The devil you don't...

The original Devil May Cry was arguably the PS2's first must-have title. Arriving in the console's first year, what had begun as a new Resident Evil suddenly became a standard-setting revamp to the scrolling beat ‘em up genre. Bags of style, amazing art direction, a cool kick-ass protagonist and addictive combo-focused combat ensured Dante's debut transcended a relatively short playtime to become an instant all-time classic.

One dodgy first follow-up and a stunning return to form for the second sequel later, and we're about where we were seven years ago. Devil May Cry 4 will see Capcom's series ignite interest in Sony's still-fledgling PS3 – plus arrive, for the first time, simultaneously on Xbox 360 and PC, too.

And Devil May Cry 4, much like its forebear, delivers a brand new playable character. After Devil May Cry 3 gave us Dante's evil brother Vergil, Devil May Cry 4 presents Nero; another white-haired, sword-swinging, pistol-packing badass who, for all intents and purposes, plays a lot like the franchise's favourite son of Sparda.

Devil Bringer

With one major exception; the Devil Bringer. Nero's right arm is a glowing blue claw which adds a whole new dimension to Devil May Cry 4's combat. Anyone who's been playing the demo on Xbox Live will attest to this; not only does Devil May Cry 4 retain the melee, gun and jump buttons, but as Nero the B button lets players grapple, swing and throw enemies, or in conjunction with the RB lock-on, stretch out, grab demons, and pull them in close.

It all makes for some devilishly delightful free-flowing fights. In Devil May Cry 4 you'll hack, slash, shoot and circle foes with near-balletic ease, pounding them into the ground and juggling them in the air – and if the on-screen combo meter begins to dip, you can drag them back for more punishment, stringing together some frankly bonkers blows and earning yourself more points in the process.

The Devil Bringer arm has also allowed Capcom to integrate long-distance jumping not unlike that as Wolf Link in Zelda: Twilight Princess. In Devil May Cry 4, stand on a blue platform and you'll instantly be able to hop to another off in the distance – which in the demo sees Nero leaping water, between buildings and more impressively rendered backdrops with a stylish blue trail.

Indeed, Devil May Cry 4 boasts every bit the strength of style you'd expect from the franchise, and, running in high definition on a 40” telly, has been one of the few titles everyone in the office here has stopped to admire. This is the series which defined the term ‘Gothic Action', and Devil May Cry 4 boasts heavily stylised gothic backdrops, evocative lighting and environment effects to die for (the chilling snow landscape needs to be seen to be believed), plus an overall spellbinding sense of scale, with the throwback ‘fixed camera' system altering views for maximum cinematic impact.

DMC fans shouldn't start writing angry letters to Capcom, however; all this talk of Nero doesn't mean Dante won't be in Devil May Cry 4... but alas, they're not giving much away at the moment. They have promised that Dante's new ‘Active Style Change System' will let players mix it up on-the-fly; but in truth, we see little reason to worry – Nero is so like Dante in look and feel that you'll quickly forget who you're playing as. And who can blame you, really, when the action is this good?

Flaming Berial

Which it most definitely is. Wrapping up the Devil May Cry 4 demo is an enormous boss fight with Berial, a flaming, four-legged, two-armed foe who proves to be a rather tricky prospect to take down. That said, the Devil May Cry 4 demo is nowhere near as difficult as the hardest parts of DMC3, and so fans can expect to get a lot of value from the title's two distinctly different difficulty settings.

Due on the second Friday in February, Devil May Cry 4 could well be the best in the series yet, and amongst the most accomplished titles we've yet seen on Sony or Microsoft's next-gen hardware – plus probably the best game this year so far.

Preview by: Mark 'Satanic' Scott
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Preview Published: 31.01.08