Plot:
I must have blinked and missed the plot. Frankly,
there isn’t much. There are a few cut scenes, but they
seem to make the assumption that you already have
complete knowledge of everything that‘s going on- and
no intro is given to you. I can say this much with
confidence. There’s this bad guy, and he seems to have
some demonic powers, and, I assume, wants to take over
something, or something. So go kill him. That’s all
you get, the only difference being that the game makes
it less clear than that. I am not exaggerating.

I know an action game doesn’t need much of a plot, but
in that case, they should have just left it out. This
positively hurts. Devil May Cry 1 had a bit of story,
and told it better. I’m not sure where all that
development time went, really. However, you don’t play
a game like this to hear the story. It would have been
a nice bonus, but I can live without it. Things are
still going fine.

Graphics:
No complaints here, certainly. It’s obvious that a lot
of effort went into this. Character costumes are
detailed and environments are lush. Levels are massive
and beautifully detailed, even at a distance. Special
effects are well-executed and cut scenes are
beautiful. Character animations are wonderfully fluid,
and in light of the number of maneuvers available,
this is impressive. In particular, the cityscapes are
awesome, and the CG cut scenes are awe-inspiring. The
character and enemy designs are straight out of an
action/horror movie, and fit well with the game’s
motto, “cooler than hell.” Expect to watch the eye
candy for a while- it really is good enough to cover
some of the gameplay flaws.
A fast and furious fight with many enemies is a blast
to watch. A lot of work was put into this as well.
Dante will automatically assume a number of poses in
fights with many enemies- I’ve seen him firing one of
his two pistols over his shoulder while using the
other to blow away an enemy in front of him. Expect to
see your character flipping through the air, running
up walls, and hanging upside down in midair, blasting
away, all with flawlessly smooth character animation.
With the amount of acrobatic moves available to the
player, Devil May Cry 2 really is amazing to watch.

Gameplay:
Here is where everything hits the fan. Had I never
played DMC1, I might have been impressed. Swords and
guns of all types, flashy acrobatic moves, and
razor-sharp control. The ability to purchase weapon
power upgrades with orbs dropped by defeated enemies
is an added bonus. However, let me now explain what
Devil May Cry 1 did several years ago.

In DMC1, the player was equipped with several truly
different weapons- two types of sword, a pair of
flaming gauntlets that allowed martial arts attacks,
and a massive, transforming blade that could become
anything from a sickle to a spear. In DMC1, the orbs
gathered from enemies could be used to purchase
additional techniques, not merely power boosts. Devil
May Cry 2, by comparison, has three swords; there is a
thin-bladed one, there is a medium-bladed one, and
there is a thick-bladed one. They share approximately
the same moves. Upgrades allow swords to do longer
combos for more damage, but that is all. DMC2’s
weapons system is shallow in comparison. Where did all
the fun go?

The Devil Trigger system is unique to the DMC series,
and has been improved since DMC1. In DMC2, as you give
and take damage, a meter fills below your health bar.
When it reaches a certain level, you can press a
button to transform into a powerful demon, allowing
you to do terrible damage while regenerating health.
What you transform into is governed by your amulet,
into which you equip up to three different “Demon
hearts,” which grant different abilities. For example,
one heart grants your demon form wings and allows you
to fly, another gives you fire-elemental attacks,
while a third gives you super speed. Mixing and
matching these components is key to performing well in
the game. The system is a nice touch and integrates
very well with standard action-game gameplay, and I
grant points for this.

Combat is designed to be fast and furious. It is easy
to control and a blast to watch in action. At the
touch of a button, you can do cartwheels, flips, and
run up and along walls. Gun targeting is accomplished
through holding a single button, making it easy to
blast away at things. By firing in the air, you can
suspend yourself and fall slowly, blasting along the
way. This looks particularly cool when you pause your
fall flipped upside down. Enemies can be dispatched by
any combination of sword and gun, including a handful
of special sword attacks. Of note is the DMC classic
uppercut strike that knocks an enemy skyward, allowing
you to juggle the enemy in the air with a hail of
pistol bullets. If nothing else, this is an incredibly
satisfying feeling. The game even grants you a bonus
for dispatching enemies stylishly. Unfortunately, this
leads to another flaw. In DMC1, these bonuses were
granted for true style in dispatching enemies,
requiring you to mix and match sword and gun attacks
to execute cool-looking combos. DMC2’s “style” bonuses
are awarded for timely dodges and consecutive hits
only, allowing you to receive huge bonuses for merely
tapping the triangle button over and over. Where’s the
style? It’s also worth noting that the inability to
learn new moves, as well as the hordes of extremely
similar enemies, cause this game to become annoyingly
repetitive after a while. If you can trash one enemy,
you can trash ‘em all. There are only a small handful
of enemy types that truly differ. You’ll get bored
before long.

Several other features have fallen by the wayside.
DMC1’s secret rooms, which were truly miniature
missions, have been replaced with hidden rooms full of
enemies and nothing else. At least the replay value
has kept up- beating the game unlocks consecutively
harder modes, all the way up to “Dante Must Die mode,”
which is every gamer’s worst nightmare. Not that it
isn’t satisfying, of course!

Devil May Cry 2 has one aspect of gameplay which
deserves praise- the ability to play through the game
as the alternate character Lucia. Using twin swords
and throwing knives instead of guns, she is incredibly
agile and more fun to play than Dante. Her missions
are different for the most part, and those that are
the same as Dante’s are often played backwards, that
is, from Dante’s ending position to his starting
position. A third secret character can also be
unlocked, but I won’t spoil it. This gives the game
massive replay value, if you don’t get bored the first
time, and this is where it earns a lot of its points.
It’s a shame the game you’re replaying wasn’t worth
much of a play to begin with.

Sound:
There isn’t a lot to talk about here. The sound is
absolutely average- I didn’t even notice it.
Unfortunately, the voice acting is somewhat worse than
in the first game. Back then, Dante was a badass, even
if he had a few cheesy lines. (They were amusingly
cheesy, so few people complained. It was intended that
way, I figure.) Dante here is merely… present. The
other characters are similarly flat. The combat music
is all right, but it may drive you crazy by the end of
the game, because there’s a lot of combat and only one
song for it. Even the sound effects seem somewhat
duller than those of the first game. Nothing
spectacularly good or awfully bad here, merely the
norm. Again the game is topped by its ancestor.

Fun Factor:
For a while, at least, Devil May Cry 2 is rather fun
to play. The combat grants a true adrenaline rush, and
the tight controls and the agility of the player
characters will lead you to discover all sorts of
awesome tricks. Unfortunately, it also gets old very
fast. The characters add replay value, but it’s an act
of mental fortitude to beat the game with any one of
them. If you want a quick and amusing
action/shooter/beat-’em-up, though, by all means rent
it. You’ll be satisfied for the five or so days.

Overall:
Repetitive combat with eye candy and not much more. I
can’t deny that it’s fun for a while, but that’s all.
A standard-issue action game that doesn’t approach the
quality of the previous game. Go buy Devil May Cry.
The first one. It’s a Greatest Hits title, too- by
taking it instead, you’ll save yourself 30 bucks and a
headache, and you’ll get a hell of a game. As for this
one, rent it. If you haven’t played the first one, you
might like what you get. However, fans of DMC beware-
you’ll be briefly amused, then left with a bad taste
in your mouth. It’s just not the same.

3 planets.

Daigohji Rating: 3 out of 5 Planets


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