With a new developer in Ninja Theory, Capcom breathes new life into its Devil May Cry franchise.
You got the wrong guy. Me, review DmC: Devil May Cry? This time last week I would have been glad to sit you down and tell you about my active aversion for hack and slash games. The weird “suction” mechanic whereby button presses have you automatically swinging at nearby enemies, no aim required, just doesn’t sit well for me. Or at least, it didn’t. This game kind of changed that for me.
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With DmC, Capcom and Ninja Theory (the real engineers behind this reboot) have effectively broken down my snobbery with gameplay that’s somehow both gritty and easy to giggle at. The Death Knight’s first appearance—he crawls from the ground, all bones, and shakes off the dirt with a quick banging together of sword and shield—will prove to be one of the more memorable gaming moments of my year, I’m sure. It was badass, but I couldn't help laughing a little. I think it's because I couldn't wait to fight the thing.
A moment later, I was given a new weapon to better deal with future Death Knights. DmC gives you new stuff at a regular clip, and it's all good to play with. In the end you'll have eight weapons, an arsenal available without putting a stop to the gameplay. For this Ninja Theory brought in a great mechanic from Heavenly Sword: hold down either trigger for a complete change in your move set (by virtue of a weapon swap). Along with the redesign imposed on Dante, this is what's having Devil May Cry fans crying foul.
But it works so well. In a matter of seconds you can launch an enemy into the air with the Arbiter (a fiery ax), jump up to smack him down with Eryx (punching gauntlets) rake him back up with Osiris (a scythe) and finish the job with your plain old sword. It's glorious.
It also fits beautifully into Dante's shtick as a child of angel/demon lovemaking. L and R in games have for some subliminal reason become associated with good and bad respectively, and DmC marches along with that.
