Devil May Cry 4 gets some boxart

by Nick Doerr { Sep 8th 2007 at 5:30PM }

Boxart lately has been going downhill. They tend to be mishmashed, garbled pieces of last-minute marketing, with way too much happening on one little box to elicit anything but "this is cheesy". There are other boxarts like Warhawk that get the point across: title, clouds, airplane. Simple, direct, excellent.

The past boxarts for Devil May Cry have also been simple: generally it's Dante in a sweet pose with the title somewhere around him. That's why we're kind of disappointed at the supposed final boxart for Devil May Cry 4. It's got Nero in a cool pose and we're fine with that. But what's with the giant Dante in the background? It makes the entire thing seem a bit crowded, honestly. Not that it matters -- the game inside the case is what counts. Thoughts?

[Thanks, Cagalli!]

Tags: capcom, devilmaycry4

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Egster @ Sep 8th 2007 5:35PM

Like the cover hate the logo/font.

John @ Sep 8th 2007 5:54PM

Viewing this box art makes me think that they didn't hire an actual artist, they hired someone who cuts and pastes things.

What's with the leather/denim thing to the left? What's with the head up-top, some backshot of (I thought) the same character?

What's with the fake arm that looks like it was rendered on a ps2 and then upscaled?

When will these companies learn to take pride in box art?

Think of album covers.

They have a potentially killer game and they put THIS SHIT on the box?

Here's my take, frag me if you will.

But why not a view of a huge structure, a huge boss in the background, and viewing the protaganist from the back, with his arms slightly outstretched, the left arm being subtly weird.

ShadowSlayer1 @ Sep 8th 2007 6:08PM

I've never been a big fan of the series to be honest and this boxart [sadly] doesn't really look that good.

sicklesdawg @ Sep 8th 2007 5:59PM

Get a New Cover! This is only supporting my boycott also DMC2 Cover > this.

sicklesdawg @ Sep 8th 2007 6:10PM

The Colors & The Pose=fruity. There's to much on Screen! Where's the cool Eerie cover?

Stoph @ Sep 8th 2007 6:21PM

Yeah it's definitely too crowded on the cover. Get rid of Dante in the background and everything else for that matter except the Dante in the middle. Focus on him. Ewww... that cover blows goats.

kingofwale @ Sep 8th 2007 6:28PM

here's what they should do to improve it

*make the background more transparent.
*make the title A LOT bigger.
*that pose of Nero just doesn't scream "cool"

Honestly, Resistence still has the best cover over all PS3 games.

Ste @ Sep 8th 2007 6:35PM

@2 & 6

The guy in the middle is Nero. The guy in the background is Dante. ;) I believe the denim is Nero's cloke? Not sure. I agree it's a rather bad cover that looks like it's been done by some amatuer for a school project.

Egster @ Sep 8th 2007 6:37PM

@ kingofwale : have you seen the ratchett and clank cover? It's brilliant.

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/08/R%26C%20FTD%20Box%20Art-RP.jpg

Michael @ Sep 8th 2007 7:19PM

I've never been a dmc fan. Box art seems a bit amature, but it's the game inside the box that counts.

ruibing @ Sep 8th 2007 8:33PM

Devil May Cry 4 is to Metal Gear Solid 2 as Neo is to Raiden. A new character isn't usually the smart thing to do for a beloved series that always had the same main character, especially when you are suppose to fight Dante later as Neo.

kingofwale @ Sep 8th 2007 7:19PM

@9, well, Insomniac Games know their box covers. ;)

I've also always liked Enix's cover for their FF games.

shaf @ Sep 8th 2007 7:37PM

I actually like this cover its pretty sweet its a tad crowded yes and Neros had looks rather odd.

I think Dante in the background is fine tho they could use a more simple Nero on the foreground

Myke @ Sep 8th 2007 8:01PM

I do think the cover is kinda cluttered a little. To be honest, ive never played this series and because this game went multiplatform, i'll probably wont play this 1 either. Hope the rest of you guys enjoy it.

Don @ Sep 8th 2007 8:28PM

I happen to think Heavenly Sword's boxart is the best right now, that or Resistance.

Valin @ Sep 8th 2007 10:13PM

That looks like it might not even be able to fit on a PS3 box. This game should be good, but their over-doing the boxart.

Chris @ Sep 8th 2007 10:25PM

Am I the only one who doesn't have a problem with the box art? I'm not a huge fan of DMC. I loved the first one, but even though I have the third one, I haven't picked it up yet. I wonder if that affects my opinion, but if I saw this in the store, I'd think, hey, this game looks pretty cool. That's just me, though.

a.j. @ Sep 8th 2007 10:52PM

blahhh....just like the Folklore art, too much going on. it's a shame that Lair is doing so crappily because that cover is the sweetness.

gullum @ Sep 9th 2007 12:23AM

@18: I agree the Lair cover art rocks. Game ain't half bad either but thats another story.

This, on the other hand, sucks. If they HAD to include dante, thay should have had him in a mexican stand off with Nero. Dante holding up Ebony (or Ivory) and Nero holding up whatever his gun is called.

Kattleox @ Sep 9th 2007 12:40AM

the best art for any game is probably Shadow of the Colussus with Jeanne d'Arc in a strong second. I have scoured the internet trying to find cloth posters of said games to adorn my walls with, but to no avail.

This, however reminds me of any Alex Baldwin movie. Excuse me whilst I vomit.

Colin @ Sep 9th 2007 1:35AM

is it just me or does Dante look like Sean Bean?

Leo @ Sep 9th 2007 3:52AM

God, that's ugly! No wonder it's on that big white clunky thing!

Aysir @ Sep 9th 2007 4:15AM

I hope the PAL one is different. On the whole PAL releases on PS2 got far more arty covers than american versions. For instance American ICO: http://www.porkrind.org/reviews/ico.jpg
European ICO: http://coco.raceme.org/videogames/ico/images/ico_cover.jpg
The same holds true for the FF games and the MGS games too.
(There are exeptions like GOW)
Though so far PS3 games have been pretty much identical. So here's hoping we get a more Euro cover.

MCX @ Sep 9th 2007 6:54AM

Its not the photos guys its the title that is the thing thats wrong. Look how huge the pics are compared to the most important thing.. the "TITLE" thats bad designing. Its almost like they keeped adding effects and messin with the logo till they got tire. Warhawks logo is awesome. There last AD with the lilltle VS all over the place was awesome.

gamesblow @ Sep 9th 2007 8:52AM

Let's get one thing straight... Their is nothing "Sweet" about Dante... He's a complete joke and an ass smack, not to mention a huge Anal Bead. Cheesy is the word of the day when you pop in a Devilmay cry game.

Time @ Sep 9th 2007 10:55PM

@gamesblow

Dude you seriously need to see a doctor or get some kind of help...I feel sorry for you

gamesblow @ Sep 10th 2007 12:26AM

Feel sorry for me? I feel sorry for you and anyone else that thinks Dante sets a standard for being cool... Or playing games and thinking they're this important is cool. Dante got more asinine as the series has progressed... He says some of the most insainly queer things and anyone who has half a working brain knows this. You obviously still take teenage mutant ninja turtles serious, dress in spiderman pajamas and think wrestling is the best thing on tv... Not to mention can probably name every rappers real name.

If you or anyone else here fits the bill... I feel sorry for you all. Gamesblow is a success everywhere he goes... check out myspace.com/gamesblow and you'll see why I'm the most successful forum poster ever!

In the imortal words of MR. ASS SMACK DANTE "Totally RADICAL"