Devil May Cry 2

Ben develops primal rage with disappointment at Capcom's near-miss.

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Lets start this off with a story. My very first review for Ferrago was Devil May Cry. I loved that game, as, if you had read the review, you could tell. Well, countless reviews, previews and jobs later, here I have the sequel. My skills as a writer may of actually got worse, spouting rancid filth that a Sunday Sport writer would blush at, but my gaming skills and critical ways have got stronger. Many of you know I will not stand for rushed sloppy titles (New Legends anyone?), so I feel relieved to finally receive DMC2. This can only be better than the superb original, can’t it?

AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH! Sorry, I had to get that out of my system. I would think that most of you would have guessed by that outburst that something is amiss. Well, yes, something is bloody well amiss, I don’t know what has been going on at Capcom HQ, but it certainly isn’t good. Allow me to try and explain simply and quickly here for those who never read a full review. Devil May Cry 2 is not a bad game, it is simply a wasted opportunity, and therefore, I am going to be incredibly harsh, to emphasise the point that a wasted opportunity such as this shouldn’t be tolerated.

Firstly, things don’t appear that bad. The graphics are still good, although strangely worse than the original. Where Capcom have gone for the larger environments, they have managed to lose a considerable amount of the detail that made the original game so damn cool. Granted the graphics are stunning in places, but most of the time they are simply passable, they appear bland and yellow. Imagine walking around the same five streets in Venice for six days, in the rain, with no people and no furniture or windows, and this is what you get! I have no idea why Capcom did away with the neo gothic chic of the original. I’m sure that style would of carried across to a modern environment well enough. Back to the drawing board guys.

Another thing that’ll strike you about DMC2 is that it is far too short. I managed to finish the Dante disk (including hard and Dante Must Die mode) in a little over one of my normal days. The difficulty has dropped quite a bit, and with it some of the fun factor. It is still undoubtedly cool to back-flip over an enemy, juggle them in the air with your pistols then slice them with your sword, but what is the point when you can do it all the time. Most enemies just seem to stand and watch. You’ll find yourself constantly getting an A or S ranking on the end mission screen. Oh well, perhaps I’m just too good at this type of game now… but if I’m too good, I can guarantee that so are 60% of you reading this.

One factor still remaining from the original is the excellent control system. Dante can flip, double jump, run up walls and perform all manner of incredible moves at the press of a button. You’ll find that controlling Dante is a joy with his fluid moves, although half of them are useless unless you are aiming for S ratings, which will open up ‘extras’, although nothing really that exciting.