Devil May Cry 4

This game has incredible graphics, much better than the Xbox 360 version (especially with DX10 and a good graphics card). I can play in 1600x1200 with all the bells and whistles and antialiasing turned up and i average around 100fps on my 9800GX2 and OC'd Q9450.

Gameplay is fast and exciting, with areas designed for a very immersive, cinematic quality. If you like "twitch" games with lots of blod and gore, you'll absolutely love this game. The difficulty seems pretty easy on easy and sufficiently hard on hard. I have had no technical problems at all, nor have I seen any glitches or bugs.

The voice acting is good but not great, storyline seems like what we've come to expect with this series which is pretty good. Boss battles are simply epic, using incredibly stylish means to defeat your demonic foes.

I highly suggest you take a look at the minimum requirements for this game, as another reviewer made the mistake of buying this game for his woefully inadequate machine. People seem to think that as long as they purchased their computer in the last year, it should be able to run any and every game out there. What they fail to understand is that new games generally require GAMING HARDWARE, which is not in any way the "standard" with $500 Gateway or Dell systems. Those are generally geared towards office applications and web browsing.

I can't say enough good things about the graphics, I'm really impressed. Due to the art I think I like it better than Crysis and COD4 combined, graphics wise. The style and technology fuse together to create a true piece of digital art.

In DMC, combat is incredibly well balanced and challenging. Just rushing into a horde and spamming a basic attack is a quick way to get killed, except on easiest level with automatic combos turned on. Using clever different combos is rewarding and efficient, something that all action games should try to encourage.
New difficulties and unlockable level "Bloody Palace" add a lot of unexpected replayability to the otherwise short game. "Legendary Dark Knight" mode is amazing because all encounters have 10-20x the amount of enemies more than usual, a mind-boggling experience.

Playing with both characters is very fun and provides you with a ton of options. Depending on which styles you select, the game plays in an entirely different way and Dante with max Swordmaster is far away from Dante with max Royal Guard or some other skills.

Puzzles and traps are solid, ranging from fun to "ok", but are never the head-banging variety that makes you want to rip out the DVD and smash it - much appreciated (think Blade of Darkness). Secret Missions are fun (but very hard) and very original subversions - for example, "Nonviolent Resistance" requires you to raise your style meter, which is raised by attacking, without doing any damage. Another mission requires you to protect one enemy from the others.

Story is solid, if a bit predictable, but it works. Dialogues are a mixed bag, ranging from subtle and witty hilarious conversations to some corny lines but overall they're great. You might only notice some puns when playing the second time, and references to other works abound.

Graphics are beautiful and the game flows smoothly. The game requires a graphics card with minimum 3.0 pixel shader, which can make reasonably new computers need an upgrade.

Bosses are incredible both in challenge in originality. The battle against the massive Savior is epic on a level that very few games or movies can ever reach (also see: God of War 2).

The big flaw is level repetition. Half of Nero's missions take place in the same area and getting lost happens frequently. When Nero exits the place, he only has a few more original missions before you switch to Dante. But guess what? Dante then backtracks through all the areas you visited as Nero (having only 2 original levels, even if amazing ones). They are changed, providing realism, but it seems this part was just glossed over by the developers.

Another flaw is (depending on your view, pun intended) the mammarian syndrome. Characters are beautifully drawn, but female protagonists--- oh gods! It's not the only reason for game's "Mature" rating but it probably played a role. Usually it's just slightly irritating.

This game contains SecuROM, the hated security overkill. However! No install limits, data collection, online validations or other terrorist methods. SecuROM consists of a DVD check - you cannot play the game without inserting the DVD first. That kind of mild security is fair.

Except for the level blunder and some corny lines/plot twists, DMC 4 is a huge success. Sleek, dazzling and fun, it will provide you with a lot of fun. For trying it out, just as worth it, a demo is available for download at Gamespot.

Edit: 65 gameplay hours later - finished 4 difficulties and all of bloody palace (101 level). The game is almost 100% completed, though I still fire it up for a boss fight here and there.

The good:

Graphics: The scenery is fantastically stunning. The locations literally look as if they could qualify to be in the heaven part of the movie "what dreams may come".
The player models are very well done as well. everything seems to have very detailed textures and gloria to be specific is done to the point that most (fe)males will probably slam their faces against the computer screen in a manner akin to the testubed face hugger from the movie Aliens.
The monsters have a brilliantly done scales and fur and definitely qualify for omg they are purdy awards.

Initial gameplay: At the start the button mashing and devil bringer (grabbing enemies and manhandling them) is incredibly fun. Even the most well respected scholars will likely be enticed to scream like spectators at a street brawl in the ghetto. Though the animations do get repetitive, they are also well done. Each monster seems to have its own throwing animation and literally get owned. Owned is a term that is exactly what it reads as. The monster becomes nero's for short period of time, mind, body, and soul. He doesn't operate them like a puppet, but they have no choice in what horrible things he does with them. Dante has some nice moves too, his devil trigger is down right evil.

The combat is built to be fast, heavy, and down right sinister. Whether doing a fiery dragon uppercut with a sword or slamming a fish monster as if he was a personal club, the action scenes will be pleasing (at least for a short time).
Many various moves are also available which also give some minor variety to how people are severely beaten by nero/dante.
The skill level for this game is also deceptive. Though hack and slash will work, careful use of ability is a must on harder difficulties. even on lower, your butt can be handed to you, but nero/dante are almost god like in their abilities, question is the player able to harness that?

Character development is very enjoyable (at least to me) as most of the people in this game have a discernible difference from one another. Nero and Dante do seem a bit similar and dress close to the same. being unfamiliar with the series I thought that maybe they were brothers or clones, but now i know better. Nero in particular was liked by me because he had the same rude tone with people he didn't like. Dante is okay too, a little mean at times, but still interesting. Can't say i ever got to authentically deeply care about anyone in the game but no one annoyed me, even agnus the mr. muscle scientist whiny guy.

Movie theater option is available to relive all those fantastic animations. Yes, even for gloria's intro. Everything with her qualifies as softcore porn.

Histories of characters and items are also available. Definitely helped a bit for people like me who had to spend time on devilmaycry-wiki to understand what and where these people originated.

Mission select is available to relive all the butt kicking the game has to offer. Sadly i haven't found a boss beatdown mode.

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The bad:

SECUROM! Yes i'm one of the many people who HATE, as in I'm tempted to desire those who invented it should never breed. One mistake is enough. Steam version does not have it as far as i know, but i unfortunately bought retail (21$ price difference at the time of review). I had to spend hours researching about WHEN does securom install itself. Luckily i learned that securom only installs after first run of the game, not during install. so anyone out there trying to patch the game so no securom, do so before then. I don't hate securom because it's anti pirate, i hate it because its anti customer. I've had it kill a dvd drive, it stop me from playing the games i legally paid to play, and have it exploit windows registry (which isnt' tough) by embedding nulls preventing manual removal without extra tools.
No reason i should have to treat my games like they are skeezers of a street corner. I do not condone piracy, though i'm slowly thinking that its best because of items like securom, but securom is definitely not the answer. as much as i hate steam, thats the only drm that ill tolerate, mostly because i already had so much invested in it. I seriously had the return label ready and waiting until i verified that i could play this game without securom through unofficial patches.

Exiting the game. Can't just hit exit and pop out of the game. First have to exit the current mission, then exit that menu, then exit another i think, and then at main menu can exit game. Alt+F4 does work, but don't expect it to save progress.

Not like that matters much as saving really only applies to things between missions. Can be at the bosses doorstep and leave game. when returning the game will offer the player to replay the entire mission (or at least a section of it). The checkpoints for when the user dies are sometimes inconvenient, but i think thats on purpose to penalize the player.

This is basically a straight port. Can play with keyboard, but I wouldn't suggest it. I luckily had an xbox controller for pc and the buttons fit exactly.
The menus can be selected via mouse but that doesn't help much in this game.

The gameplay post initial shock of "OMG THEY ARE SO AWESOME++" is a bit grounding. Can literally play(button mash) until thumb muscles qualify for the olympics under the gymnastics/weightlifting sections. There are times when I would clear an area make a mistake on a jump and have to fight the enemies once more. This applies to many areas of transitions. Forgot your glasses at the cafe's table? well be prepared to fight.

don't expect much exploration either. there are a few tidbits hidden, and secret missions, but nothing like a sandbox game, which this isn't.

The game also plays like downtown traffic. Every few steps the player receives a red light (red plot door) that must be removed by beating butt. sometimes a blue door will appear which can only be solved through puzzles. the game play is mostly akin to what i experienced playing painkiller. almost exactly so really. Move through an area, rock music starts playing, kill stuff. Do{fight}while !EOG; //end of game. Rock music and red door are this games version of spidey sense. Wouldn't be so bad if it was only a few times, but this happens quite often. Granted this is a hack-slash game, but i can do without the stop/go antics. luckily some areas are relieved of their plot doors after the monsters are beaten a number of times, so can run past.

The scenery is dazzling yes, but also they tend to blend together. I wish i had some lipstick like the movie "the labyrinth" because turning the wrong way is very easy.
luckily the game provides a big red dot on the map which shows what door was recently used, but with all the back tracking done, that barely helps at times.
the user does get a full map, though its not convenient to use. they all look like hallways to me.

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The questionable:
Some people fear certain words and shiver at any thing that isn't them, and this game has a few of those items.

Scared of homosexual tones between women? this game has it somewhat. There is a fish monster who has two faux women at the end of its anglers
that kiss and play with each other. granted this looks like the perfect thing to trap someone. this has no ill effects on me, but i've met a number of people who will go into near epileptic seizure, or worse a self righteous war path because of such things.

fear breast, panty shots, and jiggly woman parts? There is some in here too. Yes, I'd still be okay if it was male jiggling too as the body doesn't always offend me, but in this game there is plenty to please those who enjoy watching women.

violence a no no? then stop reading now and alt+f4 the webbrower and clean cache. this game's entire premise seems to be about wobbly women parts and beating enemies so bad that their descendants suffer from shell shock. any child the monster ever has afterwords will curl into a fetal, crying, catatonic state when the doctor tries to spank it for it to take its first breath. yes, the beatings get that brutal. The very first scene in the game shows a guy having being mercilessly shot, pounded into the ground, thrown into a religious statue, and then a sword through his chest. Then he pulls sword out of chest with bloody gooey bits all over.

scared of certain words? then don't play this either. i am rather allergic to the words *shiver* ni, but i try not to let it rule my life. i haven't scouted for a word filter and not really going to. Nero uses plenty of words, and eventually i'm guessing one or two will bother someone. especially for those who have children and are afraid that they may learn things about said words.

anyhow if squeamish beware of this game.

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my verdict?
This game is very much worth buying at the low price of 9$, but i'd recommend going with steams version even though it costs more. why? securom. Patching the game so it doesn't have that horrendous software is risky. steam isn't great, i've had troubles with it before, but not as much as viruses and securom. though i have had it go rogue 2 years ago and delete my entire /games folder (30GB worth of data). but now i have over 300GB worth of games through steams with few issues.

This game may have the life of a flower (short and beautiful), but its has a definite fun factor. its score ranking function is an interesting reason to play through the game, as is the ability to play nero or dante for basically any mission (after dante is unlocked).

3/5 due to securom and annoying plot doors.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 26 reviews  4.2 out of 5 stars