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Devil May Cry 4 hits both the PS3 and Xbox 360 next week and the demo gave veterans of the series and newcomers some food for thought. While I spent a very long time playing Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, James didn’t fancy it enough to put in the time, whereas both he and I had played all the way through the first Devil May Cry when it made a big splash on the PS2 years ago. Joe has a different point of view and after struggling with the PC version of DMC3:SE, the first for the franchise, he came to the 360 demo with a different outlook.

Also, don’t miss the latest Aeropause podcast where both Joe and George give their impressions of the demo on-the-fly. To see our comments from back-and-forth emails where we dish on the demo, make the jump!

Paul:
The DMC4 demo was good, but stuck very close to its roots, probably too close. I was able to get the Berial demon down to about 40% health after a few tries, but no further.

James:
Yeah, DMC is historically a fans-only franchise. The game needs a tutorial of some kind to help people understand the combo system. I get it but 360 newcomers just won’t get it.

Anyway, I played through the 10 minute timed mission and it ends with those two snow bosses (I ran out of time there). I imagine that carries into the fire dude, which looked neat but was kind of a ho-hum battle.

Paul:
I think there are enough people who played DMC1 and DMC3 who later went to Xbox that DMC4 will do well on that console. I do agree that it’s really, really strongly a more-of-the-same situation but in high definition and bigger areas. But take away some of the detail and it’s really the very same game. I do agree that there’s not quite enough current-generation handholding early on, and I think that the last-gen cut scenes showing the barriers shattering really should have been changed. Blurry door transitions, still. Since when did lazy programming become style?

Kind of disappointing, but I do like the new guy. His devil bringer arm adds a bit of a fistfighting mechanic to the mix and his pistol is slower paced than Dante’s guns, giving me a little breathing room as I come around.

The exterminator mission segues into the snowy mountaintop leading to the Frosts and Berial characters. The Frosts and Berial mission starts at the snowy mountaintop with no timer.

The snow things are very easy if you use the devil bringer, but they’re tough enough if you lose track of either of them that they present something of a challenge. Three or four of them at once would be just painful to keep track of, but in a fun way.

I’m hopeful that the final game has the continue system and arena mode from DMC3SE. If it doesn’t, it’ll be a really long slog of a playthrough for me and it’ll prove that Capcom really hasn’t learned anything at all in the last year or two.

James:
Seriously, those exploding barriers are ridiculous. Here’s Dante or Nero or whoever, super-God-dude who can stop a demon’s sword with nary a sword flick but he can’t break through some low-textured blob that’s blocking his way?

Also the floor textures in some of the rooms were terrible, did you notice that? Bleh.

You’re right, it’s not a step forward. If you and I could both play online, one of us as Nero and the other as Dante, one of us juggling guys in the air while the other blasted them with guns, and both of us tag-teaming bosses for really epic and sick boss fights, that would be a leap forward and be so much fun.

Paul:
Yep I’d love to see that direction for the series, too.

I didn’t notice the floor textures. I seem to remember you noticing bad floor textures on another game, which was it?

James:
Hah! Am I seriously a floor texture whore? I try not to be a graphics whore but if you’re going to give me a fancy camera angle and a close-up of Nero-ante’s foot and nothing else, the foot and floor textures better be top notch. Maybe I’m crazy. Overall though, the game looked great on the PS3 and equally nice on my 360. For me, the Sony controller takes the cake for this one.

Paul:
I’ve got another blast from the past for you too. Remember when I was wondering how the 360 controller would feel playing DMC4 versus the Dual Shock 2 style of the SIXAXIS? You said it would probably feel better on the 360 than on the Sony controller, so it looks like old muscle memory from your time playing on the PS2 trumps the new platform for you. Others I guess will feel differently.

I definitely recommend people play the demo if you haven’t already. Not only is it potentially a good advertisement for the final game, but it has the unusual distinction of being a good avertisement for the franchise as a whole, especially the friendlier DMC3 Special Edition because it’s so similar to it.

I’m thinking this game will be at least worth a rental for me to see how tough it will be.

James:
Yep, I was definitely wrong on the Xbox 360 controller. Between the rounded face buttons and the trigger/bumper situation at the top, the SIXAXIS takes the cake in DMC4. Even if the cake is a little stale.

Joe:
Well, I played the demo on the 360 and it is the first time I have played a Devil May Cry game with an actually controller. As most know, I submitted to the torture of attempting to play Devil May Cry 3: SE on the PC, which had no support for the mouse and no support for my gamepad until the 1.3.0 patch. Even with all of that, I pre-ordered it on the PC, due to the lessons in control schemes that were learned with Lost Planet on the PC.

Seeing as they have not released the PC demo yet, I decided to give the 360 demo a spin. The controls seem to be a step backwards from recent games that seem to use every button and then some on a controller. To only have to worry about the buttons on the controller and none of the d-pad or anything else was a nice change of pace from games like Saints Row, Bioshock and others that make you feel like you need three hands for the controller. I did have an issue with confusing the sword and gun attack buttons, but I shortly adjusted to it. Not sure why I was mixing them up, but I was. Just chalk it up to user error, it seems to work at my day job, why not here.

Once I got into the game itself, I noticed that the graphics are really good looking but at the same time, I did think that it had not progressed all that much from Dead Rising. Devil May Cry 4 looked better at times, but it was not as gorgeous as it has been described on many sites and podcasts. Maybe I am just blind, but I found it to be a solid looking title, but not a graphical masterpiece. I did like the look of Nero and his attacks. The Devil Bringer were really cool and the way the character moves on the screen feels real.

The action is where this title has made its mark, and it continues that trend here. Big combos, mixing together guns, swords and the Devil Bringer make for some big grin moments. The first time I realized I could throw someone in the air and then hack and slash them on the way down, or shoot them, I realized I could really enjoy this game. People asked me if I felt bored with it at the end, and I said no. Maybe it is my limited exposure to the title, but I felt that the action was fast and furious, which never gave me enough time to think about whether the combat was repetitive.

I would say that if you are a fan of the series, you will want this game on opening day. It seems to play to the strengths of the previous games, while giving you a new character who is linked to the famous Dante. But some may want to rent it to see if it is worth purchase, since the game may not offer much beyond its single player campaign. I hope to see a PC demo to get some impressions on it compared to my 360 experience, but I enjoyed what I got to play in this game so far.

Paul:
Thanks James and Joe!

What did you think of the demo? Sound off in the comments below and tell us what you think.