Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Surprisingly good"

Ninja Theory is the name of the developer brave enough to attempt a reboot of a cult classic known as Devil May Cry. Messing around with fan favorites is a very dangerous thing in the video gaming industry. If you make one false move; then you are going to feel the burn. And unfortunately for Ninja Theory they stepped on one of those hidden bear traps.

In the video gaming industry making a good first impression is sometimes underestimated. Ninja Theory's original character design of Dante from the TGS 2010 trailer rubbed Dante fans the wrong way. Parody pictures/videos and rants spreaded like wild fire. Capcom made a lot of fans angry during the past few years; therefore learning that Capcom entrusted Ninja Theory with this task made the level of hostility even worse.

Ninja Theory changed the design during the development stage and revealed similar DMC like gameplay; however the damage has already been done. The only way to win this battle was to ensure the final build is good enough to wow the critics and turn some doubters into believers. Did Ninja Theory succeed? Lets review.

The presentation of this game is remarkable. Ninja Theory is well known for amazing landscapes. I was impressed with the ideas Ninja Theory put together. They were able to blend their environmental style with a Devil May Cry like alternate universe extremely well. The use of color and lighting was vibrant and electric.

The major focal point of this game involves the merging of the human world and Hell/Limbo. The way Ninja Theory pulled this off is nothing more than amazing. The new Dante constantly shifts from the human world to Limbo in order to take down his foes. The difference between both realms is immense. The human world looks detailed and all; but it is boring and seems colorless. But when Dante gets dragged into Limbo things get crazy. The colors change, the roads crumble up, objects get twisted, and the laws of physics no longer applies.

The world of Limbo comes to life literally, because the realm itself does all it can to stop Dante in his tracks. The environment itself even reveals threatening messages that are spoken by some eerie, demonic presence. For example, some Limbo worlds would cave itself in just to crush Dante like a pancake. These worlds are so wild and crazy I couldn't wait to see what happens next. I could go on forever about this segment; however I must move on.

The story itself isn't half bad based on what I played so far. It reminds me of DMC 3 a little bit; because the new Dante spends the first half of the game discovering who he really is. The game has more of a darker, edgy theme. There are also a lot of references in this game. I can almost guarantee that about half of the references you see or hear are things we all can relate to at some kind of personal level. Mundus and company controls everything and Dante has to stop it. I want to avoid spoilers, so I will stop there. Now let me warn you. The new Dante is a bit of a jerk. He is cocky; but the way he expresses himself is a bit too hardcore. The original Dante is cocky, but he does it in a more friendly, not taking you seriously kinda way.

Despite the new Dante's demeanor the voice acting is pretty good and there is more of a story in this game. However, the most important thing about a Devil May Cry game is the gameplay.

The gameplay of DmC is actually a blast to play. The basics of the gameplay is similar to the previous games; but there are key differences. The new Dante has the famous Rebellion sword as his base melee weapon as well as the base ranged weapon known as Ebony and Ivory. Dante also has a Devil Trigger; which gives him a power boost as well as the ability to regenerate. But, his Devil Trigger also gives him the ability to slow down time.

The difference is the fact that the new Dante has the ability to switch between an angelic scythe, Rebellion, and a demonic axe on the fly by using the left and right trigger. The left trigger activates the scythe and the right trigger activates the axe. The angelic scythe is used for crowd control and faster defense options. The demonic axe gives you raw power in exchange for speed.

The scythe and the axe has its on whip like ability. The angelic whip gives you the ability to quickly close in on enemies by pulling towards them. And the demonic whip allows you to break defenses and pull enemies toward you. The whips are also used for platforming as well.

The platforming is fun and also creates a nice change of pace. The other weapons you unlock as you play can be accessed by using the directional buttons. I haven't played enough of the game to explain how the other weapons work; but I will share what I know based on what I have seen.

There is a shotgun that seems to work the same way as the previous games. You can use ranged angelic blades as crowd control as well as an incredible combo multiplier. And there are demonic fist gauntlets that seem to work like the gauntlets from DMC 1.

Another thing that makes the combat different in this game is the way combo ranks are handled as well as the difficulty. The style system is not in this game; therefore if you are expecting to use royal guard I am afraid you will be a bit disappointed. However, the absence of the style system doesn't ruin the game at all. It is also nice to see that there is finally a hack and slash game that doesn't have any kind of Quick Time Events in it.

You rank up by doing massive combos, avoiding attacks, switching weapons in mid combo to add more finesse, and taking no damage. Taking no damage is really important in order to keep the ranking high. The higher the rank the faster you get upgrade points; which you could use to get new attacks and abilities. The game feels rather easy; but I think this was done to make it more accessible to newcomers. There are still plenty of outrageous difficulties to unlock, so hardcore gamers shouldn't have to worry too much.

Another really cool thing about this game is the fact that there is a training mode. You can use it to practice combos with the abilities you unlocked. You can even test out moves before you buy them! I am also happy to say that secret missions are still in. Secret missions are secrets that you have to find in order to extend your health and Devil Trigger meter.

This game is awesome gameplay wise; but every rose still has its thorn. The lack of an auto lock can hinder the flow of gameplay. The gameplay is awesome; but would have been even better if there was a lock on. This is not a serious problem; however it could make things a bit more difficult. In this game there are some enemies that require the use of only one type of weapon, aerial enemies, and enemies with stronger defenses. Not being able to quickly focus on one specific target can lead to attacking enemies that could throw off your momentum or accidentally use the whip to grab on to a platform.

The control scheme also takes some time to get used to due to having the alternate between the left and right trigger to switch between the scythe and the axe. With practice this will become less of a problem though.

Some are upset; because it doesn't run 60 FPS. I guess that is a bit of an issue, especially since it will run 60 FPS on the PC. Textures popping in late is another problem. The game plays pretty smooth despite only running 30 FPS on the Xbox 360. However, I think the Xbox 360 is the only console that performs well for this game. I heard the PS3 version was kinda messed up.

Pros:
+Environmental design is top notch.
+There is more of a story.
+The combat is fun.
+Plenty of new elements.
+Training mode!
+Still has some cheese.
+There are references of all kinds.
+Acting is more believable.
+There are still secret missions.

Cons:
-The new Dante isn't likable to some.
-There is no lock on.
-Doesn't play well on the PS3 due to 30 FPS.
-DLC....DLC....again? (Darn you Capcom!)
-Have been hearing that the ending fell flat from a lot of people.

Final Thoughts:

I am a fan of Devil May Cry and I am glad Ninja Theory stuck to most of their vision. They took a cult classic and gave it a nice, fresh twist. I applaud their effort. I am also glad the game did well. The game is exciting to play and is arguably Ninja Theory's best game by far.

I have to admit that I was one of those doubters; but I didn't let my inner fan get the better of me. I decided to cool off and wait. After playing this game I can honestly say I wouldn't have bought this game if it was too much of the same thing. If the game was going to be TOO MUCH OF THE SAME, then I would rather see the original creators of DMC step up and make a game that is truly better than the rest.

This game deserves an 8.5 out of 10 for an outstanding effort.