Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
The devil's not the only one crying.
Published: March 7, 2005
The controls seem initially to be up to the task of letting Dante dart to and fro, locking onto and blasting away at enemies, it quickly becomes obvious that there's no way you can battle six or seven at the same time without taking some serious damage. Nowhere is this more perfectly illustrated than in the mapping of target switching to the L3 button. Clicking the left analog stick is cumbersome and often means you're clicking it in the heat of battle rather than when you want it to hit a specific enemy (good luck on getting that to work right).
Picking one of the four styles (Trickster, Swordmaster, Gunslinger or Royal Guard) allows for a significantly varied set of moves and attacks (wall-darting, blade-driven, projectile-centric and hand-to-hand, respectively), but none really makes any one level any easier, and switching between the styles at the beginning of a level means you'll never build up skills to make one powerful.
All of these additions, the different styles, the enhanced upgrade system, the impressive variety of moves (even those available right from the start), it's all wasted on a game that's way too hard to let anyone have any fun.
It's even worse because the game looks amazing. Easily the best looking in the series, the engine in place has added some basic interaction with environments and a bit more fluidity to Dante's movements, but by and large this is pretty much the same level of detail and architecture that was seen in the previous games, which certainly isn't a bad thing. Enemy designs seem to be of the wraith-y or skeletal persuasion for the most part, but the bosses can be wonderfully imaginative.
The hard-rocking soundtrack doesn't really hurt the feeling that every fight is a frantic slash-fest, but even it can grate a bit. When it slides back to reveal the more traditional gothic notes, the game feels more at home with itself. As it is, Dante's little yelps and shouts (or taunts if you feel like you can take a breather) come fast and often, interrupting the monster growls and slashing and firing sounds that pepper your speakers with noise.
Even after an hour of playing, it's not uncommon to walk away from the game with shaky nerves and sweaty palms, but if you do happen to stop playing after just an hour, there's a good chance you won't have made any progress. This is a slow, plodding, unrelenting and ultimately unrewarding experience that will test your patience and drive in a way few games can. If you stick it out, sure, you get a little better, but there's a very real chance that most gamers won't even get a half dozen levels into the game before they get too pissed off to play anymore.
...At least for about an hour or two. There is something that keeps you coming back, whether it's the sense of accomplishment at finishing a level or the desire to see the storyline press on, the cast of characters is interesting (it does involve Dante's brother Virgil, who's also half demon and sides with the nasties until the two have their big fight), but in the end, there's no sense that it was all worth it. This is an unrealistically difficult game, and that it could get this far without some serious focus testing or tweaking is amazing. Play it if you feel like getting your ass kicked, but otherwise, save yourself the elevated blood pressure and pass.
