Preview:
Devil May Cry
Due November 2001 for PS2.
Devil May Cry looked good at E3 this year. It looked real good. What’s more important, it looked cool. It looked real cool, and by cool I mean the styling, ass-kicking, suave kind of cool, which was apparently a major development goal. Shinji Mikami, the reknowned creator of Resident Evil and all around videogame jedi, is about to paint his next masterpiece on the PlayStation 2 canvas. The unvieling of Devil May Cry at the Sony press event brought cries of joy mixed with giddy giggles of excitement from the gallery.
Devil May Cry tells the story of Dante, descendant of a legendary swordsman, who is unwittingly thrown into the mix of a two-thousand year search for vengance. Dante is a private investigator of the supernatural who realizes that the devil is rising to destroy mankind. Dante’s quest leads him on a one man war against the demon world, and on a search for his own place in the overarching mystery.
The combat system on Devil May Cry is amazing. Picture Onimusha with even better looking sword attacks, and more intense magical blasts for wicked combos; now add a kung fu flipping, dual pistol packing, John-Woo style ass-kicking demon killer. The result is a battle scene from Devil May Cry. The combos produced between the sword, magic, and firearms is impressive. Dante will uncover different swords each with a different elemental power, much like Onimusha. Among other firearms, Dante will uncover dual pistols and a shotgun to dispatch enemies in maximum style.
The graphics looked awesome during the Sony press event, but less impressive on the show floor. Nevertheless, based on their history in the genre, I have total confidence in Capcom’s ability to deliver a superb final product. Based on the incomplete version, I expect improvements over Onimusha in light sourcing, particle effects and animation.
For control reasons alone, Devil May Cry excites me vastly more than the prospect of another Resident Evil game. The movement and combat is fast paced and precise. The story is also much more interesting than another struggle against the Umbrella corporation. No word on game length. Hopefully it will be longer than Onimusha, but we won’t know until November. Look for a demo copy of Devil May Cry with Code Veronica X in September.