Devil May Cry 2 certainly laid Dante "to sleep", but Devil May Cry 3 awakens him in the best possible and gory way!
But let’s get down to business… After the disappointment of the Devil May Cry 2 prequel, hardcore fans of the DMC series all lost faith around the world thinking that the series would crumble to a simple demon killing game… But DMC 3 proved them wrong the *hard* way.
DMC 3 is set before Devil May Cry 1, in a time that the devil-slayer Dante still hadn’t discovered is devil powers, thus the title “Dante’s Awakening”.
There’s a lot of rampaging talk about this game being unreasonably difficult at first. Yes its not for the amateur gamer who’s just looking for a little Capcom traditional action.
This game is meant to the veteran crowd, but it’s not totally impossible for the beginner to enjoy this game, he just has to endure the learning curve and from there it’s all up to the ceiling, pistol shooting and sword fluid action like no other game has been able to deliver it!
The action’s so good it’ll make your blood pressure shoot off trough the ceiling; its simply remarkable the way the game never lets the pace slow down in the many action sequences DMC 3 throws your way. But it isn’t all devilish fighting all around, you have the occasional puzzle that you have to figure out to pass trough to the next area. We all need a break once in a while don’t you think?
The plot is unravelled by means of spectacular cinematic cut scenes at the beginning of a level and at the end. Sometimes the action’s so rough and frustrating the thing that keeps your fingers mashing the square button is the grand scene at the end of the level. It’s that good. Well, we don’t want to deliver any spoilers but there’s no harm in a little plot giveaway now is there?
Well the game revolves around a massive tower that basically just springs out from the ground a few blocks away from Dante’s still to-be-named devil-hunting shop. You’re going to be running up and down that demonic building fighting lots of baddies, collecting items and red orbs (the currency of the game). Oh and did a mention that when you lose you go straight back to the beginning of the level? You have minor checkpoints along the way, and the other only way is to buy a specific kind of orb that allows you to create a checkpoint in a certain part of the level.
The control scheme is pretty simple and straightforward to even the “very easy” kind of player. R1 locks on to the nearest enemy and square shoots the current weapon you have selected (Dante can only carry two weapons at a time, to change weapons you have to select the Customize button at the beginning of a mission or at a Goddess Statue). Dante’s default weapons are Ebony and Ivory and his father’s sword Rebellion.
The game introduces a kind of RPG elements where you can upgrade Dante’s weapons, skills and style. There are only three styles at the beginning of the game: Trickster, Gunslinger and Royal Guard but later on two new styles become available. I recommend the casual player to stick to the trickster style since it’s dodging techniques will help very much at the beginning at the game.
The graphics in the overall are straight down amazing to behold. The game’s suiting gothic style ambient and dark gloomy atmosphere look really great overall. The game’s characters are also greatly produced to the point that you could just turn around Dante to just look at him. Its simply amazing. The lighting is also rather marvellous and coordinated with the environment, the end result is a very, very beautiful looking game.
The sound track isn’t for everybody since it features hardcore heavy metal music’s. But they fit the game theme nicely and actually make you feel angrier to the point that you almost smash the controller to dust.
Devil May Cry 3 is in my opinion the best in the series.
It's a tremendously great looking angry game that certainly will please every fan of the DMC series and/or casual player who are simply looking to have a slashing good time. A must own!