Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Devil May Cry 2

Written by Adam Woolcott on February 07, 2003

Full Review: Luuuuucia, I'm hoooooomeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

The original Devil May Cry took the PS2 world by storm Ц mixed within a rush of huge sellers like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Grand Theft Auto 3, DMC garnered exceptionally positive reviews (we in particular scored the original at a high 9.6, easily the best pure action game of 2001), despite not being as high a profile title compared to MGS and GTA. The mix of pure hack & slash action along with inspired gunplay and an unforgiving difficulty level were the trademarks of DMC, along with the super-badass oft considered Capcom's coolest creation Ц Dante, the son of Sparda. Naturally, the success and critical acclaim meant a sequel wouldn't take long to come to fruition, and indeed, soon after the release of DMC, announcements for Devil May Cry 2 began to take shape Ц though designed by a different team, instead of the creator, the esteemed Shinji Mikami.

Now that it's here, the question is asked Ц is this most anticipated of sequels good enough to live up to the DMC name? The answer to this is not easy Ц because it's a mix of yes and no. While DMC 2 is not quite the game as the original, due to some flaws that are tough to swallow, the majority of the game is still Devil May Cry at its finest Ц and that has to account for something. Fans of the original DMC will probably find a lot to like, as well as things to loathe, but on its own, Devil May Cry 2 is a solid PlayStation 2 game that just missed being a bona-fide must own.

DMC 2 comes on 2 DVD discs Ц one tells the story of the game from the perspective of Dante, the other from the newest character in the DMC universe Ц Lucia. Both stories end just about the same way (just different encounters throughout), and some levels are similar, but for the most part the 2 quests are different enough to be worth playing through. However, the whole УstoryФ of the game is largely a throwaway, reducing the game to a simple action game. This isn't a bad thing though, since the first DMC had a pretty uninspired story, but at least it made sense.

The story of DMC 2 tells the tale of some rich dude named Arius, a Kazuya (from Tekken) look-alike who's looking for the 4 arcanas to summon a demon, and then use the powers of this demon to take over the world. Dante is called on the job, and accepts the gig Ц only for Lucia to follow and obtain the arcanas before Arius does.

And that's just about it Ц not exactly Hallmark Hall-of-Fame material. The story is basically a backdrop to the action, but because of this the action really has no point because there's hardly any character development. Instead, you don't play the game to see the outcome of the story Ц you play it to kick ass and take names, and look good doing it.

DMC veterans will be right at home with the sequel Ц the game maintains the exact same feel as the original, only with some slightly tweaked (for the better) controls. The idea remains the same Ц you get a couple handguns, a big sword, and the ultra-badass Dante to control and slice through hordes of baddies on your way to an S ranking. Of course, Dante has the Devil Trigger as well, and this is probably the most enhanced feature from DMC 2.

Basically, the DT is controlled by various amulets spread around the game, each with different powers. It usually involves a different attack or a special power, such as the ability to fly and float, and another that lets you run extremely fast Ц and the DT attacks are usually based upon the amulet you have equipped at the time. Also new to the DT is the Уnear deathФ Trigger that transforms you into a super-demon with super-strength when your health goes into the red before you expire. It's a last-resort kind of thing, but for maximum effectiveness it's best with a full DT. Lucia also has this Devil Trigger, and she has the same abilities with the amulets.

The rest of the game is pretty similar to the original Ц the only thing missing is being able to upgrade into brand new moves (like Air Hike or Round Trip). You can only upgrade your swords and your weapons into more powerful versions. There's only 3 different swords to use, and neither stands out as anything special Ц nothing like Alastor. The various guns include the standard Ebony & Ivory (one white and one black standard handgun), the shotgun, a grenade launcher, and the sub-machine guns. And as always, there's no ammo to worry about, so don't get excited thinking DMC has turned into Resident Evil.

Naturally, orbs and orb collection plays a big role in DMC 2. In addition to the usual buying of Vital Stars for life, and the blue and purple orbs for increasing your life and Devil Trigger meters, you can use the orbs for upgrading weapons, and for buying a couple new items Ц the Smell of Fear and a Holy essence. The Smell of Fear (which doesn't really summon Leslie Nielsen reprising his role as Drebin in Naked Gun 2 1/2 ) is sort of like an untouchable, letting you avoid 3 enemy attacks before expiring. The Holy essence isn't a holy water like the first game, but something to cure poisoning if you get poisoned by toxic enemies. Unfortunately, the Holy Water isn't in this game, so no wiping out an entire room at once (though, it's understandable when you think about it, nor is it necessary). Nor can you buy a yellow orb (or for our RPG fans, the Phoenix Down) to come back to life Ц you can only collect them here and there throughout the various missions. Lucia doesn't have any guns outside of an underwater needle gun Ц instead she can upgrade her knives. Her other moves are purely fisticuffs like he has Ifrit from the original equipped.

Despite a slight change in controls, Dante (and Lucia) is just as fluid and easy to control as he ever was. He even has some new moves like being able to do a double jump off a wall for even more height, and has some new methods of attack as well. The auto-targeting system works decently, but does tend to highlight the wrong monster at the wrong time. If there's a manual override (outside of holding R2 to cancel it outЕI'm thinking more like the Vice City targeting system of cycling targets), I missed it, but it definitely should be there, because it's no fun fighting a big enemy up close, but targeting something far away.

Thus far, really, everything about DMC 2 is actually outstanding Ц despite the minor changes to the upgrading system and different items to buy, the central core of the game is exactly the same Ц just blast the daylights out of the enemies and move on up. Sadly, this is where the game falls apart.

Making no bones about it, Devil May Cry 2 is easy. Very easy. The original was a perfect difficulty level, letting your skills develop as the enemies got tougher. If you weren't good enough, the game opened up an easy-automatic to help you through. But DMC was able to straddle the fine line between hard and fun, creating a challenging and enjoyable game that you felt good about beating, even on Normal. On the other hand, Normal on DMC 2 is moronically easy. I blew through the 2 discs on normal and only died one time, and that was on the final boss Ц and I'm not exactly the greatest gamer on earth either. DMC 2 supposedly features an adaptive difficulty level, where doing good means more, tougher enemies, and doing poorly means you'll have an easier time. This really isn't the case though, as I noticed no change in difficulty in any of the chapters. Most of the enemies are extremely passive, just letting you attack them from a distance and kill them. There's not much need for the sharp moves Dante has at his disposal, when you can just fire E&I and tear them up. This is exceptionally evident against the final boss, where you can actually find a position on the screen where it can't hit you, but you can hit it, and then just unload with the submachine guns until it's dead. Admittedly Hard difficulty is a good challenge on par with the original DMC, but it's disappointing that Capcom dumbed this game down so much. Admittedly it doesn't make the game any less fun Ц it's only just not as satisfying as beating a truly challenging game.

Speaking of bosses, my other complaint concerns the bosses in DMC 2. For lack of a better term, they suck. The first Devil May Cry had truly amazing bosses that were epic battles Ц think of Nelo Angelo and the final fight against the huge bird Griffon in the arena. While there weren't that many bosses in DMC, each boss fight meant something, and the banter between Dante and the enemy made for good entertainment. Not so here. While there are some surprises later in the game, the majority of the bosses are uninspired and quite lame. Infested Chopper? Huh? Most of these bosses are generic, and there's no interaction with them and Dante (outside of battles with Arius), thus giving you no reason to care or fear the bosses you'll be fighting. Plus, there's just too many of them to go around, desensitizing you to a big boss fight, because outside of the final boss, there are no big boss fights. Plus, since they're so easy, it involves just sitting back and popping away with a gun until they fall, even if it takes a long time. It's truly a shame that 2 of the best elements of DMC were wiped away here Ц there's still a lot of entertainment to be had, but these things can't be ignored, and if there is to be a Devil May Cry 3, we need better challenge, and better bosses.

Lucia's game is just about the same, only a bit shorter and less bosses to encounter. She arguably has the coolest final boss Ц probably one of the only 2 or 3 moments of inspiration the DMC 2 team had when finishing the game. Her game actually is a bit different, with levels exclusive to her Ц but some levels to overlap. But it's just as easy and the bosses are just as lame Ц only there's less of them in the 13 different missions of hers.

On the bright side, you do get to unlock some fun stuff. Beating the game with each character opens an alternate costume to use (making Dante look even fruitier than he looks normally in DMC 2), and beating the game with both opens the hard difficulty, as well as the Bloody Palace. Bonus points do go to Capcom for the Bloody Palace, because it's actually a lot of fun. Basically, BP is a never-ending tower of enemies, letting you blast away mindlessly and work your way up. At the end of a stage, it gives you 3 portals Ц one goes up 1 level of the palace, one goes 10 levels up, and one goes 100 levels up. Naturally, the higher the level the harder it gets Ц and before you know it, you're on Dante Must Die levels of challenge. In all honesty, Bloody Palace is easily the most challenging portion of the game.

Graphically, Devil May Cry 2 is both a change and a similarity from the original. Gone are the tight spaces of the castle that the 1st game was held in, instead replaced by many sprawling outdoor areas that are both huge in scope and huge in area. There are some indoor levels that are DMC-ish, but the outdoor levels stand out. The style remains very similar to DMC though, and uses pretty much the same graphics engine. It definitely looks good, though it's easy to notice a tendency of the camera zooming way out during most fights to get the best look at the battles. Lighting effects are subtle but do stand out when necessary, and there really aren't many of the usual PS2 visual flaws like flicker and jagged edges. However, many of the textures are pretty dull and lack much polish Ц it looks good enough, but doesn't wow like the original game does.

Unfortunately, that camera is also its downfall. In the original DMC, the camera was near perfect Ц never did I wish I could manually swing it for a better view, or feel like it was blocking the path to an enemy. In DMC 2, this is sadly the case. Many times the camera, in junction with the targeting system, will target an enemy off screen, and the only way to know what's going on is to see the enemy health bar (a new DMC feature) and tell if you're even doing anything. Other times it just swings the wrong way and throws off your direction, forcing you to hunt back down whatever you were looking for.

Both Lucia and Dante are modeled well, and both have some super-cool moves that look great. Dante will sometimes fire a gun behind him at an enemy, automatically, while Lucia has tons of different martial arts moves to lay the smack down. It actually succeeds as not looking canned, as it fluidly worms itself into the character's normal movements. It's a stunning thing to see, really, if you haven't seen the first DMC much. On the other hand, enemy designs are pretty uninspired and while there is some good variety in different enemies, they're all pretty boring after a while. And since they usually just stand around while you thump them, there's not much animation.

One small beef about Dante though Ц while Lucia is a 1st time character, thus free from comparisons, Dante looks nothing like the DMC version. In the original he was bad ass, both in personality and his overall look. Here, he just looks like a fruit. It's almost like they're killing Dante at Capcom, for some odd reason.

Devil May Cry 2 remains similar to the first in the audio department Ц the same kind of rockin' music that played the 1st time around returns, giving you some music to pump you up for a bit of ass-kicking. There's still plenty of the gothic music that was prevalent in the original as well, so fans of that will find plenty to like here as well. The sound effects are largely the same (along with the same chime as the first game had), and as such they're pretty good.

Unfortunately, the voice acting makes a bad return as well Ц only there's not as much of it. The sanitation of Dante continues here, as he's reduced to being the silent type who has hardly any lines at all, outside of the admittedly cool coin-flip thing. Worse off, what dialogue he does have is ridiculously bad, as is everyone else's. It's like Resident Evil revisited, only without Barry and Jill to amuse us.