I've only played one game in the Devil May Cry franchise; Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition. And yet, it is one of my favorite games of all time. About a year ago, I typed up a review of DMC3. This review will sum up my thoughts on the game:
There are times when you want to go on destructive rampages, times when you want to kill everything in sight, times when you just to open up a can of whoopass. And not just kill things, kill them in style, pulling off maneuvers impossible in the real world. Some videogames allow the player to do that. One videogame that truly embodies this concept of pure action is Capcom’s Devil May Cry 3 for the PS2.
DMC 3, like DMC 1 and DMC 2, is a throwback. It’s a throwback to when games didn’t have complicated narratives, didn’t have overly complex control schemes, and featured over-the-top heroes and villains fighting for who-knows-what. It’s a throwback to when the only objective in a game was, “Kill everything in the room before they kill you.” DMC 3 can be best described as a third-person shooter with fighting game mechanics. The hero is Dante, a half-human half-demon warrior who fights on behalf of humanity. His trademark weapons are the handguns Ebony and Ivory, which inexplicably never run out of ammo, never have to be reloaded, and can shoot as fast as you can press the trigger button. He also uses a number of other firearms, which also never run out of ammo, and various melee weapons, including swords, nunchuks, and an electric guitar that doubles as a scythe. The game is not without a sense of humor. Dante can equip two ranged weapons and two melee weapons at a time. He can also switch between a number of combat styles, one that specializes in evading enemies attacks, one that specializes in ranged attacks, one that specializes in melee attacks, and one that enables him to block and deflect attacks, among others. This, combined with his capacity to switch instantly between what weapon he can use allows for fight sequences that never get dull.
And the fights aren’t dull alright. Except on the ‘easy’ mode, you can’t win most battles by just mashing the attack buttons. You have to know your style’s nuances, you have to know what weapons to use, and you need quick reflexes. If you don’t learn how to dodge attacks, you’ll die very quickly. Luckily, Dante can accumulate combat experience for his combat styles, granting him new abilities, and he can also collect red orbs, which allow him to ‘purchase’ items and new powers. These upgrades carry on to replays on other difficulty levels. But don’t think you can ‘level up’ Dante to become god-like. The later stages are very challenging, even with the upgrades. You can’t beat DMC 3 without giving your best effort. This too is a throwback, to when most games were hard and required dedication to complete without resorting to cheat codes.
Dante himself is a throwback. His personality can be described as a cross between Duke Nukem and Sonic the Hedgehog. He’s a supernatural demonslayer and knows it. He enjoys pulling off crazy feats of wonder, laughing at the face of death, mocking the enemies of Hell. He speaks mostly in comic book one-liners, especially during the superbly directed cutscenes. The cutscenes are done entirely with in-game graphics, and sport beautiful animations. The characters are well-voiced, a surprise considering Capcom’s tendency for bad English voiceovers, and the audio during the cutscenes is comparable to a high budget movie in theaters. The soundtrack of the game captures the setting perfectly. During the cutscenes and during lulls between combat, the music is subtle, dark, Gothic, just like the game world. But whenever monsters are onscreen, the soundtrack seemlessly changes to heavy metal riffs; the Devil’s music if you will. It’s a good soundtrack, one that never sounds out of place.
On the Special Edtion of DMC 3, you can also play as Vergil, Dante’s twin brother. Despite looking nearly identical to Dante, Vergil is almost an exact opposite. He is cold, emotionless, and dedicated to his mission. It’s even reflective in his fighting style. Vergil is less focused on show, and more focused on deadliness. He doesn’t have as many weapons or styles as Dante, nor is he as agile as the man in red, but that’s because he doesn’t need to be. Vergil can be described as a power hitter, whereas Dante is a finesse warrior. Whoever is better is a matter of personal preference. Just know that having two playable characters adds replay value.
The Devil May Cry series has started a sub-genre of sorts; the third-person shooter/fighting action game. There are imitators of the DMC style, including Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox, and Sony’s God of War for the PS2. But try as they might, they can’t compare to the special edition of Devil May Cry 3. DMC 3's control scheme is the best for this kind of game, and it oozes with a kind of style that was once everywhere in the videogame scene back in the early to mid ‘90's; over-the-top nihilism that is fun to not only watch, but to act out yourself. My only warning is you better have good hand-eye coordination and a stomach for bloodshed, because DMC 3 pulls no punches.
The apostrophes and quotation marks look different than usual 'cause I copied and pasted from a Wordperfect article, but there you have it; DMC 3, starring Dante, one of my favorite heroes of all time. Oh, you know how I mentioned God of War briefly? The two games may have similar gameplay, but very different, shall I say, enjoyability. If the two games were aromas, it would be like this:
"Hey, what's that smell? Smells nice." "That's Devil May Cry 3, an awesome game." "Wow. Smells like springtime blossoms. I like it."
(sometime later.)
"Eww, what's that stench?" "That's God of War, a PS2-exclusive that doesn't live up to any of the hype." "Good GOD what a steaming pile! Get that shit outta here!"
The more you know.
LATE EDIT: The first God of War was too hard and too shallow for my liking. There.
