Introduction
Hack and Slash is the only genre in which PC is deprived of quality games. Consoles have some excellent hack and slash titles like God of war, bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden , Heavenly swords, Onimusha etc. But when it comes to PC the only worth mentioning title till date is – Devil May Cry (and Darksiders too but still for me DMC3 > Darksiders). Though the 1st 2 games of the title were also console exclusive and the third title was a bad port still many PC gamers have loved and enjoyed the game as well as being in the boots of the protag DANTE and are playing it till date (me being one of them). DMC3 was very messy on a controller and keyboard controls weren’t great either but still many gamers loving it is the proof enough for a good game. DMC4 was a mild disappointment for many but still much better on PC with a full and proper controller support.
Then after 2 years of the release of DMC4 came the announcement of Devil May Cry aka DmC. The promo thus released on E3 didnt only irk many of the old and hardcore fans but also earned Ninja Theory lot of hatred from the lifelong fans of the series. Facing all of that the 1st thing Ninja Theory did was to change the face model of the new Dante and release interviews which talked about how this game was nt a sequel but more of a prequel/origin game. Undoubtedly Ninja Theory & DmC was surrounded with loads of critcism throughout the year since the day the new game’s trailer was released to the day the game released and somewhat even after that. No doubts its the most controversial and yet 1st major game release of the year 2013 on PC. The game released for consoles on 15th of January and as a common practice now 10 days later for the PC.
Now before i begin the review i would just like to share that i am a HUGE fan of the series and the protag DANTE and in the following review i wont only elaborate about the new game but also compare it to the older games of the franchise.
Story and Presentation
The game takes place in Limbo city and Dante is being portrayed as a carefree teenage guy spending his life drinking and having casual relationships with women. On a regular morning he is approached by a young girl who asks him to run when all of a sudden he is pulled into the LIMBO – a parallel plain which is being controlled by MUNDUS and his demon accomplices. Though i wont go deep into that as it might be a potential spoiler but il just say that limbo city is just a cover up being pulled off by MUNDUS to hide the LIMBO from the humans. How ? Thats you to find!
Don’t expect anything new in the plot though in case u have played the old games in the franchise. If not then its more or less a revenge story where the son, once discovering the reason of the fall of his parents, goes for the revenge. Though new Dante is being tried to portrait as badass as the old one used to be still the new dante is being shown as more humane and kind of a lover boy. Not that new Dante is not fun but still somewhat lacks the humour the old dante used to have.
Gameplay
Ninja theory worked really well on the gameplay but coming from the developers of heavenly sword it was anticipated. The sword fighting is smooth and so is gun fighting and over and above that playing with an xbox controller is a treat. The controls are user friendly and easy to understand. Also an addition to the game is the Training mode where you can not only practice on a particular weapon but also a particular move of any unlocked weapon. Also there are quite a number of weapons categorized into Angelic (Aquila, Ophion & Osiris) and Demonic (Arbitar & Eryx). Then there is Kablooey ,a powerful gun, though its rewarded towards the end of the game and Revenant a shotgun. Along with these we do have the classic weapons i.e the adorable guns Ebony and Ivory as well as the sword Rebillion.The different colored Orbs also make a return in the game (though they were never away).
That being said this game completely failed at the difficulty level. There was no challenge whatsoever. I started the game playing at Nephilim and i wasnt killed by enemies at all apart from falling from the cliffs a couple of times. Getting an SSS rank in old DMCs required skill and literally we had to mash our gamepads or keyboards to achieve it . Its a less known fact that DMC3 ,when released , was so tough to beat that CAPCOM had to re release the game named as DMC3 – Special Edition making it easier but still a challenge at the easiest difficulty. DMC difficulty levels is a cruel joke for the old fans of the games. Once back then completing DMC3 in Dante must Die mode was a well appreciated achievement but with the new DmC its like a walk in the park. AI aint that great and predictable so you can easily counter inspite of being attacked by a hoard of demons.
All in all the game is as easy as if you are playing the game with a cheat or a trainer even at higher difficulty levels. While thats a treat to gamers new to DMC series ,its a big letdown for the gamers who fought against the likes of Nightmare, Nelo Angelo,Agni & Rudra and many more. The bosses in the game are a piece of cake and doesn’t require any hardship at all. Also one more thing i need to highlight here is that while many awe’d at the Grappling hook calling it a new one in DMC series just go a game back to DMC4 and remember Nero’s Demonic arm (if you played that game you would have understood by now what i meant). Also i would like to share that while the demonic weapons do a good amount of damage, the angelic weapons deal only small amounts of damage which annoys. The restriction of weapons on the enemies increases the frustration more but still surprisingly u still get an SSS without even actually switching weapons or the combo. A lateral and what il say is *unwilling* insertion of devil trigger is too in the game where once u activate it the enemies freeze in the air and u take them down. The ‘LOCKING’ mechanism was missed too (atleast by me).
Though i wont deny that the gameplay was indeed smooth and the animations (especially when u kill the last enemy in the hoard) & Weapons added to it greatly still there was no difficulty in beating the game whatsoever.
Graphics
The graphics of the game is undoubtedly the best in the series and the game actually looks quite wonderful. I’l say the graphics are kind of Gothic punk graffiti and if you are into that kind of things you will love the ambiance provided by the game. The boss battles (especially Bob and Lilith) were visually great as the ambiance was more like of a party than a battle (positive/negative depending from person to person). I really loved the design of LIMBO as it emphasized the meaning of Demonic and devilish.
Though there are not much settings to tweak apart from a few checkboxes asking yes or no still playing the game with HD textures is a delight
It aint the best of graphics but still not much complaints in that department.
Audio
Combichrist.Combichrist.Combichrist.
Need I say more. The background score remained to its roots like the old DMC games. Nothing better than you slicing tonnes of demons with metal going on at the background. The music was top notch and I dig it completely.
The voice acting on the other part was average. Nothing great about it nut at the same time nothing bad about it either. Mundus’s voice actor was the best in my opinion as his voice really depicted a DEMON.
PC Performance
The game actually gave me an FPS of over 100 on highest settings and without any problem of stuttering or lag or anything at all. It was well optimized and looked way better on the PC than the consoles (thankfully to AA and HD textures).
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Fluent and sublime gameplay.
- The plot being straightforward and easy to understand unlike past games.
- The background Score.
- The LIMBO world graphics.
Cons:
- No difficulty level whatsoever.
- Bad AI.
- Easy boss battles.
- Absence of LOCK mechanism and a meek usage of Devil trigger.
Conclusion
The new DmC was made by Ninja Theory keeping the western audience in mind thus brutally killing the old anime style DMCs and the expectations of the long time loyal fans of the series. Though i wont say its a bad game especially if you are new to the series. But if you have played old DMCs this game is simply forgettable. What i like to call it as a nerfed down mek copy of DMC which is still enjoyable yet weak.
The graphics and gameplay are the USP of the game but i believe if DMC 3 is remade with great graphics (not just HD textures) that game will still oversell this one easily.
In a Nutshell good game worth playing but still nothing compared to a true DMC game.