Common Sense Note
Parents need to know both protagonists use weapons, such as swords and shotguns, to destroy enemies, which are primarily netherworld creatures. This is a game about killing demons, so players will see plenty of blood, especially on end-level boss fights. Visually speaking, the combat is over-the-top in its graphic presentation as you fight to save the world from demons. You can shoot dozens of bullets into a hellish creature or swing a sword until the beast drops to the ground and disappears. In order to advance the story, you must kill creatures, but you won't see any gory dismemberment, as has been seen in titles like Manhunt 2.
Families can talk about whether waiting more than 20 minutes for a game to load (for the PS3 version) can ruin the experience before it even starts. Or are players forgiving of this wait as the game will load faster in between levels? Do you like the ability to play as two different characters?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Marc Saltzman
Played from a cinematic third-person perspective, DEVIL MAY CRY 4 is a hack-and-slash action thriller which introduces you to Nero, a mysterious new demon-killing machine. Nero not only has a number of weapons of mass destruction at his disposal -- including guns and enormous swords -- but he also sports a glowing "Devil Bringer" arm to knock creatures into next week. With this powerful right arm, Nero can yank a nearby creature toward him, hurl it into the air with superhuman strength and then plug two-dozen bullets into its body before it falls to the ground. A variety of attacks and combo moves can be mastered throughout this 20-chapter game while playing as Nero as well as his nemesis, Dante, the white-haired, half-human half-demon who starred in past Devil May Cry games.
If Devil May Cry 4 was rated on first impressions alone, it would not fare well, as the Sony PlayStation 3 game took more than 22 minutes to load before playing for the first time. Fortunately for fans of this Gothic action series, it just keeps getting better after this disappointing start, and this problem isn't found in the Microsoft Xbox 360 and PC versions.
If PS3 owners can get past the excruciatingly long load time when first playing Devil May Cry 4, you'll find a deep, immersive, and stylized action thriller worth playing to its climactic conclusion. Capcom deserves kudos for this entertaining sequel with high production values, but it's too bad we must wait so long before playing.
Other worthy action-adventure games include Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for teens, Super Mario Galaxy for kids, and Assassin's Creed for mature players.
Platform Notes
PlayStation 3
Be prepared, the PS3 version takes MORE than 20 minutes to load, but thereafter it runs very smoothly with virtually no wait times.
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Sexual ContentThere are two cutscenes in particular that feature a scantily-clad woman. |
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ViolenceAs with past Devil May Cry games, this fourth title is violent and bloody as Nero and Dante hack and slash with swords and use guns to shoot baddies. The enemies, however, are creatures big and small, therefore some parents might have less of an issue compared to shooting people, but the core game-play component is combat. The over-the-top fighting includes jumping in the air and shooting a few dozen bullets into a hellish creature or swinging a sword until the beast drops to the ground and disappears. |
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LanguageInstances of words such as "goddamn," "s--t" and "bastard." |
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Social BehaviorViolence is the only way to solve problems in the game, but then again, your adversaries are demon spawn from Hell. |
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