Devil May Cry 2

Tsuyoshi Tanaka used to write about video games for a living. These days, hes on the other side of the biz making one of Capcoms biggest sequels in recent years: Devil May Cry 2. The hardest part about going from writing to actually making a game is the number of people involved, he tells us while entrenched in a busy workweek at Capcoms development studios in Osaka, Japan. When youre writing, you just worry about your text and maybe the layout of the page. But when it comes to making games, youve got to coordinate maybe 50 people to finish one task...now thats difficult. Add the fact that this is Tanakas debut title, and its practically a miracle DMC2 manages to meet our expectations at all.

Yet, just minutes into the gameplay demo, we can already tell that Devil 2 is in good hands. We took a global survey and asked our fans what they liked about DMC, says Tanaka. Overwhelmingly, gamers responded with how cool they thought Dantes character was, and how much they liked DMCs action gameplay. So this time, were focusing on those two aspects of the game. As he guided Dante, DMC2s lead badass, through an early area of the game, we were struck with the very same hook that first pulled us into the original.

At a glance, Devil May Cry 2 looks and feels a lot like the first game. As the dual pistol-wielding Dante, you take on hordes of supernatural bad guys cornin at ya from all sides. And when you can see the whites of their eyes, whip out Dantes massive blade for combos and other bone-crushing possibilities. But DMC wasnt just another 3D brawler. Its appeal was embodied in Dante, a supercool half-man, half-demon hybrid packing enough heat and one-liners to make Vin Diesel look tike a girly-man. Aside from giving him even more zing with a gun (see sidebar), DMC2 sees Dante performing Matrix-like feats such as running onto a wall, doing a reverse flip and blasting enemies on the downstroke. These acrobatics serve as more than just new signature moves, theyre also important for the sequels huge city levels.

Tanaka shows us the first level of the game, which features a full-blown Euro-style town. This level is about nine times the width of any area in Devil May Cry, Tanaka explains. Players are encouraged to jump onto rooftops and leap from one to the next because theres more than one way to get to the end. Tanaka then pulls the camera way back for a flyby of other places well likely visit on our journey through hell: a massive helipad in the middle of the sea, of all places; an ancient temple reminiscent of Mayan architecture; and last but certainly not least, an impressive dark urban wasteland with skyscrapers galore. Other aspects of the game that Tanaka and his team have focused on are difficulty level and camera views, which players complained about in the first game. We felt that the biggest problem of DMC was that it was too difficult, says Tanaka. Devil 2 will adjust the level of difficulty to adapt to how good the player is so that if you die a lot, the game will throw out less enemies and make them easier. This game will be a lot more accessible for mainstream players. As for the camera, only time will tell; Tanaka assures us that its not going to be a problem for the sequel.

So is Tanaka nervous about taking on the highly anticipated DMC2 as his first-ever project? Not really. The only pressure I have is the deadline to get the game done, he tells us. They moved the release date up four months, so its been stressful. Just remember, Capcom loves you.

Capcom November 2002 -- Guess they aren't going to call it Devil Never Cry after all. This time, Dante and his demonic foes frolic among the streets and rooftops of a giant abandoned city, including skyscrapers so tall they'd make Spider-Man nervous. An entirely different team at Capcom is developing this action-adventure sequel, promising brighter levels and a second (female) playable character.

When the original Devil May Cry was released, it's originality, diverse game play, and graphics made it an instant hit with its legion of fans. Now Capcom has given us the second installment in this gothic thriller. We've been begging for this title for over a year. Was it worth the wait?

You again find yourself in control of Dante, half human and half demon, devil hunter, but this time you aren't limited to just playing Dante. For the lady fans of DMC, you can opt to play as the devilish Lucia, who in many ways is as deadly as Dante. Each of these characters has their own disk and you can play them in any order that you like. I won't bother you with the plot of DMC2, as it is pretty much irrelevant. The premise is simple. Your goal is to kill all demonic creatures in your path. This goal will lead you deeper into the demonic realms, where you will be confronted by a host of Boss creatures, culminating with the evil Arius.

Dante and Lucia have an impressive number of moves and attacks at their disposal, but the game itself is fairly simple. You make your way through city streets (or roofs), underwater caverns, and buildings and basically just kill everything that moves. There are some 'puzzles' along the way, but nothing that requires a great amount of thought. The most challenging task was just dealing with the camera angles. You are completely at the mercy of a randomly changing camera angle. Often I would run around into a room, have the camera switch directions, and cause me to accidentally run out of the same door that I entered from. Third person camera angles are always frustrating, so in the end, having no camera control is probably just as good as having bad camera control.

There are an average number of critters to fight and by the end of the game it started getting monotonous, as you have slaughtered all of them numerous times. The only thing that kept me interested in the combat was trying to earn high style points by defeating an enemy using different combinations and moves. The more style you use in defeating an enemy, the more red orbs that you got as reward. The orbs are important, as they allow you to upgrade your weapons or buy power gems between game levels. All in all, DMC2 was a fairly short game. I completed the Lucia game disk in a couple of hours. Don't worry though, you can increase the difficulty and re-play any level or start up and play the Dante disk. Some of the cut sequences are the same but the adventure is completely different. That should double the amount of game play.

While the game looks great, from the meticulous gothic locations to the finely detailed demons you encounter, the game play itself was only mediocre. The plot, camera control and 'puzzles' were below par and therefore it falls just short of receiving a 'Recommend Buy'? from me. If you are a fan of the original game though, you will find plenty to like about DMC2, but everyone else should rent first.