Saturday 31 January 2009

Devil May Cry 4 (XBox 360)

I was quite excited about playing this. I played the first game way back when it was first released, and really enjoyed it. The second one wasn't much cop, though. And although I read good things about the third, I never actually got around to playing it. Being a bit of a cheapskate (credit crunch? Nah... I've been tight when it comes to buying games since long before that kicked in) I probably wouldn't have bought this one, if it wasn't for Currys being desperate to flog anything that's been sitting there longer than six months.

First things first: it looks stunning. Granted, I'm not a videophile (nor am I an audiophile - years of listening to fast guitars at high volume saw to that), and it's the first game I've really played in HD, but even so... well, I'm impressed.

As far as the game goes, it's pretty much what I expected, and that's not a bad thing. It's yer typical Capcom slash-'em-up fare: over-the-top characters, hordes of barely-threatening minions to dispatch, and some really impressive boss characters that will smash you all over the shop until you work out what you're supposed to do with them. And of course, there are glowing orbs... red ones, green ones, blue ones... flying out of everything you kill or destroy, with the purpose of being put towards the purchase of new skills or items. It's just as well these games are set in a fantasy world... if I tried to buy a pair of trainers or a new pen with glowing orbs, I expect I'd be sent packing with nowt but a couple of choice words ringing in my ears.

There are a couple of difficulty levels (to start with - I expect at least one more can be unlocked), and I've started on the easiest. Don't rag on me... I know how difficult these games can be, and lack of gaming time in the last year has dulled my reflexes. I'll ramp it up later on, perhaps... the difficulty can be changed at any time.

Devil May Cry 4 is proving to be very enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the story pans out. It's probably a bit cheesy - most of this stuff is - but it's all done with such incredible style that you can forgive it that.

2 comments:

  1. Nice precis, Paul - I was always interested in DMC4, but the Achievements looked ninja-hard.

    It'll be interesting to see how you balance the "looking forward to seeing how the story pans out" bits with the "game a day" bits ;)

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  2. Yeah... there's no point in starting a game just for this and then not playing it again for six months! You're right though... after playing two chapters (one of which was quite long) and a special mission, I haven't unlocked a single Achievement!

    I could start another blog where I aim for the worst-known completion rate... I'm probably not far off that anyway... *sigh*

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