My first exposure to Devil May Cry was on the PlayStation 2. I don't remember if I played a demo first, or went out and bought the game based on the artwork on the game's case. I remember playing it on the first TV I bought with my own money, and marvelling at the picture on a 51CM flat screen, powered by a cathode ray tube.
I remember sending enemies flying into the air, and hacking them to pieces with a word or a dizzying array of bullets. Demons, angels, voice acting, and cut scenes with such incredible visuals. The Devil May Cry I remember was characterised by its combat, and beautiful environments and art direction.
DMC: Devil May Cry is a reboot of the series, delving into the origin story of protagonist Dante, and its a linear affair that introduces us to a depraved young man. Strip clubs, drugs, romps in nightclubs and booze are featured in the game's opening cinematic.
Quickly, we're introduced to the duality of The Earth - there's limbo, and the physicality of existence. They sit in phase with one another. One has demons, the other has not. You play DMC: Devil May Cry in this shifting landscape, spending most of your time in limbo, slaying demons.
Developers Ninja Theory have attempted to differentiate the real world and that of limbo using different colour palettes. However, there's a muddy dynamic range to both of them, which doesn't really let the Unreal Engine shine as it can.
This game was released in 2013, and hasn't aged gracefully, mostly due to this muddy colour palette of browns, blues, and de-saturated greens. It's disappointing, and its the first game that I've ever played that has made me want to download an FX injector to apply on the fly colour correction.
There's excellent frame pacing in the engine, to be expected from Unreal, and this makes the combat flow along at a satisfactory matter. You'll get a number of weapons along the way, and can upgrade them all in many ways. They each have a purpose of annihilating the myriad types of enemies you'll encounter along the way.
Every weapon is useful, but not every weapon is fun. Most of them are. Some weapons come from an angelic slant, while others are demonic. This is because Dante is the product of a union between a demon and an angel, meaning he can unleash the biblical powers of good, and evil.
There's an entire story arc around this, told in gorgeous, narrated cut scenes that feature some of the best, most symbolic concept art that I've ever seen - the work is beautiful, full of impact, and meaning through its use of colours, light, shadow, and its casual referencing of great works of art's history.
concept art from the game
Overall, DMC: Devil May Cry is a fun game, and mixes a coming of age tale with a competent action game. There's around 9-10 hours of content here from a story perspective, with much of it balanced between combat, story sequences, and platforming traversal mechanics.
I played this game using a standard XBOX controller on my PC - so don't ask me about the mouse / keyboard controls - the controller is the only way I'd consider playing something like this!
This has whet my appetite for the other Devil May Cry titles, of which only the original is something I've played. I'm looking forward to loading that up next.