Devil may cry, but you wil smile (Devil May Cry (PS2))

Member Name: Caradawn

Product:	Devil May Cry (PS2)
Date:	18/10/02 (514 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: See review

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With Devil May Cry 2 about to be released, I thought that know is as good a time as any to try and tell you about the first one.

This is a one-player game from Capcom for Playstation 2. In order to play you need an 8MB Memory Card and the game needs 420KB of space. The disc conforms to Playstation 2 specifications for the PAL market only. It is Analogue Control compatible (analogue sticks only) and Vibration Function compatible. That means that if you have the vibration function on then the controller will vibrate when you attack or are attacked (no rude thoughts now! The controller should only stay in your hands!).

The story goes that the devil-prince, Mundus, was defeated and banished by a Sparda, a devil-knight fighting for the side of good. Two millennia later Mundus is rising again to invade the human world and it is the turn of Dante, Sparda's half human - half demon son, to send him back from whence he came. He is guided to Mallet Island, where the evil is surfacing, by Trish, a mysterious woman possessing supernatural powers. Here is where you take over. Armed with a huge sword and the handguns Ebony and Ivory, you are Dante and your mission to stop Mundus from rising will take you through both the human and the demon worlds.

To start you have to choose your difficulty level. You have two choices, easy and normal. Easy level gives you a larger life bar, more yellow orbs and practically fights on automatic. Even my 18 month old daughter can kill a few demons on this setting! I kid you not! (not that I normally allow her to play!). You will also find it easier to acquire Red Orbs on the easy option. Normal level is actually quite hard and makes you work to get anything. There is a video introduction which can be skipped by pressing the 'select' button.

As with most games you are eased into the game, giving you chance to get used to the controls and suss out what you need to be doing. To progress throu
gh the game you need to collect items and you need to defeat enemies. There are five different orbs to be collected, the most common of which is the Red Orb and these play quite a big part in the game. With enough Red Orbs you can open sealed doors and 'purchase' items, life and abilities (known as Power Up). Red Orbs can be found just lying around, but mainly you collect them after killing an enemy. Other orbs are Yellow, which allows you to continue the game when you have been defeated, Purple, increases the maximum Devil Trigger gauge, Green, restores vitality/life and Blue, which increases your maximum vitality. The Blue Orb comes in four pieces, which are then combined into a whole one. Alternatively you can buy one if you have enough Red Orbs. They are, however, quite pricey and as with most of the items you buy, they go up in price after you have purchased one or more.

Power up is available at the start of the next mission or, during play, at a Divinity Statue. I should mention at this point that although you can save at any point during the game it will only save from the beginning of that mission. Any items collected thus far in the will be saved so they won't be there for you to collect again after loading. However if you are defeated and you have a Yellow Orb you can re-start from the point you left off. No Yellow Orb means you have to load more a save point.

Unsurprisingly, as you progress through the game you will come across more powerful enemies to be defeated. The first enemy you will encounter will be the Marionettes. The standard ones are quite easily defeated, but as you progress more dangerous and powerful ones crop up. You will then encounter Sin Scissors, Sin Scythes, Shadows, Phantoms, Nelo Angelo and some others not mentioned in the booklet. Each time you encounter a new enemy its name will be added to your enemy file. As you fight it you discover it's abilities, weaknesses and strengths and this information
is then added to the file. The more different attacks you try during the combat the more you find out about the enemy. Personally I tend to forget that the enemy file is there, but it can come in quite useful, as different enemies are susceptible to different types of weapons.

As the game progresses you can pick up extra weapons. In fact once you have other weapons you will probably find that you use your handguns less and you won't use your original sword at all. The Alastor sword is acquired quite early on and Ifrit, the flame gauntlets are acquired towards the middle of the game. You will more than likely also acquire a shotgun and grenade gun, which come in very handy. Although you may cease to use your original sword quite early on, there is a point where it comes in use again as it is transformed into the demon sword Sparda. Yes the very same as used by Dante's father.

There is a particular ability that Dante has called the Devil Trigger (DT) which enables him to access his demon powers, ultimately making him much more powerful and, with the right abilities, enabling him to fly. It even gives his firearms more power. I found the DT a bit confusing when I first started playing the game, but it is straightforward enough once you understand how it works. To access DT you first have to have Alastor, although you can activate when wearing Ifrit as well. Your DT gauge is a series of symbols, which appear below your vitality gauge. As you fight these symbols start to light up and when you have a minimum of three lit you can activate the DT by pressing L1. You can also refuel you DT by using a Devil Star. These are either purchased or found. Something thing I noticed about the DT is that when it is activated your vitality/live increases.

By now you have probably guessed from the content that this game has an age certificate. It is marked as suitable for players aged 15 and over. It comes with an instruction booklet containing pretty
pictures and information on how to play the game. It is actually quite well laid out and easy to follow. If you should get stuck on the game there is a number for a 24-hour hint-line shown on the back of the book. Calls cost 75p per minute, but to be honest it is very unlikely you will need it. Unlike the Tombraider series (probably my favourite games) it doesn't have any complicated puzzles and is quite straightforward. If you are a fan of Tombraider you might find that it's a bit too easy and over very quickly. It is, however, quite an enjoyable game and my only real complaint is that it didn't last long enough. Also after going through the game on each difficulty setting you probably won?t pick it up again.

The graphics in the scenery are quite detailed, if little fuzzy up close. The graphics on the characters during the game aren't quite as detailed, but then you don?t tend to see them up close. There is an ongoing, eerie, random noted music throughout the game, which luckily tends to just fade into the background. When combat commences or enemies attack then the music changes to a heavier rock music, which certainly lets you know that something is going on. You get some sound effects as well when Dante is fighting. Besides Dante's grunts and 'hy-yahs' you get the bloodcurdling screams of the enemies as they are injured or killed (nice...).

The controls do take a bit getting used to and you get to use quite a good combination of buttons. What is rather annoying while you are moving about though is the way the camera angle keeps changing. When Dante has his back to you, you would then have move the toggle up to make him go forward. However, the camera angle will then change and he will be coming toward you. If you keep the toggle pressed in the direction you started in then he will continue running forwards. However, if you release the toggle you then have to move the toggle down in order to go forwards. This isn
9;t too much of a problem when you are moving Dante through an open area, but in enclosed areas you can end up running in circles trying to get through a doorway.

Another thing worth noting is that Dante will not run of the edge of ledges. He will just run on the spot. In order to get him down you have to press forward and the jump button. This can be a problem if the hole you need to jump down is small. You can find yourself jumping back and forth over the hole without actually getting down it.


**Tips**

Collect as many Red Orbs as you can in order to purchase as many abilities and as you can. This will help you to defeat your enemies quicker and with less loss to life.

The best way to collect Red Orbs is by destroying as many of your enemies as you can. If you have destroyed all of the enemies in the room, leave the room and then re-enter it you will more than likely find some more to kill.

When enemies die they leave Red Orbs behind. Collect these as quickly as possible before they disappear.

By re-entering levels or rooms you have just completed you sometimes get a bonus level. If you can complete the bonus level you get a bonus (usually a piece of Blue Orb).

If an object looks of interest, stand in front of it and press X. It will sometimes tell you something useful, or failing that it might tell you something completely useless! By doing this you can also pick up objects which you will need in order to complete the level.

Check everywhere and slash at all objects. You can often find orbs or useful items.

And most importantly enjoy yourself!

**

This is definitely a game I would recommend and I'm looking forward to the release of the second one, which has apparently been improved upon and made longer.


~#~ Caradawn ~#~

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