Maximum PC - USA (2019-06)

Who you gonna call?

Devil May Cry 5

FOLLOWING THE RELEASE of the Resident

Evil 2 remake, Capcom is on a roll, and is

bringing its console games to PC in exactly

the right way. The engine is a monster,

and console ports that once would arrive

with little or no customization options are

now taking full advantage of PC graphics.

Devil May Cry is a console-centric

series of third-person brawlers, however,

that has not always appealed to the

PC faithful. It calls out for a controller,

although mouse and keyboard controls

have been given the same amount of

thought as the rest of the game. It also

deserves to be played at the highest

frame rate you can manage—dropping

down to 1080p is a small price to pay for

smooth demon-killing.

DMC games are a strange mix of the

deep and the shallow, the smart and

the dumb. The plot follows an insectoid

demonic invasion, which can only be

stopped by young men who also have a

touch of the Luciferian about themselves

and can string fighting moves together

like you’ve never seen. There are three

There's no theme to enemies.

Some are insects, others

screaming skeletons.

Nico not only drives the van,

but creates arms for Nero too.

Bosses tower over

characters and buildings.

The city is

London-like, with

red call boxes.

throw on to enemies’ heads, even those

of bosses.

It’s also taken the New Game + concept,

which, once you’ve beaten the campaign

once, deposits you at the beginning of

the game with all your unlocked gear

and skills to face harder and refreshed

enemies. So much is changed, it feels like

a continuation rather than a restart.

DMC5 is flashy dumb fun that’s going to

repel as many as it attracts, but it’s great

to see the series on PC with a port that’s

had so much thought and love put into it.

If you’ve never played a game in the series

before, this is a great place to join the

hype train. –IAN EVENDEN

protagonists: Dante, Nero, and V, each

of whom have different fighting styles.

Dante uses swords and guns, and also in

one memorable scene a motorbike that

comes apart into two ax-like weapons,

with multiple fighting styles. Nero can

switch between mechanical arms that

destroy demons in different ways. And V

can summon a demon, big cat, and griffon

to do the fighting for him.

It’s all very silly, preposterous even, the

tone set by a slow-motion intro sequence

that has its tongue firmly in its cheek. The

game’s depth comes from the fighting

combos, as you prowl around its levels

killing just about everything that moves,

and collecting orbs that lead to upgrades.

A system of ratings, applied at the end

of each level, supplies the impetus to

replay to improve your skills, but the sight

of characters sliding smoothly between

lock-ons, gunshots, weapon sweeps,

moves that pull you into the faces of

enemies, then explosions that knock you

back out of harm’s way is reward in itself.

There’s even a weaponized hat you can

Devil May Cry 5

REVELS Fast; good looking;

easy to pick up; tricky combat.

DEVILS You might wonder what’s going on.

RECOMMENDED SPECS i7-3770/FX-9590;

8GB RAM; GTX 1060 6GB/RX 480 8GB.

$60, http://www.devilmaycry5.com, ESRB: M

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VERDICT

in the lab

90 MAXIMUMPC JUN 2019 maximumpc.com