Devil May Cry 4 Hands-on Preview

There’s an unwritten suspicion in gaming communities that hack-‘n’-slash really means button-mash, and despite some excellent examples of the genre like God of War and Ninja Gaiden, developers are still locked in a constant struggle to find a control scheme for the games that allows for fast-paced play without encouraging finger-writhing chaos.

Devil May Cry as a series has always tried to tempt its players into a little reservation and patience toward learning the controls by making even the simplest movements look pretty damn stylish, and the complex motions look cooler than a Mafia hitman. The idea has always worked very well for both Capcom and the previous protagonist Dante, who has made a trademark out of simultaneously duelling with sword and gun.

With Devil May Cry 4 little has changed in this regard. Jump high in the air and make a slash with your sword and it looks like you’ve just reeled out a 10-button combo. Set a 10-button combo in motion and you look like a world champion Virtua Fighter player.

This time around a new character, Nero, is the main playable character. The youthful and cynical Nero is a champion of a circle of holy knights from the ‘Order of the Sword’, who are sworn to rid the world of demons. On his task, Nero sees Sparda’s legendary son Dante slaughter countless “knights”. Lead to believe that the infamous devil hunter has turned his back on mankind, Nero sets out to pursue Devil May Cry’s former hero and reveal his true role in the Earth’s war with evil.

With Nero, a new addition to the combat comes in the form of the Devil Bringer, a powerful force that allows Nero to melee with enemies with an extending arm made from some unexplained ether. Initially the Devil Bringer can only provide a heavy uppercut to close foes, but quickly its array of tricks expands. After very little time in the game I could use it to slam my monstrous enemies into the ground, or grab them from a distance and reel them in. The mysterious power also allowed me to swing from fixed points to access new areas and climb to hidden bonuses.

The idea with this combination of steel, slugs and superpowers is that a casual gamer can pick up Devil May Cry 4, leap in and feel pretty hardcore straight away. Using the Devil Bringer with forethought and skill as a linking device between gun and sword attacks, genuinely hardcore players can push the game to its limits, ranking up huge combos in a blizzard of action that can last entire attack waves.

Playing through the available levels of the game I quickly became accustomed to using the Devil Bringer power, and learnt that just as you feel you have harnessed it, you begin to realise new ways to take advantage of what is a very well-conceived list of abilities. If that tantalising learning curve of experience and discovery continues throughout the game, the Devil May Cry fans and newcomers alike should enjoy this game immensely, as most of the pleasure derived from a hack-‘n’-slash comes from the thrill of your own development as a fighter.

The other new ability comes in the rather dubious form of a motorbike-styled throttle in the place of Nero’s sword’s handle that is used to charge your ‘Ex-ceed’ abilities. By ‘revving’ this grip with a shoulder button you can build up to unleash some terrifying attacks that effectively function as smart-bombs. Charging up the Ex-ceed meter is tricky, and leaves you exposed without any defence, positioning it perfectly as the ultimate gamble to escape the most trying situations the game throws at you.

As with every previous version of the series, the latest Devil May Cry is very easy on the eyes. Despite some menacing sets and gloomy, doom-ridden atmospherics, each screen is packed with lavish attention to detail and filled with intricate fine points. Stylistically it might be very similar to previous versions, and is absolutely looking like a ‘more of the same’ sequel.

The levels may be bigger and the next-gen shine noteworthy, but here Capcom have essentially revisited a proven formula and tweaked it a little. That might mean you are going to look forward eagerly to more of what you love, or bemoan the developers for stifling innovation.

Finally, it is worth returning to that next-gen shine. Games Convention 2007 allowed me to go hands-on with the Xbox 360 version of the game, which until then had only been seen running on the PS3. In all honesty the games look very similar on the two formats, and there are reportedly no differences. However, 360 fans will be happy to know that Nero sits very comfortably on their system’s controller. Regardless of format, even if Devil May Cry 4 is a recycled and refined rather than reinvented, it looks set to make a welcome return to gaming store shelf space.