Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)

Rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard, Johnny.
2/6/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 3

And that, folks, brings us to the end of the nice things I have to say about Devil May Cry 4.

On the downside of the slope -- and the downside is pretty steep; better grab onto something -- the camera, while it is more flexible in DMC 4 than it has been in any of the previous games (manipulating the right analog stick causes the camera to move...a little...sometimes) remains starched for the most part, resulting in the occasionally awkward camera angle and you being attacked by enemies you simply cannot see.

Fans of the until now PlayStation-only series will likely be more comfortable playing the game on the PlayStation 3, simply because of their inherent familiarity with Sony's DualShock controller. While visuals on both machines are nearly identical, load times are noticeably shorter on the PlayStation 3 than they are on the Xbox 360. If you own both consoles, the snappier loads tilt the scale in the PS3's favor.

The drawback to those snappy loads is an initial data install onto the PS3's hard drive that takes -- brace yourselves -- about 20 minutes (or, about as long as it takes to download the typical Sony firmware update). To Capcom's credit, instead of giving you one of those load bars at which to stare, they saw fit to include a 20-minute-long refresher on the three games that preceded this one. But if you could care less about the who-what-where of the series and just want to get to the ass-kicking, you might want to use this time to finish off that Snoopy latch-hook rug you've been working on since college (finally!) or to give your mom a call (she misses you).

The world of the game feels expansive, with gorgeous HD-caliber vistas, falling snow, crumbling castles and lush jungles. Yet it's a bit too big at times; so big that I got lost on several occasions and found myself meandering around, trying to figure out where the hell I was supposed to go next. The game's new map system is not terribly helpful on this front, and there seem to be far too few enemies. Rushing about the all-too-vacant levels, I found myself hoping to find something -- anything -- to fight.

Speaking of enemies, with few exceptions, the enemies in DMC 4 are a disappointing and -- worse still -- annoying lot (though nothing reaches the low achieved by those evil chess pieces from DMC 3. Run! It's evil chess pieces! Run!). There are hopping lizards, some shark-like things with fins that cruise at knee-level, and some sort of cowboy-hat-wearing grim reaper thing that floats in a black cloud above you. Remember those possessed marionettes from the original game? For my money, those creepy bastards were far more nefarious and nuanced than anything found in DMC 4.

Boss battles have always been a hardcore, back-to-old-school trademark of the series. They're typically ridiculously difficult, Vital-Star-hoovering and, above all, generally unforgettable exercises. My battles with Cerberus, Nero Angelo, Griffon (that giant bird that shoots lightning out of its nether regions), Agni and Rundra, and of course, the mother of all DMC bosses, the Phantom -- that spider-scorpion thing from the first game -- are seared into my brain. Though I finished DMC 4 less than 24 hours ago, I can barely recall any of the game's bosses.