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Warning: This review will contain some descriptions of violence and gore. Devil May Cry 3 is rated 16+, which means this game is unsuitable for players age 15 or lower. If you don't care about either of the above, read on. To search for a specific section, search for its number with CTRL+F.

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Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

Content:

1. General

• 1.1 Gameplay
• 1.2 Graphics

2. World

• 2.1 Music

3. Ratings

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1. General

This is the third game in a series of fighting games, featuring Dante before the events of Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 2 (of which none I've played, sadly). The setting begins with a woman presenting to you the Legend of Sparda. It was said that a powerful demon under the name of Sparda sealed off the entrance to the demonic world, thus sealing his own powers there as well. It was thought to be a myth, a children's fairy tale. However, this was a true story, as the woman met the Sons of Sparda; Vergil and Dante.
Despite being brothers, twins actually, Dante and Vergil fought each others like arch enemies. They had derived some sort of twisted pleasure from this brotherly fighting. However, only one would be left standing in the final battle, which would decide the fate of the human world.

Ending the story here, you start in Dante's office, in a "joint" that he hadn't decided on a name on. The phone rings, and Dante emerges from the shower and answers it. Shortly after, Arkham, an accomplice of Vergil arrives and delivers an invitation to Dante.
A quick-paced and fun fighting scene follows, before you are allowed to take on the demons yourself, controlling Dante.

The Devil May Cry series (1-3) is for PS2. The newest game, Devil May Cry 4 is for PS3 and X-Box 360 (the latter unconfirmed).


1.1 Gameplay

DMC3 is said to be one of the hardest games ever made on Playstation 2, and it lives up to its fan-given title. The gameplay is difficult to overcome, even on the Easy mode (which is unlocked after dying two times on Normal mode). You must expect to die a lot during your first few hours of the game.
That being said, the game delivers a stunning aumont of weapon combos and endless possibilities to use and interact with your surroundings. Even so, the environments are quite static at times, and it requires a lot of thinking in order to overcome certain obstacles (at one part in the game you will be forced to climb walls and stand on an enemy's head in order to defeat it).
You can easily change weapons (Devil's Arms) by pressing the R2 button, and guns by pressing the L2 button. This gives an opportunity for an endless chain of attacks, and you can basically incinerate your foes with these combinations. After you recieve Agni and Rudra you'll basically be unstoppable.

Moving around is another story, however. This system is very heavy to use because you will need to move around and fight all the time. You will barely have time to stand still during a fight. Not to mention that you have little control over the camera during these fights, and has killed me many times.
Otherwise, the controls are seamlessly intergrated into the game, but there are a few times where you could curse it to oblivion.

(Also, I recommend using the Trickster style when learning the game, as it provides escape opportunities, and dodge opportunities).
(Incidentally, there is a cheat code that can unlock costumes for Dante, but I will not tell you my secret yet =3 It can be found on most other fansites.)


1.2 Graphics
There isn't much to say about the graphics. They are not all that great, but they are not all that bad either. It works here, where the setting is a bit dark and threatening. It's not without its bugs (Dante's cloak is oblivious to his sword and does not react with it at all, and the guns tend to disappear), but you hardly have time to notice such either way.
Moving on, there is a lot of blood in the game. Graphical blood that is as realistic as it gets, therefore highly impressing. It gives the character's a very humane side. Although it seems neither Dante, nor Vergil are affected by mortal weapons, and both have highly regenerative powers.
In any case, in cutscenes you'll notice how they tend to be bloody. When Dante is harmed in these cutscenes, he bleeds... a lot. A sword that goes through his mid-regions and/or spine causes serious blood losses, and that is reflected in this game too.

Although... the aumont of blood in the game is very excessive, and could have been toned down, if not just a little.


Since all the characters' movements were recorded with real humans (in a studio with live-action suits. These have sensors that register the person's movements and adds them to a character) they have a very human feel about them since they are not doing any movements a human could not do (I am talking movements here, like moving an arm and such. Not walking on walls ;]).


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2. World

The world is beautifully made, and sometimes interact perfectly with the characters. It is all set in a gigantic and very artistic tower called Temen-ni-gru (mostly) that hides various traps, a beautiful library and incredible surroundings. And it is created to give you a very threatening feel as well; there are moving objects, gigantic leaps, epic battles, and dark corridors. (Very similar to the Project Zero series, which you can expect a review of soon. I only have Project Zero: The Tormented, however.)


2.1 Music

The music is created and sung (yes, there are vocals *Gasp*) by (in their respective order) Tetsuya Shibata and Shootie HG (which is owned by Capcom).
They consist a more of hellish-themed songs and scores, with some lyrics like: The flinch in your eye calls your bluff
Feel free to die when you’ve had enough
Useless cause is breaking your back
Your life will end when you attack.

Much of it is sung with a muffled death growl, which I personally don't like.

The use of choirs, orchestra and rock instruments gives the game a very distinct feel, which can't be found in other games.

The OST is partly the reason of DMC3's success, and it works very nicely with each stage in the game.

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3. Ratings

Graphics: 8/10 (could be better, but it definitely works here anyway)
World: 10/10 (Beautifully designed and fits the game perfectly)
Music: 9/10 (Death Growls pulls it a bit down, but the choir and orchestral mix with rock instruments are marvelous. =3)
Gameplay: 8/10 (A bit tricky for a new player, with a steep learning curve, and minimal camera control. Easy combat controls, though, once mastered.)
Story: 10/10 (Nice, original story, although the Demon saving the human world is a bit of cliché. But it has more story than the other games, judging from other reviews of older versions.)
Characters: 10/10 (Good designs, and all of them are working against each others. And Dante's one-liners are made of win.)

Overall: 9/10 (Great game, not without its odd moments, but worth playing nonetheless. Highly recommended.)

We have this game on PS2, its awesome I agree. But I found its not my playing style XD I found it too hard. My brother is good at it though, I enjoyed watching him play, helping him fight by keeping an eye on his health, or things he couldn't keep track of all at once. That way he could just focus on the fight or w/e. I can't count how many times we got mad because of those camera angles switching on us all the time during fights. You would get trapped and be unable to move, then be killed DX

Dante is a great character, I love him and his personality XD. Have you seen the mini anime series that was made? It's awesome too, wonderfully animated, and plenty of blood if you're into that. It mirrors the game series perfectly I thought. The music is great.