Devil May Cry (Sony PlayStation 2, 2001)

Capcom indeed specializes in many ways of murdering the undead; whether they may be zombies, ghouls, reapers, giant spiders, hunters, phantoms... yeah, you get the picture - Capcom is King of the Horror-Survival genre. I played this game four to five years ago and I returned to review it by buying DMC4. Dante, the protagonist of the series, is the biggest baddass of all Demon Hunters in video game history - simply because he's a cunning, smart-mouthed Human/Demon character. Alright, to get into the game... since the time of its release, the graphics and gameplay were unlike any other - it was unique in everyway and gives the players freedom to execute combos with different swords while using firearms to eliminate countless foes. Plus, once you get started with the Story, which I won't share because it's awesome, you'll really get hooked up in this game.

So if you've purchased DMC4 and are new to the franchise, look for this game on gaming retailers or anywhere you can find it (psst, psst - EBAY).

FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS - EXCELLENT!

Dante is this really badass Demon hunter who has his own shop and service. he's a bit hurmorous but has a big heart. He seems to be half immortal since simple things can't kill him. the game takes place in this totally creepy demonic castle where he is accompanied by a woman name Trish who looks like his mother.

The graphics are a very night to the point where you don't really need the animation scenes. the characters move very impressively, even when fighting.

there's not alot of talking in this game, Just Dante constantly doing alot of fighting, searching, unlocking and finding all sorts of powers to use. Dante has very nice combos, he can either fight with his swords or the fists of Ifrit. he also has a side weapon which are either double guns, shotgun, needle gun (underwater) or rocket launcher.

Dante can do some shopping, the only problem is that everytime he buys an item, the price goes up. your enemies drop red orbs. the amounts depends on your combo.

after a new game, you get to keep everyting you last had from the other game.

...FUN!!!

I had played the demo before I rented the full version, and I was very very impressed by the demo. What the demo does is, it bypasses the first boss battle, and instead gives you the second one, so it's out of order. Why you may ask? hehe The reason is simple, the camera has major problems, and you can't see too much of the problem in the area for the second boss, which is why it's in the demo instead of the first boss, which has a lot of camera problems in its area. So let's skip the intro and head to the details.

Here are the details.

Gameplay 8/10
Elements 8/10: This game plays like Dino Crisis 2. It's got the Resident evil style, mixed with a cool battle system. The battle system is a major plus. As it is fun. The menu system is pretty good, and straightforward, giving you info on the weapons, maps, enemy(including boss) traits, move list, etc.
Controls 6/10: The controls are pretty good per say in NORMAL situations. However the Camera Angle in many parts is HORRIBLE. It's so bad that you will come to hate it in a couple of boss battles. This really affects boss strategy. So because of the horrible camera angles influencing the control, I gave this part a 6/10.
Difficulty 8.5/10: When I played this game, I played it on Normal, and did not go with the easy option. The gameplay in general is not hard, although some enemies do pose a challenge... However some of the boss battles are pretty hard, and you have to get the pattern down for them. While not the hardest bosses I have ever seen, they are hard enough to warrant an 8.5/10 difficulty on Normal mode. I don't know how hard it is on Easy mode.

Story 6/10
There is basically very little story, and to top it off, the story is not very interesting. But it has it's moments. So for that reason I gave it a 6/10.

Audio 6/10
The sound and music are average. And the voice acting is sometimes good, and sometimes downright crappy.

Graphics 9/10
This game IS EYE CANDY. It looks very very good. Everything is nicely designed, from backgrounds, to characters, to Boss designs, to all the FMVs.

Value 7/10
Value 7/10: This game is basically over in 8-10 hours on the first time play. It doesn't have much replay value, and it's not that great of a game. But it's definitely worth a play. So for that I recommend RENTING, not buying this game.

Fun Factor 8/10
The game is pretty decent funwise. Although I have to say that ultimately its the boss battles that make this game fun.

Overall Rating 8/10

I hope this review helps someone :)

When DMC1 came out, it was in the early days of the ps2. It blew everything else out of the water and redefined the action platform genre. And its still amazing today.
Combining a charasmatic lead character in a crimson coat (Dante), with stunning gothic settings and a pace of action never seen before, dmc1 packs a serious punch.
By interplaying the heavy sword action, with the lightning fast gun slinging the game has a very unique style of gameplay. For example you may start on the ground with a devastating sword combo, then launch yourself and your enemy into the air, blast them with rapid fire pistols, then bounch off the enemy your currently attacking in mid air, towards another enemy, and slam down hard again with your sword! And thats the basics! The amount of crazy fun combonation you can concoct between the range of weapons, combined with the almighty Devil Trigger special abilities, is endless.
The boss fights are also a massive part of the games appeal, with some of the most memorable and challenging battles in gaming history. You will fight lava spider/scorpions, huge lightning blasting thunderbirds and giant god like statues!
Its worth mentioning the sequals as a point of reference because dmc1 in my opinion is still the best in the series. Dmc2 was weak, simply didnt have the sense of impact and weight that makes the first so hardcore. Dmc3 is very very good, and likewise dmc4 takes it up to anew level of technical sophistication. But theres something very special about Dmc1 that keeps me coming back again and again. Its perfect.
Dantes character is perfectly balanced, somewhere between Clint Eastwood and Bruce Campbell! Which is something the sequals havent recaptured (dmc2 drained him of any personality, whereas dmc3 younger dante is just too arrogant and cheesy for words!)
The best thing about this game is the sheer sense of Agression it has in the combat. I have had swollen neck muscles and gritted teeth playing it, and that is something that very few games manage to capture. Even great titles in the same genre such as God of War dont come close to the GGGGRRRRRRRRRRR factor that this game has. And it makes all the difference.
Combine all these things with some stunning camera angles and art direction during combat and you have one of the greatest video game experiences in history.
Buy it.
Buy it now!

It all starts here. Devil May Cry is the gaming debut of the action-adventure hero Dante... half man, half demon, all hardcase. Armed with the sword Rebellion and the enchanted twin handguns Ebony and Ivory, Dante defends mankind from the forces of evil, carrying on the legacy of his father, the demon Sparda.
Set in a dystopian "near future," Devil May Cry delivers hard-hitting, premium quality action that is by definition dark fantasy rather than sci-fi. Dante's journey to thwart the evil god Mundus is one of pure, dark-theme gaming bliss, presented in a fashion that can only be called STYLISH. As Dante, the player will battle twisted demons of all kinds with an on-the-fly combo of sword attacks, martial-arts style gunplay, and unleashed magic powers from Dante's "inner demon." The game's battle combo and level grading system rewards the player for annihilating the enemy and clearing each level as quickly and "Stylishly" as possible. Rounding out the action are elements of exploration and puzzle solving... no mindbenders here, but enough to keep the massive amounts of fighting from becoming monotonous. The game's boss characters are truly inspired as well. Without dropping spoilers, I can say that the game's climactic final battle practically drips with Gnostic influence regardless of the developers' original intent, and turns traditional notions of what symbolically represents good and evil on their head. Devil May Cry was a masterpiece when it was first released, and after a few short years has rightfully gained classic status.