Nice bounce back from a bad sequal.
Gameplay - The gameplay is solid. As you play through the game, you get different Devil Arms which are basically different weapons. You can carry up to 2 Devil Arms at a time and each have their own moves and combos. Since you can change Devil Arms on the fly by pressing the R2 button, you can do some pretty crazy combos once you get a feel for the controls. You also can carry up to 2 guns at a time and you can also change weapons on the fly by pressing the L2 button.
A lot of reviews have docked points off their scores because of the difficulty. For very skilled gamers, the difficulty may seem just right but there are a lot of average gamers out there that will find this game pretty difficult even on the Easy setting. IMO, this game is a little too hard and i think they should have made it a little easier and maybe add a harder difficulty setting to please both crowds (skilled gamer and the average gamer).
Graphics - The graphics have been re-worked from the ground up. DMC1 after years still looks great to me and this looks much better. You do notice some jaggies which is usually normal for any ps2 game but its not that bad and while youre playing, youll be so concentrated on the action, you wont even pay attention to that stuff. I did notice the framerate drop on occasion but it didnt happen that much; for the most part, the game ran smoothly.
Sound - The soundtrack for DMC3 fits the game pretty well with kind of hardcore heavy metal music which suites it well because Dante is kind of this young cocky punk. The voice acting in the Cutscenes are also pretty well done, definitely not the best ive seen but they were pretty good.
Value - This can vary because anyone who played DMC1 and is a big fan of the DMC series will find this game so fun that youll just want to play it over and over. This is definitely the most difficult game ive ever played and there are multiple difficulty settings. There are also a lot of good unlockables like different costumes, pictures and videos. I'd say any action lover will find that this game has great value because this is one of the best in the genre.
Final Words - DMC3 is definitely my favorite game in the series and its a nice bounceback from the terrible sequal. DMC3 is a prequal to DMC1 so you dont really have to play DMC2 unless you want to be up to date with the DMC story. Story wise, it goes DMC3 -> DMC1 -> DMC2. Anyway, if you liked DMC1 or you like action games and you havnt tried this game yet, i wouldnt hesitate and i would definitely buy it. Its definitely one of the best in the genre.