Devil May Cry 4 Review (8 out of 10) ...

February 12, 2008 ... Review by Chad

Devil May Cry 4 for the Xbox 360 is an extremely refreshing game that pulls all of the best parts of the previous installments into one beautiful and satisfying package. For those who have played the previous games, you’ll know most of what’s going on in the game. For those that haven’t though, unlike the PS3 version, which recaps the series’ story during the hefty 20+ minute install process, you only find out the previous games’ stories after you clear the entire game…all 20 missions-worth. Also, the loading times in the game are extremely bearable, which makes me wonder why the PS3 install is required, but that’s another subject entirely.

This game is definitely one that’ll keep you busy for a while. I personally beat the game on the Normal difficulty setting after about 14 hours, and I’m an experienced player. Even so, the game offers a damn good challenge, but nothing like the unbeatable behemoth that was the original Devil May Cry 3 Dante’s Awakening. The re-release of DMC3 (with the subtitle ‘Special Edition’) solved that problem by making the game actually playable. DMC4 has followed in its footsteps and come forth as a challenging but approachable game.

The games story isn’t bad per-se, but being able to get a recap on the series before you start would have been nice. Luckily, Wikipedia is out there for all of you who are a little bit rusty on the history of Sparda and Dante. Also, the game features two playable characters, Dante (who is more bad-ass than ever), and a newcomer named Nero. There’s no explanation as to why Nero looks like Dante in his teenage years, and it would have been nice if they would have just given him a new hair color instead of exactly-like-Dante-white.

Gripes aside, the game has never looked so good, played so well, or sounded better. The soundtrack is still as glorious as ever. The voice acting is also top-notch as far as video games are concerned. The entire game’s presentation is epic, and even casual onlookers will be wowed by the sheer style that the game emits. Speaking of, a new addition to the game that’ll make DMC veterans happier than a five-year-old on Christmas comes in the way of on-the-fly style changes for Dante via the D-pad. There’s just something insanely satisfying about mopping up demons from Sword Master, to Gunslinger without blinking an eye. And Nero’s Devil Bringer is truly an amazing addition to the game that makes the play mechanics seem familiar yet fresh.

All in all, DMC4 is entirely worth your time. If you’re an Xbox 360 owner and you need a dose of cool, this is the game for you.

Achievement Information – If you’re looking for achievements, this is NOT the game to play. The achievements are much too hard for the little amount of points you’re awarded. After completing the game on normal, I had a “whopping” 120 points unlocked out of a possible 1000.

Completion Time – 12 hours. Afterward tons of things unlock for even more challenges.

Devil May Cry 4 At A Glance
	8.0	The Goods	Cool Factor / In-game cuts cenes / a variety of different demons / The game gives homage to other Capcom franchises in subtle ways.
		The Flaws	One of the final boss battles will drive you crazy / Unclear on the story until you’ve beaten the game
	Great	The Verdict	DMC4 is entirely worth your time. If you’re an Xbox 360 owner and you need a dose of cool, this is the game for you.

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