Devil May Cry 4

This is the fourth game in the series and it has some stiff competition to go up against - particularly the first Devil May Cry game in the series.
There is much to admire about this hack and slash game. Firstly the FMV sequences are fantastic - on a HD Tv they look amazing, and show up a lot of films with their quality! The graphics are very smart too - very little pop-up, or weird glitches. This time you have two characters - Nero and Dante and although both look very similar, both have very different skills. To me, Dante is much cooler, with the best moves and a wittier, dead-pan attitude. The upgrade system to your moves is still included, but not as unforgiving as the first DMC game - in that game, if you didn't have a certain skill, you really were going to struggle horribly to get past a certain point. The moves are superb too - from Nero's Devil Hand to Dante's super-slick sword play. The boss battles are big and bold, with a real 'wow' factor.
But this game is flawed, and not worthy of the five stars that a lot of other people have given it. Firstly, overall, the game is a case of style over content. The cut scenes are so long, that i began to wonder whether i was actually going to see any action. I would rather have had the developers put in a few more levels than stick a huge amount of cinematics into the game(great though they are). The fighting styles of the two main characters are not different enough to make the game a real challenge. You swap to Dante just over halfway through the missions, and it is so easy to pick up and play it is almost like you were still playing as Nero.
There isn't a huge amount of skill involved in this game either - anyone who has played the previous installments will be getting good rankings on each mission from the start. It is very much, an old style hack and slash - but wrapped up in some next generation graphics. There are two difficulty settings, but they aren't hugely different in my opinion and thus, don't give you the real challenge that you want. The other flaw that can be aimed at all the Devil May Cry games is the invisible wall feature - the fact that you know you could jump over a fence to get into the next area, but can't. This is lazy and makes for a really narrow field of gameplay - you are in a game that is on the rails so to speak.
It sounds like i dislike this game, but i don't - far from it. It looks and plays amazingly well. It is a finely polished game, and has obviously had a lot of time and effort spent on it. But it doesn't really break the mold or try to address the problems of the other Devil May Cry games. And that is a real issue. The developers should have gone back to the drawing board and done a Resident Evil 4 re-boot of the series. In that games case, everything was changed from the roots upwards, and what a classic game that proved to be. Devil May Cry demanded the same treatment, but instead we got a rehash of the older games, with the same old faults.Some of the boss battles are very similar to other games' bosses too.
It was fun while it lasted, and is a really solid game - but the producers have played it safe, and not tried to take the game to the next level. Hard core gamers will blast through this in no time. People new to the series will not be blown away either, as this style of game has been done before on many platforms, and in many cases, better than this. If this is your first foray into the Devil May Cry series, go and start at the beginning and have a REAL challenge!
I probably won't play this game over and over again, and i found God of War 1 and 2 on the playstation 2 much more engaging, much more interactive (great ideas for boss battles in those games) and much more addictive. I played those games to death, trying to get every single last extra - but on Devil May Cry, I don't really feel obliged to. Fun while it lasted, but it is still short, and still flawed...... come on! Let's get Devil May Cry 5 sorted out !!!!

I am new to the Devil May Cry Series , but I am definitely not new to Capcom games in general and I can see Capcom is playing their key strengths very well in this title: solid and addictive gameplay, insane moves and incredible boss battles.In fact some of the best boss battles I've seen in a long time from a video game and definitely the best boss fights on 360 so far.

There is a great variety of weapons and techniques , each one more insane looking / ridiculous than the last. Customisation of your heroes' abilities, do bring back some replay value for multiple play throughs.

The cinematic are incredible in this game and are worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster CGI fight scene with the level of choreography, camera angles, voice acting and action all going into it.
To be honest the cinematics / cut scenes were annoying at first , because they were too frequent between gameplay , but after a while they grew on me and really enhanced the experience.

This is a great game to have , as you can really unwind with this slash-fest which is very fun to play and a nice change from competitive online shooter-fest that 360 mainly is.

I am greatly enjoying the game so far and am sure the replay value of the game will be extended with extra modes after you beat the game , as it's pretty standard of Capcom to do that.

There aren't many bad things to say about it , except maybe more levels would have been nice instead using the same levels for more than one mission. Some puzzles are too simplistic , but then again i don't really want to be stuck on a puzzle too long in these kind of games.
The only really disappointment is the awkward fixed camera angle that you can't change in some areas of the game ( like the resident evil series ), which is a really let down .... as it's an aspect of 3d gaming that most recent titles have got right, although i guess in this game it doesn't matter too much/ probably wouldn't work as well. But I'd say freedom of camera is pretty much essential in this day and age of 3d gaming and the majority of current gen titles have got it right.

Anyway despite these minor flaws this is definitely a very enjoyable game that will keep you occupied for quite a while and you'll be enjoying the action throughout.
The icing on the cake is that this game is held together with great design and style , in both gameplay and video cinematics, it's hard to not like something so flashy and thankfully this game lives up to it's flashiness with gameplay substance to back it up too.

I have already been converted into a huge DMC fan after playing this game for the first few days of it's release.

DMC4 is already one of my new favourite 360 games. Capcom have done it again and created another title that's a joy to experience. They have indeed reminded me why they are my favourite company and their future looks healthy on the current gen systems and beyond.

I'm not going to explain the plot becuase you have probably read it elsewhere, so i'll just share how i felt about the actual game. I had never owned or played another DMC title, but the success of the first title in particular and the excitement surrounding the fourth installment was enough to make me pre-order the game. It arrived on the day of release and i was somewhat inquisetive as to what the game would actually be like. Once i started to play i reolised that the game would be something special. The difference between 40 frames and 60 frames per second is highly noticeable, especially when you are slicing and dicing different demons.

That is another thing that is so defining about this game; the demons. While the starting demons are easy to see to, you will find some of the later ones more of a challenge. The gorgeous graphics within the game complement the overall feeling of near perfection. The game is addictive, enthralling and (possibly) an early darkhorse for game of the year. What really gripped me were some of the later cutscenes which were nothing short of epic. The very first cutscene which sees Nero rushing to attend a young girls singing performance really sums up the game. we see Nero slicing up demons in harmony with the performance that he is missing, everything just gels.

If it was my advice, just buy the game. It is highly unlikely that you will not enjoy the game in the slightest and while there are some pretty tedious moments you are rewarded with huge boss battles and addictive gameplay. At a tenner less than most games, it should be an offense not to buy this game.

Capcom have really outdone themselves, roll on Resident Evil 5.