Devil May Cry 4

In a land overflowing with demons, there is only one man who can staunch the flow of evil, his name is.... well actually who knows? Because up until this point in the best-selling Devil may Cry series, the hero has always been everyone's favourite dryly-sarcastic, part-demon albino; Dante. DMC4 confuses all this by first introducing us to Nero, a younger surlier platinum blonde lad with a strange unearthly glowing arm and a curious penchant for slaying the nasty-bads, and then pitting him against the series' regular hero.

Starting from this point, it's a matter of slogging your way from pillar to post, making mincemeat out of the inexplicable hordes that seem to live under every rock. As Nero chases down his elusive doppelganger the traditionally simplistic story rears its head through some gorgeously animated cut-scenes and as we say in the business, “plot happens”, before later levels let the player take control of Dante, who brings his own style to the game.

The upshot of all this is that instead of the familiar controls and styles of gameplay, Capcom throws in a bunch of new toys to keep things fresh, with Nero's special arm letting you snatch enemies and pummel them googly. His sword can also be powered up with a noise like a rusty chainsaw and there are a barrel-load of unlockable combos and extras to make the slaying more fun. All of which is great, as the constant combat is nothing short of brilliant, and a real sense of achievement comes from polishing off a room full of demons without getting hit once. The bosses are also staggering, ranging from huge Demon-Lords to steampunk techno-angels and culminating in a giant hulking colossus that is literally jaw-dropping.

Even saying that, the game ain't perfect by a country mile, the camera system is irksome, and plainly can't decide if it's meant to be fixed or player-controlled. Occasionally, in the heat of battle, you'll find your view obscured when adjusting the camera will mean taking damage. The rest of the time, you find yourself wanting to look around and find that the view has been fixed. Adding to which half of the game is spent backtracking through the same locations.

The story doesn't fare much better, as the plot takes far too long trying to be clever and intriguing, and ends up coming off a bit dumb. And far from adding to the game much, the sudden change from Nero to Dante halfway through the game will confuse those new to the series utterly, with no tutorials or training missions on how his styles work the game actually becomes less fun, and by the time you've figured him out the game's all but over.

All in all, it's a good addition to anyone's collection and fans of the series will lap it up like cherry-fried custard on wafflecakes but with a few hampering flaws that just steal the greatness away.