Edge writes: Capcom pulls of the impossible, managing to ensure that a hardcore, 20-level epic can be enjoyed by the masses too.

On paper, Devil May Cry 4 looks like something horrible: a bloated spectacle for the God Of War crowd, full of maladjustments, contrivances and enough self-loathing to push Dante, its dazzling hero, completely out of frame. Who is this Nero, with his fresh face and demon arm, automating the very processes that make DMC so clever? How dare he vault effortlessly, at the touch of a button, over the heads of his enemies, racking up combos with nary a thought for distance or defense?

The truth is complicated, particularly because all of the above (bar the horrible bit) are true to a degree. In a bid to rescue his beloved Kyrie (pronounced Ki-ri-yay), a winsome opera singer abducted just as he was getting somewhere, Nero literally flies through a game that"s more lenient, streamlined and accessible than any of its predecessors. More like Kratos than Dante, his role is to reach out, through an initially rather cheap grapple technique, to players who think a Crazy Combo comes with fries and a fizzy drink.