Devil May Cry 4
Review
Time to thrash more demons
by Zkylon
reviewed on PC
Demon slayer catalogue (cntd)
You can only play with Dante in a precious few levels though, so it is hard to get used each weapon’s use and even harder to wear off the Devil Bringer reliance. I enjoyed Dante’s playing style more than Nero’s but you grow dependent on the Devil Bringer after a while. It is tough to put your mind into not using it. Most of Dante’s maps are recycled from Nero’s but his versions are tuned to match his strengths and weaknesses appropriately. For instance, most bosses enter a stunned state after receiving a significant beating. You can then use the Devil Bringer to grab the boss which kicks off an animation where Nero deals lots of damage. Playing Dante you will find that bosses will be stunned for a longer period of time, permitting him to cause the same amount of damage.
Besides the uneven ratio between Dante and Nero, there are two other mildly concerning issues in Devil May Cry 4. The camera works well until it switches to a static viewpoint. More than once this throws you off balance, often causing your demon hunter to run against a wall. The other issue I have is with the level design which can sometimes take the form of irritating puzzles and overdone backtracking. Exploring in Devil May Cry lets you rest a bit between fights. This may sound good, but in the end you are playing the game to make your enemies wear your sword for a hat. The exploring bits take away from the experience.
Porting lessons
In the graphics department, Devil May Cry4 made it to the PC quite impressively. While including DirectX10 support, it features extensive graphical settings to adjust the game’s look to your own needs. The game looks astonishing and runs at a surprisingly solid frame rate. Considering Devil May Cry 3 PC had limited graphical options, it is safe to say Devil May Cry4 is as good as a port can get.
Much like the console versions, textures and character models are incredibly detailed and animations are superbly over the top. Stopping to gaze at the magnificently polished environments is probably one of the few things that may cause you to interrupt the game’s frantic gameplay. The only negative point are the loading times in certain parts. Loading your profile, changing graphical settings and alt-tabbing all take well over two minutes and that number is simply barbaric.
The sound is, as with most Devil May Cry games, a little subpar compared to its incredible visual prowess. Voiceovers are as cheesy as necessary, sound effects –mainly those sharp, butchering slashes- sound absolutely delicious and the soundtrack ranges from heavy metal songs to more dramatic and emotional scores. While the soundtrack isn’t really outstanding, it manages to set you on the right state of mind whenever Nero’s cooking demon brochettes or when he’s fighting to protect Kyrie.
Devil May Cry 4 is one of the best in a series of games that, besides a single major hiccup, has never disappointed. The combat is as challenging and satisfying as ever and has many modes to complement the already exciting campaign. I would not advice the purchase to those that have already bought a console version of the game. Even packed with the new Legendary Dark Knight and Turbo modes, it is still not worth the buy. If you haven’t experienced Devil May Cry 4 on consoles and love to trash demons, then this game is what you are looking for.
8.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
