By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune

"DEVIL MAY CRY 4"
For: Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
From: Capcom
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood, language, sexual themes, violence)

MCT "Devil May Cry 4" is available for Playstation 3 and XBox 360, by Capcom.

With "Devil May Cry 4," there's good news, bad news, and little else in between. Few games can perpetrate the kind of party fouls this one commits and get away with it like "DMC4" barely, barely does.

That's because, as "DMC" fans already rightly assume, the game looks, moves and feels spectacular. Precious few third-person action games can tackle sword and fisticuffs combat with the same flair as "DMC," and that's to say nothing of the awesome gunplay and combo system it drops on top.

Things have only improved with the transition to better hardware. "DMC4" is gorgeous on every level, and the ever-expanding arsenal of moves you can execute as both Dante and newcomer Nero leads to some breathtakingly acrobatic battles.

Capcom would, of course, agree completely. In fact, it's so enamored with its work, it insists on giving you numerous opportunities to experience it.

To call "DMC4" repetitive is some kind of understatement. If you wish to see the game's ending, you must first (a) face every boss character at least twice and often three times, (b) trek through the same environments over multiple missions and © spend most of the second half backtracking through every level you saw during the first. You're not exactly playing the game twice, because the context changes, but that doesn't mean it doesn't often feel like you are.

Compounding the problem: some serious enemy non-variety. Bosses aside, you can count the number of different enemy types you'll face on two hands and have fingers to spare. Numerous methods of attack exist, but once you calculate the best means of conquering each type, things quickly become rote.

None of this is to suggest "DMC4" would be perfect had it been leaner and more diverse. In fact, the game's biggest problem might be its level design, which ranges from acceptably uninspired to obscenely convoluted. A few missions in particular give you zero guidance, leaving you to guess which exit to take and hope for some indication that you're moving forward.

Still, every time things approach the breaking point, something proprietarily wonderful happens to keep the finger off the eject button. And as long as "DMC" keeps doing things other games don't, it's a little easier than it should be to overlook the numerous violations it commits that no other game could. Buyers (or better yet, renters), take note: You've been warned.