Claire and Chris Redfield are the toughest brother and sister act around, Regina is the most adept at surviving in a world of extinct lizards and Samunosake's swordsman skills are unmatched. But Dante, the hero of Devil May Cry, possesses superhuman strength, has a very big sword and is the coolest game character ever created.

Capcom's fourth survival horror game takes the hack and slash gameplay of the Onimusha and evolves it into something faster, slicker and cooler than any of its predecessors. Truly Devil May Cry is one of the slickest looking, most intense and satisfying games available on PS2. The first time you see Dante with his calm composure, white hair and that flowing blood red coat, you know you're in for a treat. Armed with both a sword and a shiny pair of silver handguns, he's the kind of guy that demons have daymares about - for you see, Dante is a demon hunter.

This is kind of ironic as Dante is part demon himself. Legend tells of the demon Sparda who led a revolt against the Devil King and thwarted his attempts to conquer and rule the human world. After imprisoning his defeated enemy, Sparda chose life in the human world, took a human wife and fathered a half human, half demon son. Armed with superhuman strength, agility and speed, Dante is a formidable opponent for even the most ancient of demons. And now a mysterious stranger named Trish has offered Dante what he's always wanted - the chance to find the source of all demons and destroy it for good. The pair of them set off for an abandoned old castle on the isolated Melee Island, but Dante's quest will be far more challenging and revealing than he could ever imagine.

The storyline is fairly straightforward compared to the other Capcom survival horror games, which is no bad thing. Various events do take place and the story does move along nicely, but the emphasis is firmly on Dante's battle as he makes his way through the abandoned castle, drawing ever near to the Devil King who is about to make his escape unless stopped.

The opening sequence is superb, with a big battle between Dante and Trish. Once at Melee Island everything is eerily quiet until the place is invaded with bizarre demon puppets - these unpleasant looking creatures float around with strings moving their arms and legs and are pretty creepy. They have knives and blades that they will use to slice and stab you with, if given a chance - so despatch them with speed before they can react.

The look of Devil May Cry is very distinctive and stylish. The graphics are a great improvement upon Onimusha and every aspect has a very slick, polished look to it, from the way the movement slightly blurs during intense battles to the nifty transition between rooms. The look of the castle is very grand, despite that it is falling to pieces, with fallen rubble and broken statues lying around the place. Its decoration is quite regal and the splendour of many parts of it spectacular. The Resident Evil style camera angles are used here again, but even this is much improved, as almost every camera viewpoint is dynamic, meaning that the camera turns to follow you across the room until the view switches to an alternate camera. This gives a strong movie feel to the game, but also makes it feel more exciting, because of the smooth movement of the cameras. The backgrounds are much more detailed and are fully rendered graphics rather than static, painted backdrops and so they look lovely.

Dante himself looks awesome and is brilliantly animated. His double jump looks really cool, his flowing coat moves very realistically and he has a whole host of attacks, most of which need to be earned as the game progresses. Every one of them looks stylish to say the least. Also the way Dante walks along holding a big pistol in each hand, blasting away at nearby demons and the way he holds his shotgun and flicks it to reload looks immensely cool. It isn't long before Dante finds Alastor, a mystical sword that bestows demonic powers upon him. With this sword Dante can transform into a demonic form, during which his speed and strength are greatly increased along with a number of extra abilities. Later in the game he finds the Gauntlets of Ifrit, which allow him to take a different demon form with a new range of powers. These two forms are based around lightning and fire, making for some very spectacular attacks and special effects.

However, the multitude of demon foes is perhaps the most graphically impressive feature. As stunning and picturesque many of the locations are and as brilliantly designed and animated Dante is, his demon foes are some of the toughest, most bizarre and huge creatures you've ever faced in a game. The puppets are just a prelude to more deadly demons. The next type you meet are large, ghostly phantoms in black cloaks, carrying giant scythes and shears, which will cut and impale you with ease if they get too close. They also have the advantage of being able to float through walls, so they can be a real challenge to kill. Before you know it though, you're facing off with a massive creature about the size of an elephant, which has a spider's head and body with a scorpion's sting and is composed primarily of bone and lava. Killing this thing is not easy and its various flame attacks are as visually striking as they are deadly. There are many other demons to face including a classic black, horned nightmare, a giant demonic bird and an ethereal lion that can shape shift in the most bizarre and deadly fashion. Every new enemy is a challenge and many of the larger bosses will take a few attempts to kill.

The sound effects are also excellent - the handguns, shotgun and grenade launcher have a real boom to them, the unearthly screeches and growls of the demons you face are very effective and the sounds of Dante's sword and gauntlet attacks are perfect, not to mention his lightning and flame attacks in his demon forms. The music switches between some tuneful yet unnerving music when Dante is going solo and some heavy rock with a good drum and bass beat when he's fighting his foes - and fight them he does!

By far the biggest part of the game is combat and because of Dante's range of moves, powers and weapons it is supremely satisfying. The toughness and challenge of the demons also adds to the enjoyment as in many cases you feel like it's an achievement just to have survived the latest onslaught. Demons can warp in at any time and often you will face a whole string of them before the action lets up. The mixture of swords and guns is a great one, combining modern and ancient weaponry and gives plenty of choice in how to approach each kind of enemy. When Dante isn't fighting he is exploring the castle, but there aren't many puzzles as such or items to carry. Most levels consist of exploring an area to find that a door is locked or blocked by a demonic barrier. Dante must then find a key or artefact to get beyond the door, which is usually guarded by one big, mean mutha or a whole host of smaller ones.

There are a few other bits and pieces to pick up along the way too. Every enemy leaves behind red orbs when it dies, which are used to buy a range of power-ups, special moves and abilities. Unfortunately many of these abilities are very expensive and you'll have to spend a lot of time wandering around fighting extra demons to be able to afford them. Some orbs can be found in the furniture too, so smash any tables, chairs and suits of armour you can find to get the goodies. Green orbs are occasionally dropped, which restore your health and blue orbs are hidden in more hard to find locations - four of these extend your health bar. Yellow orbs turn up occasionally and these restore you to full health if you die. Other items you can find and buy include extra health, temporary invincibility, devil power and holy water, which inflicts damage on all enemies in the area.

Devil power is used to fill your devil trigger gauge, which determines how long you can maintain your devil form. You have three devil triggers to begin with, but can add more by buying or finding purple orbs. The devil triggers fill up quite fast as you slaughter your enemies then once the triggers flash you can go demonic on your foes and see how they like a taste of their own medicine! A neat touch is that you can return to your normal form at any time, saving devil power if you finish off all your enemies before your power runs out.

So just what special moves can Dante perform? He can jump super high and far, also double jumping off walls and you can buy the ability to double jump in mid air too. You can buy a very powerful dash and stab manoeuvre that inflicts serious damage and is almost impossible to dodge and the ability to throw your sword like a boomerang. As Alastor you can become a spinning vortex and fly around barraging your enemies or you can leap into the air and repeatedly blast bolts of lightning at them. As Ifrit your gauntlets can unleash devastating flame attacks. All of these moves are supremely satisfying to use and every enemy is particularly susceptible to a couple of types of attack or weapon, so experiment to figure out the most efficient ways of killing your foes. The only downside is that some of these moves and abilities are very expensive to buy; in fact I didn't earn the full range before I completed the game, which is a bit of a shame.

The game is pretty big, with 22 intense missions that start off in relatively small areas but gradually increase in both scale and difficulty as the game progresses, so it will take you a while to complete. The loading times are pretty fast and the transition between locations is much quicker than in Resident Evil. Although the action is perhaps a little repetitive, it never gets boring because it all looks so cool and Dante's moves are so much fun to use. Also the locations vary a lot considering it all takes place on one island, with some quite tricky sections that require some nifty jumping to complete.

Devil May Cry brings Capcom's brand of survival horror to the masses - this is not another Resident Evil style game, but an evolution of the concept that brings it bang up to date. It looks fantastic and is faster, tougher and far more intense than any of its competitors, with a distinctive and very cool style - every PS2 owner should check this out, as the gameplay is both challenging and addictive. Dante's here to stay and as long as he's around even devils may cry.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).