18 Action Video Games You Must Play Before You Die

5. Devil May Cry

You must experience: Incredibly frenetic combat and one of the greatest heroes in gaming history. Another one from Shinji Mikami, and a game that started out as another Resident Evil only for Mikami himself to recognise too many elements of its design were veering into the occult and surreal, making the team branch off and create this third-person hack n' slasher, alongside one of the most downright fun protagonists to embody in the process. It's not just that you'll feel like you're playing every frenetic kung-fu action scene you've ever seen, and it's not just that the story and tone are so stupidly self-aware and ridiculous you just have to go with it - instead it's the moment a tanker-sized lava-spider descends on hero Dante, only for him to quip "I hope for your sake, you've got something inside that big body o' yours" where you knew you were in for something special. Throw in the combat that once you've got the hang of anyone watching who's unacquainted will be questioning how you can keep track of all the different coloured blurs on screen, and even this original DMC remains the best to bare the franchise's name to this day.