Review – Devil May Cry

The fact that there is this much good in the game is nothing short of a miracle. That this was once Resident Evil 4 is clearly evident in many parts of Devil May Cry. As much as I like Shinji Mikami games, the pre-Resident Evil 4 formula is not very conducive to an action game, and the effort is hurt by it.

Understanding one thing separates heroes from the rest of us: Demons, murderers and the undead can all be dispatched by really high kicks.

The biggest problem is the camera system. It’s exactly like the one found in Code Veronica; full 3d environments with fixed camera angles that move, zoom and pan on their own. You can figure out where the changes will occur, but that’s the only control you have over it. Some of the camera angles are just bad; how is looking at Dante’s front going to help us see enemies? The bad angles are commonplace, but not problematic enough to ruin things. For me, the larger issue is how they constantly change. You could be in the middle of an intense battle, only to move a few feet in the wrong direction and find the camera is now zoomed out so far that you can’t see your target, or it shifts to look in the completely opposite direction so your controls are reversed.

I can’t say these issues caused me great amounts of trouble, but it is one of those things that you can tell is going to affect some players, and understandably drive them nuts. Try to find a good spot and make them come to you.

DMC’s Resident Evil roots also mean that the combat doesn’t make up the entire game. It is often interrupted by sections in which you must obtain items and unlock doors. There are no RE-style puzzles to speak of, and it is at least somewhat logical that Dante may need some keys and artifacts to progress through an ancient castle, but the sheer frequency of it all indicates that the key hunts are a holdover from the game’s original design. The breaks in the action are nice at times, but unless you know exactly what to do you may end up wandering a bit, which runs the risk of ruining the pacing and excitement.

Resident May Cry

You may also find that the game is a little too “old school” in its design. There are many secret areas and caches of red orbs (which you use to buy moves and items), some of which are easy to locate, but most require luck or a FAQ to discover. There is also no clue as to what moves you should purchase with your hard earned orbs. Buying the right ones (like Air Raid and Inferno) while passing up on others (Meteor and Stinger level 2) can drastically change the difficulty of most fights, though the only real way to know is through trial and error. Its great to reward intrepid players, but that doesn’t that one must revert to obscure 1980’s era methods to do so.

Devil May Cry is not quite as effective in its purpose as, say, a Treasure game, but perhaps that’s a good thing. It has a solid sense of difficulty without being overly frustrating, and marries classic gameplay with new age graphics and control. Not everyone will get quite the same kick out of it as I did, but if you’re the type to reset until they get a perfect run, or you simply like seeing shit blow up, give this series a shot. Put a little bit of work in it, and I think you’ll find the end result to be quite rewarding. Just don’t touch the second game. Trust me on that.

Coming soon: Devil May Cry 2: The Trainwreck (or A Huge Waste of Ten Bucks).