Bman54

User Score
7.9

Presentation - 8.2
Gameplay - 9.1
Value - 7.4

I'm pretty new to the DMC series. I played the first one a bit before playing this, and that's about it. I never really planned to get this either. I saw that the Capcom Triple Pack came out, and it had this, Dead Rising and Lost Planet, and I only really got it for Dead Rising. But guess which I game I've played more of?

STORY
You play as Nero, who belongs to the Order of the Sword, though he doesn't quite want to be. During a normal congression, Dante shows up and kills their leader, Sanctus. Nero and Dante fight and eventually, Dante leaves. Nero is sent to go capture Dante. As time goes on, Nero meets various other characters, which help lead to various twists and turns in the story.

The story is alright, to say the least. It's not amazing, but it's not terrible.

DESIGN
There is basically one game mode in DMC 4, the campaign. It is split into 20 different missions, with 13 played as Nero, and the other 7 played as Dante. It will take around 9-12 hours to complete, depending on your skill level and which difficulty you choose. Speaking of which, there are many different difficulties to help compensate for the slightly short campaign. The first few aren't too hard but the later ones are extremely difficult. Luckily, there are various items to heal you when you need it. These items are purchased with red orbs, which you can get by killing enemies or finding around the environment.

At the end of each mission, though, you will receive Proud Souls. These are used to upgrade Nero and Dante in various ways, whether it be their weapons or other types of abilities. The amount of Proud Souls you obtain is dependant on teh ranking you get at the end of each mission, from D to S. This is chosen by how fast you completed the mission, how skilled you were in fighting, and the number of red orbs you collected.

Once you complete the campaign, various extras are unlocked, These can be art, descriptions on various things, or a battle royale of sorts, called the Bloody Palace. There 101 levels in the Palace, each containing different types and amounts of enemies. You must defeat them as fast and as stylish as you can.

Overall, DMC 4 is kind of light in content, but the extras and difficulties do help to compensate.

GAMEPLAY
Nero and Dante play quite differently, so I'll start with how Nero plays first. Personally, I like playing as him more. He has his sword, the Red Queen, which can be powered up for one hit by squeezing the left trigger. His combos are basic, but strong, and you'll use be using this most of the time. He also has his double-barrel pistol, the Blue Rose. You can shoot this as many times as you want, or charge you shot for a stringer attack. The one thing Nero has over Dante is his demon arm, the Devil Bringer. This is used to grabbing enemies from afar, slamming them to the ground or bringing them up in the air for some aerial combos. You will be using this alot, and that's why I like Nero better. Dante isn't much for aerials, but Nero is.

Now, on to Dante. Just like Nero, Dante has swords and guns. Dante has his trusty sword, Rebellion, a punching weapon, Gilgamesh, and this awesome spider-like weapon, Lucifer, that juts out endless, floating red swords. He also has his trusty dual pistols, Ebony & Ivory, his shotgun, Coyote-A, and a transofrming one, called Pandora. Dante also has different styles, that can be switched on the fly. He has Sword Master, Gunslinger, Trickster and Royal Guard. All these basically do is change what the B button will do. I usually just switched between Sword Master and Gunslinger.

Half way through the game, you'll also receive the Yamato. By pressing the LB, Nero or Dante will recieve extra help from some sort of demon for a short time. This changes up your combos a bit, and makes them stronger.

Overall, the gameplay is quite fun, but for some people, it might be dissappointing to learn you play as Nero more than Dante. I am not one of those people.

PRESENTATION
I ahve to sya the graphics are quite good. WHile they might not be as awe-inspring ans they were when the game came out two years ago, they are still pretty good. The characters have good detail and look great, and the environemnts are quite varied, though the shadows in the forest area look pretty terrible.

The sound is good too. The combos sound very flashy, and the music is good most of the time, though the battle music gets quite repetitive. The voice acting is good too, and personally, I love all the stupid one liners, though some people might get annoyed by them.

Overall, it's a great presentation package.


In conclusion, Devil May Cry 4 is a good game. It looks and sounds great and most importantly, it plays great. It is slightly lacking in content, and the story is kind of convoluted, but those don't detriment from the game too much. So if you are into flashy, fast paced slash-em ups, or just into action games, go pick this up.

I give this a 7.9/10.