During Capcom's Gamers' Day event in San Francisco, one of the bigger highlights was a playable demo of Devil May Cry 4 for the PlayStation 3 that featured three separate stages, including an action filled boss battle.

In the game, Nero makes his way through an abandoned coastal town, starting out in a garden villa and eventually culminating through the outskirts of a sea port. He starts out slicing up a few deformed enemies, which look like the twisted offspring of the puppet-like creatures that inhabit the first game. From there, he works his way through a castle, gathering multi-colored orbs. Red orbs once again serve as currency towards items, while green ones restore health. Nero eventually gains access to a spiritual force that lets him grab objects. Not only used during combat, it also helps him hop across transporting orbs throughout the city once they become accessible.

Nero can still beat an enemy senseless with a demon blade while also shooting at them with guns. However, a couple of new techniques add to the game. For instance, Nero can charge his sword for a more brutal attack. He can also knock enemies into the air more effectively, as well as mix up his attacks for better combos (which coincide with the returning grade system). The addition of the spiritual throwing ability makes it work even better, as Nero can throw enemies into each other and slam them to the ground.

Dante should have a couple of changes as well. Although he was not playable in the demo, Capcom showed a quick video clip where he switched through various combat styles on-the-fly with a simple flick of his wrists -- meaning no more having to go through a sub-menu.

Midway through the first stage, Nero finds himself in an empty sea port, battling even more enemies and occasionally admiring the gorgeous view. The water-generated waves look fabulous, especially with the lighting effects.

After a few moments, Nero walks along the ridges of a snow-capped mountain in the middle of a storm. After dispatching another enemy and chopping apart pillars to find orbs, he soon crosses over a bridge and into a tremendous castle. Once he gets through there, he runs into a couple of snow beasts that charge at him with swooping attacks. They also shoot ice attacks and form snow shields around their body, which Nero breaks apart with his blade. Following their decimation (which did not come easy -- the game remains incredibly difficulty), the stage was set for the third and final segment of the game -- the boss battle.

Nero comes upon a small village, where he finds a large multi-legged demon named Berial, carrying a large sword in his grasp. As expected, Berial brags about his tremendous size and power, and Nero challenges him to a firefight -- literally. This fiendish overlord engulfs himself in flames and swipes his sword at Nero, crushing the small houses surrounding him. Nero can jump over his attacks or stay out of the way, emptying a vast amount of gunfire into him. However, it does very minimal damage. The best way to beat this hellish nightmare involves striking him with the sword as quickly as possible. Eventually, his flames get doused and Nero can strike with even more sword swipes and a throw. Watching him pick up this big loser and slam him to the ground proved extremely gratifying. It won't be long before Berial regains his fire, however. This forces Nero to once again take the slow and steady approach in order to keep his life bar intact.

The fourth chapter of Devil May Cry looks amazingly beautiful, with tranquil beauty bending around every corner. The animation, especially the flames on the boss, looks splendid and the environments bring out the best in the PS3. The game play works on the same level as the previous Devil May Cry releases, with plenty of offensive and defensive maneuvers to unload on enemies. As mentioned, the extreme difficulty may turn off some, but the final game will have adjustable difficulty levels, giving amateurs an easy way out.

Devil May Cry 4 unleashes its wondrous hell on store shelves later this year. Count the days to greatness.

Related Links

Devil May Cry 4 Game Guide

Capcom