Devil May Cry
If ever there was a must-have game for the PS2, this is it.
Published: October 26, 2001
Y'know, I'm not entirely sure why you're reading this. I mean, you should be playing or thinking about playing or planning to think about playing Devil May Cry. It quite literally freaks me out that Shinji Mikami and his team, the guys behind the Resident Evil games even have a hand in DMC. After all, Devil May Cry is the absolute antithesis of RE. Dante is lightning quick and effortlessly easy to control while Jill/Chris/Random Zombie Fodder are slow as molasses, the enemies are incredibly varied as opposed to some kind of zombie/spider/mutant/mutant zombie spider derivative, and most of all it blends elements into an almost action RPG-style experience that quite literally must be played. I've talked to countless people and not one, not a single one among them has expressed any displeasure with DMC.
Even more impressive is the fact that Devil May Cry started out as a Resident Evil side project, eventually growing beyond the universe of the Umbrella Corporation and thankfully coming into its own. This is great, because it allows the game to stand on its own, without the help or hindrance of the RE brand. Besides being ten times the game the Resident Evils are, it's just not even fair to group the two together.
It's not like you need a backgrounder on DMC, since the very game you should be playing will fill this all in for you, but since we love you, we'll give you the shortened, Cliff Notes version. 2000 years ago, a devil who had matured unusually fast decided it was his fate to rule both the Devil Kingdom and our world, effectively controlling both the lower and upper realms. A devil knight named Sparda, however, who had grown a soft spot for the humans inhabiting the upper realm, wasn't too keen on that idea, and took it upon himself to not only destroy the devil's minions, but to lock the devil himself in a vault deep in the underworld to be released after two millennia. Sparda's soft spot for humans turned to love, and soon he'd shacked up with a human female. His wife eventually had a son, Dante, who was half-devil, half-human. As the 2000 year old imprisonment of the devil comes to an end, it'll be Dante's job to step in and follow in his father's footsteps. And of course you'll be helping him do it.
Devil May Cry is cut into 23 missions (plus 10 hidden ones), each with a simple goal such as "get to point A before time runs out" or "place item A in object B" or just "get out of the level alive." Yes, it's very similar to the key-fetching quests that the Resident Evil games have stagnated in, but somehow it's infinitely fresher, possibly because the tasks make a little more sense. It's not a key hidden in a plot of dirt that opens a door on the other side of the level, it's usually an object that's relatively close, but requires a few steps to get to rather than just running from one place to another. While each of the missions is separate, they're still part of the same world, so adjacent missions may have different objectives, but they share the same levels. That's not to say all the levels take place in the same few rooms, but there are times when you'll wrap around to places you've been in previous missions while in the course of a latter one. Like Ico's approach to revisiting old locales, this thickens up the world you're playing in, and helps give the game a more self-contained feeling.
The first thing you'll notice about Dante is how incredibly easy to control he is. The second thing is how much of an infinite badass he is. He's arguably the most simultaneously agile, graceful and powerful character you'll ever take the reins of. The DualShock 2's button complement is fully utilized, and once you take a few minutes to get down some of the controls, you'll be double-jumping and juggling with the best of 'em. It's impossible to describe how cool launching an enemy into the air with an uppercut from your sword, then whipping out your pistols to keep them suspended in mid-air with a rapid-fire double barreled barrage until they explode. There's something undeniably visceral and yet satisfying about it. DMC is an amazing stress reliever. Again, I can't stress how much of an opposite this game is from the Resident Evil games, especially in the area of control.
If there was one thing about the Resident Evil games I couldn't knock, it was the design. Code: Veronica especially had a fantastically cinematic approach and an amazing attention to detail -- especially considering it was the first game in the series to ditch the pre-rendered backgrounds for fully polygonal environments. That move usually means a drop in quality, and although the environments didn't quite have the complexity of the pre-rendered backgrounds, it was hard to deny that it looked incredible. That said, it's safe to say Devil May Cry, which uses the CV engine, blows any of the RE games away, in terms of looks, style, presentation and atmosphere. It's also one of the single best examples of polygonal craftsmanship ever made.
The one thing that the Code: Veronica engine has nailed better than any other aspect is lighting. Gorgeous, perfectly placed lighting. DMC is awash in it, and uses of otherworldly hues of blue and green feel perfectly at home. Part of the reason the crumbling gothic surroundings of Mallet Island where the bulk of your journey takes place looks so damned good is because it's lit so well. The setting sun casts brilliant oranges all over outdoor areas, deep crimsons spill over exposed surfaces, yellows dance off stone as they're whipped around by torchlight. Sure, the modeling of the levels is incredible, but the lighting that gets slathered all over it is like chocolate fudge on ice cream; it just makes it all look that much sweeter.
The environments are indescribably cool as well, and coated with loads of different, detailed textures. They start off with simple, authentic gothic digs and slowly work their way toward the more fantastic, usually dragging you slack jawed and wide eyed along the way. What could be more stereotypical than a run-down castle? The difference is that authenticity -- clichéd or not -- permeates more than just the surface details. Little details like trees placed in just the right places or pools of rippling water. What's funny is that you get this great base of real-looking medieval digs, but that's slowly warped as you go along, tossing in more and more organic, other-worldly details like off-colored lighting or even extremes like pulsating, organic columns. When you finally take a look at... other realms, the payoff is that much greater.
DMC pumps so much eye candy at you, it's amazing I don't have a mouthful of cavities. Still, for all the luvin' your peepers are getting, there's still more for your ears to take in. Dante grunts and the monsters snarl and groan appropriately, but it's during the cut scenes that the effects really shine, especially the voice acting. Dante's badass image gets a wonderful boost from his smart-assed quips whenever dealing with the bad guys. The dialog isn't better than anything you'd hear in a typical action movie, but maybe that's why I dug it so much. The action satisfies that same testosterone fix that I get when watching a car explode or a guy taking on an army of brain-dead thugs.
The soundtrack will absolutely rock your tiny little world. It almost always has deep, dark piano notes slightly reminiscent of the RE series, and the pipe organ interludes are just perfect at helping along that whole gothic image, but it's when the industrial, almost techno-ish beats creep in that the adrenaline begins leaking into your bloodstream. If there is a guy that isn't pumped up to the point of whooping after seeing Dante rising up to grab his sword and break off a few moves, he may have something wrong with him. I don't say this often about games, but I'd buy the DMC soundtrack.
DMC is a Mature-rated game. There's blood and lots of it, and it does deal with issues of demons and the like, but they're handled in a more Eastern style. It's not blatantly demonic or evil in that Twisted Metal Black kind of way, but if parents and especially kids are sensitive to this sort of imagery, it might be better to steer them clear. If you are mature, though, this game will absolutely blow your friggin' mind. The environments, the bosses, the combat, everything gels and meshes so perfectly, there isn't an action gamer out there that could call their library complete without this game. Not one. Now stop reading and go buy this game.
Even more impressive is the fact that Devil May Cry started out as a Resident Evil side project, eventually growing beyond the universe of the Umbrella Corporation and thankfully coming into its own. This is great, because it allows the game to stand on its own, without the help or hindrance of the RE brand. Besides being ten times the game the Resident Evils are, it's just not even fair to group the two together.
It's not like you need a backgrounder on DMC, since the very game you should be playing will fill this all in for you, but since we love you, we'll give you the shortened, Cliff Notes version. 2000 years ago, a devil who had matured unusually fast decided it was his fate to rule both the Devil Kingdom and our world, effectively controlling both the lower and upper realms. A devil knight named Sparda, however, who had grown a soft spot for the humans inhabiting the upper realm, wasn't too keen on that idea, and took it upon himself to not only destroy the devil's minions, but to lock the devil himself in a vault deep in the underworld to be released after two millennia. Sparda's soft spot for humans turned to love, and soon he'd shacked up with a human female. His wife eventually had a son, Dante, who was half-devil, half-human. As the 2000 year old imprisonment of the devil comes to an end, it'll be Dante's job to step in and follow in his father's footsteps. And of course you'll be helping him do it.
Devil May Cry is cut into 23 missions (plus 10 hidden ones), each with a simple goal such as "get to point A before time runs out" or "place item A in object B" or just "get out of the level alive." Yes, it's very similar to the key-fetching quests that the Resident Evil games have stagnated in, but somehow it's infinitely fresher, possibly because the tasks make a little more sense. It's not a key hidden in a plot of dirt that opens a door on the other side of the level, it's usually an object that's relatively close, but requires a few steps to get to rather than just running from one place to another. While each of the missions is separate, they're still part of the same world, so adjacent missions may have different objectives, but they share the same levels. That's not to say all the levels take place in the same few rooms, but there are times when you'll wrap around to places you've been in previous missions while in the course of a latter one. Like Ico's approach to revisiting old locales, this thickens up the world you're playing in, and helps give the game a more self-contained feeling.
The first thing you'll notice about Dante is how incredibly easy to control he is. The second thing is how much of an infinite badass he is. He's arguably the most simultaneously agile, graceful and powerful character you'll ever take the reins of. The DualShock 2's button complement is fully utilized, and once you take a few minutes to get down some of the controls, you'll be double-jumping and juggling with the best of 'em. It's impossible to describe how cool launching an enemy into the air with an uppercut from your sword, then whipping out your pistols to keep them suspended in mid-air with a rapid-fire double barreled barrage until they explode. There's something undeniably visceral and yet satisfying about it. DMC is an amazing stress reliever. Again, I can't stress how much of an opposite this game is from the Resident Evil games, especially in the area of control.
If there was one thing about the Resident Evil games I couldn't knock, it was the design. Code: Veronica especially had a fantastically cinematic approach and an amazing attention to detail -- especially considering it was the first game in the series to ditch the pre-rendered backgrounds for fully polygonal environments. That move usually means a drop in quality, and although the environments didn't quite have the complexity of the pre-rendered backgrounds, it was hard to deny that it looked incredible. That said, it's safe to say Devil May Cry, which uses the CV engine, blows any of the RE games away, in terms of looks, style, presentation and atmosphere. It's also one of the single best examples of polygonal craftsmanship ever made.
The one thing that the Code: Veronica engine has nailed better than any other aspect is lighting. Gorgeous, perfectly placed lighting. DMC is awash in it, and uses of otherworldly hues of blue and green feel perfectly at home. Part of the reason the crumbling gothic surroundings of Mallet Island where the bulk of your journey takes place looks so damned good is because it's lit so well. The setting sun casts brilliant oranges all over outdoor areas, deep crimsons spill over exposed surfaces, yellows dance off stone as they're whipped around by torchlight. Sure, the modeling of the levels is incredible, but the lighting that gets slathered all over it is like chocolate fudge on ice cream; it just makes it all look that much sweeter.
The environments are indescribably cool as well, and coated with loads of different, detailed textures. They start off with simple, authentic gothic digs and slowly work their way toward the more fantastic, usually dragging you slack jawed and wide eyed along the way. What could be more stereotypical than a run-down castle? The difference is that authenticity -- clichéd or not -- permeates more than just the surface details. Little details like trees placed in just the right places or pools of rippling water. What's funny is that you get this great base of real-looking medieval digs, but that's slowly warped as you go along, tossing in more and more organic, other-worldly details like off-colored lighting or even extremes like pulsating, organic columns. When you finally take a look at... other realms, the payoff is that much greater.
DMC pumps so much eye candy at you, it's amazing I don't have a mouthful of cavities. Still, for all the luvin' your peepers are getting, there's still more for your ears to take in. Dante grunts and the monsters snarl and groan appropriately, but it's during the cut scenes that the effects really shine, especially the voice acting. Dante's badass image gets a wonderful boost from his smart-assed quips whenever dealing with the bad guys. The dialog isn't better than anything you'd hear in a typical action movie, but maybe that's why I dug it so much. The action satisfies that same testosterone fix that I get when watching a car explode or a guy taking on an army of brain-dead thugs.
The soundtrack will absolutely rock your tiny little world. It almost always has deep, dark piano notes slightly reminiscent of the RE series, and the pipe organ interludes are just perfect at helping along that whole gothic image, but it's when the industrial, almost techno-ish beats creep in that the adrenaline begins leaking into your bloodstream. If there is a guy that isn't pumped up to the point of whooping after seeing Dante rising up to grab his sword and break off a few moves, he may have something wrong with him. I don't say this often about games, but I'd buy the DMC soundtrack.
DMC is a Mature-rated game. There's blood and lots of it, and it does deal with issues of demons and the like, but they're handled in a more Eastern style. It's not blatantly demonic or evil in that Twisted Metal Black kind of way, but if parents and especially kids are sensitive to this sort of imagery, it might be better to steer them clear. If you are mature, though, this game will absolutely blow your friggin' mind. The environments, the bosses, the combat, everything gels and meshes so perfectly, there isn't an action gamer out there that could call their library complete without this game. Not one. Now stop reading and go buy this game.
