Devil's Third

Devil's Third (Japanese: デビルズサード, Hepburn: Debiruzu Sādo) is a 2015 action-adventure game developed by Valhalla Game Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. The Wii U version was released in most regions in August 2015, and later in North America in December 2015. An online multiplayer-only version for Windows, titled Devil's Third Online, was released in collaboration with Korean publisher Nexon in Japan in June 2016. The free-to-play Windows version also supported voice-chat, which the Wii U version lacked. The Windows version was discontinued in March 2017. Despite receiving positive reviews in Japan, the Wii U version received negative reviews internationally upon release.

Devil's Third was the final game directed by Tomonobu Itagaki before his death in 2025.

While the camera is usually set to follow Ivan, the player character, the camera shifts into a first person perspective when aiming. Unlike many modern third-person shooters, it does not adopt an over-the-shoulder approach, instead opting for a more traditional camera that is directly behind the character, save for when ducking behind cover. Melee combat consists of chaining together a series of attacks, often followed with a cinematic takedown. In addition, melee weapons can be swapped, thrown at enemies, and stolen mid-counter.

It features online play and a means of reshaping the battlefield via a sort of level editor. It features three types of progression currency: Clan Funds, Dollen, and Golden Eggs. Among choosing sides in game modes, there is a third side known as the "Free Entry" option, which is said to be the option that would appeal to the Lone Wolf type of player. It isn't clear as to what this actually does, but it is implied that "Free Entry" players fight as a third force that does not contribute to either team. On December 29, 2016, at 1PM Japan Standard Time, Nintendo shut down the servers for the Wii U version of Devil's Third.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia agrees to enter into an economic treaty with the United States and Japan, which allows all three countries to maintain joint control over a group of islands off the Russian coastline - the fictional Braat Islands - with the countries becoming involved in the mining of rhenium, a mineral that is found to have strong properties and creating an alloy that can strengthen mechanized divisions of each country's army. Several years after the treaty is signed, Isaac Kumano, a former Soviet officer who now leads a terrorist outfit called the School of Democracy (SOD), utilizes an unknown Russian facility on the Braat Islands to activate the self-destruct codes of several former Soviet satellites. The resulting detonation not only creates a Kessler syndrome theory effect that takes out every satellite in orbit, but also causes an EMP blast that knocks out all of Earth's electronics, causing chaos, war, and anarchy which leads to several governments collapsing.

In Guantanamo Bay, former SOD member Ivan, serving time for his involvement with the group, is offered his freedom by US Intelligence director Charles Caraway in exchange for his help in combatting SOD. After escaping the anarchy that befell his prison, Ivan discovers that much of the world is now relying on old-fashioned technology from the early 20th century. Caraway provides Ivan assistance in the form of USAF Major Stella Maynard, and tasks him with assisting US forces in preventing SOD from shutting down the Panama Canal, as they begin using chemical weapons. Despite his best efforts, SOD manages to have the canal shut down, which causes the US navy to be paralysed following the shut down of the Suez Canal. Using a specialized tracking bullet, SOD is found to be in control of the Braat Islands, leading Ivan to be transported there to investigate further.

During this time, Ivan is shocked to come across a young woman from SOD known as C4, whom he knew and had thought dead after she intervened to protect him when he refused to condone SOD's methods and brutality on civilians. As he questions her presence, Ivan is assigned to locate a Japan physicist, Toshio Maeda, who was responsible for refining rhenium. Maeda confides that Kumano needed him in order to make use of the alloy for his own uses, and directs Ivan to a nearby base. The assault leads to the discovery of the facility Kumano used, which Caraway reveals to be a former Russian ICBM site that also controlled a military satellite that was found to be in contravention of several international treaties, which led the US to blackmail Russia into being coerced into the treaty over the Braat Islands.

Ivan swiftly finds himself forced to breach the facility, only to learn that Kumano has launched two missiles and that there is no way to stop them except with the abort codes he possesses. Seeking to stop him, Ivan enters into a heated battle with Kumano, learning that his former leader killed his parents over a botched mission and that C4 survived a bullet meant for him after an SOD scientist conducted experiments on her which led to her no longer aging naturally. Ivan manages to overcome the power Kumano stole for himself in order to kill him, treats C4 after she is injured during the battle, and destroys the missiles before they reach their target. Caraway promptly grants Ivan his freedom and allows him to spend time with C4.