DEVIL MAY CRY 5 SPECIAL EDITION
Shed a tear at the sheer number of enemies on screen
Doom’s original cover is iconic, but the shooter never really felt like that art suggested it would. Perhaps the only game to really capture the sense of being overwhelmed by hordes of demons, of having to claw your way out from beneath them, is Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition.
When it comes to making use of PS5’s power, there’s more for devs to consider than turning a dial on the game up a notch. Do they want to focus on visuals like ray tracing, or do they want to use that horsepower for something else? DMC5 puts the choice in your hands, offering four different modes depending on what you’re looking for: 4K/30fps or 1080p/60fps with ray tracing turned on; 4K/60fps with ray tracing off; or up to a staggering 120fps with ray tracing also turned off. 3D audio adds to spatial awareness too. (Not much is done with the DualSense, though it’s not something you mind in the moment.)
This is Capcom’s RE Engine’s first foray on PS5. It was impressive on last generation hardware, but with all bells and whistles turned on, the excessive amounts of blood and sparks as you dance around demons look phenomenal, our demon slayers reflecting in the many puddles and windows of Red Grave City.
FRAME PERFECT
But we’ve seen pretty games before, even if not quite this pretty. What we’ve seen less of are games running quite this smoothly with framerates this high. Two extra gameplay modes up the ante in fine style too – Turbo speeds up the game by an impressive 20%, and the Legendary Dark Knight mode fills the screen with legions of enemies, gleefully littering the early streets with late-game monsters. It’s more dangerous, but provides more room to reach even higher combos. It’s no understatement to say it’s almost worth the price of entry alone, and shows PS5 breezily computing numbers that would make a PS4 blast off to space
Vergil, too, is now fully playable alongside the trio from the original (also available on PS4 as DLC), and he almost feels designed to showcase Legendary Dark Knight. His moves are an evolution of his DMC3 and DMC4 appearances, offering great power once you reach his higher skill floor, his mirage blades allowing you to teleport directly into enemies, and his massive katana slashes meaning you can devastate even large arenas. He fights his way through the story missions from the original, with only a little extra context explaining why. Don’t think about it too hard. Just kill those demons.
VERDICT
“LEGENDARY DARK KNIGHT MODE FILLS THE SCREEN WITH LEGIONS OF ENEMIES.”
Special Edition raises the character-action bar even higher than the original, with high frame rates and Legendary Dark Knight mode seriously wowing. Oscar Taylor-Kent