Hola Gamers! 2013 is here and the blockbuster games have started to come in. The first one of them is the new DmC: Devil May Cry on the PC, PS3 and the XBOX360 platforms. So let’s get on with the review!Devil May Cry franchise has seen immense success in the past and has been cited as the beginning of “Extreme Combat” sub-genre of gaming. So, whats new in the latest installment? Answer is: Everything!

The new game is developed by Ninja Theory (previously known as Capcom) and is a total reboot of the franchise. The game was officially announced by Capcom in September, 2010 at the Tokiyo Game Show. The publishers chose Ninja Theory as the developers, having been previously impressed by their work on Heavenly Sword.

VISUALS AND PERFORMANCE:

DmC: Devil May Cry has been powered by the ever-impressive Unreal Engine 3. The game looks stunning on all three platforms with the PC version as the obvious winner in terms of visuals. In the frame rate department, the game runs at 30 FPS on the consoles, although the responsiveness of the controls make the game seem very smooth. A good pc can run the game at a minimum 60-90 FPS on high settings with maximum frame-rate said to go 200+ on high-end graphic cards. Although the overall gameplay is very smooth, there have been a few mentions of frame-rate drops during fights on the consoles. Here are a few “in-game screenshots” to help you get a better understanding of the visuals:

CHARACTERS:

DANTE’S NEW LOOK!  When you get a new talented art team on board and you come up with a new concept for the main characters of the game, you always run a risk of angering the fan base. There has been a lot of discussion within the community regarding Dante’s new look and majority have been left unhappy with it. The new Dante looks less attractive and strong than the old one. I personally don’t like the new character either. The new Dante just doesn’t match up with the previous half-hearted pizza loving demon slayer, who craved a good adventure and challenge with some smart ass-kicking one liners! Overall, majority of the characters look a tad pale than the previous ones. Well, keeping the design and the way they handle their characters aside, lets focus on what’s more important, i.e. story and the gameplay.

STORY AND GAMEPLAY:

The story has never been a selling-point of the franchise. DmC: Devil May Cry has a more modernized approach, compared to the previous games. The concept of the story is very interesting and keeps the player glued to his seat. The story has a more realistic serious tone to it and the new world has potential.

How’s the gameplay? The gameplay is the one thing that had to be done correctly. So how’s it in this game? It’s fantastic. The gameplay is mixed, challenging and keeps you engaged. You acquire eight new weapons at different intervals during the game. The combat system is more open as compared to the previous games. There are types of enemies for which you require different weapons in order to beat them. This makes you change your fight style from time to time. The combat style seems more realistic and fluid, thus making the gameplay very smooth and a treat for the Beat ‘Em Up lovers! The battles are backed up by some pretty badass soundtracks. The scoring system is neatly done. Using more weapons in the battle, trying out more combos, will net you lot of points, rather than just button smashing. The ease of combat style will surely attract the players who felt the previous games were difficult. As for the hardcore gamers, no need to fret, there are 5 difficulty levels which will surely give you a tough time. Boss battles, though they are a bit easy (bar the last one), they are pure eye-candy.

The strongest point of the new DmC game is the level design and Ninja Theory deserve full credit and applause for such a great concept for level design. The game has one of the best level designs I’ve ever seen.

VERDICT: