The new ‘addition’ to DMC2 is the second character, Lucia. You can play through the game as her instead of Dante by using the second disk. This should, in theory, double the game’s size. However, it does not. Lucia isn’t different enough from Dante to warrant her inclusion really. She appears to play like a ‘bonus’ character instead of a real addition. Instead of Dante’s guns, she uses throwing knifes, instead of a huge sword, she uses twin daggers. Dante is slow and strong, she is fast and weak. You get the picture. Also, she doesn’t have unique missions, instead they are simply Dante’s, and either reversed, chopped or remixed. It is a crying shame. I was really looking forward to having an extra character, but it’s mostly pointless. It’s yet another example of what a waste DMC2 is.

One factor of the original I did really enjoy was the story and the cheesy dialogue spouted by Dante. He may have come across as a bit of an arse, but he had charisma in bucket loads. Well, this time around he has obviously had counselling or something as he remains silent for the most part and when the story does develop, it’s so stagnant and trite in it’s plot usage that you end up wishing it wasn’t there at all. The same goes for Lucia’s story. It’s such a pity that they couldn’t be bothered to put some decent thought into the characters this time around. Sigh.

For some reason the weapons system that made the original DMC so cool has been simplified. I can see no reasoning behind this, as it was hardly complicated in the first place. It just takes away from the overall feel of the title, some of the flair that was present before has been stripped. For example, Dante’s twin hand guns, Ebony and Ivory are now simply ‘Handguns’. They are no longer Dante’s hand made guns, which are his best friends. The soul has gone right out of it.

One way to sum up this game is to liken it to placing the original title in a can of ‘game stripper’ (see, I invented that stuff) solvent, and letting it eat away at most of the good bits of the game until what you have left is a bloated, yet empty husk of what was there before..

Maybe you feel already that I’m being a little harsh? Well I’m sorry. I have been led to believe that everything in this game will simply blow me away (read my preview if you want an example), only for me to discover that the title is in fact worse than the original. Many will think I’m mad, stupid, whatever but I’m simply annoyed with this game. If the hype hadn’t been so great, chances are it would of got a higher score, as it stands, let this be a warning to all you marketing types. Do not play us for fools; we know a good title when we see it. Do not, I repeat do not, give us titles which are wasted opportunities. I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore. In fact, I’m off to play the original and banish these DMC2 demons from my head.

A bitterly disappointing:

(65% without the damnable media hype)

60%

By Ben Jackson