Devil May Cry 4

Devil May Cry 4 is the second sequel (Devil May Cry 3 being a prequel) to the Capcom action game Devil May Cry. It was announced in March 2007 that the game would be released simultaneously for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and later PC. It is being developed by Capcom Production Studio 4, the producers of Resident Evil 4 and the original Devil May Cry.

In the game, the player controls Nero, a new character, in addition to an appearance by series lead Dante, fighting demonic enemies in close combat using firearms, swords and a variety of weaponry in a horror setting. Also joining the cast is a new female character, Kyrie. Capcom has also revealed three new characters, Credo, Gloria and Agnus, along with returning characters Lady and Trish.

Presentation

A teaser trailer was shown at E3 2005, depicting Dante traveling through snow and quickly performing some fast, stylish moves. A more substantial second trailer was released at that year's Tokyo Game Show (TGS), where it showed a more rugged and older Dante in a city-like setting. These two teasers showed very little detail of the game itself.

At the 2006 Tokyo Game Show a more complete trailer debuted, along with a playable demo featuring the character Nero.

Images from the March 2007 issue of Famitsu, showed Dante as a playable character. A short trailer released later showed video of the character in gameplay. Dante will reportedly be the player's main character for around the second half of the game, until the final boss battle.

A trailer shown at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show reveals the return of Lady and Trish.

A trailer released December 17, 2007, revealed more gameplay and story detail, as well as information on new songs for the game. One of the songs is a new version of "Lock and Load", Dante's theme music from the first Devil May Cry, with new lyrics written and performed by Shawn "Shootie HG" McPherson, the lyricist and lead vocalist on the soundtrack of Devil May Cry 3.

A collector's edition of the game will be released at the same time. The American version will include a DVD of four episodes of the American dub of the anime amongst other extras, whilst the UK version will include a signed artbook named 'Art of the Devil'.

Story:

DMC4 takes place between Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 2. Long ago the Dark Knight Sparda rebelled against the dark emperor and waged a one-man war to save humanity. Thousands of years later, a religious organization worships this renowned savior and has taken it upon themselves to rid the world of all evil. Residing in Fortuna, this organization is known as the "Order of the Sword," and is made up of an elite group of "Holy Knights." One day a young knight named Nero witnesses Sparda’s legendary son Dante slaughter his fellow warriors. Has the renowned devil hunter turned his back on mankind? What does this encounter mean for these two individuals?

Playable characters

On September 6, 2006, Japanese video game magazine Famitsu reported that series star Dante will not be playing the main role in Devil May Cry 4. Instead, a new character named Nero, voiced and motion captured by Johnny Yong Bosch, will take the lead role.

Nero resembles both Dante and his twin brother, Vergil, and is part of the Order of the Sword, a group of warriors who worship Sparda.

Nero's attire consists of blue jeans, a long purple coat, and a red vest with a hood. He wields a revolver named Blue Rose which has a distinctive under-and-over double barrel and a decorated single-edged sword called the Red Queen. Nero views Dante as a villain after witnessing Dante murdering members of the Order.

Gameplay

videos and screens reveal Dante to be a boss enemy in the game.

Nero's right arm seems to resemble a demon's and glows supernaturally, and is the source of his "Devil Bringer" power. He apparently was not born with his arm in this state, and hears voices demanding "more power." Nero will also apparently have his own "devil trigger" transformation, which consists of a demonic spirit hovering above him.

Dante, the primary character in the rest of the series, will also be playable and will have updated versions of the core animations used in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's wakening, as well as that game's four basic fighting styles Trickster, Royal Guard, Gunslinger and Sword Master, which can be switched at will. Game Informer reported that he will not just be an unlockable, but will be playable as part of the storyline.

Gameplay

Nero's weapons shown in the trailer and gameplay videos are his sword the Red Queen, his revolver the Blue Rose, as well as the powers of his "Devil Bringer" arm.

Red Queen is based on the swords used by the Order of the Sword, and Nero has upgraded his to make it much stronger. When Nero twists the motorcycle-like handgrip, a propellant is released which adds to the force of the sword's impact. Blue Rose's over-and-under double barrel allow it to fire two shots at once, and is strong enough to penetrate armor. The Order normally looks down on guns as dishonorable, and only Nero uses one. His arm's "Devil Bringer" power adds a third element of gameplay (in addition to guns and swords), allowing Nero to grab distant enemies, pull them in to be attacked, push them away, slam them into the ground, as well as allowing him to zoom across areas at certain points. Also, it has context-sensitive uses in certain battles, for example spinning enemies overhead.

Producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi indicated that he is focusing his optimizations on gameplay so that controlling characters is less difficult, and accessible to all players. Director Hideaki Itsuno also noted that the game will have a more forgiving learning curve than Devil May Cry 3, but will eventually ramp up to above DMC3's difficulty and that players, "won't be able to go back". He further stated that Devil May Cry 4 will feature more weapons, maneuvers, enemies, locations, music, and cutscenes than all the previous releases combined. DMC4 will also continue the series' tradition of huge bosses, as an early demo video featured a battle between Nero and a gigantic fire demon called Berial, and the trailer released Dec. 17 featured an even more immense foe. Kobayashi revealed through Game Informer that Nero will not be gaining new weapons from bosses like Dante did in Devil May Cry 3, but will instead power up the Devil Bringer.

Next-Gen improvements

Itsuno said in the Famitsu article that the visuals attempt to deliver a satisfying feel of being in the air, and that the actions of Nero's right arm could not be done on then-current generation consoles and only on the PS3, though the game has since been slated for cross-platform release on the Xbox 360 and PC. Gameplay visuals, shown at TGS 2006, demonstrate this game mechanic in action. Kobayashi has stated in a Game Informer interview that the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will be identical, although he did not comment on the PC version. In a Eurogamer interview, Kobayashi confirmed again that PS3 and Xbox 360 versions would be identical and said that the PC version "would be great because the same team is working on both".

Cross-platform move

On March 19, 2007, Capcom announced the game would not be a PS3 exclusive, as had been first announced, and would also be released for the Xbox 360 and the PC. In a thread questioning the move on the official Capcom message board the company's senior director of strategic planning and research, Christian Svensson, responded by saying that they were moved by people's strong feelings about the decision, but that it was the best decision for the company and consumers. Kobayashi stated that Devil May Cry 4 will have no major graphical differences between the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions. In fact, Kobayashi claims that the contents will be identical, except that "the feel of the controller" may cause a slight difference.