The demo for the fourth installment in the stylish action series Devil May Cry hit the Xbox 360 and PS3 this week, and from the looks of things, longtime fans of the series will not be disappointed.

The relatively brief demo gives you two different missions to attempt. The first, called Exterminator is a timed mission that tasks you with battling your way through a church and decimated city teeming with demonic opponents.  The other mission is called Executioner, and pits you against several ice-themed mini-bosses before setting Berial, a 30 foot flaming centaur demon, loose on you.  Neither of the missions carry much story with them, but this is probably intentional.  The demo seems like it  may represent a small chunk from somewere in the middle of the game, a tactic I prefer to the standard first-five-minutes demo formula.  

Graphically, there are some truly gorgeous environments, especially the first view you get of the city in Extermination mode and the Castlevania-inspired run to the castle in the Executioner level.  Character models are somewhat less impressive, but nice enough.

The new main character, Nero, looks just like Dante, except he wears more black than red instead of vice versa.  His attitude seems pretty much the same as well, though it isn’t prominently featured in the demo.  The one thing Nero offers that Dante didn’t is his “Devil Bringer”, a demonic right arm that can be used as a grappling weapon, adding a good amount of depth to combat.  

On the subject of combat, DMC4 offers the same visceral, high-flying action you expect from the series.  The combination of sword and gunplay is as fluid and frantic as you’d expect, though Nero’s moves are somewhat limited in the demo.  I’m hopeful, though, that that this is only a taste of the arsenal that Nero will be able to unleash in the full game.

All in all it’s a very promising demo that does a great job of teasing the action that’s sure to come, and has me all keyed up for the title’s February 5 release date.