The new graphic engine, compared to the one of the original game, is clearly aimed to deliver quantity over quality. In Devil May Cry 2 you'll see bigger environments, enormous rooms, and you'll have to face hordes of enemies displayed at once on the screen, but this comes at a cost: textures are not as good as in the first instalment, character models are built with less polygons, and overall, the gothic claustrophobia of the original is hampered.

Since most of the game is played in exteriors, Devil May Cry 2 is closer to the gothic-industrial style of Batman's Gotham City than to the "Transylvanian" gothic style of the original game. The size of the levels can be impressive, and skyscrapers, warehouses, harbours are gloomy enough thanks to a good use of shadows and colors. Anyhow, after the first minute into a mission you have seen everything of the architecture of a level; together with the bland level design (read the gameplay section), textures play a primary role in conveying this sensation of monotony. If the first game boasted beautiful, rich textures, Devil May Cry 2's world is made of average quality, or just blurry, textures repeated all over the levels. This also goes against the attempt of the developers at creating a more realistic look for this sequel: because of the dull textures, skyscrapers look too much like cardboard boxes to really impress the player.

The main character models - Dante, Lucia, and all the main bosses - are truly beautiful: they are built with thousands of polygons, well textured, but first of all they are marvellously animated. Dante and Lucia's special moves, which gameplay-wise are not that useful, are a pure visual pleasure: running up walls like Bruce Lee has never looked so smooth in a videogame. Devil May Cry 2 features an impressive variety of lowly creatures and demons you have to face. While the character design for these creatures is not always convincing - be prepared to encounter possessed choppers and "terrible" possessed tanks - the game's bestiary is still one of its strong points. Compared to the first instalment, more enemies are simultaneously rendered on the screen; unluckily, this also means that less polygons and less defined textures are used for the more common demons.

Overall, Devil May Cry 2 is a very good-looking game, always running at 60fps, but sometimes it clearly lacks the atmosphere and the overall cohesiveness of the splendid visuals of the original.

I didn't like the soundtrack of Devil May Cry, and the situation hasn't changed at all with Devil May Cry 2. The game still mixes some nearly decent orchestral tunes with ugly fast-paced techno-rock tracks.

Voice acting is very rare, and while the work of the actors seems not as bad - sorry, as terrible - as in other Capcom's titles (I'm still recovering from the English version of Onimusha 2), it's completely ruined by the most laughable dialogues ever to disgrace a videogame.

Thankfully, sound effects are good, both in the heat of battles, where the clangour of your sword meets the cries of pain of the demons, and in the rare moments of exploration.

The game comes on two disks, one for each character. But don't get too excited. Devil May Cry 2 is very easy, and 6-7 hours should be enough to complete both adventures. Theoretically - epileptic seizures aside - you could finish the game in one gaming session.

There are many unlockable extras, including harder game modes, a "Bloody Palace" game mode where you basically have to kill endless waves of monsters to gain orbs that can be used in the main game, and extra costumes. There is also a third hidden character, Trish from the first Devil May Cry, complete with a bunch of nice looking new moves.

Anyhow, the extras add effective replay value only for hardcore gamers. Many, many players will probably stop playing the game after the end of Dante's disk. Devil May Cry 2 is far from offering the gaming galore of Devil May Cry.