Devil May Cry 3 is an origins prequel to the original game. The graphical upgrade is to be expected but Capcom have also introduced some major new elements and tweaks to the series.

In brief, the story plays out the path that led Dante to being character that you know and love. Sibling rivalry is the main thrust of the tale as we immediately find out that Dante has a twin brother, Virgil. Like Dante, Virgil has demonic-transforming tendencies and the game kicks off with a confrontation between the two.

As Dante is yet to become the character we know and love, the story is reflected in the gameplay in that you can now customise him via the My Dante system. By allocating experience points to various attributes you build up the style classes of Gunslinger (long range attacks), Swordmaster (close encounters), Trickster (fancy moves) and Royal Guard (defence and counter). Capcom have indicated that there may be more classes to come but deadlines will dictate whether that will happen of not. The combo system has been tweaked and improved, plus Dante can now equip four different kinds of weapons that can be switched around on the fly.

As you'll note in the movie, the game looks more OTT and spectacular than ever and those felt let down by the rather disappointing DMC 2 have every reason to feel a bit more confident that this third instalment will put the series soundly back on track.

Devil May Cry 3 should be out on PS2 at the end of 2004