They say that the devil is in the detail, and if that so happens to be true, then Devil May Cry 4 certainly has it in droves. Fans of the long running franchise will find something here to fit their evil creature slaying needs, as well as new players alike. Devil May Cry 4 is extremely open in terms of control to new players, as you can swing and shoot with random weapon button presses to cause some damage, but it will take practice to pull all the moves off and have them come out really cool looking. And as fans know, cool is at the heart of it all.

In the preview you don’t play as Dante, but rather someone who looks so much like him they might as well and go ahead and call him Dante since they use swords and shoot guns like each other; but still this new character has something new in his arsenal – a demonic arm. All the face buttons pretty much can be pressed in different ways and patterns to cause all sorts of destruction and mayhem. You can lock-on with one button press and just light enemies up with your guns from a distance, or you could reach forward with your demonic arm, bringing them closer, popping them in the air, following after, and then riddling their body with bullets. Both methods will get the job done, but only one really sounds pretty cool.

Action was smooth and fast, never stuttering or stopping or popping at all. Once the controls were known it was easy to dodge, attack, and block, making for a lovely ballet of demonic bliss. The preview wasn’t too hard, something the first three games were very known for, but it is just an opening level meant to get you into the swing of things, so the action probably amps up the difficulty relatively quickly as you progress through the game. Enemies weren’t the brightest, but they often knew how to gang up on me, attacking me from one side while I was blindsided on the other. The only enemy type of the preview build was a puppet looking pile of old rags.

The sound work (based on what we could hear over the deafening noise coming from the hanger where it was showed off) was solid with the gothic vibe of the soundtrack merging perfectly well with the fast and frantic action happening on the screen at any possible moment. The graphics were also gorgeous, consisting mostly of gothic architecture and European designed buildings.

It was easy to see where we needed to go from one location to the next, thanks to a helpful map that always lit the door up orange so you knew you needed to head there to proceed. Though linear, it is perhaps needed in a game like this, which focuses so much on the action, you just want to get to the next section in order to fight and kill just as quick as possible. One fun example of the environmental usage, and showcasing how linear things are, is the demon reach that acts like a harpoon hook-shot of sorts, which allows you to stand on predetermined blue circles and then magically stretch the force from one place to the next, zipping across the level's consistent path.

Be sure to keep watching out for Devil May Cry 4 as it creeps closer and closer to release.