Release Date: AVAILABLE NOW in stores on Xbox 360 and PS3

If you’ve been itching to speed up the action in some of the games you may have been playing lately or are missing hordes of baddies in a never ending onslaught, your prayers have been answered. The white-haired sarcastic badass Dante is back, with a look-a-like “mini-me” to boot. Devil May Cry 4 was released for the Xbox 360 and the PS3, and we recently had the chance to review the Playstation version.

Devil May Cry has always kept to itself and has never really felt the unappealing hand of direct competition. For a quick recap of the series, you’re basically looking at demon hunter, Dante, with a demon heritage. Along the way you learn that Dante is the one of the twin sons of a famous demon Sparda, a demon knight that sided with humanity and closed the gate between our world and theirs. Each game has brought Dante further and further in to the role of a hero, but has, entertainingly enough, done his good deeds for selfish reasons; in other words, he’s a “special’ type of mercenary for hire.

This time around, Dante is only one of the two main characters and most of the time is not in the spotlight. DMC4 introduces us to Nero, who is essentially a younger version of Dante in regards to both looks and attitude. Not much is said about Nero’s origin; all you really know is that he’s part of the Order of the Sword, a group of warriors who worship Sparda. The story itself takes place in the town of Fortuna, which is ruled by the Order. The city is protected by a group of Holy knights who engage you in battle shortly after the game begins. The citizens of the town worship Sparda as their god, but in the opening sequence you’ll learn that they don’t exactly see eye to eye with their god’s son.

DMC 4 takes you through Nero’s experience for the first half of the story, and re-introduces Dante as a playable character for the second. While playing as Nero you’ll constantly run-in to his older counterpart and witness them exchange words, which basically boil down to insults and threats. The relationship between the two grows slightly throughout the game but in the end, they live two completely different lives and share only the common ground of killing demons.

The gameplay is just what you would expect from the franchise and does not disappoint. Nero offers a whole new world of options with his demon right arm affectionately called the “Devil Bringer”, and gives the series new life while keeping with its roots. The Devil Bringer gives Nero the ability to grasp objects and enemies from a distance and deal one hell of a lot of damage. At times, using this new found power will allow you to literally rip an enemy in half with your bare hands, and is, in a word, satisfying. In previous DMC games you were able to play as other characters after completing it using Dante; the difference here is that Nero gives you the satisfaction and familiarity of Dante with a brand new set of moves.

Nero is also given a new set of weapons - while Dante still has Ebony and Ivory (his dual pistols which never have to be reloaded), Nero has the Blue Rose, a double barreled pistol that fires slower than Dante’s guns but packs some punch. As far as melee weapons go, Nero is given the Red Queen, a motorcycle-like throttled sword which can be charged to deal more damage. Each time you rev the sword you are reaching one of three plateaus of the Exceed gauge, which is where the swordplay changes up a bit from Dante’s. It will be a big help when you’re really outnumbered, but it can still complicate things a bit. In previous DMC games, Dante has been known for his ability to transform himself in to a fully fledged demon and deal twice the damage; this doesn’t change here. The concept remains the same with Nero, but instead of transforming into a demon, he exerts from his back what seems to be a demon-like ghost that mirrors his movements.

The level transitions are the same: you run through stages which periodically get blocked off and force you in to battle, which has come to be expected at this point in the series. After each stage of enemies you are eventually faced with the famous DMC boss battles that you’ve no doubt come to know and love. The downside? Having two characters running the same level that’s been reversed can get repetitive. Each character handles the situations differently, and all of them are filled with their own personal cut scenes, but more differentiated stages would have been nice.

With the cross platform competition in full effect, there is no doubt a question of which console handles the game better. Well, in terms of graphics they are almost identical, but the load times are a story of their own. With the PS3 version you’re forced to have a 20-30 minute installation before playing, but with the 360, you’re slaying demons mere minutes after popping the disc in. For most PS3 owners this may seem like bad news, but once you get into the game you’ll discover there’s a good reason for the added wait: with some of the longest and most extensive cut scenes yet to be seen by Capcom, DMC could have some serious load time issues, but the installation has cut this by what seems like 75%. The PS3 implements its own version of the achievements system that Xbox offers, but at the same time is not nearly as rewarding without Xbox Live.

All in all, Devil May Cry 4 delivers what’s expected of the franchise, with a new spin on things and the addition of Nero. Some hardcore DMC fans may be upset with Dante being out of the spotlight but for those of us who needed a bit of change, DMC 4 is a fantastic play. In keeping with the fast paced gun fights and swordplay so popular in the past, Devil May Cry 4 is yet another success in the series. The only advice we can give is to try not to play the game on the Human difficulty, because if you played DMC at all you’re going to find this setting very, very easy. Devil Hunter is the game’s second and only other option, but will add a significant amount of gameplay time and leave you a better sense of accomplishment.

Simons Says: Get it.

Let me know your thoughts, leave a comment or email me at Andrews@team.beer.com