Mediocre
DMC4 introduces you to a new character in the series named Nero. Nero lives in this town and works for these people who are seriously obsessed with Dante's dad, the dark knight Sparda. While they are worshiping one day, our hero of past(Dante) crashes the party, and shoots the holy leader in the head. This is where the game begins, you, as Nero fight Dante, learning the new abilities Nero has. The coolest of all his abilities is his devil arm. The arm allows you to grab enemies from afar and bring them close to you, or you close to them, and sometimes(if you combo it right) bash them into the ground or throw them at other enemies(later on you can use them as a shield). Dante later runs away after the fight prompting you to chase him and this is the game.
DMC4 sadly is more of the same however. If you played DMC1,2,or 3, its gonna do exactly what you expect. Run through area, kill baddies, solve a puzzle, run through another area, kill more baddies, perhaps solve another puzzle, etc. Personally I found this formula to be very tired and had it not been for my wife nagging me to complete the game(yes, my wife sometimes wants me to beat games more than I want to beat games) I might have sat it down for a long time. Like gamespot themselves said, the puzzles do seem to chop up the action. You'll run into a room and kill some baddies and suddenly you have this really annoying(and long if you have no idea what you are doing like i did sometimes) puzzle ahead of you.
The story along the way doesn't offer much closure. It drops subtle hints as to who Nero is, but no answers. The switch to Dante is nice and he has all the tricks he had from the previous game. But he too doesn't offer much difference to the game(more of the same). Hell, you even have to fight the same bosses over again.
If you like the DMC series, then I would recommend this game, but don't expect anything to be new or genre altering.