DmC: Devil May Cry - Vergil's Downfall Preview

Brother from another mother.

Throughout DmC: Devil May Cry, I felt like Vergil bossed me around a bit too much. I suppose that's why I'm not surprised that Dante is getting a little revenge on his brother in the form of lots of time in Limbo. Vergil's Downfall picks up where the main game ends, but with Vergil's own brand of swordplay, you might have to learn how to walk all over again.

At least I did. I got comfortable with the way Rebellion and Dante's dual pistols, Ebony and Ivory, felt. Vergil's ranged attack seemingly does a bit more damage than Dante's pistols, but even pounding out a standard combo encouraged a more deliberate, measured approach.


That's fitting of Vergil's character, as he's now trapped in Limbo by a very angry Dante. Unhappy that Vergil would use the humans to his own end, Dante sends Vergil to many of the locales you've seen in the main game, but with plenty of paths and combat scenarios reworked to keep things from getting boring.

Longtime fans of the series will be pleased to find that many of Vergil's combat maneuvers are pulled straight from Devil May Cry 3, including the Slash Dimension, Air Trick, Summoned Swords, and a host of other new abilities. What's more, Vergil can activate Devil Trigger to summon a shadow of himself to aid in combat.

I'm relatively new to the series thanks to the HD collection and the latest offering from Ninja Theory, but thinking back and recalling the muscle memory of my favorite combinations got me through the trials on hand. I pulled enemies to me and launched them into the air with relative ease.


As the combat quickened, I had to wrestle with Vergil's pace and weapons. Still, that satisfying rhythm that pervades through DmC came back to me in flashes and left me wanting more. If Capcom can expand on the existing combat systems while throwing curves at cocky SSS rank players, Vergil's Downfall will be the kind of DLC we like.

What's more, players who preordered at GameStop get this expansion for free, meaning you should hold onto your disc. I was stopped short of continuing to the second mission, and what I played was short on narrative, but keeping things secret means I don't get anything spoiled prematurely either.

With every level complete with hidden collectibles and DmC's scaling difficulties, Vergil's Downfall appears set to expand on the wicked sense of speed and vicious combat established in Ninja Theory's reboot. The DLC pack will arrive on Xbox 360 and PS3 for 720MSP or $8.99 later this month.