..DmC Devil May Cry..

Upon initially loading up Ninja Theory and Capcom's DmC Devil May Cry, I groaned. The dubstep at the title screen makes the game feel like it is simply trying too hard to be trendy, having totally changed the aesthetics of the Devil May Cry series, keeping only the vital basics of the series such as weapons, characters, and a few gameplay systems. I am pleased to say that after sticking it out, the gameplay shines through.

DmC Devil May Cry takes everything about the Devil May Cry series and totally changes it. Series vets such as Dante and Vergil look completely different here, and the changes might throw longtime fans off all together.  Rebooting the series (for the second time actually), the story puts Dante and Vergil back at square one as they team up to defeat the demon that killed their mother and banished their father, Mundus. The action is broken up by some pretty lengthy cutscenes, but they're all worth seeing at least once.

DmC Devil May Cry's narrative gets in the way of the action a little bit, with the first few levels dragging as more abilities are introduced. Some levels definitely have a lot of story setup, as the combat system is fleshed out and it feels out of place in a character-based action title. The moment that the weapon system is introduced, the game hits its stride and becomes a combat sandbox.

Without too much effort, players can switch between angelic and demonic weapons that do very different things. Angelic combat abilities include pulling the player to the enemy, increasing the combo counter and parrying enemy projectiles, while demonic combat abilities will pull the enemy to the player, destroy shields, and they're generally stronger.  When not using the triggers to switch between these sets of abilities, Dante's sword, guns, and the ability to dodge and dash are available.

Not all of DmC is focused on combat, and there are quite a few platforming sequences, most of which aren't too fun. A lot of these happen at points where the ground is falling apart, and while the game is forgiving about not counting falling off of the level as a death, they just aren't as fun as the combat. Using the same control setup to switch between Angelic and Demonic maneuvers to pull chunks of the environment towards you or pulling you to it isn't as fun when in mid-air.

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