Think Devil May Cry, and the first word that pops in your head is style (followed shortly by ultra-violent). The original Devil May Cry was a beautiful game and one of the first games that let you know that the next generation of gaming had arrived. Flash forward about a year or so later and we have Devil May Cry 2, a game that Capcom would probably rather you just forget altogether. This is easier said than done for a majority of gamers – which made the job of Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening just that much more daunting. To Capcom’s credit, they’ve managed to resurrect the series and deliver the experience that Devil May Cry 2 should have been. The great gameplay comes at a price though – the game is incredibly hard and gives the PS2 its answer to Ninja Gaiden.

Stylistically, DMC3 feels a lot like the original. The dark, gritty, gothic influences are back in full force, giving you a lot to look at and nice environments for slashing up all manner of creatures. There’s the obligatory grim reaper, who you’ll meet very early in the game, as well as a cadre of the strangest creatures Hell could spit up. Then there’s Dante, who is ready to show the Prince of Persia and other wannabes just who the slick moves originator really is.

Fluid animation remains one of the game’s many strengths. Dante can transition between moves quickly and with a deadly grace rarely seen in games. There’s an awkward hiccup or two every now and then, but when you’re frantically slashing and shooting at 10+ enemies at a time, who can really take the time and notice?

Sound is one of those things you’ll either love to death or hate. I was clearly on the latter side of this boat. Voice work is good, but it can only do so much to support the oft-cheesy dialog. Some will argue that it works for the game; after all, the game really doesn’t take itself that seriously (as demonstrated by the demon that can turn herself into an electric guitar), but I just found myself cringing more than laughing at all the bad jokes. Thankfully, story isn’t something you really need to pay attention to, so you can skip the dialog and not miss much except for some really nice action scenes.

Like the voice work, music is another polarizing element. I actually liked the music, which is very fast speed metal with a few lyrics. It’s nothing I’d listen to outside the context of the game, but it’s still enjoyable.

Figuring that it was probably better to go backwards than forward, Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening is a prequel to the original game rather than a sequel. Dante is once again back to his ego-driven, cocky, rockstar ways – which is what produces many of the game’s cheesy one-liners. As far as story, Dante’s brother Virgil has come back to settle a score with Dante. His plan involves a giant tower that he... well, does any of the story even matter? Devil May Cry was not something you played for an engrossing story and neither is the third installment. DMC3 is about one thing – pure, all-out action.

Much of what made Devil May Cry so much fun returns in the series’ third installment. The emphasis in DMC3 is on flashy combat and over-the-top moves. The newest addition to gameplay is the style system. Before entering a level, you can choose to equip one of four styles, each connected to one of the four key elements of combat. For example, the Trickster style focuses on evasion in combat. In contrast, the Swordsman style is all about increasing the amount of damage inflicted with your sword, putting more of an emphasis on melee combat. Unlocking all of the secrets of the style system isn’t necessary to complete the game, nor is there one all-powerful style. Instead, the style system offers the opportunity to tailor the experience more towards your style of play. The longer you stick to a particular style, the more experience you’ll gain towards it, allowing you to unlock advanced techniques or new weapons.

Combat evolves through the use of red orbs that are collected through combat. Of course, collecting orbs isn’t a simple matter of just killing a few unfortunate souls. The number of orbs awarded is instead based on how much damage you deal to enemies – making the game’s combo system more important than ever. DMC3 is more than just a simple hack-and-slash action game. Instead, you’ll have to learn how to switch between attacks and weapons. Learning to use the taunt button effectively in combat can also help to increase your orb payouts. After earning orbs, you can then spend them on upgrades. These include improvements to your weapons as well as purchasing new moves and power-up items.

Nested within the game’s main story mode is a series of side-quests called Secret Missions. These are not easy to find and are even harder to complete, but the payoff for completing these missions is well worth the effort and could mean the difference between having to repeat a level and really kicking that one boss' ass.

The original game was never accused of being an easy game. I can still remember a few late-night online chat sessions with Psibabe where we would chalk-talk strategies for some bosses. Devil May Cry 3 carries on with the series’ legacy of difficulty, and ramps it up quite a bit, reaching Ninja Gaiden-like levels. Much of this increase can be attributed to Capcom, who in their infinite wisdom decided that “Normal” wasn’t hard enough and decided to give us Yanks the Japanese version’s Hard mode as our default setting. Thanks, the fruit basket is in the mail.

There is hope – but it will require you to swallow your pride, unlock the Easy mode, and play the game that way. This way you can enjoy everything the game has to offer before killing yourself in trying to work through the Normal level.

Devil May Cry 3 is more about strategy than just hacking away at whatever you come across, elevating it from a simple hack n’ slash to what amounts to a thinking man’s action game. A lot of planning goes into selecting just how to deal with certain enemies. Most of the time this boils down to simple pattern recognition and strategy, but it also includes knowing which weapons work best and when to use combos. There’s even a trick to knowing the right times to use the Lock-on button, and when to slash away at a crowd.

The original DMC wowed everyone with the ability to knock enemies in the air and juggle them with Dante’s two handguns. Those skills, along with a few others, help to build the backbone for just about everything you do in the game. Combos and attacks are only one part of the equation – you need a responsive and fast control system to make it all work. Thankfully, DMC3 delivers just that. Admittedly, the system isn’t the most intuitive thing at first. But after a while, you’ll find yourself pulling off massive strings of combos with little thought.

Which combos and strategies you employ differs greatly depending on which style you choose to use (as well as the weapons you’re using), but that’s what helps to make DMC3 so great. You’re never pigeon-holed into using one style, but instead have the tools to really build strategies around what you want to do.

Without question, Devil May Cry 3 is one of the hardest games on the PS2, but it’s also one of the more entertaining ones. Once you swallow your pride and drop down to the Easy level, there’s a lot to enjoy with the game. After you take the training wheels off, the game offers even more depth and replay value. Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening is a must buy for any action fan, especially those looking for more challenge from their games.