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At last, the latest instalment of the Devil May Cry series
has arrived in Europe, and brings with it a new character: Nero.
Nero will appear familiar to those who’ve played any title in the
series – too familiar, in-fact, as he
 is Dante’s younger brother. He
too being a son of Sparda, has the benefit of being a hardass demon
slayer, and brings with him a new feature that affects gameplay
greatly; his Devil Bringer arm. It was quite a risk for the creators
to change from the original character Dante as he proved so popular,
but as you will find out, it is not the last you will see of the
enigmatic rogue.
The game begins in a castle in Fortuna, where there is an attempted
assassination on the head of the Order of the Sword by Dante. As
Nero, you begin on your quest with a fight against Dante. This Level
acts as the Training Mission before you embark on your journey, but
it does set the storyline at the same time. The fight comes to an
end with neither winning, and Dante escapes. You then set on your
mission to destroy demons that have appeared in the town and to
track down the assassin Dante, to restore peace once again.
The story is full of twists and turns and as Nero you find yourself
trapped half way through the game within a large Demon merged with
your true love. It is now Dante’s turn to take the reigns and save
the day. The direction of your quest now reverses and you must play
backwards through the lands that you have travelled with Nero.
Although the lands are the same as before the challenges faced are
different and you are able to do different challenges with Dante.
The game features twenty Levels in all, each drastically varying in
length.
The game is played in third-person view. The on-screen furniture
includes the Exceed Gauge, Vitality Gauge, Red Orbs, Combo Meter and
a Mini Map. The Exceed Gauge is for use with Nero only and is the
charge for his sword. By revving it up you are able to save three
strong attacks. It is a good idea to keep this charged so that
 when
you enter a room you have full power. The Vitality Gauge is your
health. You are able to extend this by trading items. When you are
injured you loose health but gain it again by collecting Green Orbs
or using a Vitality Star. The Red Orb Counter keeps track of how
many you have collected, and can be exchanged for additional items.
The Combo Meter keeps track of how well your attack is going. Some
statues in the game are there as a combo challenge. You must attack
them and if the combo is high enough then you are awarded an item.
Orbs are items that can be collected during the game offering you
different bonuses and power-ups. There are several different Orb
items that you collect along the way which hold different powers;
Red Can be traded with Divinity Statues for new items, Green adds
vitality, Blue Orb Fragments – collected to make a whole Blue Orb -
which increases your Vitality Gauge, Gold allows you to continue the
game from the point that you died, and Purple, which increases the
maximum of the Devil Trigger Gauge. There are also two stars that
hold powers; the Vital Star restores vitality and comes in three
different sizes, and the Devil Star which restores the Devil Trigger
Gauge. Extra items to look for are Proud Souls and Holy water. Proud
Souls can be offered to Divinity Statues to gain new abilities and
Holy Water inflicts heavy damage on any enemies, which comes in
handy when fighting demons that are more than ten times your size.
The music and the sound effects work very well with the music
playing louder and faster when you are in a fight scene. This
definitely adds atmosphere to the game and almost makes you feel
under more pressure. Graphically the game can not be faulted from
Cut-Scenes to the in-game play. Fight scenes are smooth with no slow
down
 when there is lots of activity, and some of the landscapes are
truly amazing. The Character Models are well rendered and the Boss
Characters are filled with the imagination the series has been famed
for.
Devil May Cry 4 my not break the mould; progressing gameplay
in the genre is left to the likes of
God Of War,
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle Of Doom and
the
Dynasty Warriors series. However, the title does very
well to compliment it forbearers, and fans of the series will be
knocked-out by the immaculately captured pacing between puzzles,
combat and plot advancement. This is a game that will be remembered
along with such Hack-N’-Slash classics as Streets Of Rage,
God Of War and the
Onimusha series as it is so
addictively playable.
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