“Hey succubus, suck on that!”
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":469738,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']Those words flowed through my headphones at some point in my private demo of DmC: Devil May Cry, and they embody the swagger that the slash-happy title plans to bring players in 2013. Before I even jumped into the game at Capcom’s booth during the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), I knew the experience would drip with attitude.
According to Karl Reader, an associate producer at Capcom, the title is a “reimagination of the DmC story.” You play as a younger version of series-protagonist Dante as he shreds and shoots through a slew of supernatural enemies. The third-person, action-heavy nature of the Devil May Cry series is very much evident here, so expect a lot of button-mashing, combo-linking combat, and context-sensitive set pieces.
With real-life pole dancers in the background, I grabbed a controller and played through a boss battle where Dante confronted a gnarly worm-like creature with a human face and multiple, talon-like appendages. Even though the fight itself featured its fair share of gruesome moments — read Dean Takahashi’s piece for more on those — what truly stood out was the game’s over-the-top sass.
The young Dante epitomized youthful brashness as he dissed and disemboweled his enemy.
Both he and the boss threw as many F-bombs at each other as they threw attacks. Dante made fun of the enemy’s millennium-spanning age. Then, the boss said something about chewing up Dante’s limbs and spitting them right back at him. I caught a lot of this back-and-forth banter and thought it added an extra layer of storytelling to the skirmish — even though I couldn’t help but chuckle at the hyperbolic, Mature-rated nature of the whole spectacle.
In a series already known for its edge (in more ways than one), Capcom is trying to revitalize the spirit of Dante with DmC. And my brief glimpse gave me plenty of reasons to see more.