Devil Bringer wreaks havoc
Die-hard Devil May Cry fans may have noticed in that short synopsis, and possibly be disappointed to learn, that Dante is no longer the main playable character in DMC4; in fact Capcom tell us that Dante's portion of the gameplay will only constitute around 30% of the gameplay. Instead, you'll be controlling Nero and his arsenal of weapons, including the formidable and affectionately named, 'Devil Bringer' arm. The fast pace, synonymous with the series, is back in abundance, with a new combat system that now allows you to pull of dozens of great looking combos, strung together by paying close attention to the combo metre on the screen. The combo metre means that players have to have both timing and skill in order to pull off the more extravagant moves and rack up those combo scores. In fact, whilst playing DMC4, it was this challenge of pulling off more and more combos in a row which was the main attraction of the playing the game,and left us eager to play the game in more depth, so we could work on improving our combo scores.Traveling through a gothic-styled Cathedral location we took part in numerous fight sequences switching between our hand gun and sword intuitively and effortlessly whilst using the right bumper to switch between different fighting styles. Along the way you collect red and green orbs, one which gives you cash so you can buy better weapons at the end of a level and green which boosts your health. Using the extendable Devil Bringer arm you're able to reach orbs that are too high to reach naturally and can grab onto ledges and pull yourselves up in order to progress through the level. As previously mentioned, they'll be a range of weapons on offer which can be purchased at the end of each level and Capcom also told us that we'll see the return of some strange weapons - remember the purple guitar in DMC 3, which allowed you to pull of a guitar solo? But, by far the most effective of weapons is the Devil Bringer arm, which not only allows you to move around the environment, but also acts as a deadly weapon, allowing you to throw enemies around like rag dolls. The 'Devil Bringer' arm can also be revved up 'like a chainsaw' through pressing the right trigger. There's a certain degree of skill needed as you need to rev the chainsaw up in three stages and time the revs to correspond with a rev metre. The reward for your efforts is a devastating fiery blow that shoots out of your arm and sends your enemies to their doom. This awesome power can be used as many times as you want in the game, but revving up takes time and as we learned, time is in very short supply when you've got hordes of enemies in pursuit.
Click for larger image
Click for larger imageDevil May Cry 4 certainly looks the part and after 10 minutes of gameplay we were totally embroiled in the game's fast-pace, yet fluent gameplay and absorbed by the game's style and panache. The strength of the game lies in the variation of combat techniques and the way it all blends together to create an inviting and accessible hack 'n slash title. Fans of the series look set to be enthralled yet again, whilst the series is almost certain to adopt a new legion of fans upon its release early next year.
