Chaos Raiden
Avid Gamer & Reviewer
Try out Ninja Theory's take on Devil May Cry series in this demo.
This demo contains two playable Missions. One Mission is just normal progression with some platforming areas and occasional demon killing, while the other Mission is a boss level.
The controls are simplified compared to a typical Devil May Cry game, where you can easily launch your enemies to the air and evade freely in any direction, which can be used on the ground or in the air as well. There is no Lock-On function for you to lock onto targets, so you need to control your swings carefully to hit enemies.
Dante has access to his sword, Rebellion and his guns Ebony and Ivory. He also has access to his sword's alternate forms, which are Osiris (scythe) and Arbiter (axe). As in previous DMC games, you can hit your enemies with your sword with a combo attack, juggle the enemy by shooting at it, and etc. You can also pull enemies to you by using a move that is similar to Nero's Snatch move from DMC4, or pull yourself to the enemy closer to unleash hell on it. Dante also has access to several familiar moves from the classic DMC games, such as High Time, Helmbreaker, and many more moves. You may also enter into a state of Devil Trigger, which increases your attack power as well as giving you slight health regeneration.
His Rebellion weapon modes have it's own pros and cons, such as Osiris is a good crowd control weapon, but less powerful. Arbiter can inflicts more damage, but slower to use. Depending on the situation, each weapon is best suited in different situations. I suspect that any other weapons that Dante will obtain in the final game may have it's own devil and angel modes as well.
In some parts of the first Mission, you need to do some platforming sections, such as using Angel Lift (air dash) to progress in far platforms, use Angel Pull to pull out platforms, and etc. I notice that Ninja Theory emphasised a bit more of platforming gameplay sections than Capcom, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your tastes.
The demons in this demo are varied, such as regular mechanical enemies, chainsaw wielding robots, flying miniature angels, etc. Each enemy have it's own attack patterns, and may need certain strategy to beat them effectively. If you play harder mode such as Son of Sparda mode, you will notice that the enemies are more tougher and aggressive, as well as some more powerful enemies that can only be damaged by Osiris or Arbiter appear in the first Mission. As you defeat enemies, you will obtain Red Orbs, which presumably can be used to buy items. A new item is called Upgrade is present while I am playing the demo, which I guess it is used to upgrade your weapons or moves.
The first boss in this demo is not exactly tough, nor too easy. Although the boss attacks can be annoyances, it can be easily dodged by using the evade button at proper timing. The boss is significantly more challenging in Son of Sparda mode. There is also a Secret Mission in this boss Mission, which is fairly easy to do.
Combat rank is ranked accordingly in battle, as in how well you rank up combos, the variety of moves used, and etc while undamaged. After completing a Mission, you will be graded accordingly, such as how fast you complete the Mission and other criteria.
The gameplay is solid, yet with some annoyances I encountered while playing. Firstly, the cumbersome of holding the L2/R2 buttons to use either Osiris or Arbiter. It is a bit of a pain to use those two weapons, since I can only use either of it by holding either the L2 or R2 buttons. I would prefer if Dante just switch weapons instantly like in DMC4 by just pressing the L2 or R2 buttons, which is more better utilised and more easy to control. Secondly, lack of lock-on function. Personally, that function is a must in hack and slash games, especially in DMC games since you can easily lose sight of the enemies while fighting. Thirdly, the combat doesn't feel as intense as in previous DMC games combat intensity. I do not know whether it is because of the 30 FPS utilised in the game engine, or because I am used to many action games combat. Whatever it is, I feel that previous DMC games combat are more intense than this demo's combat.
The storyline is a reboot of Devil May Cry series, which features different origin and stories of Dante and his twin brother, Vergil. Some of the original DMC series stuff are retained, such as demons, Mundus, Vergil, and etc. I felt that this reboot's mythology and take on Devil May Cry series is fairly unique, but not exactly likable to me. This might be biased, but I think personally Ninja Theory's take on Dante is not fairly unique, creative or memorable to me, in terms of personality or design. I would have much more prefer if Ninja Theory instead use an original character, like the reboot of Castlevania that was released in 2010, which is Castlevania: Lords of Shadow by MercurySteam. Personally, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is much more interesting reboot than Ninja Theory's reboot of Devil May Cry, in factors such as storyline, mythology, concept, visuals, and design.
From what I observed and play, I think this Dante is the more aggressive, ruder version of the classic Dante from the original Devil May Cry series. Ironically, Vergil's design in this reboot is much more closer to the original Vergil's design, such as having white hair. However, I am fairly indifferent about it, and I might just play the game to see how well Ninja Theory did on this reboot.
The graphics are pretty good, but fairly outdated in current standards. Since I have seen many of the game's trailers and playthroughs since the past few years, I am not that exactly impressed with the graphics at this moment, and I feel it is outdated. The sound design is fairly good, with some good voice acting and good music by Combichrist.
In conclusion, the demo is fairly adequate, but doesn't impress me further since I have watched many of the game's trailers and demo playthroughs. There isn't much for players to be satisfied with the low intense combat, but the story and level designs might hook interested players easily. The combat is fairly easy to learn, and is accessible to most players at the moment. However, I feel that the demo itself actually sums up what will the final game will be, with not much outstanding gameplay features to make it more better than other action games that are currently available in the market. I predict that the final game will be a generic yet solid hack and slash game, since the demo does not show me something else that I have not seen yet in other games. Any DMC fans or non-DMC fans should try out this demo before buying the game when it is released, since the game will not likely to satisfy all players due to it's lack of distinct gameplay features. Personally, this game would have done better if it is released earlier, due to it's graphics being severely outdated by many other good looking games next year such as Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
Final Score: 7/10
Pros
- Combat can be fun at times.
- Interesting level designs.
- Easy to learn game controls.
- Variety of weapons to be used.
- Smooth and realistic combat.
- Has several playable difficulty modes.
- Many recognisable DMC elements are present in the demo. (Mundus, Secret Room, etc)
- Unique take on Capcom's original Devil May Cry universe.
Cons
- Combat doesn't feel intense compared to previous DMC games's combat intensities.
- Dante is not exactly likable.
- Lack of lock-on function.
- The Osiris/Arbiter weapons are cumbersome to use. (Constantly need to press another button to use either of the weapons)
- Graphics look outdated.
