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Usually January and February are like the barren wastelands for top-shelf triple A video games, but along with the excellent Burnout: Paradise last month, Devil May Cry 4 is another top tier game that has hit store shelves.

For those unfamiliar with the Devil May Cry series, it follows the main character Dante, a demon hunter who is hell bent on avenging his mother's murder. Throughout the series there have been twists and turns in regards to Dante's life and family but with the fourth game in the series he plays second fiddle to Nero. Some fans may be put off by Dante not being the star this time, but Nero is a cool character that's human with a demon arm called the Devil Bringer. He has special powers within that arm and they grow throughout the game. Along with the arm, Nero also has a sword that's probably as tall as him and a pistol, which he can all use simultaneously in the form of combos.

The story begins with a church service of sorts where a high priest is leading a service of worship for a demon knight named Sparda. Nero is bored and as he gets up to leave, Dante suddenly jumps throw a window and kills the high priest, and so the story begins with Nero hunting Dante, not really knowing who the legendary demon hunter is.

There are 20 missions in the game including a handful of "secret" missions where you can earn different items. As you play through the game, you are able to upgrade the character's weapons, health and abilities plus buy certain items with red orbs that you collect during the missions. After each mission you're graded on style, time completed, and items found, which earns you Proud Souls, the item you use to upgrade your skills. If you're real good you can earn "Accomplishments", which looks like will be the equivalent of Xbox 360's "Achievements" on Xbox Live. Rumor is that the "Accomplishments" will be a part PS3's upcoming Playstation Home network.

Later in the game you get play as Dante as well as use his cool cache of weapons. It's kind of an abrupt start however, because you're so used to using Nero and his demon arm, it takes a battle or two to get used to using Dante. The game also gets a bit repetitive here as well because you have to fight some of the same enemies that you already defeated as Nero. For some, this might be okay, since you get to spaz out with Dante's powers and battle the giant demons again, but for others, it would have been nice to get a change up. One of the other negative things about the game is that if you save in the middle of a mission, regardless of where you were, you have to start it over and play through once again when you load the file.

Graphic-wise, the game looks incredible, on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. The animation is fluid both within the game play and the cut scenes plus the scenery is very gothic and Transylvania-ish. The sound and voice acting is well-done too, with dialogue having some comedic elements in a sort of smart, sarcastic way.

Overall the game and story is first-rate and with all the goodies hidden around the game, and the goal to get the best grades for each mission, may have you wanting to replay the missions over again just to get that one must-have item.

Q's Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Gamespy: 4 out of 5

PSX Extreme: 9 out of 10

Check out the trailer here: