Revived by Reboot: Devil May Cry

The Devil May Cry series from Capcom  has had players slaying demons and stringing combos together since 2001. The games follow Dante, a human with demonic powers who makes a living fighting and occasionally saving the world from demons. The games were all well received and the series had quite a following being one of the most popular stylistic action games on shelves. After four entries in the series though, Capcom decided to switch things up, reboot the game and start from scratch. Nobody really saw it coming and fans complained it didn't need a reboot.

As promotional material and trailers became available, fans really began to voice their concern, some threatening to never buy Capcom games ever again. I completely disagree though. The games never seemed to have a solid story nor did they ever continue from game to game. That isn't a bad thing but they just weren't being executed right and they were beginning to feel stale. The gameplay was fun, but that isn't always enough. This reboot really served to revive the Devil May Cry series.

One of the first major changes of the series was to the main character, Dante himself. Dante's long white hair was traded for a modern brunette cut and he was given a more "western" look. Promotions were released early on depicting the younger-looking Dante as a delinquent, punky guy. He definitely has the, I'm too cool for everything look, which I think put a lot of people off initially. Fans of the series were frustrated with the re-imagination of Dante but I honestly can't fathom why. The original Dante looked like some kind of gigolo stripper. Of course, I loved the series when I was younger and I thought Dante was awesome, but compared to the new Dante, the shirtless, leather pants wearing Dante of the original series just seemed silly in retrospect.

New Dante                                Vs.                                         Old Dante        

The redesign of Dante wasn't the only improvement however; it was only one of many. Perhaps my favorite improvement was to the actual story of the game. Instead of featuring some dude who runs a shop called Devil May Cry and contracts himself out as a demon killer, the reboot decided to take a less corny route. The reboot focused on telling the origin story (many reboots do these days) of Dante and begins with him before he even began fighting against the demonic forces. I won't spoil the story here but it does a great job of explaining where Dante's demonic powers emanate from and his motivation for fighting against the demons. It reveals a lot about Dante as a character and his grim past and the war between demons and angels and how mankind fits into the picture. The game also does a great job of creating an engaging story without sacrificing the self-reflexive humor and occasional one-liners of the original series; the only main difference is the voice actors in the reboot and their ability to not make the game sound like a B rated film on the SyFy channel.

The third and arguably greatest improvement the reboot featured was the enhanced combat. Don't get me wrong, the combat in the original games was amazing and the fact that the reboot was able to improve upon that, is phenomenal. Capcom spiced up the combat with new weapons players earn through the course of the game which can be switched on the fly without ever pausing or using a menu. Dante is still armed with his trademark sword Rebellion and trusty pistols, Ebony and Ivory but he can also equip an arsenal worth of other useful weapons.

These new weapons include a scythe that makes juggling multiple enemies at a time a cinch, an ax for obliterating armored foes, a pair of bladed boomerangs for crowd control and some heavy iron fists for pummeling enemies into a pulp. Dante also gains grappling weapons he can use to pull himself toward enemies or pull the enemies toward him for some deadly punishment. These new weapons allow players to create some seriously insane combos and makes the gameplay fun for newcomers as well. They also help create plenty of variety to increase your stylish rank score which earn you more points to spend on new abilities and upgrades. The combos and weapon switching isn't hard at all. You can be very effective without button mashing and without concentrating on any complicated button presses. The combat is very fluid, smooth and you feel like a total badass the entire time.

I know there have been some bad reboots out there but in some cases, I think a reboot can definitely turn things around for a series and reinvigorate the experience of the game. Devil May Cry is only one example and while many fans of the original series condemned the reboot, the game received mostly positive reviews. I'm eager for news concerning the sequel and I hope to see Capcom follow up with more demon slaying action. What do you think? Did this reboot save the series, or should Capcom have stayed with their original formula?

The Amazing Spiderman: Movie Review

When Sony Studios announced that the next Spider-Man movie would be a reboot, most people reacted with confusion. The series had only been dormant for about three years after the third movie and a reboot seemed unnecessary to most; so why was the series rebooted? The third film was arguably the worst in the series and showed considerable signs that new talent was needed. Disagreements between director, Sam Raimi and Sony made Spider-Man 3 into a huge mess with too many subplots. Leading actor Tobey Maguire was being paid upwards of $50 million dollars to come back for another film and rising paychecks for Kirsten Dunst and other supporting actors inflated the budget to a point where it would be more economical to just start fresh.

So The Amazing Spider-Man was born; a new take on the old origin story utilizes smarter writing and a fresh cast to inject new life into the Spider-Man story. Director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) teams up with writer, James Vanderbilt to retell the beginning of Spider-Man.

Left in the care of his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field), the film focuses on Peter Parker's (Andrew Garfield) emotional issues with the mysterious disappearance of his parents rather than his nerd status and bullies at high school. Peter comes across his father's old briefcase containing files on cross-species genetics which leads Peter to his father's friend and partner, Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) at Oscorp. Peter and a one-armed Connors get along great swapping scientific equations and discussing Connor's research but Peter's curiosity at Oscorp leaves his DNA mutated with that of a spider. While Peter copes with his powers, Dr. Connors continues his experiments under the demands of the elusive Norman Osborne and is pressured into prematurely beginning experiments on live subjects, himself first. The experiment results in Connors mutating in a giant lizard man; he's driven mad by the power and craves more of the drug that transforms him and Spider-Man is the only one who can stop him.

This new take on the origins of Spider-Man takes the opportunity to explore Peter Parker's life as a high school kid, before he even became Spider-Man. Peter Parker isn't bitten by a spider in the first ten minutes of the movie, don't expect that to happen until you're about an hour in. No, The Amazing Spider-Man takes the time to show us what kind of person Peter Parker is and Andrew Garfield does an excellent job of fleshing the character out whether he's behind the mask or not.

Peter Parker and friendly neighborhood web-slinger, Spider-Man are played by the leaner and younger Andrew Garfield. He embodies the physical appearance of Peter Parker better than Tobey Maguire and while he's still a debate team participant and mathlete, he has this quality of independence and he's more of an outcast rather than some geeky loser. He carries around a skateboard that he rides along on the streets of New York or around school, until he's warned by a teacher passing by. This new Peter Parker isn't afraid to break some rules or deviate from the status quo. With glasses replaced by contact lenses and calculator by smart phone, it's safe to say that Peter Parker can actually be described as cool. Garfield's more rebellious Peter Parker is still at heart a good kid but is constantly bemoaned with the disappearance of his parents. Garfield really makes you care about Peter Parker so that when we see a nasty argument with his aunt and uncle or hear a gut-wrenching, emotional voice mail from Uncle Ben, feelings of sympathy are amplified.

 Emma Stone is a fresh addition to the cast as well, replacing the boring and annoying Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). She's an adept intellectual science major who works at Oscorp as an asistant to Dr. Connors and she is also the love interest of Peter Parker. Gwen is coincidentally the daughter of police captain George Stacey (Dennis Leary) who aims to arrest Spider-Man. The characters go well together and compliment each other perfectly; they're both model students and have a rebellious side. Some of the best moments of the movie are scenes that focus on the flirtatious couple whether it be Peter sneaking into Gwen's room from the fire escape or the scene in which Gwen is truly worried about the safety of a battered Peter being the hero Spider-Man.Garfield and Stone have obvious chemistry and their scenes together were a joy to watch.

After Peter dons the new Spider-Man suit which has noticeably darker colors, the film shifts to feature more action and combat but doesn't ditch Peter's turmoil between his life as a kid and a hero. Action scenes with the assistance of CGI are expertly shot and won't give you a headache like most films these days. The camera doesn't frantically move, wildly around the screen or from frame to frame in milliseconds. You can actually see what's going on and when you do, you'll definitely notice that Spider-Man actually fights like a spider. His movements are much more agile, quick and unpredictable. His webs, which are now supported by devices on his wrists (like in the comics) come into play during combat a lot more as well, unlike Raimi's Spider-Man who was more of a brawler. This new fighting style definitely comes into play during Spider-man's fights with The Lizard who is rendered perfectly to resemble a man and a lizard.The 3D is also awesome but you might regret choosing so since there's no action or web swinging until about an hour in and the beginning scenes just aren't that interesting in 3D.

The themes of power and responsibility are still a strong element in the movie and play a role in Peter's decision making throughout the movie. Not only are Peter's spidey powers the focus here but his intellectual prowess is also something that he realizes can hurt people. Something I enjoyed more though was seeing Peter return home from his outings as Spider-Man bruised and scuffed up. While he is superhuman and has these powers, he's still taking hits and experiencing pain. It's a clear indication that he's not invincible and that he's putting his own well being on the line to protect the people of New York.

Marc Webb does a commendable job of rebooting the Spider-Man series with much more engaging actors, better writing and direction.Webb and the new refreshing cast do an excellent job of engaging the audience and capturing your attention. There are actually elements of tension, suspense, true romance and you can expect the occasional laugh to relieve some of the more emotional scenes. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone alone made the movie much more compelling and entertaining than their predecessors from Raimi's era. The movie is suitable for the whole family as well. Younger children may find The Lizard a little scary but the rest of the film is appropriate for most ages. And as always, you can expect a brief scene teasing sequel which comes about two minutes into the credits. All-in-All the reboot is great and scores better than the original three. If you like Spider-Man or heroes in general, I would definitely recommend the Amazing Spider-Man.

Lara Croft gets her hands dirty in New Tomb Raider Trailer

Lara Croft is looking better than ever as she takes on some bad guys in some kind of Mountain-top village. Tomb Raider now supports a cover based shooting system similar to the Uncharted games in which players must utilize cover from their environment. We see a beautifully rendered jungle as Lara runs and hurdles over some ancient looking bridges and wades across a small river. The lighting and shadow effects look brilliant as well. In the distance, you can see more mountains shrouded in mist as Lara treks onward.

She encounters a group of three men, past survivors who have adopted the ideals of a leader which is still unnamed. They operate as a type of cult which seems to pillage the remains of crashed ships and planes and violently indoctrinate any survivors into their cult. Those who oppose are seemingly killed. Director Karl Stewart revealed that not all of these scavengers are loyal to their leader though and still seek escape from the island.

Lara approaches the group scavengers stealthily, armed with a bow she must have found on the island. She peeks over the wall and fires an arrow into the head of one of the unsuspecting scavengers causing him to fall off the cliff he was standing at. Lara then turns her focus to the other two scavengers who are still unaware of their dead friend. She takes aim with her bow again and fires an arrow into the head of one. The other man, startled, dives for cover as he flips a table over and begins firing his gun at Lara. She scurries behind the wall dodging the sporadic shots which chip pieces of the wall, explode vases of water sending bits of ceramic in all directions. The  destructible environments look to provide a much more intense action experience.

The man takes a moment to reload his gun which allows Lara to charge him sending him to his death in a free fall off the cliff. Lara then turns her attention to a zip-line which takes her across the canyon to another part of the village. As Lara Lara explores further into the village, she encounters another group of men. She is able to ignite the tips of her arrows and shoot them into flammable materials resulting in fires and explosions. The fire spreads across the different materials and even ignites one of the scavengers at one point.

Enemies react to shots from the bow depending on where they're hit. Lara shoots one scavenger in the leg sending him in pain to his knees allowing her to finish him off with the ice-axe she has; Tomb Raider now seems to support a fair amount of close combat. After another brief fire fight, Lara attempts to cross some treacherous looking rapids but after a misstep, she is violently sent down the river with some other debris. As she is dragged down the river, Lara enters a couple of brief bullet-time sequences prompting her to destroy obstacles with her shotgun. The frantic fall ends with Lara in the cockpit of a crashed plane where Lara finds herself on a plane of glass which is about to shatter and send her falling hundreds of feet.

She carefully but quickly grabs a parachute and is able to put it on just as the glass breaks. The chute malfunctions on the first attempt but the reserve chute seems to save Lara as it opens just in time. She's then sent hurtling through the top of a pine forest where she's violently whipped around until she makes her eventual punishing descent.

While the new Lara Croft is inexperienced at her current youth and has much softer features, she can certainly take a brutal beating. By the end of the trailer, she is bloodied and can hardly walk. You can't help but feel sympathy for Lara as she struggles through these multiple fire fights and the harsh jungle environment. The intense action combined with the rough survival tactics is looking to be very entertaining. Check out the trailer below and see just how great this game already looks. I've been very excited since the game was announced last year and I am eagerly awaiting Tomb Raider's release on March 5th of 2012.

Get back in the Loop with new Tomb Raider trailer

The last news we had on Tomb Raider was that it had been delayed until early 2013. Square-Enix has confirmed Tomb Raider will hit shelves on March 5th of 2013 and they also unveiled a nice gameplay trailer for us. The trailer details the new, dramatic approach to Tomb Raider. Lara Croft and her adventures have been completely over-hauled and she's back at square one in her first adventure ever here.

The game will focus on survival and puzzle-solving more than it will combat it seems. I think this is a good change of pace for the Tomb Raider games. Watching the trailer, I already feel as though I like Lara more as a character and that I'm much more intrigued by her. She seems so much more interesting than the hard, bad-ass, dual-wielding pistol Lara that we're used to. I'm hoping more is revealed on the story as well and we learn who these strange islanders are that have it out for Lara. Square-Enix has confirmed they will be showing more at E3, so let's hope this is just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the trailer below.