Review – Devil May Cry 4 (XBOX 360)
- Jim Toshiro Sullivan

You ever watch those action movies with awe-inspiring gun play and martial arts and thought – “Hey! That guy is pretty hot!”? Of course you have. But if you ever wanted to play an action movie – Devil May Cry 4 is your man. Wow. That wasn’t supposed to come out like that.

If you asked me to describe Devil May Cry 4 in one word, I would say “No”. But really though – it’s STYLE. DMC4 is full of style and action packed sequences that will leave you in awe of how good it looks and plays.

To start off – the story is your generic demon battling kind. Not to say it’s not a good enjoyable story of course. You’ve got your badass Dante and his “Raiden” Nero. There are the conflicts and the revelations and the coolness. And that’s another word I would describe DMC4 with – COOLNESS.

The main aspect of the game is Style Points. You can earn these style points by being stylish. These are done by varying your attacks and not getting hit while dishing out the murder. For a casual fan of the game, you’d rarely see much above an S but when you do, you’ll find yourself addicted to mastering this action simulator.

The game starts you off as Nero – Dante’s possible younger identical twin(?). His left arm is a Devil’s Arm - which just translates to you being able to kick a considerable amount of behinds with it. He’s also got a sword that can rev – think a motorcycle. It’s definitely cool to see, it’s also very functional. Revving your sword increases it’s “firepower” and in turn gives you more style points for it. He’s also got in his arsenal, a sort of double barrel revolver gun - a somewhat strong gun with a rate of fire which I personally found little to no use for. The combination of arm and sword is a sweet one but that would pale in comparison (for some people) to the combinations and stances of Dante which can be unlocked later in the game. To make up for this though, Nero’s arm can do serious damage. His devil arms have enemy-specific moves that really take the DMC series to another level. Not a huge step but another level none the less.

Dante on the other hand is viewed as the sweet mother of combat. Although not anywhere near as powerful in the game as he is in the cutscenes, he is still pretty friggin’ out there. He’s got a huge arsenal of weapons (compared to Nero) and controlling him feels miles different from controlling Neo. This adds a sense of refreshment to game as you are forced to control a new character essentially having to throw away everything you learnt while controlling Neo. Dante’s present and acquirable arsenal is nothing but over the top. You’ve got Ebony and Ivory – a true test to how spastic the player is. It shoots as fast as you can press that damn button. I have to admit I hurt myself controlling Dante for the first time. Then you’ve got a very satisfying shotgun all the way to a gun that morphs into many different guns – the Pandora’s box itself.

All you equipment can be upgraded via the usual DMC pre-mission menus. If you’re good at it, you could make your character an all-singing all-dancing master of the universe. If you’re decent like most of the people on earth, you could choose a style your character could be in to. There are many options to choose from and you’ll find that your hard work won’t go to no use as the stats get carried over for any other consequent play-throughs.

The action sequences in this game are breath taking. The enemies are varied and the bosses are very interesting. It is enough to hold your attention and keep you on your toes at every level. Each of the bosses and enemy requires a different way of approach forcing players to adapt on the fly. You’ve got to be really fast to excel at this game. Really fucking fast.

The game’s graphics are top-notch sticking to a mostly solid 60 frame per second. The animation on the player and the enemies are done well especially in the big boss fights. It’s epic.

Well, a game is not really a game until you find something that pisses you off. When you get to use Dante, you’re basically back tracking to where you started the game. You’re going from A to B to C, then back to B then to A. What the hell man!? I love the game but not only will the fighting feel repetitive now but the whole fucking level is the same.

A lot of people will be coming to terms with the fighting. It can get very repetitive. But if you really want to invest yourself and become good at this game, it could be a rewarding experience. Check Youtube for the videos of the true masters of Devil May Cry.

After finishing the main game, you’ve got harder difficulties unlocked for you. There’s also a Bloody Palace mode whereby you encounter swarms and swarms of enemies until you eventually die. These are little bonuses that adds a lot of replay value to the game for those of you who haven’t had enough.

The main difficulty level will give you not so much trouble but as you unlock new ones – they are a nightmare. There are quite a few difficulty levels ranging from easy to Dante Must Die, Heaven or Hell, Hell or Hell and Son of Sparda. Thank god you’re allowed to carry forward your stats otherwise you’d be in for one hell of a thrashing. These difficulty modes will surely keep hardcore fans on their toes as they perfect their style and killing techniques.

I would have to say that, if you’re a fan of action and love a good fight – Devil May Cry 4 is your man. Yeah that’s right.

Rating: 9.1/10
Cumjackulation Rating: 8.9/10
(ratings explained)