A hell of a game

Devil May Cry 2
PS2

- Squadron Leader Nick Hogan

When hell freezes over in Devil May Cry 2

The game: Dante, the main character, wasn’t the only man sired by the demon Sparda, for there was also his brother Vergil.

Like all good sons, Dante fought the forces of darkness, while Vergil decided on a darker path – joining their ranks. The brothers’ paths cannot diverge forever though and, like every blockbusting motion picture, these two will collide in order to seal their destiny.

The play: Sound dramatic? Well it’s meant to be. Film scenes, gameplay and even the soundtrack all combine to make this a true epic.

Capcom has done a great job on this title but it is not for the faint hearted, as this game is difficult to say the least. Twenty-four different kinds of evil villains need to be sent back to hell and more than a dozen evil bosses require dozens of attack combinations to beat them.

But even better is the fact that once you do manage to slash and shoot your way through all 32 secret and standard missions, you’re still not finished.

With five difficulty settings and plenty of bonus areas to discover, you’ll want to play through this title again, if you think you can. The odds are definitely against you, but luckily Dante’s weapon selection is as diverse as his skills of attack with five different guns and five different devil arms at his disposal.

You can run with the standard twin pistolas or perhaps stray from the norm with my favourite, the three-pronged Cerberus nunchakus. Regardless, the opportunities to get into a little hand-to-hand combat are plenty so that you can hand out a little Shaolin punishment. Every equipped devil arm and gun can be changed at anytime at the push of a button, which is extremely handy when performing combination attacks.

The terrain: The details are impressive. If there’s a bit of wind, each character’s hair and clothing moves around. Any object that moves in front of light will shadow correctly and change in appearance. The backgrounds are realistic, although you won’t have time to appreciate it until the fighting has stopped.

The experience: Dante can combine some seriously brutal attacks with action that moves so fast it’s actually hard to keep track of. The learning curve is pretty steep and you step straight into the action, but that’s the appeal of this title. If you need a challenge then Devil May Cry 2 will not disappoint.

The ADF Gamesman has a PS2 copy of Devil May Cry 2 to give away. E-mail the Gamesman at adfgamesman@telstra.com with the name of the game in the subject line. Include your rank and work address. One entry per person.

.