It's a fine game, but can't upstage the original

Just a note, I'm writing this review halfway into the game. While I doubt my opinions will change, I reserve the right to edit them later.

Devil May Cry 4 is a work of art and an overall solid game. Unfortunately, it's simply not as good as the first.

I picked up a used copy from the store a few months back and added it to my stack of games to play. I had no clue what I was getting into when I first popped it in since the case they gave me was a generic store one with no manual.

Before you can even play the game, it has to install 5 gigabytes of data to the Playstation 3. A slideshow describing the plots and characters of the series' other games is interesting and fills in some holes, but repeats several times during the 20 minute install.

Once the game actually starts, the player is offered several choices to adjust the difficulty of the game. I've beaten DMC 1 before, so I chose Devil Hunter Mode; I can't testify to how easy/difficult Human Mode is. A lengthy cutscene of a young woman singing in a church begins, introducing the main character, Nero, as he slaughters some baddies on his way to the performance. The sounds and music are well done and the visuals are nearly incredible. Thankfully, these don't change much during the game, although some stages are a bit too dark.

The controls are spelled out during a tutorial in the first level that allows the player time to test them out. This is fine, since most of the controls are easily understood and require little more than button mashing. Some timing comes into play when you attempt a combo. Very few sword combos are unlocked from the get go, but you can unlock more, as well as other gun attacks and general abilities by defeating stages and purchasing them.

My main beef with the controls is the Exceed Gauge. Filled by either pushing R2 several times to rev the sword up and charge it or pushing R2 during a combo, it's supposed to increase the damage of your attacks. The problem is that charging it is annoying and/or time-consuming, while the effects last up to three swings and don't seem to do too much. It's a useless feature IMO and I rarely use it.

Unlike Dante in the other games, Nero does not start with a Devil Trigger [ability to morph into a stronger demon]. Instead, he uses Devil Bringer, a demonic right arm capable of grabbing things at a distance or tossing enemies around like ragdolls. It's useful to clear specially designed areas of stages in a hurry, but I hate how much Capcom wants you to use it. While Nero's initial gun attacks are useless, the Demon Bringer attack only requires you to hit circle and does a lot of damage during a fancy attack.

Worried about learning how to fight and developing strategies? Don't fret, they'll be plenty of time to get it down. In fact, the game constantly sends guys after you in many areas. The problem is that there just isn't a variety of enemies and killing them usually requires button mashing with the sword or using the Devil Bringer. I haven't had to roll/dodge much and the gun is pathetic, as noted earlier.

My other large beef with this game is that the missions and instructions are too vague and unhelpful. You're intially charged with tracking down Dante, which seems all well and good. However, other characters will say things or you'll observe actions take place in cut scenes that update your objectives, and there's no way to tell exactly what they meant. For example, Nero talks about returning to headquarters in the latter part of the last mission in the castle and a cutscene shows a bridge being created somewhere. I had no clue where it was and fought my way back to the beginning of the first area, only to see in a walkthough online that I was supposed to go to that bridge in the castle. It'd have been nice if I could pause the game and get something as simple as just a sentence of what I should be doing.

Capcom also added too many new items and challenges to this game, solely to add length to the game. Now the holy water and other traditional items are still there, but it sends you out to get a Wing Talisman. What exactly does that do? It's a quest item that allows you to bounce on certain, red circles during specially-designed sections of the game. Capcom also sends you on a quest early on to find Anima Mercury. This item lets you activate Gyro Blades, statue-like tops with blades that can be sent spinning towards enemies and objectives. Why is this in the game, and why is it such a key part of the game? A whole secret mission is about activating a Gyro Blade and using it to kill five targets, while one regular mission sends you searching for Blades to move onto circles.

Each mission already takes at least 30 minutes and there's 20 stages to play; that's 10 hours right there, assuming you never die, skip all the cutscenes and never shop. Why would Capcom want to add to that, or even just create ridiculous filler material to a fantastic premise?