If you’re looking for some fun and frantic action, look no further that Devil May Cry 3. Sincerely, I have to hand it to Capcom as they’ve been turning their franchises around as of late, thus giving them a larger home inside of my heart. DMC 3 guarantees the most chaotic, stylish, and challenging action this side of Ninja Gaiden. Yes, this game is hard, get ready to rack up some frequent dier miles with this one. Look, I made a funny.

Rebounding from somewhat of a disappointing outing in DMC 2, this iteration is a prequel to the original game featuring a young, aspiring Dante (accompanied with a huge dose of baditude) engaged in some sibling rivalry with his estranged brother Vergil. In the middle of all of this is the giant demonic tower that sprouts up and destroys Dante’s soon-to-be business, a mysterious gun wielding woman, a crazy jester, and a bunch of baddies to mow through. Patience is the key with this game. If the difficulty seems daunting, you’ll unlock the (somewhat) more forgiving easy mode after you are killed five times. As far as boss battles go, you are expected to frequently use guerilla tactics and keep your distance only to use melee attacks at the most opportune times. Feel free to unleash everything on the lesser minions, however.

Gameplay is similar to the previous entries in the series, albeit with a few new additions. Anyone who has played the previous games will be able to pick this one up with no problem; whereas you’re able to slash out combos with your sword or keep your distance with Dante’s guns. You get more perks the higher your combos go, which are measured alphabetically from a meager “dope” to the all-too-pimpin’ “stylish”. You’ll constantly find yourself surrounded by hordes of demonic goons, so linking combos is usually not a problem, especially when you follow good combos up with a cocky taunt. The bottom line here is that you are rewarded for style. You’ll collect red souls off dead fiends that can be used as currency at the nearest divinity statue to buy items, upgrade your guns, and gain extra abilities. You’ll also get an assortment of weapons in addition such as nun chucks made of ice, a guitar, and dual swords that have the powers of fire and wind, as well as the usual assortment of guns like the shotgun and a demonic gun equipped with a laser that will lock onto multiple enemies at once.

One new feature is the ability to choose one of six specialized styles before and during missions. These will slightly change gameplay and offer new abilities that are unique to that particular style. You gain new abilities by gaining experience points by killing enemies and bosses. In addition to the default Trickster style, you have the Swordmaster with its suave swordplay, the Gunslinger where you can spin like a tornado and spray bullets in all directions, and the highly defensive Royal Guard. You can unlock two additional styles like the Doppelganger, which will have your shadow fighting alongside you and the Quicksilver style, which gives you a bullet time effect. A large part of the game’s fun is practicing these different styles, leveling them up, and going back to the earlier levels of the game to see how much ass you kick. You’ll find yourself doing this often (especially when it takes a few tries to get through a level) since you’ll spend a lot of your money on orbs that will let you continue or replenish your health until you get up to speed. This is where the game becomes unforgiving and you have to count on your skill to get you through. If you don’t have any yellow orbs, you’ll only have one shot at a boss; if you fail, you’re playing the mission again. Adding to this is the fact that prices for items will go up each time you buy them, ultimately reaching an inflated price cap. This is where playing earlier levels comes into play, because you’ll be playing through them time and time again to raise funds to get that 2 nd level windmill attack or for that Vital Star that costs 10,000 orbs.

One of the most interesting of the new features is the “Devil Trigger” which you’ll acquire about halfway through the game, which allows Dante to transform into his demonic form. During this transformation, Dante will not only be more powerful, but will also have some new moves available depending on the equipped weapon at the time. Of course, this is only a temporary transformation and will only last as long as your meter allows. You can always buy more Trigger time later, which is good for those particularly tough situations.

Visuals in the game are great to say the least, as environments all have a unique look and feel to them. One impressive level has you going through the insides of a giant leviathan where you’ll travel through dilating intestines, the acid filled stomach, and into the head of the creature where you can actually see out of its eyes. You’ll also experience a multitude of blur and particle effects during battle, which only add to the chaos onscreen. Characters all look great and all of the demonic baddies look creepy in their own respect. There are some clipping issues here and there, but it’s not nearly as bad as other games out there. The frame rate does take a hit when there are a lot of enemies and effects on screen, but it’s only a slight dip and is to be expected in a game with as much craziness as this one. Overall, the game just looks great, especially in the cutscenes, which feature some of the action choreography ever seen in a game to date.

Sound is also well produced. You’ll get a number of rockin’ industrial tracks, which seem perfectly placed while you’re chopping down baddies. Yes, this is stuff you might want to play in your car. The selection is limited and gets repetative at times, depending on if you dig the soundtrack or not. Voice acting is also well done, even Dante when he’s delivering his (sometimes-laughable) lines of pure baditude.

If your copy of Ninja Gaiden is shelved and you’re still jonesing for some over-the-top wanton action, Devil May Cry 3 will fill that void. Despite the level of difficulty involved, you’ll find yourself willing to play levels over repeatedly without getting overly frustrated. Nothing has induces sweaty palms and gasps of relief from narrow escapes quite like this game. It’s twitch gameplay at its finest, that is, if you’re up to the challenge.

- Brad Hicks (aka Dr. Swank), SwankWorld Media