When DmC Devil May Cry was announced at GamesCom in 2010, many fans believed it would be the death of their beloved franchise. While they viewed Devil May Cry 4 in somewhat of a mixed light, it provided the combat and difficulty necessities they desired in a DMC game. Given that Ninja Theory’s expertise was in storytelling and not combat, this left a lot to wonder if the development team could provide a deep combat system to entice players to coming back to a party where they were told they were unwelcome.
The good news is that DmC’s strongest feature is in its’ core combat mechanics. While it’s not as deep as previous Devil May Cry games, it’s fun and engaging. Switching from Rebellion to your Angel or Demon weapon on the fly makes it thrilling to beat enemies up to get your style meter up. While the Style Meter has been adjusted to make it easier for newer players to rank better than they’re actually doing, it doesn’t really take away from the game’s enjoyment unless you miss the older scoring system. You’ll also miss a lock-on button. While some Capcom testers have said that lock-on is neither needed nor missed, that is factually false. Instead, the gameplay relies on having two buttons dedicated to dodge, with no differences between them. The lack of lock-on is baffling, and in later fights leads to severe issues with camera and targeting enemies you don’t want to hit or can’t hit due to having the wrong weapon out.
However, what hurts the combat is that there are certain enemies in the game that require you to use an Angel or Demon weapon against them to kill them. This hurts the game’s pacing, and it shows an uneven design. Whereas you can kill most Demon enemies quickly, Angel enemies are tedious and a chore to fight, sometimes taking minutes to down one of them. Outside of these quirks, the game’s challenge is minimal, even on Nephilim, the game’s default Hard Mode. Enemies are slow, dumb and dealt with mostly by force. The game’s checkpoints upon death are also user friendly, having you start back at the beginning of the fight you last died on with full health. It’s nice that it caters to the casual player so much, and gets you back into the action quickly.
The game has several pacing issues outside of combat as well. Some levels, while beautifully designed and aesthetically interesting, can range anywhere from five to 25 minutes. It’s uneven, and bizarre that a level can last two minutes while the next one is over 30. The game’s first mission has you going through a Demon Carnival and a Mansion, which are excellent designed and paced. One of the better looking levels has Dante going through rounds of fights in a demon world version of a nightclub. It’s a brilliant level, with excellent visuals and music along with some interesting fights. But, like the rest of the game, what comes after is astonishingly bad. Boss fights in DmC are truly a low point for the series. While some are visually interesting, ultimately the fights are dull, simple and feel out of place. Some regular enemies in the game pose a more significant threat to you than any of the game’s boss fights, including the game’s anti-climactic boss fight, which comes out of nowhere from a narrative perspective.
Speaking of, the game’s story is genuinely dreadful. While the game starts out with a somewhat tongue-in-cheek nature, it quickly turns to being super serious and never lets up. The problem is it’s not cute, it’s not clever, it’s not edgy and it’s not good. Some of the moments in the story are absolutely repulsive and should not be applauded by anyone. It just gets in the way of what you’re trying to do, play the game. The characters and scenarios in the game are also poorly written. There’s very little motivation to hate certain characters and while you’re supposed to applaud the heroes, more often than not the game gives you moments where you will shake your head at their actions. It’s juvenile and gives the sense that it’s better than it actually is.
The fundamental gameplay of DmC is strong; it has a good user interface as excites you when you expand your arsenal. It will anger and depress you through its’ poor focus on characters and story interaction all while getting in the way of you enjoying the game. It may be worth your time, but for how long and how much is entirely up to you. It’s got a lot of negativity surrounding it, and not from fan backlash.
Score: 7 out of 10
+ Good Combat
+ Nice Visuals
- Poor Story and Characters
- No Challenge
- 30fps on Consoles
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