Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening Special Edition review

No more tears - Dante's back with an easier remix of his best adventure yet

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Instead of staying at a distance from everything and blowing it to bits with your handguns, you're free to get stuck in, swing that sword and try to work out some combos. Instead of running away from the bosses, you can jump in and try to work out their weak spots. Just by taking away the vicious punishments for failure, Capcom's made this a more fluid, more fun game.

In fact, it's only when you start playing like this that you understand how well put together Devil May Cry actually is. After a second instalment that almost destroyed Dante's rep with annoying camera movement and useless special moves, this is better than a return to form.

Above: You can play through the game normally as Dante. Which is better, frankly

Capcom have drafted in one of the fight choreographers behind top J-zombie flick Versus to make the cut-scenes, and the results are like violent ballet. Witness the moment when Dante's evil brother catches a load of bullets on a whirling sword and flings them back... only for Dante to slice them neatly in half. It's a beautiful thing.

More info

DescriptionAbsolutely essential if you've not played the previous Devil May Cry 3. The same game at heart - just not as ridiculously difficult
Platform"PC","PS2"
Alternative names"DMC","Devil May Cry Three"
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Joel Snape
Joel Snape enjoys Street Fighter V, any sandbox game that contains a satisfyingly clacky shotgun and worrying about the rise of accidentally-malevolent super-AI. He's also the founder-editor of livehard.co.uk, where he talks a lot about working out.