Score: 4 out of 5  

Genre: Action / Hack'n slash 

Dante and company are back for another solid sequel that lives up to the stylish level of its predecessors.   

A Cinematic Experience:

 The greatest aspect of this game lies in its presentation. From the start players are engaged in a story line that is told via cut scenes of high quality standards. However the dialogue can get cheesy at times. More than telling the story, the cut scenes set the standard of style for the game play.  

The sound and graphics are highly polished in both the cut scenes and actual game play. The outdoor environments especially look beautiful. That being said there are some parts in the environment that feel like two-dimensional wall papers. Fortunately plat-forming is kept at a minimum so it barely affects the game play.   

Game-Play:

Anyone unfamiliar with DMC, the series is known of its level of “style”. Throughout the levels you are rated on the amount of style in your combos. The style meter increases with longer combos aided with different moves and weapons. At the end of the level players will be rewarded with points that can be used to buy additional moves, weapon and health upgrades.  

However we felt that the points system was not an effective one. The points earned in each level are not enough to buy most of the upgrades and moves. This requires players to repeat levels multiple times to get enough points to get everything they want. In other words they want you to engage in a few grinding sessions. The largest problem with this, beside it being repetitive, is that the combat system especially with Nero is not very deep.  

You start the game playing with a new character known as Nero. Dante fans should fear not as players will play as Dante for about half of the game as well. The major differences between Dante and Nero is that Nero uses his demon arm for grabbing objects, enemies and performing high impact moves to bosses. Dante on the other hand has a wide assortment of melee weapons, guns and different style modes. Dante has more variety and in addition to his “cooler” personality, we had a lot more fun playing as him.   

Style over Substance: 

The actual combat actually feels lacking. The melee moves don’t blend well with the environment and instead feel clunky and forced. The combat does not feel as seamless and with a very limited number of moves. It makes it seem that the developers focused more on the presentation than the combat system. That is not to say that the combat is not responsive. It just fails to live up to its high quality presentation.   

Final Word: The presentation and the storyline are the strengths of DMC 4. However the combat is above average at best. The game is more entertainment than depth, and we enjoyed it.