Devil May Cry 4

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The Devil May Cry series stars a white-haired, annoying jackass named Dante. At least it did until this, the fourth installment in the series.

Nero is the center of attention in Devil May Cry 4, though if you squint at the game's screenshots, you'd swear you're looking at Dante. (When I saw the game in action at the Tokyo Game Show two years ago, I made that exact mistake.) Let's look at some of their similarities. Like Dante, Nero has snow-white hair, makes lame wisecracks, and apparently shops at the same Long Red Velvet Coats 'R' Us store as Dante.

Like Dante, Nero also carries a big-ass sword and a quick-firing sidearm. (Lest you confuse the two, the game's opening tutorial level has Nero and Dante squaring off.)

But unlike Dante, Nero has a scaly, lizard-like arm that glows. This is called the Devil Bringer. It can be used to grab enemies, even in midair, and toss them aside, and it brings a much-needed new dimension to the traditional, somewhat stale guns/swords DMC gameplay.

When the original Devil May Cry debuted in 2001, its benchmark-setting graphics on the PlayStation 2, jaw-droppingly huge bosses and gothic sensibility offered up an unprecedented mix of style and substance. The game was seriously hardcore. That lava-spider boss within the first hour of the game? Now there was a gaming moment that separated men from boys.

Capcom followed it up with 2003's double-disc sequel, Devil May Cry 2. With a new character -- the female Lucia -- and larger, more expansive levels, this game should have been great. But it really sucked. The lava-spider boss even made another appearance, but instead of pushing my gaming skills to the limits, this time he rolled over with his spider ass in the air.

By the time I unlocked one of the lamest unlockables in gaming history -- a pair of snazzy Diesel brand jeans for Dante -- devils weren't crying; I was.

Then something marvelous happened: Capcom, refusing to give up on the franchise, released Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening in 2005. A prequel to the series, this disc took the game, and the gameplay, back to its cheeseball, visceral roots. By the time that three-headed giant ice dog was kicking my ass all over the place in the game's third level, I knew this was the return to glory the series desperately needed. In short, DMC got its balls back.

Which brings us to number four, kids. Due in stores in a few short weeks, I recently got some hands-on time with a near-final build.

The results: So far, so good.

This is the next-gen debut for the series, and while it won't set your unibrow on fire with its graphics, the lighting effects and attention to detail is truly remarkable. Some of the game's vistas are absolutely gorgeous, including massive waterfalls, monolithic castles off in the distance and some of the most convincing snow this side of Lost Planet. That said, the series' unfortunate invisible barriers are still present and accounted for, a flaw that may have been forgivable on the wimpier hardware of the PS2, but one that's hard to ignore considering the ample horsepower of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. One other trademark DMC issue that once again rears its ugly head: the game's awkward camera angles. Though you can manipulate the camera on occasion throughout the game, for the most part, the camera stays fixed, and that means sometimes getting attacked by enemies outside of camera range.