on the second mission) attack moves and items. Green orbs restore health and blue orbs extend your health bar. Four blue orb pieces must be obtained to form a whole one (which will then extend your health meter), or you may buy a whole blue orb with red orbs in between missions or at a Divinity Statue.

One of the things that makes Devil May Cry so much fun is the extremely deep combo system. If you thought Tekken 3 had a wide array of juggle combos, you haven't seen nothing yet. The basic, three-hit sword attack will earn you a Cool rating the first few times you use it, but you're gonna have to do better than that if you expect to get a Stylish rating. Swing the Alastor in an upward rising motion, knocking the enemy (or enemies) into the air, repeatedly striking them with the sword, fire the shotgun once or twice and finally plunge the sword into them to finish 'em off. If there are other enemies near by, you could continue the combo by quickly performing a few attacks on them. Achieving a high rating is important because it rewards several times the amount of red orbs. There are way too many combinations to list them all, but I wouldn't want to spoil the fun you'll have discovering them on your own anyway.

The story is very intriguing, to say the least. DMC stars Dante, a mercenary for hire who is determined to avenge his mother's death. His mother and brother were killed by a devil when he was a child. Unfortunately, Dante doesn't know which devil is responsible their deaths, so he's decided to kill every devil out there, assuming that if he kills them all, he'll eventually get the one who did this. One day, a devilish girl named Trish shows up at Dante's place. After confirming who he is, Trish attacks Dante, impaling him with his own sword! She picks up the motorcycle she rode in on and throws it at him. Just before it lands, Dante whips out his handguns and blows it away. Dante pulls the sword out of his chest and is ready to make Trish cry, until she tells him why she's here. Trish is actually on Dante's side (or so she says) and is in desperate need of his help. A demon swordsman named Sparda is attempting to gain power of the human world. Trish wants Dante to come to Mallet Island and prevent this from happening. He's reluctant at first, but changes his mind when Trish takes off her glasses, revealing her true identity. Dante recognizes her, though at this point in the game it is not known who she is. He follows her to the island, going his separate way when he arrives. This is where the game begins...

Devil May Cry's visuals are stunning. The cinematic camera effects are incredible. Every time you enter a battle, the camera stretches and bends in ways far beyond any other game. It's like an action movie, except that every action is controlled by you. Words cannot describe it. Whereas Silent Hill 2 will only be enjoyed by a fairly limited audience, Devil May Cry should be played by everyone. I wouldn't recommend it to young children, but anyone over the age of 13 is old enough to play this game. Really though, if you have a child who is mature enough to watch an R-rated movie, don't prevent him from playing the greatest action game ever made. I know those words are thrown around a lot in this industry, but this time they actually mean something.

Devil May Cry will have you asking yourself, "Could this game be more perfect?" And you'll quickly respond, "No, it couldn't." DMC's controls are as perfect as video games can get. Developers have been struggling with action games for years, trying to properly balance the simple movements of the character (walking, running, jumping, etc.), with the thrill and excitement of gun-slinging combat. Dino Crisis 2 came close, but there was still something missing. For one, your enemies didn't fire back! Dodging a Velociraptor's attack was as easy as running in the other direction. But Devil May Cry does what no other game has. Before playing games as highly-anticipated as Devil May Cry, I, much like everyone else, "anticipate" how I think it's going to play. I expected a lot from Devil May Cry, especially after falling in love with the demo released this past summer. But I never thought for one second that I would end up enjoying it more than the greatest survival/horror game of all time -- Resident Evil. You've done it again, Shinji Mikami. If there has ever been a man who deserves an Academy Award for unparalleled consistency in entertainment and innovation, it's him.

Graphics: 9.4 
All of the character models are extremely detailed and move with great fluidity. When the Sin Scissors are killed, their large scissors are tossed into the air, their bodies shatter like glass and slowly fade away. The huge bosses are some of the most realistic creatures ever seen in a video game -- the spider's fire attack will blow you away (literally)! You can almost feel the heat of the flame as it fills the screen.

Sound: 8.9
The dark, gothic soundtrack really fits the mood of Devil May Cry. The music appropriately changes to a much faster-paced song whenever you encounter an enemy. Dante's dialogue is hilarious (in one scene he tells a large bird to "flock off"), and generally stays within the adult theme of the game, never lowering itself to Samanosuke's level.

Difficulty: 8
Looking for a challenge? If so, you've definitely come to the right place. Devil May Cry is one of the hardest survival/horror games I have ever played. I died more in the first 60 minutes of DMC than I did throughout all of Silent Hill 2. Because I was playing so badly, the game asked me if I wanted to switch to Easy Mode, which would allow me to fire my weapon repeatedly by holding down the X button and perform several Alastor attacks with a single button press. As tempting as that was, I chose not to switch to Easy Mode. Why would I want to ruin this awesome experience by lowering the level difficulty? I welcomed Devil May Cry's challenge with open arms and hope the sequel is even harder.

Concept: 9 
I really hate that I can't give this game a 10. Devil May Cry is one of the best, most original ideas ever conceived. Who would have ever thought that the Resident Evil series would lead to this? But it is for that reason that I can't give DMC's concept a perfect score. As good as the concept is, it didn't just come out of nowhere. RE gave Shinji Mikami a foundation to build on and DMC would not have been possible without it.

Overall: 9.7
Being a huge fan of Tekken, Soul Calibur and many other fighting games, Devil May Cry is the ultimate game for me. Even if I didn't love fighting games though, I would still love Devil May Cry. Simply put, it's more fun to play than any other action game out there. I cringe when I think of how slow and mellow games like Tomb Raider, Syphon Filter, Extermination and Perfect Dark are in comparison. Once you start playing DMC you won't be able to put it down. I've beaten Onimusha more than seven times and still enjoy playing it. Devil May Cry is even better that. I haven't had the chance to beat it seven times yet, but I am certain that when the dust settles and the year ends, DMC will still be spinning my PlayStation 2.