Devil May Cry PS2 Game Guide
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Welcome to our Sony PlayStation2 guide to the game Devil May Cry, it contains everything we currently know about Devil May Cry for the PS2 videogame console.
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Guide to Devil May Cry on the PlayStation 2
What is Devil May Cry?
Devil May Cry is a free-roaming 3D-action game that details the fight between one man and the demonic underworld. Set within a huge castle, the player controls a half-demon private investigator called Dante who must single-handedly repel an invasion of a Devil Prince and his cohorts. Controlling Dante, the player must exploit his athletic and supernatural abilities, while also making use of the many weapons and magical powers made available to him. The game is a breath-taking showcase of stunning graphics, fine-tuned gameplay and object collection, marking a fitting debut for Capcom’s first free-roaming 3D-action game exclusively developed for PlayStation 2.
Who has designed the game?
Shinji Mikami, the project leader for the best selling Resident Evil and Dino Crisis series, is the brains behind Devil May Cry, with the development team using the enhanced power of the Sony format to create a faster paced and more aesthetically detailed game. During the development of Dino Crisis 2, Mikami and his team had previously experimented with a more arcade-orientated experience than that of previous ‘Survival Horror’ titles including Resident Evil, which were finely balanced between puzzle and action elements. Devil May Cry continues the move towards a more immediate experience, with the Capcom team working to marry the familiar puzzle and cinematic elements of their past games with a control system that allows for more intuitive combat sequences and a faster passage through the game’s many locations.
What is the basic idea of the game?
Devil May Cry tells of the eternal battle between good and evil. Two millennia ago a powerful Devil Prince, named Mundus, seized control of the underworld and rallied his inhuman troops in an attempt to invade the world above. Only the intervention of a mysterious Devil-Knight called Sparda – a demi-god watching over the human race – prevented the Earth falling under the Devil Prince’s reign. With Sparda leading a human army into battle against the evil hordes, Dante eventually secures Mundus in a sealed vault. Legend tells that Sparda then settled on Earth and married a human woman. In turn, they sired a half-human, half-Devil son called Dante.
The game begins in Dante’s office. The half-Devil hybrid has set up an agency designed to combat inhuman influences and which leads to the young hero following in his father’s footsteps. A mysterious young woman, Trisha, tells Dante that the Devil Prince is set to throw his shackles and is readying himself for another invasion of Earth. The portal for the next invasion will be a sprawling castle on the island of Malai, but no sooner have the pair arrived than Trisha disappears to explore the upper levels, leaving Dante alone to scour the ground floor and work his way up. Controlling Dante, the player is thus pitched into running battles against the Devil Prince’s hellish brethren while a slight puzzle element is used to gradually unlock new areas of the sprawling castle.
What sort of game is Devil May Cry?
Mikami-san’s latest is a dark mix of action and adventuring. As with Resident Evil and Dino Crisis, Devil May Cry mixes action, puzzle elements and cinematic visuals. However, the emphasis is now firmly in the action camp with Mikami and his team working to make a more immediate quest. As a result of this, the central hero Dante is considerably more athletic than his Survival Horror peers showing off Devil May Cry’s beautifully intuitive control system.
The game’s castle setting is shown in full 3D, with a number of camera angles used to view Dante’s progress. The beautifully designed castle has been inspired by the work of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, with Devil May Cry’s artists perfectly capturing the Gothic and dark nature of Gaudi’s work. As such, the Malai-based castle is a building crammed with small cubbyholes, twisting stairways where danger can hide, and beautiful grounds. Other rooms of note include libraries, an aircraft hangar and bridges to exterior turrets, which play host to all manner of undead foes such as reptilian mutants, spectral wraiths and reanimated skeletons. It is these that Dante must fight as he explores the building, giving players a chance to experiment with the all-new combat and control system.
Befitting his half-Devil status, Dante is an athletic hero. He can run, jump and perform a number of attacks with his sword and gun. More importantly, he can also use the weapons independently to dispatch assailants, performing somersaults while slashing at his foes or picking them off with a well-placed shot while mid-jump. To this end, the PlayStation 2 controller’s analogue stick is used to move Dante around, while the facia buttons are used to effect jumps, shoot his gun or use his sword – with the movements of the analogue stick also determining the style of sword play used. It’s a remarkably simple system to get to grips with, but one that also invites the player to experiment. Whenever Dante dispatches an enemy, their corpse is transformed into a series of red orbs that bolster his super-human powers. However, the number of orbs they leave depends on how stylish Dante was in his attack. A rating screen at the top of the screen rates each kill as Dull, Cool, Bravo or Awesome, and the better the rating, the more red orbs are awarded.
What do the red orbs do?
As the game unfolds, a lot is made of Dante’s half-Devil origins. The red orbs are used to fuel his demonic side and allow him to transform into his inhuman alter egos – Alastor, Devil of Thunder, or Ifrit, Devil of Flame– or upgrade his skills. Scattered throughout the game are a number of Divinity statues – recognisable as they all hold egg timers – which are the key to boosting Dante’s powers. On approaching a statue, the game will fade away to a menu screen, wherein three options are made available. ‘Extra’ allows the user to spend their red orbs on basic abilities such as healing spells of extending Dante’s life span. ‘Alastor’ governs Dante’s first demon alter ego, and unlocks additional moves available in this form and for Alastor’s special ‘Thunder Sword’ weapon. Finally, the ‘Ifrit’ option is similar to that of Alastor, but teaches the player how to use Ifrit’s Flame Gauntlet weapons. Each option is listed with the number of orbs needed to access it, with players simply confirming if they want to purchase one before returning to the game.
How does a player access the Devil Modes?
Once Dante has equipped either the Thunder Sword or the Flame Gauntlets a blue series of icons appears beneath Dante’s green health bar, this is the Devil Trigger. Successful attacks by Dante fill this gauge and once at least three icons are lit, players can transform into Alastor or Ifrit by pressing the L1 button on the PlayStation 2 controller. In the Alastor guise Dante can fly, thus allowing him to take on the wraiths and flying creatures in mid-air combat. Similarly, as Ifrit, Dante has stronger jumping capabilities and can summon the god of nature as attacks. All of these special moves need to be equipped at one of the Divinity statues. Dante can stay in these more efficient forms until the Devil Trigger bar is depleted or until the player presses the L1 button again to restore him to his human form. An eye should also be kept out for blue orbs that extend the length of the Devil Trigger bar, thus ending Dante’s demonic transformations.
What else can be collected?
Devil May Cry is a game of surprises and the more adventurous explorer can find dozens of small bonuses if they are willing to take the risk. In addition to the red orbs, extra powerful magic items can be used and stored in Dante’s inventory for later use. These include spells to spread holy water, temporary immunity from attack, and blue and yellow masks. The latter of these have more long-term effects on the gameplay with four blue masks extending the length of Dante’s green life bar, while yellow masks act as ‘continues’ should the player lose a life.
Weapons also play a large part in Devil May Cry. Dante initially begins the game armed with his beloved twin pistols – which he has named Ebony and Ivory - and a large sword. However, during the course of the game, bigger and better weapons can be found including shotguns, rocket launchers and other projectile weapons. When collected, these and any other useful items are automatically added to Dante’s inventory. Players can summon this by pressing the Start button on the PlayStation 2 controller, using the R1 button to switch between maps of previously explored areas, lists of defeated monsters and a complete roster of any items and weapons collected so far. These objects can then be examined closely, or called into play using the facia buttons.
How is the game split up?
Devil May Cry is split into 25 episodes, each of which is tied in to the main quest. Within each episode, the player is given a series of tasks to complete, which range from unlocking doors, to killing specific creatures or simply reaching a pre-determined location. Each section dovetails into the main quest. On completing a task, the player will unlock a previously inaccessible part of the castle; with the game’s many puzzles used to unblock impassable obstructions, locate the keys to locked doors or find an alternative route. This is a system familiar and popular with fans of past Mikami created titles, with players gradually revealing the hidden secrets of the castle as they move closer to the Devil Prince’s lair. The team have also added a couple of surprise elements to the game as respite from the battles with demonic hordes, with Devil May Cry featuring a handful of first-person stages as the quest moves under water and into the underworld for the final battle against the Devil Prince…
What are the game’s strongest aspects?
Devil May Cry is the sum of its parts, with too many strong elements vying for attention to single out one example. As well as boasting some breathtaking design and architecture, the Malai castle is also fully interactive. Tables can be smashed to reveal additional power-ups, while the assorted furniture and ledges also prove useful when evading the many assailants that materialise in each room. Similarly, the gradual introduction of new locations is designed to entice the player further into the adventure and the excitement of unlocking a new wing or discovering a secret cubby hole forces the player to explore every avenue available to them. The supporting cast is equally well realised and the assorted minions of the Devil Prince grow in power and intelligence as the game progresses. Thus, it is vital that the player locates additional weapons and accumulates additional spells to counter their menace, ensuring a beautifully balanced game. Mikami-san’s love of cinema also contributes to the feeling of unease within the castle walls. In addition to cut-scenes that segue seamlessly into the action, the sound effects are made up of haunting cries and eerie scratching noises, while a varied soundtrack of organ music and doom laden tunes adds to the atmosphere.
Ultimately, though, it is the well-judged gameplay that impresses. The action is fast and fluid, yet the need to constantly strive for varied attacks ensures that even in the busiest tussle, the player must try and vary their attacks in order to progress with the best possible weaponry. And while it is satisfying to upgrade to a bigger and better weapon the more powerful creatures that are waiting more than balance out their advantages. Equally, the final battle against the Devil Prince is real edge of the seat stuff…
Click here to view our 18 Devil May Cry in-game screenshot slideshow
Click here to view our 18 Devil May Cry in-game screenshot slideshow
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