Devil May Cry 4 Hands-On

Jun 24, 2008

Look at your right arm. Most likely it's extended to a mouse or keyboard, but imagine if, say, it was infused with demonic power. It'd have a flashy neon blue glow to it. You'd have claws. A spirit fist could occasionally blast forward to throttle the back bumper of that driver in front of you who insists on going 45 miles per hour in the fast lane. You could snatch the cup of coffee from that guy in the office who, without fail, uses the machine every time you wander in to get your own. You could turn on the TV from the other room without needing a remote control. Clearly, the possibilities are endless.

Such an arm is just what protagonist Nero has in Devil May Cry 4, though such practical demon arm solutions aren't employed in the game. Instead, the phantom fist is used to yank enemies into attack range or pull Nero toward them, ideally opening up a better opportunity for attack.

DMC 4 is an action game, the fourth installment of Capcom's series started way back on Sony's PlayStation 2 back in 2001. It's traditionally been a console series, but Capcom has been making efforts to branch out. The PC version of Devil May Cry 3, for instance, showed up in 2006, though it hit a few obstacles in its transition that knocked out some of the fun. Other Capcom properties, like Lost Planet and Resident Evil 4, have shown up on the PC recently, and upcoming games such as Dark Void, Bionic Commando and, as strange as it may seem, Street Fighter IV will arrive in the future. Now if only Dead Rising could wade across the platform gap....

Capcom's commitment to delivering its twitchy, mechanics-focused experiences on the PC means those without consoles can experience some different styles of gameplay and some new styles of action hero. While many North American gamers might groan when they see yet another fashion conscious male who deals damage both physical and emotional with monolithic weaponry and blunted witticisms, it really isn't that far off from most American-made characters. Gears of War's Marcus Fenix is the perfect example. His armor is a little more utilitarian, his weapons slightly smaller, his color palette less radiant, but he's still just as irreverent, just as capable of delivering eye-rolling lines before brutally decimating the opposition.

An easier parallel can be drawn between Fenix and Devil May Cry's perennial star Dante than DMC 4 newcomer Nero, if only because Dante and Fenix have more squarish jaws and generally a more detached perspective with regards to their surroundings. Even though the majority of DMC 4 puts you in control of the younger Nero, there's quite a bit of similarity to the series' previous star when it comes to appearances. Nero, like Dante, has white hair, though it's parted differently. Nero, like Dante, carries a sword and a gun (but just one with a double barrel), launches opponents into the air to perform multihit combos, and must chain together moves to bump up their stylish ratings for higher reward yields at a mission's end.

Unlike Dante, Nero can rev up his sword, called Red Queen, like a motorcycle throttle, temporarily increasing its damage output. He's also got the demonic arm, called the Devil Bringer, which can be used to perform high-damage finishing moves. These moves differ depending on what kind of enemy types you're attacking. With basic grunts it's simply a body slam of sorts. With spiky ice creatures Nero whirls them around his head--dealing damage to others in the area--before flinging them to the ground. With spirit-powered suits of armor Nero impales them with their own lance, smashing it repeatedly against their metal husks before drilling them into a wall. It all looks very pretty, and can add significantly to your combo gauge.

The game progresses through a series of missions. Each is pretty brief, assuming you generally know what you're doing, and usually involves clearing rooms full of monsters, some light puzzle solving elements and the occasional boss fight. You walk into a room, magical doors seal the exits, and you need to kill whatever monsters spawn in to move on. Puzzle solving, at least early in the game, requires you to move around giant buzz saws to open doors, acquire magical artifacts to high-jump up successions of pedestals, and use your Devil Bringer to traverse gaps.

Smashing enemies builds a combo gauge, which starts off at rank D and builds to rank SSS. Getting the high style rankings requires you continuously attack enemies while avoiding getting hit. At a mission's end, you're graded on the time it took to complete the mission, how many style points you build up, what percentage of orbs you managed to collect from downed enemies and busted bits of the environment, and how many items you used. Your overall performance is tagged with a grade and you're given a corresponding number of proud souls to be used for upgrades. And if you pay attention, you'll find secret rooms with special challenges that offer bonuses if completed.

Between missions and at special statues located within the stages you can power up Nero, choosing to spend orbs on recovery items or proud souls on new abilities. Nero's Red Queen has quite a few upgrades, including dash slashes, mid-air combos, and upgrades to your sword's charge-up ability. The gun, called Blue Rose, can be upgraded to several levels of charge-up shots with varying fire-related special effects. A few upgrades for the Devil Bringer's snatch range can be purchased as well. From the six missions we've played through so far in the PC version there's also a range of abilities Nero can purchase, from types of dodges and speed boosts to modifications for your Red Queen charge. If you're unhappy with your skill selections, there's an option to refund the purchase.

In case you don't want to deal with all these upgrades, there are a few settings that automatically take care of things for you. Beginners might want to set it to novice, orthodox provides a balanced mix, and varied selects more of a range of techniques. There are also different difficulty settings in case you're new to the game. Human is basically the easy mode, best for anyone unfamiliar with Devil May Cry's gameplay while Devil Hunter is there for any series veterans. The options menu gives you the ability to replay cinematic sequences from each mission, check your rankings, browse the library which includes item, monster, orb, move set, character, and weapon descriptions, and replay missions already beaten to accumulate orbs.

As far as strategies for defeating enemies go, the regular grunts can be taken down just by straightforward sword slashes, so they're pretty easy fodder for high style point combos. Wraiths show up further in, which require you grab them a few times with your Devil Bringer to disperse their ghostly aura and leave them vulnerable. Walking spirit armors have a powerful-but-easily-dodged charge move and a shield to block attacks from the front. Using the Devil Bringer pulls you behind them, at which point they're easily defeated.

And since this is Devil May Cry, expect battles against absolutely gigantic bosses that, at least when you're first learning the attack patterns, can take almost as long as the stage itself. You'll find a mammoth fire demon in the demo and a little later on you square off against an oversized toad, which we've taken footage of and uploaded for your viewing pleasure.

Despite the odd lead character switch in the early parts of the game, it's entertaining so far and seems to perform rather well. If you're going to play this, be sure to have a gamepad of some sort. Keyboard controls are there, though, in case that's what you prefer.

If you want to try out Devil May Cry 4 for yourself, grab the demo. Not only will it let you know right away whether the gameplay suits you, but it'll also let you know if you can run the game. We're running Vista 32-bit with an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU, 2 GB of RAM, and a GeForce 8800 GTX 768 MB card and everything's been fairly smooth in both DX9 and DX10 modes. Devil May Cry 4 is set to ship early this July.