DmC: Devil May Cry

People are scared of change.  I know, I know... things are DIFFERENT!  Instead of curling up with something familiar and comforting, you might be curing up with something that doesn't quite fit and chafes a little.  But when is a change not a change at all?  When it's the Devil May Cry reboot, DmC.  

A lot has been said about the new look of DmC.  Gone is the cocksure Dante, with his long flowing white hair and bright red trenchcoat.  Instead, we get nuDante, with his short dark hair and ratty purpleish trenchcoat.  But underneath the fresh coat of paint on the Devil May Cry reboot, the game underneath is very much the same. 

It's been a few years since I played any of the previous games in the series, but the combat feels similar, if not the same, as those games.  You still hack and slash your way through hordes of demons with your trusty sword, Rebellion, and your guns, Ebony and Ivory.  Using the right triggers on your controller (and later on, the directional pad) you can switch between your normal weapons and your Angel and Demon weapons to change up your attacks and/or grapple enemies while increasing your stylish combos. 

At first, I thought the new way of switching weapons might be a little confusing in the heat of battle, but the more I played, the more at home I felt.  I still tend to mix up which grapple propels Dante towards the eneimes and which pulls the enemies to Dante, but other than that, it's a lot easier to pull off varied attacks now. 

Actually, if there's any issue I have with this reboot is it's a little on the easy side.  I still remember the crushing difficulty of Devil May Cry 3 (before they toned down the difficulty for the "special edition") so DmC is a little bit of a cakewalk.  But once you beat the game the first time around, like the previous games, you get access to higher difficultiy levels, which are a little more challenging.  And the game does encourage you to play through multiple times with collectibles scattered around the various levels and areas that you can't access until you gain abilities from completing the later levels. 

DmC shines the brightest in its boss levels and boss design.  That's not to say the normal levels are bad, in fact, they're very good.  They vary so wildly that they're almost instantly recognizable.  But the boss fights are that much better.  One, in particular, shows a level of creativity that instantly made me love the game.  You'll probably know it when you get to it. 

So for those of you out there who are still hesitant to try something new, give DmC a try.  You might find that it's something familiar and new all at the same time. 

Rating

I love hack and slash games.  And DmC is a fun hack and slash game.  This one is a "buy". 

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