GoW : favorite franchise for me alongside RE and POP
DMC : Dante is way to cool to be #3
NG : I played Black and Sigma , but common , a Ninja has to be a quiet killer , not a slaughterer ( though I cant wait for the DS version ) .

 That just about sums it up. The only real complaint with the original is the camera, besides that its practically perfect.

Haha, I remember playing NG on the Xbox and totally being flabbergasted at how frigging fast it was. Like one second you were here, then the next your were ripping through 3 monsters, blood everywhere. It was hard as hell, but thats what made it fun, sometimes personally i think games these days get too easy. With such an impressive and complex combat system (with all the different moves, combos, attacks and weapons that you could choose from), it has to be hard, or someone you got the hang of it would just rip through everyone and everything.

Oh, surprised no one has mentioned this, but speaking of "franchises", Ninja Gaiden happened to be one of my favorite games as a Kid on NES, that game was the fuckin shit, i remember being little playing this game day in and day out, hahaha.

God Of War - Best hack 'n' slash game EVER!

Devil May Cry - Awesome game too!

Ninja Gaiden - Not my type.

Hrmmm, i love all three games to death but if i HAD to choose.

DMC - DMC3 has a deeper combat system than NG regardless of what some would say. In NG, I would find myself doing the same Izuna drops, wall jump + slash and instant charge all the time to survive. In DMC3 you have to mix things up or jump cancel to keep the combo system going. DMC has very different/unique enemies, cool weapons, multiple styles, awesome bosses and the Devil Trigger done right (unlike GOW's lame "spartan" or "gaia flaming mode"). And also... you can't truely block in DMC, so you're always on your toes.

GOW - The actual battle system isn't spectacular and it's too easy even in hard difficulty, but the story, level design, puzzle and platforming aspects is on another level compared to NG and DMC combined. No other slasher game even gets close to GOW in terms of a cinematic experience.

NG - Right behind DMC3 and GOW by a very very slight margin IMO. The combat has never felt so pure and rewarding before. This is the hardcore gamer's action game. My only problem with the game is it's horrible story and very boring level designs. Before the game turned into instant charging and wall jump slashes, NG probably had the most intense action have ever seen in a game.

Either way, all games are fantastic (except DMC2, that one sucked real bad). Anyone that says any of these games plain sucks probably can't back it up with reasonable logic.

1. God of War  

2. DMC

3. Ninja Gaiden

I love God of War's brutality, gore, and epic story. There's something about fighting the actual God of War and then Zeus that just really nailed it for me. Both God of War games were just non-stop awesomeness on steroids.

I haven't played much of DMC, but I did like it for the most part. It just wasn't as invigorating as God of War for me. 

I liked Ninja Gaiden for the NES, so I tried out Black on the Xbox, and the whole game seemed pretty dry to me. The character model was just too plain, the story just really did nothing for me, and the whole environment didn't interest me one bit 

both devil may cry and god of war are fantastic, they are equally great in their own respect. i don't have any experiences other than a demo of ninja gaiden so i won't rate it.

1. Ninja Gaiden

2. Devil May Cry

3. God of War

I loved Ninja Gaiden just because if you died it was your own damn fault (unless you're dealing with those ghost fish, those things are ridiculous). You had to pay attention what was going on and couldn't just button mash your way to victory.

Devil May Cry just because it felt so over the top.

I really, really, really, can't say I enjoyed God of War. The majority of the game for me was just hitting square square square to pull of the same combo every time. And while some people like the button pressing sequences I personally got enough of them back on the original Parappa the Rappa.

 Cooper Lawrence?  Please watch someone play the game first, or something.