Devil May Cry 3 Greatest Hits (what on earth?) is a repackage of the initial Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening game. It seems like a bonus, since this repackage is pretty much the entire game offered for $19.99 as opposed to the $49.99 original game, and there are some bonus offerings too. But while this seems like a bargain, it's not exactly a perfect upgrade from the original.

One of the key attractions to getting this game is the ability to play as Vergil, Dante's evil twin brother. Vergil is less flexible than Dante when it comes to using all kinds of weapons, but he's fast and he has a second costume that is even more androgynous than Dante's, if that's ever possible. I can't figure out a way to play Vergil from the start and I have to complete the game using Dante first in order to unlock him. It seems that I need to have the original saved file from Devil May Cry 3 in my Playstation 2 memory card but I've checked and I do have it in there yet I still can't play as Vergil from the beginning, hmm. Playing as Vergil is hugely disappointing though in the fact that he has no storyline, just an extra introduction cutscene. He plays through the same stages that Dante went through and I ended up fighting Vergil with Vergil. Wait a minute, I waste my time unlocking Dante for... that?

Still, there are some much-needed improvements in the game, such as the ability to change camera views (no more monsters that Dante cannot see because they are "hidden" from view, yay) and to increase the speed of gameplay. For people with no life, there's the Bloody Palace mode, which is pretty much a survival mode that requires Dante to clear 9,999 levels of a palace. Also, all the unlocked cutscenes can now be viewed through the theatre option in the opening menu.

On the downside, the difficulty of the game has been decreased so the game doesn't feel as challenging as the original was anymore. The "Very Hard" difficulty in this game is the equivalent of the "Normal" difficulty in the original game.

New gamers will have a great time with Devil May Cry 3 Greatest Hits but those who have already owned the game may prefer to borrow or rent this game first. It's the same game with a few improvements that may not be worth an additional $19.99 investment, not when the hyped ability to play as Vergil doesn't come with anything more than the novelty factor of playing as Dante's cooler twin brother.

Rating: 78

This game at Amazon.com

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