With the exception of a rather throwaway plot, absolutely no part of Devil May Cry escapes the realm of coolness superior. [Nov 2001, p.152]

Extremely cool, if somewhat short game.

Incredible amounts of detail and animation fill Devil May Cry, and even some of the simplest effects (such as the humble lens flare) are put to jaw-dropping use. The frame rate is constant and solid 60 fps, with almost non-existent slowdown.

You don’t just kill creatures, you make them into abstract art by slicing, dicing, or machine gunning ’em to bits.

Quite possibly the game of the year – if you liked "Onimusha," then Devil May Cry will definitely possess you.

Every bit of Devil May Cry's been carefully orchestrated, and the effort pays off - there's rarely a dull moment.

The awe inspiring graphics, excellent music, intuitive gameplay, and replay value round out an excellent game that will rival "Metal Gear Solid 2" as game of the year.

An intense action/adventure game where technique is king and the challenge level is high. Throw in fantastic graphics and intuitive controls, and you’ve got one of this year’s strongest PS2 titles.

Perhaps the coolest evolution of the survival horror series yet, even besting "Onimusha Warlords," without breaking a sweat.

The best action adventure game on the planet.

Demon slaying doesn't get any better then this.

The graphics in DMC are some of the best yet for the PS2. The 3D environments are huge and designed with thousands of polygons, detailed textures, and lit with dynamic light sources that cast real-time shadows and light beams that stream in through window

Devil May Cry will have you asking yourself, "Could this game be more perfect?" And you'll quickly respond, "No, it couldn't."

There are huge staircases, statues and mystical spheres…oh wait, that last thing is not in a typical gothic-style castle. The game is well polished and I never saw a graphic I didn’t like in the whole game.

Cutting edge in every department and packing a considerable challenge, if you own a PlayStation 2 you simply have to own Devil May Cry.

A pure work of art, a stylish, heart-pumping, tour de force of action and pure arcade gameplay that gets better, deeper, and harder as the game progresses. It's an absolute must-have for the system.

The environments, the bosses, the combat, everything gels and meshes so perfectly, there isn't an action gamer out there that could call their library complete without this game. Not one.

Control wise, this setup is a major improvement over the stiff and cumbersome control scheme of RE series. Everything moves swiftly, smoothly, with dead on response to your button action.

DMC’s lightning fast gameplay presents an experience that will make you play until your thumbs bleed.

I don't say such things lightly, but this is easily one of the best games I've ever played. Everywhere I look, I find more things I want to praise about this title.

The gameplay is a tour de force that feeds off of your skills and unleashes hundreds of intense battles. The graphics, while somewhat disturbing, are beautifully designed, becoming transparent when Dante veers behind an object.

A groundbreaking title that takes the genre in a new and exciting direction. Capcom has once again managed to breathe life into a genre that had been stuck in something of a rut of late.

The fastest, sexiest, loudest, and, like all things spawned from the bowels of hell, intensely addictive assault on your senses to hit the PS2 thus far.

With anti-aliased backgrounds (nerdspeak for smooth and seamless), cool shadows and weapon lighting effects, it puts last year's PS2 games to shame.

Perhaps for the first time in the 3D action genre, Devil May Cry has successfully captured the twitch-based, relentlessly free-flowing gameplay style of so many classic 2D action games.

Perhaps not the deepest of games, revolving as it does around slaughtering demons and finding the appropriate key-substitute to open the next door, but it's certainly one of the most stylish and downright entertaining I've played in recent months.

Above all else, this game is spooky, stylish and most importantly, fun from beginning to end.

Did you know DMC was going to be "Resident Evil 4," before it was spun off into its own series? Oh, you did? Nevermind, then. [Feb 2003, p.92]

If a 10-inch thick blade rammed through his heart has no effect on him, why should Sin Scissors' demon weapons affect him?

A wonderfully immersive adventure, radiating both the creativity and technical expertise of its experienced designers.

The perfect game for people who like the "Resident Evil" look and feel, but find the slow moving story and action to be a little boring and tedious.

Crazy-wack dialogue aside, DMC is absolutely electrifying. Savor every hardcore bite. [Dec 2001, p.240]

It is simply far too difficult...and this level of difficulty seems to exist entirely to keep you from beating it within a few hours. [Nov 2001, p.96]

Where sound does suffer is in the audio levels. There are times where dialog gets so drowned out by both the music and the sound effects you can't understand a single word a character's saying.

Imagine mixing Resident Evil with the Matrix's martial arts sequences, the gun battles from a great John Woo flick and the overall structure of a late 80s brawler.

While camera problems are nothing new, Devil May Cry's biggest flaw is that it ends too quickly. Thus, its biggest strength is also its biggest weakness: the fast-paced nature of the game makes it easier to finish.