Game Review : Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

~~~Basic Information~~~
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Title of the Game : Devil May Cry 3 : Dante's Awakening

Platform of Game : Playstation 2 / Personal Computer

Genre of Game : Fantasy Action Adventure

Developer : CAPCOM

Released on March 1st, 2005 for the PS2. Re-released on October 16th, 2006 for the PC.

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~~~ Description ~~~
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Chronologically, Devil May Cry 3 is a prequel to the original Devil May Cry game. It features the story of Dante (the game's main protagonist) in his younger days. He has a cockier attitude than in the later games (his dark side awakens in later games), and seems to be more carefree.

~~~Graphics~~~
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Although not comparable to morden games, the in-game graphics are really good for its time. Textures looked pretty realistic, lightings were just right, water would ripple and splash realistically enough, and ice sparkled when light shone on them.

However, there are some parts which does not look too good. When Dante pressed a button on his jukebox in the beginning of the game, it just showed a red glow instead of actually pushing a button. Some objects would have a painfully visible line on them, where there would be an edge, like in the picture. This makes the objects look and feel flat at times. (Where either horn like statue is.)

Hair was also not well done, they were done in chunks, rather than almost strand by strand. Fire effects looked alright for its time. Interestingly, hardly any smoke was produced. One element that I was looking out for were shadows, and I was certainly not dissapointed, as shadows were present, as well as realistic.

Overall, the graphics were pretty good, but there is one place where the graphics really looked terrible. I have to wonder, why is the backgrond graphics so odd, and since it is also the last level, I wonder if they ran out of time to produce decent graphics for this part of the game.

Graphics score: 8 / 10

~~~Gameplay~~~
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Basically, you take control of the devil hunter Dante, in third person view. Your basic goal is to get to the end of each mission (there are 20 missions). The first 3 missions are fairly linear, introducing the player to the basic controls, which key activates what skill, and basic actions. After the initial stages, the gameplay becomes less linear, with hidden secrets to find, puzzles to solve, and boss battles frequently littered throughout the stages.

There are different styles available in the game. You can play as the agile and dodgy "Trickster", the close range combater "Swordmaster", the bullet spammer "Gunslinger", or the firm and defensive "Royalguard". These styles may only be switched at the beggining, or at special statues located in the maps. These styles can "Level up", unlocking better moves in the process.

Beating the game on different difficulty settings, and depending on how well your performance was, unlocks special bonuses, including different artwork, costumes which either alter the appearance of the characters or giving the character an unlimited "Devil Trigger", and an alternate game mode, "Bloddy Palace". This game mode makes you go through 9999 levels, battling various combinations of monsters up on the way, with a boss battle every 10 levels.

The special edition made for the computer shares the same controls as the playstation version, except that the player uses the keyboard to play, instead of a controler. This makes playing the game on the computer a little more challenging for those who are used to using the controler. However, once I got used to the keyboard, everything works out quite ok.

The bonus features in this game includes the options to speed up the gameplay to 120% of its original speed, and the ability to play through the game with Dante's twin brother, Vergil. The Vergil storyline follows that of Dante, except that he has his own set of moves, a slightly altered storyline (shown in a few cutscenes), and a different set of clothings. Aside from that, playing through the game with Vergil is no different than playing with Dante.

Gameplay: 9 / 10

~~~Sound~~~

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The music in the game is just awesome. When there are no enemies around, the music being played has this eerie feel to it, like something evil lurks around the next bend. Battle music, however, is based on a gothic theme, and is fast paced, which is just right for fighting in this game.

Sound effects are pretty good as well. Weapons give off sound when they are used (Sword swishing when swung, rockets blast out of the launcher and explodes upon contact).

Interestingly, sashing most enemies gives off a sound like a sword going through sand. This should make sense, as most enemies are composed entirely of sand, save for their weapons.

However, there are enemies made of stone, molten rock (i think, because they have a weakness to ice based attacks) and flesh (Vergil of course, what do you think he's made of? wood?). Hitting them produces different sounds (like the squishy sound made by hitting enemies comprised of molten rock), and if they block, the familiar sounds of two swords clashing together can be heard.

There are sounds in the background as well. Waterfalls, lava pits, gears turning. Moving further away or closer to these sounds dims and heightens the sounds in a realistic manner.

Sound: 8 / 10

~~~Conclusion~~~

This game is a must play for hardened fans of Devil May Cry, and for newbies to the Devil May Cry world. It is a game that is equally easy going as challenging, as the level difficulties differs slowly throughout the missions.

So if you like games which involving the combination of puzzle solving, exploration, survival and mad comboing, this is a game for you.

IMHO score for this game: 9 / 10

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