Hands-on with DmC: Definitive Edition on PS4

When DmC: Devil May Cry launched in January of 2013, Ninja Theory introduced the world to a fresh interpretation of an iconic video game (anti)hero. Half angel, half demon, the Dante of DmC not only fought legions of demon spawn, but the misinformation of an evil corporation. The demon king Mundus took a CEO’s office, not a dark throne. It was a new game world, and Dante kicked its ass.

Now the smart-talking Dante fights on in DmC: Definitive Edition, launching March 10th on PS4. It’s an enhanced version of the original PS3 game with a slew of new features and a layer of polish that makes Dante’s demon-killing exploits and confident gunplay even more satisfying. I had a chance to put the Definitive Edition through its paces, and managed to avoid embarrassing myself in the Bloody Palace along the way.

Starting with the basics: the Definitive Edition runs at 60 frames per second in crisp 1080p. This propels the fast-paced combat and kinetic environments to new heights, enhancing Dante’s deft swordwork and the ever-shifting realm of Limbo.

To fully wring every advantage out of these new performance upgrades, the Definitive Edition also features a Turbo Mode that amps the game speed up 20 percent. If you thought fending off hordes of twisted abominations was both a challenge and a thrill in the original version, just wait.

The developers have also included a new difficulty level aptly named “Gods Must Die” in which all enemies have their Devil Triggers active when they spawn. This is the game’s way of saying “good luck, LOL,” and then throwing Dante into a giant hell blender. But what would Devil May Cry be without those over-the-top challenges that keep players coming back for additional punishment?

DmC: Definitive Edition also comes equipped with a Hardcore Mode, which adjusts the combat design to feel more like the traditional Devil May Cry games. This means a more rigorous Style ranking system, modified Devil Trigger, and other tweaks to give gamers that worshipped the original series something else to sink their combo-hungry teeth into. Definitive Edition allows for the mixing and matching of these different modes, too, to give players an unprecedented degree of control over how the game plays. If you want to crank the difficulty, turn on Turbo and Hardcore, then bang your head against a wall, you’re welcome to do so.

Most of these new additions are also reflected in Vergil’s Downfall, a campaign that follows Dante’s brother after the events of the main story and casts players as the arrogant, samurai-like Nephilim. As a bonus: Ninja Theory built an entire Bloody Palace just for Vergil in this edition, which means a new arena with dozens of enemy waves to train against and dispatch in short order.

Even if you already cleared the original DmC, the Definitive Edition gives you a plethora of reasons to go back in with your fists swinging. Good luck with that SSS ranking.