Devil May Cry 4

Next goes the sequel of the legendary console series Devil May Cry. The first two games from this series were limited to PlayStation 2 but the third debuted in 2005 on the PC platform which had always felt a lack of good hack’n’slash games. The fourth game is a multiplatform project released first on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The PC version was introduced later on although the MT Framework engine, the basis of every modern project from Capcom, is a PC-based development environment. This is indicated by the additional features exclusive to the PC version such as turbo mode which accelerates the gameplay considerably and the new level of complexity called Legendary Dark Knight Mode. Thanks to the MT Framework, the PC version of Devil May Cry 4 supports DirectX 10 but can work in DirectX 9 mode that looks almost the same.

The gameplay has not changed since the earlier games of the series. Hacking and slashing through your enemies is still your routine job here. The final score of each mission depends on your fighting style, among other things. It is determined by the use of various attacking and defensive combos for which you are awarded Style Points.

As opposed to the previous games of the series, Dante is not the protagonist now. Most of the time you control a previously unknown warrior of the Order of the Sword called Nero. It is Nero and his arms – his Red Queen sword, Blue Rose revolver and demonic right arm called Devil Bringer – that are the gist of Devil May Cry 4. You will also play with Dante through 7 missions near the end of the game – the gameplay is the same as in Devil May Cry 3 then.

Devil May Cry 4 has received positive reports from game reviewers and seems to be the brightest representative of the Hack’n’Slash/Extreme Action genre on the PC platform which doesn’t really abounds in this kind of projects.

The game is highly popular, so we are going to check out its speed on different graphics cards from entry-level Radeon HD and GeForce models to dual-processor monsters like ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2. We have some apprehensions because of the fact that the Framework MT engine was also used in Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and its capabilities and performance in DirectX 10 mode are well known. Let’s check this out, though.