User Reviews (1 - 11 of 37)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

very good mix of the familiar and the new

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 17 / 20
Date: February 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

You start off playing the new protagonist Nero. the general gameplay is similar to parts 1-3, but not quite as punishing in difficulty as part 3. it meets a nice medium between frustration and extreme thrills.

the storyline, as far as im concerned is the best yet. its filled with interesting twists and turns. ***SPOILER*** in the beginning Dante is you're enemy.. eventually you end up controlling him, and he remains the main character for the second haf of the game.

its very nice looking graphically, retaining the same style as previous entries in the series. there are deffinitely better looking games out there though. the textures and lighting just arent that impressive after games like Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, and Gears(more than a year later it still looks amazing) and i know they could have made the environments more interactive and destructible after playing stuff like Stranglehold.

basically if you're a fan of the first three, get this now. all fans of action gaming should at leased give this great game a rental. deffinitely my favorite in the series.

8.75/10

Wow factor times 10

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: February 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is almost perfectly orchrastrated from start to finish. In fact the only reason it didn't score 5 stars from me is because I'm sick of games that don't allow you to save your progress when you want. Several times I lost progress because the wife needed something done or I had to leave.

Regardless, the graphics and gameply were superb and set the pace for how I believe all gaming experiences should be. The movies and voice acting were top notch and play like watching an actual movie, which by they way you can pretty much due from the library after beating the game. A+ and thanks Capcom! Never too hard and never too easy there is always a good balance of fun and strategy.

You start off as Nero, a sort-of outcast, someone who likes to think for himself rather than being controlled (by religion) arriving late for Kyrie's singing performance. Queue Dante who true to his demanor makes a grand dramtic entrance followed by a performance that will have you questioning whose side he's on.

While you begin the game as Nero you'll later switch to Dante's perspective furthering the story along. The movies before and after each boss fight will keep you talking and smiling long after turning off your XBox. My peronal favorite is the movie after Dante defeats Belial and receives the Lucifer.

The games weapons almost take on a persona of their own as you play thru and learn to master their skills and exploits. Just wait till you get Pandora's Box! One piece of advice would be make sure you acquire the Air Hike (for both Nero and Dante) and to max out Nero's Devil Trigger Grab.

There are really only 2 complaints that I have for DMC 4. One, as I mentioned before is the lack of saving except for after a mission has been completed and the second is that the game was pretty short, approximately 10-12 hours of gameplay. However I did not play through all the side missions and I my original pass-thru was on the Novice setting. Having said that, unlike many of the other titles out there this one has me anxious to get home to my XBox.

One side note is make sure that you keep Kyrie alive during the credits for an additional "secret" ending involving Dante.

- Dan.

The best Devil May Cry To Date? I believe So

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: February 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

As i bought my PS2 with Devil may cry i couldn't believe how good it was. I played DMC maybe five times throughout my PS2 days. Not in a row but when a game got me going back you know it's good. So of course i was hyped for Devil May Cry 2...sad of course. It wasn't nearly as good as it could of been. Then Devil May cry 3 comes along, and i had doubt, but quickly went away. It was a knockout and a easy 9/10 for me. So here comes Devil may Cry 4. New characters, new adventure, and on a next gen system!

Story - 9 - The story is anything special. No it's not going to change your world and as a book it would suck. But guess what? With the great fight scenes the story becomes very entertaining and keeps you glued to your seat. I actually enjoyed the story of this one a bit more then 3 and more then 2 and 1.

Graphics - 10 - Outstanding. With each Devil May Cry they keep pushing the graphics and this one is no exception. With it's effects, models, and design it's all here. The graphics are top notch and work very well. If you don't like the designs well it's your lost. The graphics still shine and even better in HD.

Gameplay - 9 - Why not a perfect 10? Well Nero is a great new edition. Really makes the gameplay change up but the problem i had with it is it becomes a bit to easy at times. But once Dante comes in and the old devil may cry gameplay feeling along with it you get right back into it. Nero is fun but Dante is where it's at. So a 9 in total, 5/5 for Dante and 4/5 for Nero.

Enjoyment - 8 - A short adventure but plenty of difficulties. Theres a few problems though, mostly just nitpicking. I disliked that Dante had less missions and i know Nero is now the new main but Dante should of had the same amount. Also they don't explain how Nero and "Vergil" dante's brother are related. They leave a few to many answers unanswered and although i love capcom i can't see em explaining them in future games.

Final Score - 9.2 - Really the best there is at the moment. I love 1 and 3 but 4 is the best if you ask me. So you can't lose with this one, devil may cry 4 is indeed a winner on both PS3 and XBOX360.

Not so great

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: February 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I know that fanboys are going to jump on my back, so shame on me in advance for writing an honest review. In the past I've only played Devil May Cry 2 for the ps2, and this seems like almost the same game. Good graphics, but other than that this is not a next gen game at all. Very repetative gameplay. You get to hear the same battle song and Neros lame one liners over and over("Slam dunk!"). The player has very little control of the camera, which is very annoying and outdated. Even the menus aren't very intuitive. There must be fans of this series out there, otherwise capcom wouldnt have made a 4th one, but for everyone else this is an ok rental. It was NOT worth $59.99.

Very Stylish

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: February 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Pros:
+Very stylish and fun gameplay
+Incredible looking cutscenes
+Beautiful graphics and environments
+Top Notch Boss Battles

Cons:
-Forgettable soundtrack
-A lot of backtracking
-The series still has a few camera issues
-Annoying voice overs and bad dialog

The Devil May Cry games have always been fun, stylish and beautiful. Devil May Cry 4 easily delivers in those three areas. The game is a lot of fun to play, and that's good enough to distract from the game's short comings.

Devil May Cry has never really been much for story. It has always been about style and being cool all around. Devil May Cry 4 definitely succeeds. The cutscenes are beautiful and stylish. Easily some of the best you'll see on the XBOX360. Unfortunately, it's hard to get passed the shortcomings of the production values, though. The voice acting isn't all that great. The one-liners and such get annoying. Some of the dialog is even laughable. Devil May Cry has always been cheesy with its dialog, but here it's more annoying than anything else. But the action is solid, especially in the gameplay.

The Devil May Cry series has been known for two things. Insane difficulty and its combat system. There are two difficulty levels to choose from. Devil May Cry 4 isn't nearly as hard as Devil May Cry 3, though, and for that, those who mastered the third installment will have no trouble plowing through this one in two or three days.

You'll spend most of the game playing as Nero. The new character in this game. You won't be able to play as Dante for a long time but Nero is likable at least. He has a Devil Bringer which he can use to perform combos on some of the demons you'll face throughout the game. But he also has a gun and sword. If you're familiar with the other Devil May Cry games, then the combat system here is similar. You can pull off some great looking combos, juggle enemies, slam them down to the ground and much more. When you kill enemies you'll collect orbs which will allow you to do things like power up your weapons, health and learn better combat abilities. You'll also be able to go into Devil Trigger mode which will enhance your abilities. Fans of the series will find themselves right at home as Devil May Cry 4 presents a lot of familiar gameplay. The bosses are easily the most rewarding part of the game. They're a challenge and they look brilliant in design.

The combat system isn't enough to hide some of the games shortcomings, however. The biggest problem to the gameplay may actually be the camera. It's just not easy to work with. The view changes often and sometimes you're faced with an abrupt view of the area. In 2008, jumping from one platform to another shouldn't be such a taxing task. But the camera in Devil May Cry 4 makes it that way. There are also many moments when the view changes so suddenly that you're running in the wrong direction. The view also gets obscured a lot. There's also a lot of backtracking and treading familiar territory throughout the game. While backtracking isn't that annoying, the camera makes many of the games moments more frustrating than they have to be. It's just a good thing the game is incredibly fun to play.

Devil May Cry 4 is easily one of the most beautiful looking games ever made. The environments are gorgeous. The enemies are incredible looking and the bosses are amazing. Everything about the game's visuals are fantastic. It runs smoothly as well, even when there's a ton of action going on. The art design may be the best part. There are moments when you might just want to stop and look at how much detail has been put into each and every environment. The music, while good, is quite forgettable. And in spite of the fantastic cutscenes, the voice acting isn't very good at all.

Devil May Cry 4 is a solid entry to the series. It's great for anyone who has enjoyed the Devil May Cry games in the past. However, despite all that the game doesn't address the problems that have been rampant through the series: Bad Camera and too much backtracking. This shouldn't turn any avid fan away, however. It's worth a try.

A hack 'n slash masterclass

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The Devil May Cry series is one of those franchises which provoke awe and irritation in almost equal measure. Fantastic to look at, to control, and with a panache that few other games are simply too afraid to match, the DMC games also have detracting points like annoying spikes in difficulty and awful dialogue.
So how does DMC 4 match up to its legendary original predecessor, which made it debut on the PS2? Bringing back the original producer of the series provokes comparisons with this first game rather than the disappointing DMC 2 and overly difficult third instalment. And generally, DMC 4 succeeds in recalling the glory days when Dante first sprang onto consoles in 2001.

PROs: Fantastic graphics; Formulaic but effective industrial metal/Morricone lite soundtrack; great boss battles; control of the two characters is as intuitive as ever, which encourages replaying the game on harder difficulty levels.

CONs: Repetition of gameplay elements during the second half of the game, where the player finally gets to control Dante rather than young upstart Nero; graphical glitches (including slowdown and faulty mapping of shadow) during the jungle levels; poor dialogue and cliched characters (especially Agnus).

Devil May Cry, but Players Do Cry...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I remember very clearly when the first Devil May Cry was released. I played the demo for the PS2 when I finally did get a PS2, and I was impressed with the visuals, although not quite so impressed with the gameplay. It was good, but it was far too unforgiving and difficult, especially with the limitations imposed on recovery items that seemed outright cruel. However, it was enough of a success to spawn a sequel, which I found vastly superior to the original, which I'm certain has appalled several readers already; some of the fanboys of the series whined incessantly about it being "too easy" (a complaint that I think is completely without meaning; if a game is fun, its difficulty level should be irrelevant), and work was done on a third installment. This one was one that really appealed to me and resonated with me, entertaining and challenging in all the best ways. There was great variety in approach to the gameplay, and the player could choose from a huge array of weaponry and styles. The Special Edition release was even more exciting, adding Vergil to the playable characters.

Then came 4. And as stated, recently I was able to acquire an inexpensive 360. As a gift, I was given the Collectors' Edition of 4, although I really found little interest in anything other than the game. Aware that Nero was the main character for the first part, I started it up and began to play, cheering at a few glimpses of Dante and thrilling at his presence.

It wasn't until much later that I would actually be able to play Dante, the main character of the Devil May Cry series. Not until almost 3/4 of the way through the game. I don't know who at Capcom thought this would be a good idea, but I hope he received a firm smack on the head for it. I can only imagine the conversation going something like this:

"Hey, you know that Devil May Cry game with the main character Dante whom everybody loves?"
"Yeah, we're working on the fourth one."
"Well why don't we make him unplayable until nearly the end in the new one! Then we won't have to worry about making foes convincingly challenging!"
"That's kind of stupid. It's a game, I mean, people expect to have to learn all the skills and everything..."
"No, no, and we can create a character who looks exactly the same and comes off in a similar way to the one from 3, so we can pretend he's the same character. And...and we can introduce a maybe, maybe not love interest, which will make people more interested in the game!"
"Uh...well, why don't we just do another prequel if we're just going to have the same character--"
"No, no! Let's make a completely new one!"

Nero is, essentially, a less sympathetic and much more annoying carbon copy of Dante from Devil May Cry 3, saddled with a completely transparent pseudomilitary organization and one of the most stereotypical Japanese token females in history. Kyrie -- whose name is rarely pronounced the same way twice, and never as it should be pronounced properly -- fills no role but to allow hyperactive fanfiction authors to pair Nero up with her. Arguably the game attempts the same implications, but much more poorly than the aforementioned author could. Nero's motivations are all over the board, and unlike Dante -- even with his somewhat bratty attitude in 3 -- he doesn't manage to exude coolness, attractiveness, stylishness, or even tolerability for very long. From the introductory cutscene, the game's pretentious and self-important air ground against my patience, and it only deteriorated from there, culminating in a groan-worthy scene of melodrama where Nero predictably fails to snatch the "heroine" -- in quotes because she does nothing even remotely heroic or worthy of the role, and in fact a beetroot would be more compelling in it -- and then screams out her name in frustration.

He isn't alone in his frustration, however, but the fact that misery proverbially loves company is cold comfort to a fan of the series going into this game. Nero's shortcomings as a character aside, he has a woefully tiny variety of moves and weapons, less than Dante in 3 for example. His gimmicky demon hand only frustrates and bores in turns; it's useful only when the game wants it to be. If you're fighting monsters that the game doesn't want you to use it against, you won't be able to use it. Against bosses it's completely useless except for perhaps once or twice, when you get lucky enough to catch them in a vulnerable spot, but the window is quite narrow. There is a feeling of dull sameness about the proceedings, and extensive backtracking is required throughout. Sadly, however, while the game does a good job of railroading you down an extremely limited and linear path throughout the majority of its levels, there are many times where the player will backtrack across areas previously explored, trying to find a way to advance, only to discover it somewhere completely nonsensical. If it wishes to be so linear, it could at least prevent such lengthy and frustrating detours, made even more dissatisfying by Nero's slow pace. It can be increased by purchasing a skill, but this sort of thing should not have to be purchased. It reflects a serious lack of mindfulness in terms of development.

Movement in general is not as easy as it was, even in 3. The changes in camera angles often mean that, even after having purchased the ability to move marginally faster, the player will skid to a stop when responding to a change in scenery. It's almost impossible to adjust the camera angles in places where it's "dramatically" fixed, which renders some things excessively difficult that should actually be very easy. There are some jumping puzzles that would be much simpler and more fulfilling without the superfluous angles, but with them they're made impossible without certain skills or inordinate luck. This is something that should never happen in a game under any circumstances; I can only recall a single instance of a frustrating jump puzzle in 3, and that one actually managed to make sense and not carry with it the level of sheer frustration that several do in 4.

Gameplay is uneven, bosses are equally uneven, and most can be defeated by doing exactly the same combination of moves. One may be ridiculous, and the very next might be a cake walk. The same can be said of monsters and puzzles, some of which are so unfairly arranged that one imagines little playtesting could have been done. The truly gimmicky nature of the demon hand is really made apparent by the placing and frequency of these puzzles, and some of the monsters' inexplicable weaknesses to the hand. Unfortunately however, the secret missions (which are actually quite easy to find) ask much more of the player than the game presents, requesting special moves or target times that are never adequately explained. This and the fact that the secret missions are essentially a handful of enemies in a single room that cannot be left makes the secret missions more artificial padding, at best.

The music in 4 is unbelievably jarring, much moreso than the previous games' soundtracks. I found myself blasting through battles as quickly as possible not because of a desire to gain a higher scoring at the end of the stage, but because I wanted to music to stop. Voice acting is very good, which with only a few exceptions is a standard in the series. Some very talented voice actors have been gathered for this game, which makes it more the pity that the storyline and characterizations were so lacking.

Capcom should have realized that introducing a new character and forcing the players to accept him immediately was not the best of ideas, but even worse is doing that and teasing fans with the actual main character and denying them the pleasure of actually playing him until the game is nearly over. The argument that Dante was powerful is completely irrelevant and without substance, rendered even weaker by the fact that 4 supposedly takes place before 2, which means that they managed to make a game with Dante as the main character, set after this period of amazing potency. It is a gaming convention that in every game, the hero must learn new skills and adapt to the new threat. Almost no game ever starts off the familiar hero with all of his previous abilities or tools; it's part of the fun of a game, and it is quietly accepted. Certainly the method of forcing Nero onto everyone with 4 was a very serious misstep and, hopefully, if a fifth is made, he will be silently brushed under the rug and forgotten.

The really interesting story of this was Dante and his crew's own activities during Nero's uninspired adventures. If Devil May Cry 4 had been about Dante -- the actual main character of the series -- it would've been infinitely more interesting and more fun too. Unfortunately it follows Nero, and there is simply too much pretention hung upon this game for its own good, especially as its story essentially only pieces together anime stereotypes of the past thirty years, ones that have already been done to death in games and television both. Anyone who has seen virtually any anime whatsoever can guess exactly what will happen at any given point in the story, which is a shame since Devil May Cry defied most such convention in previous entries. It seems to indicate more that Devil May Cry has become a viable "franchise", which means that it will fall prey to the "least common denominator" tactics that invariably bring down most successful franchises, in time. In short, the game will be made to incorporate stereotypes to sell it to a wider audience, the gameplay and story will be simplified to the point of being dumbed-down, and dramatic elements that have no business being included (such as the implications of a token and very unconvincing "romance", which belongs more in Square's Final Fantasy and its ilk) are shoehorned in. That sums up Devil May Cry 4: overdone, too manufactured, with absolutely no heart whatsoever. It is a prime example in gaming of going through the motions and coming up with nothing much to show for your actions.

Back with a vengeance

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: February 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Capcom's Devil May Cry series makes the leap to next-gen with Devil May Cry 4. Fans of the series will come to find that Dante has taken a back seat with this installment (although there are segments where you play as him) and you will spend a majority of the game in the shoes of Nero; an ultra cool, ultra stylish antihero with a demonic arm. If you've been playing the games in the series for any substancial amount of time, you won't be disappointed with what you get in Devil May Cry 4. Nero is an awesome character with an even more awesome array of moves and techniques to take down baddies, all of which is made the better by the incredibly sharp controls. The game itself is simply gorgeous to behold, from the in-game graphics to the beautifully rendered cut-scenes, along with great character animations; all of which more than make up for some repetitive looking environments. The combat of the game is addictive, thrown in with some great, fun boss fights as well. The only real drawbacks of Devil May Cry 4 is that the platforming elements that appear in the game just don't really fit in well with the rest of the game, seeming as more of an afterthought. The puzzle elements aren't anything special either. It should also be noted that Capcom has downed the difficulty factor as well. Anyone who first played Devil May Cry 3 when it was first released will remember how unbelievably hard the game was before it was re-released, and fans should be happy to know that this installment is nowhere near as hard, but its not a breeze either. All in all, Devil May Cry 4 is a beautiful, bloody, and addicting action game that nicely updates the series for the next-gen, and despite some moments of repetition, the game succeeds mightily.

Devil May Shrug

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I'm blasting through dmc4 right about now, liking the shadows and shining metal of N's sword and the overall presentation. DMC4 looks good and has lots of overdone dialogue and ridiculous characters all mashed together into some kind of story. Some may complain, but I love how N and D ham it up. B-video games at their bestest. Now to the mediocre: Controls are off at times; I don't like the shifting camera angles and how it confuses me when I slide around a corner; like too many 360 games (e.g. COD4) I feel as though playing an old game with a new coat of paint. Designers think that graphics are the only thing to change, but graphics are the easy thing. The challenge is designing something new from the ground up, as when Capcom did Resident Evil 4. It took them years to redesign the clunky old RE into something wonderful. DMC needs that same treatment; otherwise it's like looking at a sixty-year old supermodel. Not bad, but showing her age.

an absolute waste of time and money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 18
Date: February 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I enjoyed the first few levels of Devil May Cry 4 only to find that i was tricked into thinking that this was a game that i could enjoy and worth my sixty dollars. Unfortuanately, I was wrong. the games difficulty jumps from an entertaining challenge to insanely stupid difficult by about the sixth stage, and from this point on you get to endure nothing less than complete frustration over what, in my oppinion, comes down to broken controls. you have little to no control over the camera which leads to the majority of your enemy encouters having you swinging at enemies unseen off screen, yet they have no problem attacking you from unfair vantage points. every time you go through a doorway or under an archway the camera switches its angle leading you to run right back in the direction in which you just came, disorienting to say the least. But, most frustrating of all is the jumping mechanic which i am not even going to take the time to describe less than saying it is pitiful and enraging. to top it all off you are graded at the end of each mission on how well you performed without taking into consideration that the controls in this game are completely broken and cheap. I coul probably have forgiven most of these issues if this game had come out twelve years ago as video games performing in a 3d environment were new but in this day and age of videogaming controls this nonfunctional are unforgivable in my oppinion. but hey, at least the graphics look good.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions