Devil May Cry 3 reviewed

About a month ago, I reviewed the first Devil May Cry game. I was not too kind to the game for very good reasons, in the fact that it was way too unfair to actually be any fun. But I did concede that could be a great game in this franchise but the first one wasn't it. So I went looking for the sequels, ok just 2 and 3 since I don't have a PS3 to play 4 and I found Devil May Cry 3. Now, I don't want to play things out of order but I do know that nobody, not gamers or even Capcom, acknowledge 2's existence I felt that I wasn't missing much. But I will find Devil May Cry 2, I will play it and I will review it mark my words(it's coming on the first or second Sunday in November, depending on if I can read Eclipse, Twilight III). So without further delay, let's dig into Devil May Cry 3: The Special Edition.

This game begins 10 years before the first game. Dante is setting up his demon killing shop when this bald guy with some sort of mark on half his face named Arkham, who also has two different colored eyes, comes in. Arkham says that Dante's twin brother Vergil has invited Dante to something in some huge tower that magically pops up in a crowded city. Oh and the invite itself is a demon army that wants to kill Dante...we all know that's going to happen here. So Dante goes to the tower and finds out Vergil wants to take over the world using his demon blood to open the portal between the human world and the demon world. Then there's this lady named Lady(not her real name, long story. It makes sense in context) who has two different colored eyes, like Arkham! I wonder if there's a relationship there?

So like I said before, I knew that the Devil May Cry franchise could make a great game and this is it. Playing this game and the first Devil May Cry is almost like night and day. The cameras here are very much improved. There are very few horrible camera angles designed to screw up jumping in this installment. There's even some places where you can move the camera around. It's not the best or fastest moving camera system but it is good enough to get the job done. There's also some styles in this game that let you do some things like dodge efficiently and block! Two of the most frustrating things from the first game were the lack of blocking and bad dodging so to see something done here is nice even though you can only have one style on out of six but it's still a step in the right direction.

There's a good news and bad news about the cutscenes. The bad news is that everything is competently made. There's no horrible acting, writing and only a few times does delivery stumble but nothing too severe. So there's no So Bad It's Good mentality that the first game had and that means there's no WITH LIIIIIIiiiiiiGGGgggGGGHHHhhhhHHHTTTTt!!!! But the good news is that everything is calibrated for maximum awesomeness. In this game, sitting on a chair and answering the phone is awesome. The act on putting on your coat is awesome. The act of eating pizza is awesome. The act of killing everything is awesome....more awesome than usual!

However, all is not perfect in this game. Like the other Devil May Cry's, you find some weapons to help you in your quest to kick ass. However, you will never EVER use those since your basic sword and pistols is all you need. It's like why have these weapons when you never use them. Another flaw is that the last two bosses are pretty cheap, which is frustrating coming from the fairness of the rest of the game but it's not horrible, it's just very jarring.

So you may be thinking what's so special about the Special Edition you played. So the difficulty for the Normal Edition was harder than the Japanese version in where Japanese Normal was turned into American Hard and what not. I think I would be pissed if I played that. The Special Edition makes Japan and American difficulty levels the same so Japanese Normal is now American Normal which is nice. When you beat the game, you can play the game as Vergil but apparently, it's pretty much the same game with some minor differences(I haven't played the Vergil side yet) but I'm disappointed that you don't play the game as Lady. She's awesome and I would love to see her story exclusively. The last major difference is that there's a bonus boss, Jester, who was in the Normal Edition as a character who becomes important(anything more and that's spoiling). However, the boss fights lead to a slew of plot holes and such but you do get stuff from the fights so it's not all bad.

So it is my great pleasure to say that Devil May Cry 3 is a great game. The game is pure fun, the awesomeness is through the roof and it is never boring to play. There's plenty of replay value and this game is something I will play again. And to think that the franchise all began with a hideously overrated game.

8/10

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a 3rd person action/adventure title for the PS3 and X-360. Now I don't have to tell you who Batman is. So I'll just set up the game for you.

Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy) returns to the asylum with The Joker (Mark Hamill) after his escape. However Batman has a feeling that something isn't right as the Joker surrendered quite easily. Batman follows Joke with armed guard into the heart of the asylum. There Joker escapes their custody and we soon discover that he's taken control over the island. On top of that several of the most well known villains of the Batman universe are there to make the situation a living nightmare for The Batman.

Story: Overall it's not that complicated to tell what's going on. You're following Joker for most of the game, having to save innocents and cops along the way (including Jim Gordon) as you battle the likes of Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, among a few others. Solid overall, except for the very end where it's kinda... well… okay. maybe.

It's a wobbly ending, I'll give you that.
The other thing to note is that this story is not adhering to a specific segment of batman history (comics or movies) instead it has an evergreen atmosphere, including in some way or another a shot of all major villains of Batman over the years. Influences from comics to Tim Burtons BATMAN can be seen in this incarnation of the Dark Knight.

Gameplay: Solid. Fantastic even. The combat system was designed that you were the G**D**** Batman, you ebb and flow from one lackey to the next, pummeling them to a pulp, racking up chain attack multipliers, reversals, incorporating Batman Tech. Fantastic. A.I. acts as it should. The gadgets used have multiple purposes and don’t feel like add ons.

Two issues I have with the gameplay:
1. You have a visual mode called Detective Mode that spots environmental issues, help track criminals, assess hostel threats in the area, and so on. You spend a large amount of time in this mode because of the nature of the missions you’re undertaking, possibly missing a lot of detail that the game has been given. 2. As great as the battle system is, they start relying on it too much for their own good as similar villain types get reused at the end.

Voice Acting: Another golden opportunity to have the fan favorites producing our favorite characters Kenvin Conroy and Mark Hamill have provided the voices for Batman and Joker since the early 90s when Batman: The Animated Series was produced. Since then these gentlemens voice have become the standard for anyone else who’ve stepped up to the plate to portray these characters (vocally at least). Aside from that the rest of the voice casting is solid all the way through.
Design: Well Animated. Lip synic was good. Location design was top notice as well the character design for Heros, villains, leads, and petty criminals. Not much I can say about that.

Replay-ability: The nice thing about this game that you’ll have a hard time getting tired of wiping the floor with 20-some thugs. There are challenge rooms for both combat, stealth, and I hear even Scarecrow challenge rooms too. It’s essential to note that the PS3 version has exclusive challenge rooms where you play Joker.
Also, throughout the island the Riddler has placed various riddles and trophies to collect for experience points AND unlock bonus content such as character statues and character bios of Batman Heroes and Viliians (the art is amazing for these characters) There are also these tablets throughout the island to decipher to learn about the original founder of the asylum - Amadeus Arkham.

Also there are interview tapes ( think six for each character) interviewing each of the villains you come across during the game that you can collect throughout the asylum.

Final verdict: A must play for Batman fans. Like Ghostbusters – we finally have a GOOD Batman game. That shows off Batman as THE Batman. The overall game design is brilliant, detailed, and a labor of love, I just wish the ending didn’t feel like a little rehash of all the great stuff the game is built upon.

Next Time….War…. War Never Changes….