Devil May Cry

aka: DMC
Moby ID: 5086
PlayStation 2 Specs
Buy on PlayStation 2
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Description official descriptions

Legend has it that 2000 years ago in the depths of hell, a demon rebelled against the devil, waging a one-man war in support of the human world.

In the present, Dante, a private investigator of the supernatural, realises that the devil is rallying to rise again against mankind. Deep within Dante's blood lies the power of ancient demons and as his power builds he transforms into a demon state where he can use his power against evil he encounters.

Commencing his battle against the demonic legions with just a sword and his twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory, Dante will soon come across more powerful weapons, such as a shotgun to aid him in his mission. However, to defeat the devil Dante must also discover special weapons possessing various elemental powers. When channelled correctly these weapons will allow Dante to call upon demonic energy and launch powerful attacks against a range of enemies.

Spellings

  • デビルメイクライ - Japanese spelling
  • 鬼泣 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
  • 데빌 메이 크라이 - Korean spelling (Hangul)

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

135 People (129 developers, 6 thanks) · View all

Planning
Stage CG Artworks - Lead Modelers
Stage CG Artworks - Castle
Stage CG Artworks - Garden
Stage CG Artworks - Wrecked Ship
Stage CG Artworks - Underworld
Stage CG Artworks - Slums
Character CG Artwork
Conceptual Design - Stage Design
Conceptual Design - Character Design
Conceptual Design - Monster Design
Motion Animation - Enemies
Motion Animation - Player
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 88% (based on 43 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 117 ratings with 7 reviews)

Finally, "survival horror" evolves in a significant way.

The Good
Resident Evil has grown stale. I could summon no enthusiasm or excitement for the recent revival of the first RE on the Gamecube. There are a number of reasons for my malaise - the fact that it's fundamentally the same game, the fact that RE2 still stands as the masterpiece of the lot - but looming above all of those is the sad, sad fact that the RE control scheme remains unchanged, and therefore terrible. "Frustrating" does not begin to describe my feelings while playing Code: Veronica as I watched my characters slowly, ponderously turning about, feebly dashing this way and that from equally feeble zombies. So thank sweet Christ for Devil May Cry. Devil May Cry is like Homo sapiens to Resident Evil's Australopithecus. Most of the same genetics are there, but the former has grown so far beyond the latter as to represent an entirely new species. In DMC, Dante, the hero, has broken the "spin, spin, move forward," control scheme. This guy can go wherever he wants. And if a monster is charging him, he just leaps out of the way, double jumps off the wall, and then cleaves the bastard in two with his sword on the way back down. Cool. Dante isn't fettered by ammunition restraints - his guns have infinite ammo. And his sword, unlike the feeble knives of REs past, is a truly kick-ass weapon. I still love hacking an opponent up into the air and then blasting the crap out of it with Dante's twin handguns. DMC is an action game that doesn't attempt to scare you, unlike RE. DMC tries to evoke "cool," and succeeds admirably. There are still few PS2 games that can rival DMC for pure action-cool.

The Bad
The plot stinks like crap. So do the voice overs. So what's new?

The Bottom Line
It's survival horror taken to the next level. Absolutely don't pass this one up if you own a PS2.

PlayStation 2 · by Lucas Schippers (57) · 2002

hacking away at evil bits and looking cool doing it

The Good
overall, I loved this game. the atmosphere is perfect, the controls are easy, there is more then enough variety in attacks, with more moves and weapons added as you progress in the game. this is good because most of the game involves little more then hacking, or blasting countless enemies. still, the game remains fun and replayable. there are several hidden missions to find, and different levels of play to unlock. the levels are great, and puzzles are never too hard. in fact they would be too easy if this were a puzzle-solving adventure and not just excuses to make you run from one room full of monsters to another room filled with monsters. as it is, the puzzles add variety, and lead the game along without distracting from the gameplay.

The Bad
for minor complaints: the game, at normal difficulty, is pretty difficult. there is an easy mode which should make the game fun for just about anyone but the jump from auto/easy to normal is pretty steep. over all the camera is fine, but there are a few places where it can be difficult to see where you want to. I would have preferred more control over the camera. the only major complaint I have are the is dialog, which is sometimes to bad, it distracts from the game. some of the lines are so cheesy I'm almost embarassed to be playing the game, at least until I get back into action and start enjoying myself again, but nothing breaks up the mood more then the script.

The Bottom Line
overall this game is great. the music, and the graphics, are wonderful. more than once I have come back to this game, run through it over a week or two and put it back on the shelf only to bring it back out again a month or two later. if the atmosphere suits you and you love slashing away at bad guys, I would check this title out.

PlayStation 2 · by MrBucket (20) · 2002

Player May Cry

The Good
How it got me... or how I got it
The reason this game got into my collection is by pure accidence. I actually went to local retail store to purchase Onimusha (or was it Veronica X, can't remember), but they were off-stock and I didn't wanna get back home empty-handed, so I ended up buying DMC. I had some high expectations towards the game as I played a demo from an extra disc I got with Veronica X (ah, that means I went to buy Onimusha after all). I didn't know what I missed by not getting Onimusha that very day only until I later got that game... but that's another story. Capcom here, Capcom there, it's all Capcom so I had no lack of trust in their titles. This one is no bad one either... but I was kinda expecting it to be good, then, which I also can't say with certain clarification.

Controlling your demon
One thing is absolutely fantastic when it comes to this game, it's its the sheer speed and velocity of the various moves Dante can make. Camera is static and doesn't let you to control it, but it rotates as you walk, and it all works with such a speed and smoothness I can't say I witnessed in many games (can't think of any up to date). Devil May Cry II isn't any slower either, by the way. So I'd say gameplay itself is the finest hour this game can provide you with, aside from loads of fun blasting your way through various demon hordes with either your sword or guns (either is upgradable and you get bigger and meaner weapons as you progress).

Not quite a saga
So, you're Dante, you're a P.I., and you're half-human (on your mother's side, duh). Lucky guess would be your father was a demon. Well, was, because it was ages ago, the name's Sparda, and he fought some really badguy when trying to help the human kind. Now, you're doing the same. Although, more like a Tex Murphy, sitting in your office, and trying to earn for a rent... or not. Until, one night, a mysterious woman blasts in on a motorcycle and all hell breaks lose. After she fails to kill you, you decide to render your services to her inspite of what just didn't happen (weird huh, but Dante wouldn't take any less of a case). There really isn't any of the meaningful dialogues to encounter and very little of exploration or chit-chats, maybe every 10 levels when you run into Trish. Other than that, you're battling constantly, and quite often with the same bosses you humiliated but not defeated in your encounters.

The Bad
Not a survival horror for sure
Unless you consider Rambo movies a horror-survival, this game ain't either. It's too fast to be considered one, and enemies seem to be afraid more of Dante then vice-versa. It's pretty much action action action, and very little exploration or puzzle-solving. Now why is this a bad thing? It isn't, but aside from mindless action, this game doesn't deliver other goods. The story is just enough to keep it going, and occasional conversations are just there so you're aware it features voice-acting. The world itself is... well, it's beautiful in the artful sense of the matter, but it all kinda seems... small and pretty much the same (uh, this brings ICO to mind). Hm, yup, good comparison actually, this game is no more fun than ICO, so if you liked that game, you may like this one (in whichever way may someone even see them as comparable, though). But no, really, there is something with the world game takes place in that bothers me. It lacks of some attraction or interest. It doesn't look like Dante is on some investigation case, but more like he's on some mayhem of blind justice mowing down anything he encounters and ask questions later. And all that to eventually lead to the final battle and story revelation which is just as interesting, duh. Also, the whole boss battles which were quite too often got you to think there aren't many things in this worlds, so those that are are automatically called bosses. But some were irritatingly hard to defeat (especially that last slimy thing), whereas ending boss was rather easy to pass, so you'll be able to replay the ending cinematic at your leisure.

The Bottom Line
Technicality over personality
This game is so obviously meant to technically show what PS2 is capable of, and how games can run pretty darn fast on that black box as they can on a powered-up personal computer. You can say it has a certain attitude and even a bit addiction to it (hey, I bought a sequel so go figure... even though for like $7 only, but shrinkwrapped new, was a special discount on that item, though), but isn't anything too serious. Don't expect it to be as entangling as any of Capcom's real horror-survivals, this is a mere stress releaser and a neat one to compensate instead of getting yourself a Doom or Quake.

PlayStation 2 · by MAT (240759) · 2012

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
How is this different from PS2 game entry? MAT (240759) Nov 23, 2019

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Devil May Cry appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Anime

There is an anime series Devil May Cry released in 2007 based off of this PS2 game.

Dante

DMC's main character is named after Dante Alighieri, a famous Italian poet in the 13th century who wrote the famous poem Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy), an epic about a journey through hell. The game also makes several references to someone called Virgil, Dante's lost brother. In real life, Virgil was a Roman poet who lived around 60b.c., and whose works had a profound effect upon Dante while writing Divina Commedia.

Development

Devil May Cry originally started out as Resident Evil 4 but the series creator (and current producer), Shinji Mikami, decided to start a new franchise when the game started going in a completely different direction than originally intended. A glitch in the game script made the enemies fly up when you would shoot them. They decided to make a new game instead of trying to fix this glitch. it became Devil May Cry and the glitch was changed into the High Time attack.

Sales

According to publisher Capcom, Devil May Cry has sold 2.16 million copies worldwide since its initial release (as of June 30, 2016).

Awards

  • EGM
    • February 2006 (Issue #200) - #161 out of 200 of the "Greatest Games of Their Time"

Information also contributed by Big John WV, David Roop, MAT and Tiago Jacques

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Macintrash.

Nintendo Switch added by Rik Hideto.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, JPaterson, Jeanne, Maw, DreinIX, erbaltan, CalaisianMindthief, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, FatherJack.

Game added October 23, 2001. Last modified January 30, 2024.