Audio
I still can't stand the screeching cacophonous eardrum-pounding racket from Noisia and Combichrist, but the music fits the game perfectly. Voice work is excellent and the sound effects are suitably bombastic.
Visuals
Not only does DmC: Definitive Edition look great in 1080p, it's also ultra-slick running at 60fps. This is a pretty bang-up remaster job.
Playability
The combat system is still excellent and stands up two years on. The frame rate makes the action even smoother than before, making this the definitive DmC experience. The clue's in the title, really.
Delivery
Given the relatively low price, there's a lot of game here. The core game with added skins, extra modes, difficulty levels, the Vergil's Downfall DLC and an extra Vergil's Bloody Palace mode. Above and beyond the usual remaster job.
Achievements
The same achievement list as before, there's not really much to shout about here. The achievements were solid to begin with and remain perfectly adequate here.
March 11, 2015
We're not going to use this review to harp on about how good DmC is. You should already know that. We reviewed it when the game first came out back in January 2013 and loved it. What we really want to know is, what do the new elements introduced in DmC Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition bring to the table? And more importantly, is it worth revisiting if you've already burned through the original game?
DmC: Definitive Edition sees Ninja Theory's game given a lick of lovely high-resolution paint, making it the prettiest it's ever been. This is evidently no mere rushed remaster though. It sounds obvious (and kinda is), but the increase in resolution makes for a fairly significant boost in detail, from the depth and richness of textures to the overall fidelity of character models. DmC DE looks fantastic, but then it already did look rather nice to begin with.
Adding additional value beyond simply being a remastered version of a two-year old game, DmC: Definitive Edition also includes several new modes and features to give fans who rinsed the original a run for their money. And there are quite a lot of additional options and difficulty levels to play through. Even die-hard fans will find something new to delve into.
Modifiers like Hardcore Mode and Turbo Mode alter the gameplay, with the former making DmC play more like a traditional Devil May Cry game (from a challenge standpoint at least, with a style system rebalance and increased enemy damage), and the latter upping the game's speed by 20 percent. Hardcore Mode can be toggled on and off before each mission, while Turbo Mode can be switched via the pause menu. Both are a neat addition, but the game plays perfectly fine the way it is, default style. That said, being able to manually lock on to enemies is a nice thing to have.
As for the new difficulty levels, the original DmC on Xbox 360 and PS3 wasn't exactly a slouch in that department, but in the new-gen version, there's a slew of difficulty levels, the majority of which need unlocking. Joining the original selection of difficulties is the new Gods Must Die difficulty level wherein enemies spawn with their Devil Trigger active and Must Style Mode in which Dante is only able to inflict damage by racking up high level combos.
There's even more extra content with Dante's Bloody Palace mode joined by Vergil's Bloody Palace mode, giving each demon slaying sibling their own combat arenas in which to battle increasingly difficult waves of enemies. Both are exceedingly tough, much as you'd expect. Again, you'll need to complete the game in order to unlock these.
Vergil fans can also enjoy the Vergil's Downfall DLC, which is included with this package. In Vergil's Downfall, you'll play as Dante's blue-coat sporting brother, wielding the formidable Yamato katana blade and a set of unique modes. It's a bit mediocre in truth, barely able to hold a candle to the main campaign, but as an added extra, it's more than welcome. It's certainly worth visiting upon completing Dante's story, and neatly sets up a potential sequel (we really really want a sequel).
The game running at 60-frames per second is also something to behold. In other games, I can pretty much take or leave 60fps, but in DmC DE, it does make a difference. The action feels more responsive and much smoother than before, while the overall visual presentation benefits from the hike in frame rate. For me, it made playing DmC for a second time feel fresh.
DmC Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition is a fine remaster that looks remarkable on new-gen consoles with a visual overhaul two years on. With the amount of additional content and modes crammed into this package at a relatively low price, this is a total no-brainer for newcomers playing for the first time on Xbox One and PS4. If you've already played the original DmC to death on Xbox 360 and PS3, however, you might want to think twice before splashing the cash.
Still utterly sublime, DmC Devil May Cry Definitive Edition has great set-pieces, memorable boss battles and a brilliant combat system that preserves the core of the original Devil May Cry games, while adding a few twists of its own. It's still utterly superlative stuff.
You can read our original DmC: Devil May Cry review here.