Another day, another Steve Boxer preview. This time the lucky blighter gets his hands dirty with the latest instalment in the Devil May Cry franchise.
Devil May Cry 4 Preview
I must confess to no great love for the previous three instalments of Capcom’s admittedly popular action-adventure-cum-hack-‘n’-slash – they were certainly stylish and fast-paced, but always seemed a tad generic. But it seems that all the franchise needed was an injection of next-gen console grunt, because Devil May Cry 4 is fantastic – even at this early stage, it will surely be hailed as one of the games of the year on the PlayStation 3. One senses that this is the Devil May Cry game that Capcom has always wanted to make.
Since the game doesn’t hit the shelves until February, Capcom is anxious that we refrain from revealing key aspects of the storyline – and rightly so: you’d rather discover it for yourself. And it is a decent storyline, with plenty of twists and a healthy dose of surrealism. What we can say is that you play as Nero, who looks suspiciously like a younger version of Dante. Nero has a natty blue demon arm, which he can use to pull in enemies from a distance, deliver a devastating punch or pull himself up to enemies, even if they are in mid-air. And he has a kick-ass sword, which can be powered up by revving on the L2 trigger as if it was a chainsaw. Plus a gun. He’s never knowingly underarmed, in other words.
Frankly, we haven’t felt inclined to make much use of the gun, as Devil May Cry 4’s joy lies in the swordplay. As you progress, you learn new combos, and the battles are all about stringing them together to form furious attack barrages – get on a roll and you are actually rated for style, from D to A and –even from A to S, SS and so on. DMC4’s control system may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but once you master it, it proves gloriously responsive and flexible, which is just as well, since towards the end of the game, there are some fierce bosses, who you will only take down if you find the right strategy. It’s all about the interaction of demon arm and sword attacks.
There are, as before, plenty of puzzles which, pleasingly, never get you scratching your head in confusion, but are moderately inventive and usually quite fun. But really, the meat of the game is the combat.
But the graphics put the icing on the cake – they are absolutely stupendous. The cut-scenes are among the best we’ve ever since (one is even mildly sexy), the lighting is incredible (with that HDR effect in which when you emerge from the shade, you’re momentarily blinded, for example), and the level designs are incredibly intricate. One even senses that Capcom was showing off somewhat, by putting an incredibly diverse set of environments in the game – one minute, you’re tramping through snow, and the next, your in a rather sinister forest. Devil May Cry 4 looks amazing and is fantastic to play. So you’ll be needing a copy of it.
(Big shout to Leo Capcom for the flicks).
First person to mention the lack of a demo on the EU store gets a prize!
I’ve never really been into this series but it’s looking good.
Comment by Dan (PSN-Detale) — Jan 25, 2008 @ 1:37 pm
No EU demo - ah well, I logged onto the US store and got the demo there - sorted…….
Comment by fusionloch — Jan 25, 2008 @ 1:48 pm
Was playing it lastnight on the 360 - must say I prefer the good old fashioned dualshock controller to the 360 setup…just didn’t feel right control wise on 360;.
Comment by JohnSketch — Jan 25, 2008 @ 1:58 pm
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Pingback by Devil May Cry 4 Preview | GameBlews PS3, XBOX 360, Wii, PSP, DS News — Jan 25, 2008 @ 2:13 pm
…Is it me, or does that plant look like the Pirahna Plant in Mario Sunshine?
Comment by Jetamo — Jan 25, 2008 @ 2:20 pm
Looks great, but imo the control of the character are a bit annoying.. If they fix this in the final release ill buy it on the release day here in Sweden
Comment by rBerggren — Jan 25, 2008 @ 2:21 pm
the graphics are “absolutely stupendous”?
i really dont see it. the 4th shot down, how flat and uninteresting does the ground look?
the characters look superimposed on the background.
ridiculous next gen shine on the floor but not on the characters.
the way the floor just turns into background, those flat pillar things which have no texture or depth at all.
the floor looks like it might be right out of Serious Sam on PC years ago.
3rd screenie looks flat too.
i dunno, i think maybe after the lovingly created uncharted and heavenly sword this just looks…cold.
Comment by d33p — Jan 25, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
i got to agree with d33p, i wasn’t overly impressed by the graphics in DMC4. It looks very much made for the ps2, with a little bit of touch up.
Comment by WildTuRkey — Jan 25, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
@7 & 8 - Yep have to agree. Graphics are poor compared to Uncharted or H/S IMO. I think this has been the same with all games that are also on “the other system” - except Oblivion. They tend to look flat and lifeless with poor lighting and some sort of weird shine and no depth of field. Can’t say I’m in the queue to get this one.
Comment by Dave Vincent — Jan 25, 2008 @ 3:41 pm
@7, 8 & 9:
But remember, this is only like an early beta.. mayb they fix it up later on closer to the release-date (?)
Comment by rBerggren — Jan 25, 2008 @ 5:13 pm
I played the PS3 demo of this last night, I think it plays and looks AWESOME!!! Fight the Berial on the second part of the demo and then tell me this game does not look superb and is exciting…I do agree Heavenly Sword and Uncharted are excellent as well but DMC4 is going to be a treat on the PS3
Comment by gotjf — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
think it looks g8t . dont like the screen tearing in uncharted
but the thing i dont get is why this is ten pounds more expensive than the 360 version that really makes no sense at all
Comment by nikrad — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
This game looks brilliant when your actually playing it, really detailed for such a fast paced game.
Comment by rothbury — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:39 pm
if threespeech grew a pair,
they would mention themselves that the demo was all around the world except the EU,
same as why Judge dredd is not available in the Benelux store
or why the prices for mesmerize are 1.99 $ (us-store) instead of 2.99€ (EU-store)
when the prepaid-cards are gonna be released in the EU.
Where the remaining songs are for singstore
STOP THE CRAPPY INDY-POP of bands nobody have heard about.2 songs in the rap part,paula abdoul- opposites .. & a indy-pop ,can hardly be called RAP
Where is PAIN!
where are the discount/action-packs like the other regions have (warhawk for reduced prices)
combo packs for classics
SCEE should get FIRED
Comment by Terrortime — Jan 25, 2008 @ 7:14 pm
stole this from Japan last night, was most impressed with the ‘2008 Trial’ -heh- as far as hack’nslashers go it has been the best i’ve played for ages, definately more to it than HS. these pictures really don’t do it justice.
R1 + triangle then circle for the win!!
Comment by mobiletone — Jan 25, 2008 @ 7:29 pm
DMC is a great series, which got a little over-tough with DMC3 (to the point it started to take fromt he fun factor)
From what i’ve played of it so far DMC 4 feels more to play like DMC3, but it’s difficulty is closer to the DMC2 (tough but a hell of alot of fun)
As mentioned its down to mastering combo’s and strategys for th ebigger boss’s and when you hit your first SS rank you’ll probably die, (through shock that you pulled it off)
Comment by Godfather Obie — Jan 25, 2008 @ 8:25 pm
I thought the demo was cool, I agree that the graphics ranged from out right beautiful to somewhat bland (the snowy level on the demo).
I’ll buy it but I’m longing for another Capcom game to arrive with it zombies.
Comment by Terry — Jan 26, 2008 @ 11:26 am
gamer Tv gave it 6/10 and when I was watching the clips I wasnt at all impressed either
Comment by BENNE77 — Jan 26, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
Im a huge dmc fan, so I imported a dual shock 3 as there is still NO UK DATE yet, and pre-ordered the game for ps3 as it did not seem right playing it on the 360 & despite the £10 difference from the 360 I was ps3 all the way…
Until I played the demo (via US store), no 1080i support…
This makes a big difference, as 720p game look pants on my 50″ bravia, its just full of jaggies, there is talk of the full retail version supporting 1080i/p but nothing official from capcom/sony, so instead ofmaking my buying decisions on rumor im buying on fact, the 360 WILL rather than the ps3 MIGHT
So looks like im getting all my multi-format games for the xbox, just like last gen…
Now some people will say but “720p is better than 1080i” that might be true on ‘your’ setup but not mine, at the end of the day its down to personal preference and my eyes prefer 1080i
But what about the people who don’t even have a choice? The ones with tv’s without 720p support? the ps3 downscales to standard resolution, a problem that affects very few in the EU, but a lot more in the states, in fact 1080i only tvs are still being sold there now…
there’s a (at time of writing) 263 page thread about this on the offical US playstation thread started MAY LAST YEAR which sony has just IGNORED
http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3&thread.id=1543693&view=by_date_ascending&page=1
until the ps3 gets 1080i support on all its games, all my multiformat cash will be going to M$
(IT EASILY FIXED:how about adding the code for vertical scaling to your dev kits? since just horizontal scaling in your last update is a poor workaround)
Comment by Mr. Monkey — Jan 27, 2008 @ 1:26 pm
@19 why 1080i???? if 1080p is the one for FULL HD
why bother with 1 man complaining on 1080i
next people want to play 262p (PSP-format),and the games get delayed again
the biggest complain since day 1,we all have to bother with,no matter what screensize is the weekly pile of CRAP they put in the EU store
and there is where SONY has to step up or change the names to SONOT’s DELAYstation 3
Comment by Terrortime — Jan 27, 2008 @ 4:01 pm
Played the demo - loved it!
I reckon it will be one of, if not _the_ best multiplatform game on the PS3 this year.
Pre-ordered it ages ago!
Comment by Azz — Jan 27, 2008 @ 6:45 pm
Actually PSP is 272p, not 262.
Comment by ojko — Jan 28, 2008 @ 10:58 am
Why can I download a demo of DMC4 on my 360 now but on my PS3? I thought Playstation was the lead platform for this title? Once upon a time this was a PS3 exclusive now they can’t even get an exclusive demo!
Comment by Mumraa — Jan 29, 2008 @ 1:11 pm
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