DmC: Devil May Cry
DmC: Devil May Cry | |
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![]() Official cover art[2] | |
Developer(s) | Ninja Theory (PS3, Xbox 360) QLOC (PC) |
Publisher(s) | Capcom |
Producer(s) | Motohide Eshiro[3][4] Alex Jones[3] |
Series | Devil May Cry |
Engine | Unreal Engine 3[5] |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows[6] PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 |
Release | PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 January 15, 2013 Microsoft Windows January 25, 2013[1] |
Genre(s) | Hack and slash, beat 'em up |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
DmC: Devil May Cry is a hack and slash beat 'em up video game developed by Ninja Theory and published by Capcom for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows.[6][8] Announced in late 2010 during the Tokyo Game Show,[9] the game is set in an alternative reality in the Devil May Cry series.[10] It focuses on the player character Dante, a young man with supernatural powers who finds himself under attack by a seemingly sentient town known as Limbo City populated by demons.
The reimagination of the Devil May Cry series was requested by Capcom resulting in the game being made from a Western perspective rather in contrast to previous games. Capcom also assisted Ninja Theory in the making of the gameplay in order to be reminiscent to previous games. Initial reaction to the title was widely negative as a result of Dante's redesign; nevertheless, DmC received unanimous positive reviews by gaming websites.
Gameplay
Players take on the role of Dante as he uses his powers and weaponry to fight against enemies and navigate the treacherous Limbo. Like previous games in the series, Dante can perform combos by attacking with his sword, Rebellion, and shooting with his twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory. New to the series are modifiers to Dante's moveset, known as Angel Mode and Devil Mode, activated by holding down one of the trigger buttons. When in Angel mode, Dante's sword attacks change to the Osiris, a speedy scythe type weapon, whilst Devil mode uses the slower but more powerful Arbiter. These modes also alter Dante's mobility. Using Angel mode allows Dante to pull himself towards enemies and various points in each level, whilst Devil mode lets Dante pull enemies and objects towards him. Dante is also able to dash across large gaps in Angel mode. All of these moves can be used in conjunction with each other to perform massive combos, which are ranked on their style. When enough power has been gathered, Dante can activate Devil Trigger mode, which slows down time around him, allowing him to perform more stylish attacks. Like previous games, Dante can collect various types of souls which can be used to recover health, purchase items and upgrade Dante's moveset.[11][12][13]
Plot
The story takes place in Limbo City, a modern-day city secretly controlled by powerful demons, manipulating humanity through the comforts of life, with the demons themselves living in a parallel plain called 'limbo'. Living on the fringes of the brainwashed society is Dante, a teenager at odds with the demons who constantly hunt him and the civilian authorities they control. The game starts with Dante waking up after a night drinking and having sex with a couple of girls he picked up at a local nightclub, then being warned by a mysterious young woman that he's in danger. After being pulled into limbo, dressing and avoiding the clutches of a 'hunter' demon, Dante is guided through the Bellevue Pier's carnival by the girl, who addresses herself as Kat, a psychic who can see into Limbo. After recovering his sword and his twin pistols, Dante defeats the 'hunter', but is left confused when it calls him "Son of Sparda" as it dies. After returning to the human dimension, Dante is asked to join Kat in heading back to speak with her boss. Reluctantly, Dante accepts.
Along the way, Kat explains that she is part of the Order, a rogue group led by a masked man intent on exposing the demons and releasing the world from their control. The leader of the Order introduces himself as Vergil, who tells Dante that he is exceedingly important, and with his help the Order can bring down the demons. Dante scoffs at the idea, but Vergil pleads with him, saying he will show Dante their shared past. Vergil, Kat, and Dante arrive at Paradise, a dilapidated mansion outside of the city that seemingly holds the key to Dante's past. While exploring, Dante's sees apparitions of his youth, including playing with a young Vergil, showing that the two are brothers, pictures of his father Sparda and his mother, Eve, and their mansion being attacked by demons. Escaping from the mansion, Dante requests more information from his brother.
Vergil, in an old playground, reveals that Sparda and Eve were Demon and Angel respectively, forbidden by their peoples' war to fall in love or have family. Despite this, they did fall in love and, going into hiding, bore Dante and Vergil: nephilim who were capable of killing the cruel demon lord Mundus, Sparda's former ally. Afraid that the nephilim children would indeed be used against him, Mundus attacked the family and killed Eva. He then condemned Sparda to banishment and eternal torture after the former demon General spirited his sons to safety, wiped their memories for their own protection and gave each a sword (Rebellion for Dante, Yamato for Vergil). After this, Dante resolves to help Vergil bring down Mundus and his regime.
Dante, with help from Kat, gradually takes down Mundus' operations: the Raptor News Network, which brainwashes the public with its propaganda, and the Virility Plant, which manufactures a soft drink which keeps the people of Limbo docile. After destroying the Virility Plant’s controlling demon, Dante is contacted by Phineas, a demon imprisoned by Mundus. In return for helping the demon escape, Dante is gifted with the ‘Devil Trigger’ a powerful form of attack that makes him invulnerable for short periods. In taking down the Raptor News Network, Dante sees that the Order is being massacred. He returns and finds Kat and Vergil alive. While Vergil escapes with his brother, Kat is brutally captured by SWAT troops.
Hoping to get Kat back, and against his brother’s advice, Dante kidnaps Mundus' demon concubine, Lilith, who is pregnant with an heir. He offers to exchange Lilith for Kat (as opposed to Mundus' own offer of her life for Dante's). However, Vergil kills Lilith and her child, triggering a firefight from which the three allies only narrowly escape an enraged attack by Mundus from his stronghold in Silverstack Towers. Kat, recovering from torture, tells them of a way into the Towers. With the remnants of the Order, Dante and Vergil infiltrate the Towers and confront Mundus, who is drawing power from the Hellgate, a portal to his realm within his office. The demon king tries to kill Dante, but Vergil closes the Hellgate and stabs Mundus' physical form. But, far from dying, Mundus form a new body for himself and attacks the brothers again. Mundus is eventually defeated, and with him the shield keeping demons across the world invisible dissolves, leaving the demons visible to humans.
Vergil, Kat and Dante look at the ruined Limbo City and consider the future, Vergil reveals his true intentions: with Mundus gone and their family avenged, Vergil intends he and Dante to rule humanity. Dante, who has grown to care for humanity and is appalled at Vergil's callous attitude towards humans and especially Kat, refuses. The brothers fight and Dante, going into his 'Devil Trigger' state, comes close to killing his brother. But Kat gets him to relent and Vergil, seriously wounded and disappointed in Dante’s resolution to protect humanity but let them rule, leaves through a portal. Dante and Kat are left standing in the ruined battlefield, with Dante’s hair turned white by the 'Devil Trigger' and his eyes shining with demon power. The game ends with Dante questioning his identity, and Kat comforting him and replying "You know exactly who you are. You're Dante, nothing less, nothing more".
Development
The game was officially announced by Capcom at their press conference during the 2010 Tokyo Game Show in September, confirming an earlier rumor in the May 2010 issue of Game Informer which said that the fifth Devil May Cry game would be developed by Ninja Theory.[8][14] The Capcom staff first thought that it would be entertaining to have a Devil May Cry reboot in order to revisit its recurring characters.[3] They chose Ninja Theory, impressed with their work on Heavenly Sword which the staff thought would work with a Devil May Cry game.[3] Ninja Theory's creative director Tameem "Pioneer" Antoniades stated that DmC's combat system would contain mechanics that would set him apart from previous Platinum Games' titles with Platinum's Hideki Kamiya being the creator of Devil May Cry. Lead producer Alex Jones stated they still wanted to compete with Platinum in terms of gameplay and storytelling. The idea of a town being alive that wishes to kill the player was added a new element never seen before in the Devil May Cry series.[15] The actions of Limbo Town are inspired by previous Devil May Cry games, where the environments would close whenever Dante was surrounded by enemies.[11] Most of the game was finished as of April 2012 with Capcom aiding Ninja Theory in tweaking few aspects for the final product. Capcom became heavily involved in the combat system to ensure the character's responsive moves and add new air combos never seen before in the franchise.[16] The development team included over ninety members with nearly ten of them being from Capcom. While Capcom's Hideaki Itsuno oversaw the project, Jones and Motohide Eshiro acted as producers. They wanted to aid the Ninja Theory developers in making DmC play more like the previous Devil May Cry games.[4] The release of the PC version was delayed for a faster release of the console iterations. Capcom assigned adaptation duties to QLOC, a Polish studio. However, Ninja Theory is planning to start launching of the PC version shortly afterwards the console version, aiming for the shortest gap possible.[17] This will depend on the time that the PC version finishes development.[18] As a result of speculation regarding Vergil being a playable character, Jones stated that Dante would be the only one controlled by the player.[17]
Dante's original design was originally meant to be similar to the ones from previous games, but Capcom told the Ninja Theory staff it had to be completely different in order to appeal to a younger demographic.[19] While the original Dante was design from a Japanese perspective, the new one was made from a Western perspective, much like what Zilla was to Godzilla.[3] The final model was inspired by Christopher Nolan's film The Dark Knight as Tameem Antoniades from Ninja Theory commented they wished to make the character realistic.[20] In an interview published by Official Xbox Magazine Jones explained that he has received numerous death threats in the form of comic books and a metal song due to the controversial decision to reboot the series.[21] Antoniades responded to criticism stating they would not change the design as the character is supposed to fit within the game's setting.[12] Nevertheless, Antoniades stated that the gameplay would be similar to previous Devil May Cry games.[13] In November 2011, an extended trailer and new concept art was released.[22][23] In May 2012, Capcom announced they expect the game to sell 2 million copies by the ending of this fiscal year without giving yet a proper release date.[24] The music for the game is being composed by electronic groups Noisia and Combichrist.[25] A playable demo was released on November 20, 2012.[26]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
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GameRankings | (PC) 86.22%[27] (X360) 86.16%[28] (PS3) 85.84%[29] |
Metacritic | (X360) 86/100[30] (PC) 85/100[31] (PS3) 85/100[32] |
Publication | Score |
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1Up.com | A[33] |
Eurogamer | 8/10[34] |
Game Informer | 9/10[35] |
GameSpot | 8/10[36] |
GameTrailers | 9/10[37] |
IGN | 8.9/10[38] |
Joystiq | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pre-release
Initial reception to the new design of Dante and change in direction of the series was negative.[20][40][41] Video game publications 1UP.com and GamesRadar found such claims exaggerated with the former finding the demo's gameplay and humor enjoyable and the latter being optimistic about how the release of the game could affect the franchise.[13][42] Various other sites also listed it as one of the most anticipated games of 2012 stating that despite the controversy the game caused, it looked promising owing to the presentation and the fact the gameplay had yet to be tested.[43][44][45] On September 2012 Capcom US producer Alex Jones claimed that some of the negative response had turned positive.[46]
Post-release
DmC: Devil May Cry received positive reviews from critics. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 86.22% and 85/100,[27][31] the Xbox 360 version 86.16% and 86/100[28][30] and the PlayStation 3 version 85.84% and 85/100.[29][32]
Sales
On February 5, 2013, publisher Capcom reduced sales target by 800k. It had hoped to ship two million copies by the end of its financial year, however, it now expected to ship 1.2 million copies. As of January 2013, one million copies had been shipped.[47]
References
- ^ "DmC Devil May Cry hits PC January 25, recommended specs released". videogaming247 Ltd. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
- ^ DMC Devil May Cry Box Art Revealed
- ^ a b "DmC Devil May Cry Development Team Has Over 90 Members". Siliconera. October 16, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ Hinkle, David (2010-09-30). "DmC: Devil May Cry to utilize Unreal Engine". Joystiq. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^ a b "DmC: Devil May Cry release date set for 2013". New Game Network. 21 May 2012.
- ^ "DmC Devil May Cry PC version dated". New Game Network. December 13, 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
- ^ a b James Chalmers (2010-09-15). "DmC (Devil May Cry) Announced". IncGamers. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
- ^ MacDonald, Keza (2010-09-22). "DmC: Devil May Cry Interview". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
- ^ "DmC Devil May Cry Takes Place In A Parallel World With A Different Dante". Siliconera. 2011-10-31. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^ a b MacDonald, Keza (April 10, 2012). "DmC: Better Than the Devil You've Known?". IGN. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- ^ a b Minkley, Johnny (August 18, 2011). "DMC Devil May Cry Preview". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- ^ a b c Parish, Jeremy (April 10, 2012). "What's So Terrible About DmC, Anyway?". 1UP.com. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
- ^ Turi, Tim (May 19, 2010). "Capcom Revealing Devil May Cry Sequel At E3?". Game Informer. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- ^ Minkley, Johnny (January 5, 2012). "Capcom, Ninja Theory on DmC versus Bayonetta". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- ^ "Capcom Giving Ninja Theory Frame By Frame Guidance On DmC Devil May Cry". Siliconera. April 16, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
- ^ a b Makuch, Eddie (September 20, 2012). "Devil May Cry PC port outsourced". GameSpot. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
- ^ Makuch, Eddie (October 25, 2012). "DmC Devil May Cry PC Version Will Release "Quite Close" To Console Versions". Siliconera. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ^ Jim Reilly. "Capcom: Dante Needed to be 'Completely Different'". IGN.
- ^ a b Dave Meikleham (2010-09-17). "Think emo Dante sucks in the new Devil May Cry? He could have been shirtless with suspenders". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
- ^ Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (January 4, 2012). "Ninja Theory Has Received Death Threats Over Devil May Cry Reboot". Retrieved Dec 20, 2012.
- ^ "New DmC: Devil May Cry trailer shows Dante beating down waves of demons". Inquisitr.com. 2011-11-02. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^ "New DmC: Devil May Cry Concept Art - Xbox". News.teamxbox.com. 2011-11-07. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^ Gantayat, Anoop (May 11, 2012). "Capcom Shares Sales Targets for Resident Evil 6, Dragon's Dogma, DmC and Lost Planet". Andriasang. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ "Noisia - Devil May Cry Soundtrack Sample". Soundcloud.com. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^ Nichols, Scott. "'DmC: Devil May Cry' demo available today". Digital Spy.
- ^ a b "DmC: Devil May Cry (PC)". GameRankings. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
- ^ a b "DmC: Devil May Cry (X360)". GameRankings. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
- ^ a b "DmC: Devil May Cry (PS3)". GameRankings. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
- ^ a b "DmC: Devil May Cry for Xbox 360 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
- ^ a b "DmC: Devil May Cry for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
- ^ a b "DmC: Devil May Cry for PlayStation 3 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
- ^ Jose, Otero (January 14, 2012). "DmC Review: A Different Kind of Cool". 1UP.com. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
- ^ Stanton, Rich (January 14, 2013). "DmC Devil May Cry review". Eurogamer. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
- ^ Walton, Mark (January 15, 2013). "DmC: Devil May Cry Review". GameInformer. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
- ^ Walton, Mark (January 15, 2013). "DmC: Devil May Cry Review". GameSpot. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
- ^ "Devil May Cry". GameInformer. January 14, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
- ^ Clements, Ryan (January 15, 2013). "DMC: DEVIL MAY CRY REVIEW (360)". IGN. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
- ^ "Joystiq review". Joystiq. 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2013-01-15.
- ^ Matt Leone (2010-09-22). "DMC Preview for PS3, XBOX 360 from". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
- ^ Wesley Yin-Poole (2010-09-15). "New Dante inspired by James Bond reboot". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
- ^ Cooper, Hollander (April 3, 2012). "DmC Devil May Cry - 8 reasons Ninja Theory's reboot was needed, and might be amazing". GamesRadar. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
- ^ Cooper, Hollander (January 5, 2012). "Most Anticipated Games of 2012 - Part Three". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- ^ Carmichael, Stephanie (January 9, 2012). "Most Top fifteen most anticipated console games of 2012". GameZone. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- ^ Robinson, Martin (January 6, 2012). "Interesting Sequels of 2012". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (September 25, 2012). "Devil May Cry: how capcom turned public opinion around". Eurogamer. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
- ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-05-capcom-reduces-devil-may-cry-sales-target-by-800k