Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

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Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening box cover
Developer(s) Capcom Production Studio 1
Publisher(s) Capcom, Ubisoft
Release date(s) Dante's Awakening
JPN February 17, 2005
NA March 1, 2005
EUR March 24, 2005
Special Edition (PS2)
NA January 24, 2006
JPN February 23 2006
EUR September 29, 2006
Special Edition (PC)
EUR June 28, 2006
JPN June 30, 2006
NA October 16, 2006
Genre(s) Action
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Mature (M)
PEGI: 16+
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, PC Windows
Media 1 DVD, 5 CDs
System requirements 1.0 GHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, 128 MB video card RAM, 16X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 9.0c, 1.2 GB available hard disk space, Windows 2000/XP
Input Dual Shock 2, Keyboard

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (frequently abbreviated to DMC3) is the third installment of the Devil May Cry series, starring the hero Dante. It is a prequel to the first game.

Capcom announced Devil May Cry 3 at E³ 2004. Its first trailer promised a return to the hallmarks of the original, such as spooky, gothic stylings and Dante's flippant personality, and was well received by fans. The development team consisted of staff from both of the previous two games. Yuji Shimomura, who was the action director in Ryuhei Kitamura's cult action movie Versus,[1] serves the same role for this game.[2] Upon release, it was widely lamented for its high level of difficulty[3][4], but was praised for its return to the engaging gameplay of Devil May Cry and various improvements.

Devil May Cry 3 takes place just before the establishment of the Devil May Cry agency and before Dante's demonic heritage has reached it's full potential. The game focuses heavily on the dysfunctional relationship between Dante and his twin brother Vergil.

There is a manga based on the game featuring the same characters,[5] first published in Japan in 2005, which takes place a year before the events of the game.

Contents

[edit] Allusions to The Divine Comedy

Like the first game in the series, this part has allusions to The Divine Comedy, written by Dante Alighieri.[6] Dante is the main protagonist of the game, whilst the author Dante is the lead character in his own book. In the game, Vergil is the name of Dante's rival twin brother. Cerberus is another example, and appears as the gatekeeper of the Temen-ni-gru (in the game) in the third mission, whereas Dante meets Cerberus in the third circle in Canto VI of Inferno.

Another character in the game, Lady, shares her given name with Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was probably the "gentle lady" that Dante Alighieri mentioned in the poem.[citation needed]

Most of the game takes place within the tower of Temen-ni-gru whose name is similar to the Sumerian E-temen-ni-gur, the main ziggurat of Ur, while its construction resembles that of Purgatory in The Divine Comedy, the mountain that linked Earth and Heaven.

[edit] Gameplay

[edit] Overview

Devil May Cry 3 features a Style based gameplay system with multiple armaments to provide a wide range of different combinations of weapons and styles for the player to use. The game has a unique battle system that allows the player to chain attacks together almost endlessly as well as a number of attacks unique to the weapon in use. Although the game mainly focuses on a head on approach to battle the player must employ some strategy as the enemy does have a wide variety of AI tactics and will respond to a number of events. Puzzles play a small part in the gameplay as well, where the player must complete certain puzzles before they can continue with the mission.

The vocal songs from Devil May Cry 3 were written and sung by Shawn "Shootie HG" McPherson (the rough vocals) from heavy metal band Hostile Groove, with David Baker performing the more melodic vocals.[7]

this game is cool

[edit] Difficulty

The U.S. version of DMC3 differs in terms of Difficulty with the original Japanese game, making it quite a bit tougher to complete. "Easy" Mode was scrapped and replaced with "Normal" Mode. "Normal" Mode was replaced with the "Hard" Mode, and "Hard" Mode was replaced with the U.S. exclusive "Very Hard" Mode (later added to all versions of Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition).

"Dante Must Die!" is the hardest difficulty mode in Devil May Cry 3. In this difficulty setting, the demons increase in number, gain boosts to attack and defense (and sometimes an AI boost), and are able to activate their own Devil Trigger. When one enemy is killed, every other enemy in the room Devil Triggers, which causes health regeneration and an extra increase to attack and defense. Consequently, this is the mode where Devil Trigger Explosion (also known as the Transformation Flux) shines for its ability to kill many enemies at once. Bosses gain defense, attack, and speed, though they lack the Devil Trigger.

"Heaven or Hell" is an extra difficulty level in Devil May Cry 3 that is unlocked by beating DMD. This is a special difficulty mode where demons, bosses and Dante himself die with only one hit. This difficulty mode is thus best played with either the Trickster or Royal Guard style. It should be added that it is very easy to defeat more than 100 demons at the end of the game when the credits roll (this will show an extra cutscene at the end of the game) in this difficulty mode. Also, obtaining the Blue Orb fragment received when defeating all bosses in level 18 is a lot easier when playing this difficulty: nearly all bosses (with the exceptions of Cerberus, Leviathan's Heartcore, Nevan and Doppelganger, who are not immediately vulnerable to attacks) die when hitting them just once.

[edit] Reception

After its release Devil May Cry 3 scored 84/100 at Metacritics multi-review calculated site[8] and 84.2% at Game Rankings.[9] It was also included in Game Informer's "Top 50 Games of 2005"[10] list and later received a game of the month award when the Special Edition was released. The Special Edition release (see following section) was ranked 9th in GameSpy's Game of the Year selection for the PlayStation 2 in 2006.[11]

[edit] Connected Releases

[edit] Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition

At the 2005 Tokyo Game Show, it was confirmed that Capcom would be releasing a Special Edition of Devil May Cry 3. Most notably, players can now choose to play as Dante's twin brother, Vergil (see below). Additionally, there is an added survival mode, the "Bloody Palace", which contains a total of 9999 levels; a new boss fight early in the game, with optional fights later; a "Turbo Mode" for 20 percent faster gameplay; and a new continue system which can revive the player instantly, or allow the player to restart the fight they just lost as many times as they like. The game also has rebalanced difficulty.

Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition PAL cover
Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition PAL cover

Vergil has only one style, "Dark Slayer" (similar to Dante's "Trickster" style), which includes evasive maneuvers, and can be leveled up twice, just like Dante's initial four styles. He has three weapons: his Yamato katana, the Beowulf gauntlets and greaves, and the Force Edge broadsword. He has only one ranged attack, "Summoned Swords", which can can be fired while the player performs other attacks, spin around Vergil as a barrier, can be stacked and shot at the enemy quickly, or made to surround an enemy and pierce them.

The new boss is a character from the first version, Jester. In the first edition of DMC3, Jester was a plot-important character who was encountered several times during cutscenes, but never actually fought. In Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Jester is a semi-optional boss (insofar as the first fight with him is mandatory but the latter encounters can be skipped) who can be fought three times.

Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition was released on January 24, 2006 for USD $19.99 as part of the PlayStation 2 Greatest Hits Collection. The United Kingdom division of Official PlayStation Magazine announced that it would not be released in Europe. Though previously there were certain reports from Capcom's official Web site suggesting that this information was inaccurate, it was later confirmed that the PlayStation 2 version of the game would be released in Europe.

On February 1, 2006, Ubisoft announced that they would be publishing the game on the PC ([1]). The European PC version was the first to come out, even before the Special Edition was released for the PlayStation 2 in that region. At first it was scheduled to be released on June 2, 2006, but it was then pushed back and finally released on June 28, 2006. Originally, the American release was scheduled to come out on May 23, 2006, but this date was pushed back multiple times, eventually being released on October 16, 2006. The game was published in Japan on June 30, 2006. The Japanese company SourceNext is responsible for porting Devil May Cry 3 to PC platform. SourceNext also ports Onimusha 3 and Resident Evil 4, both most popular Capcom titles like Devil May Cry 3.

In Europe the PlayStation 2 version came out on September 29, 2006 and is slightly different from the American version. Vergil and Bloody Palace mode are unlocked from the start but the Turbo mode was taken out from the game, though no official statement from Capcom regarding this has been released.

Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition was also included in the 5th Anniversary Collection with a price of $29.99 but does not carry the "Greatest Hits" label.

[edit] Devil May Cry 3 Material Archive - Note of Naught

A source book released in mid 2006 with detailed information of the game. It includes production art never seen before, CG art, story boards, and it comes in a UMD (PSP Video) with some of the games trailers and videos (region 2 only).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cast and Crew for Versus. IMDB. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
  2. ^ Devil May Cry 3 Credits. GameFAQS. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
  3. ^ GameSpy's Miguel Lopez: "Too challenging for its own good." GameSpy: Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening Review. GameSpy. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
  4. ^ GameSpot's Greg Kasavin: "Unfortunately, it's unbelievably, unreasonably difficult at first. Think of the most punishing game you played in the last several years. Now, imagine the second or third level of this game being even harder than that. Overcoming Devil May Cry 3's near-vertical learning curve could prove extremely frustrating, to the point where some players will justifiably give up after repeatedly failing the first few missions." Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening for Playstation 2 Review. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
  5. ^ Devil May Cry 3 Manga. Anime New Network. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
  6. ^ The Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
  7. ^ Shawn McPherson's Web site. Shootie HG. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
  8. ^ Metacritic Devil May Cry 3 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
  9. ^ Game Rankings Devil May Cry 3 Reviews. Game Rankings. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
  10. ^ (2006) Game Informer (Issue #153) - January, 84. 
  11. ^ GameSpy's Game of the Year 2006. GameSpy Game of the Year 2006. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.

[edit] See Also

[edit] External Links

Official websites
General resources


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Devil May Cry series

Devil May Cry  • 2 • 3 • 4
Characters • Soundtracks • Manga • Anime
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