Everyone hates the new DmC game from Ninja Theory, right? I mean, this is the most hate and vitriol I've seen aimed at a video game since the Grand Theft Auto Hot Coffee mod scandal or hell, the ending of Mass Effect 3. I had been hearing fans of the original Devil May Cry series (Joe and Rachel, I'm looking right at you) hate on this game for months, even before it even had a playable build when Dante-- the brand new, black haired, smoking Dante-- was revealed. I still had hope; I told people "Hey, back off. This is just younger Dante, Dante back when he was just realizing how much of a badass his father was and he's trying so hard to live up to that that he just looks like a kid trying too hard to be a badass." But the hate continued, even after an early trailer that, to me at least, looked pretty solid.
So I kept defending this game, waiting to pass judgment until I had at least gotten my hands on a demo, which released earlier this month. But now, I have played the demo, and the time has come. For those of you that haven't played the demo, here's part one of Maximilian's (of Assist Me fame) playthrough.
Now, the thing about reviewing this demo is this: it's split up into two parts that serve two different purposes. Part one is called Under Watch and part two is called Secret Ingredient. Part one is a tutorial, and part two is a boss battle, just to let you know what those are like in this game. So I figure that since the demo itself is split into two parts, I'm gonna split this review into two parts. Fair? Well, if you said no, tough. I'm doin' it anyway.
Under Watch
This is basically a standard opening level that introduces you to the world and storyline of DmC. You see a cutscene giving you some background right before you start and it is at the end of this that we see Dante for the first time... naked, pale white Dante (Why, Ninja Theory? Why?). This level is really nothing special as far as demos go; it's here to ease you into the changes to the combat system and get you accustomed to how things work now. You throw some enemies in and there you go. I have to say, the controls feel great here. It actually feels like this Dante was made for Marvel 3 instead of the old one. All of this Dante's weapons and movement options flow together and feel very natural once you get used to the control scheme. That is neither the end of this demo nor the end this review though, so sit tight.Secret Ingredient
This level is where the glaring problems start to become apparent: story and dialogue. The gameplay here is just as solid as the first level, and this boss battle feels just like Devil May Cry games back when Dante's hair was still white. That is, until the boss and Dante start having a conversation. There is an exchange that Dante and the boss have that goes exactly like this:
Boss: Fuck you!
Dante: No, fuck you!
Boss: FUCK YOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!
Not
exactly Shakespeare, is it? I'm not even asking for Shakespearean prose
here, but Ninja Theory has already given us quite adequate dialogue in
Heavenly Sword (even though that game was too short). The dialogue that
is written for the boss is just childish; I rolled my eyes three or four
times playing this level.
