Item: Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition
Rating: 8
Author: Craig Desmond

DMC4 is very much a case of two steps forward three steps back in my eyes. The core gameplay the most important aspect of dmc is at its peak so far but the level design, boss design, story and structure are all inferior to dmc 3. Nero is the new protagonist on the block and gives a familiar play style to dante with his own weapon and moveset. The main differentiator however is instead of styles nero has a devil arm that can be used to grab demons from close or long range. His sword also has a rev feature if you hit the left trigger at the right time when hitting an enemy your next attack will be stronger. These small tweaks add plenty of depth and uniqueness to playing as nero. Dante makes his playable return and his ability to now switch all weapons, styles and guns on the fly adds huge versatility to playing dante giving extreme combo potential not possible in previous games even if dante has less varied weapons than dmc 3. The combat system tasks you taking out enemies as stylishly as possible and the ranking system does a great job pushing you towards this goal that is overly satisfying to accomplish. The story is bland which is fine but the only new character worth anything is nero who is clearly less sure of himself than dante but still likeable. The main problem with this game is the recycling of content present in the campaign. You basically play the game twice once as nero and then as dante in slightly remixed levels. You fight the same bosses three times in one run. While playing as dante is as awesome as ever I wish he had more unique stages. The game has high replay value with different difficulties and ranks but the main replaiability comes in the other playable characters. Vergil makes his return and is as cool as ever and Lady and Trish make their first playable appearances all with unique abilities. Lady utilises guns and a grapplening hook with very little melee options while trish plays a bit like DMC1 Dante but more polished. The final challenge is the bloody palace which has a hundred floors and has a timing system where the more stylish you are the more time you will receive. This being playable with all characters gives you plenty to play around with. DMC4 gets the important stuff right but fumbles a bit in the details.

DMC4 is very much a case of two steps forward three steps back in my eyes. The core gameplay the most important aspect of dmc is at its peak so far but the level design,  boss design, story and structure are all inferior to dmc 3. Nero is the new protagonist on the block and gives a familiar play style to dante with his own weapon and moveset. The main differentiator however  is instead of styles nero has a devil arm that can be used to grab demons from close or long range. His sword also has a rev feature if you hit the left trigger at the right time when hitting an enemy your next attack will be stronger. These small tweaks add plenty of depth and uniqueness to playing as nero. Dante makes his playable return and his ability to now switch all weapons, styles and guns on the fly adds huge versatility to playing dante giving extreme combo potential not possible in previous games even if dante has less varied weapons than dmc 3. The combat system tasks you taking out enemies as stylishly as possible and the ranking system does a great job pushing you towards this goal that is overly satisfying to accomplish.  The story is bland  which is fine but the only new character worth anything is nero who is clearly less sure of himself than dante but still likeable. The main problem with this game is the recycling of content present in the campaign. You basically play the game twice once as nero and then as dante in  slightly remixed levels. You fight the same bosses three times in one  run. While playing as dante is as awesome as ever I wish he had more unique stages. The game has high replay value with different difficulties and ranks but the main replaiability comes in the other playable characters. Vergil makes his return and is as cool as ever and Lady and Trish make their first playable appearances all with unique abilities. Lady utilises guns and a grapplening hook with very little melee options while trish plays a bit like DMC1 Dante but more polished. The final challenge  is the bloody palace which has a hundred floors and has a timing system where the more stylish you are the more time you will receive. This being playable with all characters gives you plenty to play around with. DMC4 gets the important stuff right but fumbles a bit in the details.

Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition

Review Title

Player Score

Craig Desmond