Joystiq hands-on: Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)

by Jem Alexander { Jan 9th 2008 at 9:00AM }

Devil May Cry 4 is only a month away from release and we were itching to sit down for a few hours and try out the final build. From what we've seen, the game has been polished so much we could almost see our faces in it. It's clear that DMC4 has benefited from being pushed back to early '08, if only because it now has the Q1 stage all to itself.

The gameplay hasn't changed much since Devil May Cry 1, but fans of the series should see no problems with that. Having said that, numerous new features have been added, with Nero's crazy arm (used for grabbing, throwing and slamming, natch) reminding us of Evil Dead 2. That can only be a good thing, right? Its ability to cling onto nearby floating objects in order to reach higher places is ripped straight from Onimusha 3, though the timing based jump puzzles seen here make things a little different.

One such puzzle requires you to hop across a spike-filled room by grabbing jump points that can disappear and reappear at random. Grab at the wrong time and the spikes will damage you, causing you to plummet into a room full of marionettes (those being the things trying to kill you most of the time) below. Did we fall? Maybe. Maybe we fell three times. So what if we did?

Gallery: Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)

Speaking of features seen in other games, Nero's ~~Gunblade~~ Motorbike Sword takes a little time to master but once you do, it makes getting those SSS combos much easier. Grabbing your enemies and throwing them to the floor using Nero's Devil Arm is also great fun. Fans of Dante's stances from DMC3 will be happy to see them return and become interchangeable in the midst of battle. Capcom has also given Dante a huge arsenal of weapons to play with, including some particularly fun, pink exploding blades. From what we could tell, the difficulty is much less brutal than in the series' previous iteration, though it did get quite tough during the later missions.

Some other mainstays of the series are back, including ridiculous giant bosses and hilariously clad female supporting characters. The Balrog makes a guest appearance as an early boss and is far easier than Lord of the Rings made him look. Thanks to the combat tutorial at the start of the game, Devil May Cry 4 should be accessible to everyone, regardless of whether you've played the previous games in the series. However, this game presents another example of using a ridiculously overpowered character as a tutorial boss. We're expected to believe that Nero can beat Dante in a fight, and learn the rules of combat as he does so? Wouldn't Dante be the hardest boss ever?

Devil May Cry 4 probably won't be 2008's GOTY, but fans of the series will definitely enjoy its energetic gameplay, giant bosses and self-indulgent cutscenes. It'll be out on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 early February in both America and Europe.

Tags: capcom, Dante, devil-may-cry-4, dmc4, Nero

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Slaziman (B-B-BRUSHED WITH FAAAAME) @ Jan 9th 2008 9:13AM

Nice.

Hashbrown_Hunter @ Jan 9th 2008 8:05PM

Indeed.

krazy @ Jan 9th 2008 9:15AM

YAY I want this be my first time, the women look funny haha

Jerk Face @ Jan 9th 2008 9:53AM

I have no idea what that comment even means!

deaftly @ Jan 9th 2008 11:57AM

it might be fernando under a different name

deaftly @ Jan 9th 2008 11:57AM

it might be fernando under a different name

deaftly @ Jan 9th 2008 11:57AM

what the...

FOXHOUND @ Jan 9th 2008 12:04PM

that comment belongs on a t-shirt

Cyro @ Jan 9th 2008 9:19AM

Pre-ordered mine already.

Night Elve @ Jan 9th 2008 9:20AM

What a horrible box art!

xFenixKnightx @ Jan 9th 2008 9:38AM

Yea its does suck (boxart) but who cares Ill prob be getting this game, still debating of which system though. Ill wait for the reviews and if they say they are identical ill go with 360.

Intentless @ Jan 9th 2008 9:20AM

how was the initial install?

Cyro @ Jan 9th 2008 9:40AM

Oh yea thats right. I almost forgot that now the PS3 will require to install most games at around 5GB for it to run like the 360 does with no installation. So much for the power of the cell, or is it cell power? lol!

So the PS3 is now a PC. What a bunch of crap. Sony should scrap the PS3 and start working on the PS4 pronto!

Phranctoast @ Jan 9th 2008 9:48AM

@cyro.
At least you make yourself laugh.

The cell has nothing to do with the speed at which the blu ray reader reads the disc. This is to speed up the process.
You could also uninstall the game when your done and have no effect on your save data.
long load times=people complain
having to install some of the game data and have no load time=people complain.

Cyro @ Jan 9th 2008 10:04AM

I am wondering who the hell told PS3 Fanboys that this install would equal zero load times. That is something you guys have made up. I bet there is still going to be load times of some sort. Maybe not long ones, but there are still going to be load times.

Also regarding the Cell comment. I know what you said is true, I was just mocking the whole PS3, for not being able to proof its superiority to the 360 after 1 year of being released. At this point I dont think we will ever see it. Oh well, at least it plays Blu-ray movies.

KushielsScion007 @ Jan 9th 2008 10:28AM

LMAO....

Next Gen doesn't start till sony says so bitch. The 360 contorller is what will make the 360 version the best version IMO. It pains me to even look at the ps3's pos controller that hasn't changed one bit since the ps1.

Night Elve @ Jan 9th 2008 10:40AM

@KushielsScion007.

So far I've been playing perfectly fine with the SIXAXIS. I did not have any problem playing CoD4, RFOM, Uncharted and Oblivion.

So what's your point? Or are you just trolling?

Trev @ Jan 9th 2008 10:46AM

@Cyro
People that played it said it had no load times. First hand experience. 1up podcast. They say it it no unclear terms: The data caching takes a while, but there are no load times at all.

You, on the other hand, haven't played it in any form, so your random speculation doesn't mean a damn thing.

Cyro @ Jan 9th 2008 10:53AM

Doesnt caching and loading mean the same thing. It means you have to wait right?

Forget it. You Sony Trolls always find a way to see the positive side to every time Sony takes a dump on you guys.

KushielsScion007 @ Jan 9th 2008 10:54AM

Oh yes cuz 1UP is so "neutral".

And Night Elve I said "IMO" (let me know if you don't understand what that means).

But the basic gist of it is that I prefer the 360 controller to the pos3 controller. Its got a better feel and the button layout is just 1000x better to me. I find it awkward and hard to use the ps3 controller to be honest.

Thats just me though. For example I was trying out Folklore the other day in Best Buy. Its really the only game besides Final Fantasy XIII that has caught my attention when it comes to the ps3. As pretty as the game is I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would and a big part of it was the ps3 controller (sixaxis...lmfao very original sony)

Trev @ Jan 9th 2008 11:25AM

@Cyro
Disc caching, installing. In terms of the PS3 they're the same thing. It just copies a bunch of data to the HDD. If you're going to pick at semantics then quick flee from the conversation, you might as well just admit you're wrong.

why not the LS2/LS7? @ Jan 9th 2008 11:26AM

Cryo:
By caching, he means the time spent copying the game to the HDD. Yes, you have to wait for this, no one denies that.

But what has been asserted by those who have played it (although the most strident reporter of it is a known Sony fanboy) is that after the caching wait, there are no loadtimes.

Cyro, you really need to lighten up. You don't even have a PS3, so this install time won't affect you, and for others, you can't tell whether a 25 min install time is something that they will feel inconvenienced by or not.

Scion007:
You laugh at how unoriginal the name of the Sony controller is. How original is MS' name for their controller? They call it "Wireless Controller". And exactly how much of the fun of playing a console is derived from how clever the name of the controller is? 5%? 10%? 50%?

Hyams @ Jan 9th 2008 11:52AM

"Forget it. You Sony Trolls always find a way to see the positive side to every time Sony takes a dump on you guys."

I nominate this for most ironic comment ever.

B1gC72 @ Jan 10th 2008 1:04AM

""Forget it. You Sony Trolls always find a way to see the positive side to every time Sony takes a dump on you guys."

I nominate this for most ironic comment ever."

i second that motion lol.

but seriously, why do you guys feel that because you personally like the 360 everyone else has to? i personally hate the 360 controller. it's too damn big and makes my hands sweat, plus the analog stick placement is uncomfortable to me. the Sixaxis on the other hand, feels perfect to me. who cares if its the same since PS1? if it aint broke, dont fix it. i swear you guys are worse then Jehova's Witnesses, so stop trying to push your beliefs on people and GET OFF MY DAMN DOORSTEP!

Night Elve @ Jan 9th 2008 9:20AM

What a horrible box art!

sinergy @ Jan 9th 2008 9:32AM

Feels like Deja Vu.....

shamon @ Jan 9th 2008 9:54AM

cant wait my store gets game early so the 31 is when i will have this

Jeff Hudsson @ Jan 9th 2008 10:03AM

One month before the fourth chapter of DMC is comming, I decided to turn back time and to remember the old chapters of DMC - http://www.pollsb.com/polls/poll/5386/favorite-devil-may-cry-chapter

rc @ Jan 9th 2008 10:05AM

The install will give you no load times at all. The 360 will have load times. That's the power of every PS3 having HDD troll.

Delgado @ Jan 9th 2008 1:32PM

Anyone else remember when Sony supporters talked about how stupid the original Xbox HD was?

2001:
XFB - "Our machine is technically superior in all aspects."
SFB - "Man, it's all about the games. We have many more of them, and better quality to boot!"

2007-8:
SFB - "Our machine is technically superior in all aspects."
XFB - "Man, it's all about the games. We have many more of them, and better quality to boot!"

Easo @ Jan 9th 2008 4:17PM

The first time you play Gears of War or Halo 3, they cache a huge amount of data on the hard drive and after that there are no load times in the entire game. You Sony guys act as if data streaming and hdd caching is something unique to the ps3 or that 360 devs cant do it because a hdd isnt standard, when the truth is that devs use this technique on both platforms. The 360 has good developement tools allow for hdd caching when one is available. The only diffence is that the 360 doesn't require an install to do it.

Organic_Shadow @ Jan 9th 2008 10:05AM

Hmmm, I thought Dante had the motorbike handle on his sword, not Nero. Oh well...

Donald @ Jan 9th 2008 10:16AM

According to another podcast I shall not name*, there's a little clip show while the game is installing that shows the history of the series. Did you see this or go to make a sammich?

*Buy a vowel: 1 _ P Y _ _ R S

fuliano626@psn @ Jan 9th 2008 10:39AM

can i have u

fuliano626@psn @ Jan 9th 2008 10:41AM

the letter u not you u

fuliano626@psn @ Jan 9th 2008 10:45AM

the letter u not you u its not you its me

fuliano626@psn @ Jan 9th 2008 10:46AM

the letter u not you u its not you its me

fuliano626@psn @ Jan 9th 2008 10:50AM

? can i delete any of those

Geist @ Jan 9th 2008 12:35PM

NO U

Henry @ Jan 9th 2008 11:10AM

Okay, is it just me, or does Dante kinda look like Viggo Mortensen?

KushielsScion007 @ Jan 9th 2008 11:15AM

No its not just you...lol.

This game is gonna be awesome I think but the box art is quite disappointing. Especially considering how beautiful the game looks (at least the scenery I've see in the vids).

Is there ANY chance they might change it?

farfisa @ Jan 9th 2008 11:43AM

Funny, I was thinking that top pic on the cover looked exactly like Sean Bean (Boromir).

farfisa @ Jan 9th 2008 11:44AM

Funny, I was just thinking that top pic looked exactly like Sean Bean (Boromir).

farfisa @ Jan 9th 2008 12:04PM

and it's even funnier when double-posted!
(sorry)

wait in the car @ Jan 9th 2008 12:46PM

Definitely Sean Bean!

Tony @ Jan 9th 2008 11:31AM

"This game is gonna be awesome I think but the box art is quite disappointing....Is there ANY chance they might change it?"

Who cares? The game's looking great, and you can't actually see the box's front cover when it's filed away in the games shelf.