At E3 2012, we got some hands-on time with the upcoming Devil May Cry series reboot.  With an overhauled combat dynamic and rebuilt characters, the game retains the flavor of the original series while at the same time serving as both an entry point for new players and a returning point for those who have been out of the fold.  Fast and intense as ever, DmC: Devil May Cry has a lot going for it.

As expected, you still play as Dante, a half-demon gunslinger who has shorter hair and a different face but the same cockiness and ability.  The demo we played wasted no time in diving into the insanity, with Dante navigating a city environment in which cameras turned into eyestalks that must be destroyed, and the metropolis is populated by both angelic and demonic figures, all of which are hostile.

Dante has a new set of powers.  In addition to his regular attacks, he can also use angel or demon attacks by holding down one of the triggers.  For example, while the X button on its own makes Dante shoot, the angel modifier pulls Dante toward the enemy, and the demon modifier pulls them toward him.  This allows you to string together vastly different moves and strategies, though you don't need to remember a ton of combos to do so.  Your prowess in combat did seem to still be graded, though to what extent was not immediately apparent in our play session.

Some enemies require a combination of the powers to defeat, such as the flying cherubs that can only be engaged in melee if you pull yourself toward them, or some enemies with shields that you can yank to make them stagger and vulnerable to attack.  You also feel like a badass when you knock an enemy into the air and pull yourself up to them to continue the beating, or pull them back to keep the carnage at your current location.

What remained exactly the same from previous entries was how insane the game can get.  As Dante navigated a church, the floor kept successively splitting into larger and larger gaps over an endless abyss.  He finally had to use his angel powers to grab and pull himself toward a variety of angel points before finally through a massive stained glass window. Of course, this ends with a quip about how church seems to take forever.

We didn't get a whole lot of information on DmC: Devil May Cry, but from our limited play, it seems that the developers have the right idea in keeping the entertaining gameplay intact.  At the same time, the pursuit of the new gameplay direction seems to have done a great deal to freshen up the series.  Look for more information on the game as it approaches its Jan. 2013 release date.