By George Wright

SET in a stylish backdrop oozing with atmosphere and dripping with non-stop action, Devil May Cry 3 follows the Stars Wars prequel format and jaunts back in time to show how the first tales came about.

There’s a treat in store for fans of the series, with demon-slayer Dante trying to follow in his father Sparda's footsteps by taking on the forces of evil for the good of mankind — all played out to a rocking soundtrack.

Standing in our half-demon, half-human hero’s way is his samurai sword-wielding twin brother Vergil, who — like Star Wars again — has turned to the dark side and is up to no good.

Right from the off, Dante darts at breakneck pace into fights galore, employing a vast array of weaponry to master the nasties crawling out of every dark corner. Be warned, though, it’s not just the good guys who get the weapons and it’s easy to lose a life or two.

As the action zooms along, there's barely time to draw your weapon as enemy attacks fly in thick and fast, leaving your head in a spin as you twist and turn, hacking and slashing at will in a bid to stave off hordes of nasties hell-bent on doing you damage.

Tactics are called for and Dante customises his fighting style to suit different scenarios, using evasive tactics and counter attack, along with long-range and close-range weaponry skills to great effect.

It’s also vital to obtain orbs throughout the game that allow you to buy weapons, increase your strength and upgrade fighting techniques because you’ll definitely need them in a game with over 30 levels which takes a good bit of mastering and plenty of patience.

Along the way, Dante meets formidable foes and unusual characters including the alluring female hunter named Lady, whose mission is to take out — and we’re not talking about a date at the flicks — all demons, including Dante. Then there is Arkham, who’s not only an ally of Vergil and a dead-ringer for Italian football ref Pierluigi Collina, but also a man of mystery with a hidden agenda.

VERDICT: Devil May Cry is back with a bang and the young Dante has scaled new heights to reach his peak.

Four stars

By Derek Uchman

ANYONE who owns a laptop will know how tricky it is to use the touchpad.

The alternative is a conventional mouse, but carrying that about is a hassle.

And, besides, when you’re posing at Starbucks slurping your frappuccino, it just isn’t the done thing to whip out a mouse with a metre of cabling.

Logitech have given this oh-so-tricky problem some serious thought, and come up with the V500 — a mouse that has been given a complete overhaul to make it as compact as possible.

First off, it’s cordless. That’s no big deal, you might say, but the USB receiver fits snugly into a compartment when not in use. Very smart.

Cleverer still, though, is the way the mouse compacts itself for storage.

The whole chassis collapses to take up as little room as possible, and it fits into a carry case about the size of a clam-shell mobile phone.

Another unique feature (again, we assume, to save space internally) is the Scroll Panel.

The traditional wheel has been given the shove to be replaced by a touch-sensitive pad.

Simply slide your finger across for horizontal and vertical scrolling.

It’s a groundbreaking development, but does take some getting used to, especially if you have the habit of resting your forefinger on the mouse. You’ll suddenly find web pages inadvertently zipping up and down in front of your eyes.

But what about the most important feature — performance? Well, the V500 works flawlessly.

The optical sensor is accurate, even over rough terrain such as wooden surfaces, and we couldn’t discern any lag at all caused by the cordless receiver.

VERDICT: This could well be the cleverest mouse since Jerry took on Tom.

Four stars