Dante won’t be slaying any monsters this year. Capcom today announced that DmC Devil May Cry is hitting consoles on January 15, 2013.

The game gives the Devil May Cry franchise on a more contemporary feel and follows a younger Dante and his journey through Limbo City as he fights his way through the city’s dangerous monstrosities. Players can play as Dante’s human form but can also shift into his more demonic version granting him access to angel and demon powers.

A PC version is also scheduled for next year, but it is still in development.

Ninja Theory, the developers behind the PS3-exclusive Heavenly Sword, is a developer seemingly obsessed with fusing movies and games. Heavenly Sword was semi-successful at making an interactive Asian-flavored saga, though bogged down by its own heavy-handed drama and gameplay flaws. With Enslaved, the developer has reached a far better middle ground. There’s nothing earth-shattering or innovative about any of the individual concepts and features in the game, yet the overall sum of Enslaved manages to be a good deal more than its mere parts.

What holds this third-person action/adventure together is its two protagonists—Monkey and Trip. Monkey is an amazingly acrobatic brute of a man who unleashes hell on heavily armored robotic adversaries with his armored hands and energy bo staff. When not battering down foes, his climbing skills are what really earn him his moniker, and while he’s not quite a superhuman, he’s certainly close.

Trip, on the other hand, is a beautifully demure, lithe young woman. She can climb well enough, but must rely on Monkey to, of all things, toss her up or across expanses she can’t reach, and she almost never engages in combat. She’s a decided step forward in the evolution of feminine heroines in video games. She’s lovely and wears tight-fitting clothing to be sure, but on the other hand, she’s not built like a porn star. She’s vulnerable and not particularly strong, but a whiz with hacking.

The relationship between the two starts on a slave ship where both are trapped. Trip hacks her way out, while Monkey uses his brawn. In an interesting twist, Trip has no interest in helping anyone but herself get off the plummeting ship. Indeed, she almost kills Monkey in the attempt, and when the poor bastard wakes up, he discovers that she has implanted a device on his head that forces him to follow her commands.

As it turns out, Trip wants to get back home, some 300 miles west, but knows she can’t make it on her own. So, she needs Monkey’s brawn. It’s through this remarkably adversarial start, that Enslaved manages to create one of the most intriguing, well-written, and—yes—romantic relationships you’ll find in gaming. Monkey acts and looks like a Neanderthal, but as it turns out, he’s one of most sensitive and understated male action leads ever.

The dialogue between the two is often subtle, and the animation from head to toe is so refined and detailed that much of the story, emotions, and communication between the two is carried through facial and body expressions. In a genre full of dialogue and events that hit players over the head and wooden, mannequin-like characters, this makes Enslaved surprisingly distinctive.

But enough about all the touchy-feely stuff. Enslaved might be completely story-driven, but it’s still an action game at heart. You take the role of Monkey through the entire game, and as far as bad-ass action heroes go, he’s got kicking robotic booty down. Combat in Enslaved isn’t complex—it’s the usual two-attack-button fare. Monkey can upgrade throughout the game by finding glowing “tech” orbs, which can then be used to purchase new abilities.

As you progress and upgrade Monkey, combat gets more interesting, but even right from the start bashing ‘bots is fun. The game manages to make the dismemberment of its blood-free foes feel as visceral and violent as your average God of War-style game. There’s a real heft to Monkey’s attacks that make it feel especially satisfying to perform a final brutal smash on the hulking metal masses. Boss fights aren’t particularly frequent or even varied, yet the combat remains consistently engaging for these larger battles as well.

Beyond battles, Monkey spends the bulk of his time climbing things. The game starts off in a New York City that has so long since been gutted and abandoned that’s it a bizarre mix of skeletal skyscraper remains and beautiful lush greenery. It’s a view of the apocalypse that has never been seen before, and aside from the sheer visual splendor, such landscapes provide ample opportunity for Monkey to act like his namesake. The game makes climbing easy enough—it highlights features that Monkey can use to negotiate his surroundings—though hardcore players will likely find too much hand holding. Monkey literally can’t miss or fall while climbing.

All the controls are intuitive, mostly because none of the gameplay is anything that gamers haven’t seen many times before. The levels are mostly linear, with only a modicum of exploration options, and there’s pretty much nothing in the way of branching paths. At times, the controls feel unresponsive as well—Monkey can get frustratingly stuck on small steps, and the game gets finicky at the worst times when letting you jump freely. The camera can also be frequently troublesome.

As mentioned, the game is a visual stunner. The levels are varied and gorgeous, with a color palette that defies the grim nature of the world. The voice acting is superb, and the musical score is amazing—evocative and subtle, while always suiting the action. It’s somewhat annoying that the story which builds the relationship of the two leads so well, manages to almost completely skirt around any explanation of what happened to the world. The ending, while satisfying, doesn’t quite mesh with logic either.

The Blast Factor: For single-player gamers, Enslaved is a surprising treat. Despite its flaws, the characters really make this an experience worth having. The relationship between Trip and Monkey is one of the deepest and involving you’re likely to find in a game. Combine that with the brutally fun combat and exploration of the beautiful levels, and Enslaved is one of the best games of its type since Uncharted 2.

The hack and slash gaming community has been waiting very patiently for the next installment of the hit series Devil May Cry. The first game in the series was intended to be a Resident Evil title, but ended up going down a different path and was developed into its own game. The main character in the series Dante has spread like wild fire in the gaming community, and is so popular the character has earned a spot in the upcoming Marvel VS Capcom 3.

When a popular gaming series receives a new treatment fans can become very vocal in a positive or negative way. The team at Ninja Theory is bringing something new to the table and just by looking at the image above Dante has received a major over haul. Will this cause die-hard fans to cringe or do the series justice, and will the game play live up to the series already impressive catalog.

Based on the trailer Ninja Theory released I think he looks like a young version of the Joker without make up, but it’s early to count this title out. The trailer shows Dante using his classic dual pistols to take down demons (if that’s what they are) but his rebellion sword is missing. I am a huge fan of the sword and gun combat the series is known for, if they remove the sword play I will be one unhappy fan. The trailer shows a very dark game environment and more of a twisted psychotic take on the Devil May Cry universe. This is news I have been waiting for with much anticipation along with the entire hack and slash gaming community. While I am not happy with the redesign of Dante at the moment this sometimes can be a great thing for a franchise. I have much faith in Ninja Theory and I can’t wait to see how the game play is and I will you keep you the reader updated.

Media:

One of the biggest new games for the PlayStation 3, Heavenly Sword tells the story of Nariko who is supposed to inherit the protection of a special sword kept in their clan. The sword is powerful, but it takes the life of the owner.

The clan believes that a male will be born to wield the sword, but Nariko is born, to the disappointment of her father. The story starts with Nariko fighting the final battle with the Heavenly Sword. She is defeating all the enemies when the sword overtakes her, and the game stars with her recalling the previous five days.

Nariko’s clan is being assaulted by King Bohan’s armies, who seek Heavenly Sword themselves. The game switches between melee style and ranged attacks after that. When your in ranged attacks, you can use a system called “afterthought” to guide the projectile. This uses the motion sensor of the Sixaxis controller. The afterthought is often necessary to hit a particular target. The game doesn’t let you zoom in on targets, so you shoot in the general direction, and the afterthought does the rest.

When in afterthought mode, you are looking at the world from the view of the projectile, so just guide it to where you want to hit. It isn’t perfect control — it seems more like nudging the projectile in the direction you want to go in. It is continuous control though, so if you push it too high, just push it back down. Once you get used to it, the game allows great precision for hitting the target.

The melee part of the game is a hack and slash where you just need to kill all the enemy’s coming at you. There are combos that can be used, and many enemies will come at you at once.

The graphics in the game are phenomenal. It feels like watching a movie. The sound effects are also top notch making the realism of the game great.

Overall the game is very flashy, it looks really good. I’d say it was only about average playability though. It looks great, but the shooting parts are annoying, and the fighting parts get boring. It’s also a very short game. Heavenly Sword is one of the best-looking and best-sounding PlayStation 3 games, but it’s still not IT.

Quick hits:

Publisher: Sony
Developer: Ninja Theory
Platform: PlayStation 3
Genre: Action/Adventure
Players: 1

Playability: 3 out of 5 stars
Learning Curve: 4 out of 5 stars
Sound: 5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: 5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Launch Date: September 12, 2007