Released: February 5th, 2008 (PS3, 360) and July 8th, 2008 (PC)
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Action
You do not have to have played the previous 3 games to understand the story. In some way, they explain in each game that Dante is kickass and that he's the son of the legendary Sparda. Sparda is the one who took up the human's side and basically sent all the demons back to hell (even though he's a demon himself) and kicked Mundus' (the devil basically) ass. But Capcom decided to do a different approach, by having you play as a new character. Instead of being Dante, you get to be Nero instead.Nero is pretty bland. Nothing about his life is said. He's a member of The Order, a type of religious group. He has a devil arm, for an unknown reason. He has a crush on Kyrie (the most boring character in the universe) and...that's about it. He tries to be like Dante, but just fails. It's shown several times through the game: such as him trying to show off and toy with an enemy, but he fails, and the enemy escapes. Dante kills the enemy with ease after toying with it. That said, he cannot compare to Dante, and Dante's power. But that is the point of Nero. He's a young kid, so of course he isn't going to be as cool or strong. Anyway, Dante breaks in during an Order meeting, shoots Sanctus (the pope of the church) in the face. Nero is sent to hunt Dante down for killing their leader.
Devil May Cry 4 is played similar to the others. The camera is set at a certain point in each room and follows Nero around. You can rotate the camera though. This system does not get in the way of all the fighting. It's pretty smart actually, and you can rotate it do a degree if it's in your way (depending on the room). Being an action game, there are always enemies to block your path. Your job is to take them all down, and track down Dante. Of course the story gets more interesting after that. You meet more characters and drive deeper, with the story being told through cutscene before and after each mission.It's a real fun job. The fighting in the DMC series has always been superb. Nero is armed with 3 main weapons. His sword, his pistol, and his spooky arm, the devil bringer. The movements are smooth and Nero reacts as soon as you hit the button. The sword and pistol are self explanatory. Nero's demonic arm is used to perform special moves to pull enemy to you. You can combine your different moves (Slashing the enemy up in the air, going up with him, hitting him back down, pistol them, them bring with back up again with your devil bringer, then smacking them in air with your sword). Then you can roll around to dodge enemy attacks. Additional attacks can be purchased with red orbs that drop from enemies you defeat or found in carious jars and destroyable objects.
This game isn't mindless though. I mean, if you've played it a million times then yes. But otherwise no. Some enemies can be killed more quickly in different means. Not locking onto your target and using Nero's devil bringer makes him do a special move on an enemy, like slamming them into the ground, kicking them, smacking them against the ground over and over. These special moves can even be done on bosses. On normal enemies, it's your choice whether to use it or not. As your normal weapons can kill them just as fast. On bosses, it does a big deal of damage, and normally it's recommended you do. Nero can also active his devil trigger, a special power-up, which improves his attack speed and power greatly. He does more attacks and heals slowly over time. Finally, Nero can also "charge" his sword, make it glow red, and unleash a powerful attack.Items can also be bought. Some items heal you, some restore your devil trigger bar. Some increase your max health, another one will revive you if you die. There are many to pick from. The game is balanced so you can't just cheat your way through on potions. You can only hold so many and the price increases every time you buy one. Like I mentioned above, you can buy more attacks for Nero to use. These are not bought with the standard money red orbs though. Instead, you must use Proud Souls. You earn Proud Souls by beating a level or doing Bloody Palace mode (will mention later). The game will give you more Proud Souls if you die or if the difficulty is lowered (if you die enough, the difficulty is temporarily lowered).
The bosses are as epic as ever. I mean, right away, you're up against a fire demon. Not all of them are huge, but they are all important impressive in some way. It may take a little bit to find out what kills them the fastest, but it's a nice journey getting there. Each boss has it's own unique battle music. This music is amazing. It fits each boss perfectly and just sets the mood. Outside of boss battles, you hear the exact same music. The same battle song, all the time. It's a nice tune though...taken from the theme. It can get tiring.
The majority of the time, you'll be playing as Nero. For a chunk of the game...you get to play as Dante and holy fuck. Dante is the best in this game than any other. Maybe it's just because he's compared to Nero, maybe he really is more powerful. Who knows, who cares? He fucking rocks. The basic gameplay between the 2 is the same, but everything else is different. Dante does have a sword and pistols...and many many other weapons. Traditionally, after Dante beats a boss, he gains a new weapon. The same is true here. They got pretty creative with the weapon this time around. They're all unique and can be used in different ways. Dante is faster, stronger, and all around funner to play. It will be a welcomed familiarity for fans of the previous games.One weapon creates swords that will hover around the enemies or float in air. Dante can hold one as well. Another one is Pandora's Box. It does....a bunch of stuff. It can be a bazooka, a machine gun, a "destroy everything", and...some type of machine that Dante can be in for a short time and it fires a bunch of missiles. It's actually more rewarding to beat the bosses. Nero only gets a key item that you need to finish the level. It doesn't help him fight at all.
Dante, like the previous game, has fighting styles he may choose from. This effects his special button (he doesn't have the devil bringer). The styles can be leveled up and unlock even more moves. There's 5 styles to chose from. The Swordmaster gives you more melee attacks, the Gunslinger gives you ranged attacks, Trickster helps you dodge more and so on like that. Dante also has a devil trigger, which makes him even more powerful. Just to throw this in, the battle music changes when you play as Dante. A nice change. It's also plainly obvious he's stronger than Nero, it's hinted at all over the place. Even when they fight, Nero cannot hurt him. So you'll be kicking and screaming when you're forced to play as Nero again.Now...I know Dante is oodles of fun to play. I mean, I pee my pants every time I see his face. He's powerful, sarcastic, just fun to play and to watch. But you might...notice something familiar when you're playing as him. He's going through the exact same way Nero did, only backwards. The enemies differ a little bit, but you get to fight the bosses again, go through the same puzzles (the puzzles aren't bad, that's why I haven't mentioned them), and basically go back to the beginning of the game with Dante. Not many people like this repetition. It was like this in the previous game as well, but not this bad. The gameboards force you to fight the bosses again and again and again.
The bosses come at you at least 3 times per difficulty. It'll be even more because you'll die, and see them again. I mean, once as Nero, once as Dante, then again as Nero. In DMC 3, you fought them maybe 2 times a difficulty. That was pushing it a little, but that's ok. But 3+ times? The same bosses bugged me more than seeing the same environment, at least the environment is pretty. Well...mostly...the Jungle...has problems. Apparently, the PS3 doesn't like shadows, they are blocky and are VERY noticeable. I don't know if the shadows are still horrible in the PC or 360 versions.But the biggest flaw of all...are the gameboards. At certain points in the game, you will run into these things. A statue of your character. You have to hit a die, it swirls, lands a number, then the statue moves forward according that number. Depending on the color of the dots it lands on, decides what happens. White means nothing, blue gives you red orbs, white teleports the statue, and red means you're gonna get attacked.
It was fun for 1 time, then it got old. Very old. At one point in the game, there are...maybe 3 in a row. They do not directly end, but circle. So if you don't land directly on the exit, it goes back to the beginning. So eventually, when you get to the end...guess what? A BOSS BATTLE! Then guess what? Another gameboard!!! And by the end of it, you just want to impale the boss (yeah, there's another boss at the end of all this) in the eye, go home, and cry. They waaaaayyyy over did this whole idea. Still, one thing should not ruin a game. It's just the biggest flaw in it.
After you've beaten the game, you unlock stuff. A new difficulty is unlocked, cut scenes you can re-watch are unlocked, and Bloody Palace is unlocked. Bloody Palace is a very fun mode, and a good way to make both Proud Souls and red orbs. You're in this small arena in Bloody Palace mode. Monsters come at you, you beat them down, and go to the next room. You have a time limit to do so though. It's very fun. The fighting is where the game truly shines. You can pick either Nero or Dante to play as in this mode.
In short, Devil May Cry 4 is a wonderful game. It does not live up to Devil May Cry 3, but it is still a good addition to the series. Some people will say this is a horrible game, but I disagree. They are judging too harshly. It's decent fun and awesome. I would recommend it to anyone who is an action fan.+Fun Gameplay
+Good Music
+Good Control
+Nero
+Easier Difficulty
-Nero
-Easier Difficulty
-Not as good as DMC 3
-Gameboard sections
-Bosses repeat 3+ times
Devil May Cry 4 gets a 4, for bringing amazing things from the previous games, but having millions of bosses and too many gameboards.
360 version gets a 4.
I'm not scoring the PC version, I don't know much about the differences on the PC.
