Go to Hell, That was how EA and Visceral Games marketed this game and they were not joking. Dante’s Inferno is a new Action Game That will be released on the 9th and before you read on, let me say that this game is not for the faint of heart. This is HELL we are talking about, Sinners’ and the Damned rule this place! This game features many graphic images that if your not prepared for may throw you for a loop. You will see Breasts, Gore, Even the Male Genetailia :P.
For this review I’m going to focus on 3 things, Story, Graphics and Level Design, and Core Gameplay.
First of all, The Best thing about this entire game is the story; it is based off Dante Alighieri work on “The Divine Comedy” in the 14th century. Dante’s Inferno is about a man who has committed many sins trying to find redemption through bringing his fiancé to paradise from the hands of Lucifer himself! The thing they do a great job on that I think others will hate for is that they changed the story slightly and drastically in a few places so that it would work as a game such as the fact that Dante is a Crusader or that Charon is not just ferrying souls across the river Acheron but is Actually the ferry itself. These changes keep the story intact yet change it in a way that it can keep a player interested that has never read or heard of the poem before. It works and I commend Visceral games for accomplishing this.
The Graphics in this game are ok for this generation. Nothing here will really jump out at you graphic wise but it will with its design. We have well established that this game takes place in hell so you’re going to see all kinds of evil and disturbing structures and to make it even worse is the fact that they are all made of the souls of the damned. When you find your first wall to climb you see all of their hands grabbing at you trying to free themselves from the foundations they are bound to, they scream and cry as you part ways and it leaves an impression in my honest opinion. The character design is great as well, the best example are the female demons you encounter in lust. They are nude from the bottom up, have a scar up their stomach and have nasty claws and in a regular game the fact that she is topless will well….turn some people on but here its different story due to how the moan and yell and just how the present themselves. Not many people can say that these characters’ don’t evoke the sense that these sins have forever changed them.
Now for the Nitty Gritty, Gameplay. This is a God of War clone through and through. There is barely anything new and original gameplay wise in this game, but that does not necessarily mean that’s a bad thing. Combat plays just like God of War except for the fact that you’re wielding different weapons than Kratos, The Scythe and Beatrice’s cross. The weapons feel great but after playing the game for a while they feel stale and I feel that it’s just repetition over and over. The more you kill the more souls you collect to buy more combos and other little nifty things such as more health and so forth but there is also unholy and Holy experience points as well. You earn those by either Condemning or Absolving shades*Basically Sinners from history in this game* or some of the enemies you face. The more you do of each the more options you will have in each tree and it works and depending on how you play you may stick just to one or the other. The platforming in this game feels great, you swing from ropes, jump of chasms and even sling yourself across the map using your scythe. Not going to spoil anything but the boss fights are epic and are alot of fun to finish and most of the time leaves you with a big ol sense of accomplishment: P
To Conclude, this game I would have to rate a rent due to the fact that I beat it in just under 7 hours, the weapons felt repetitive towards the 7th circle of hell and the fact that they did nothing original gameplay wise. If you have a choice I say rent this first, beat it then purchase it if you really enjoyed it when the online Co-op comes out on April 29th. I do have to say that if you enjoyed this game after finish they have a gates of hell mode that is sort of like the challenge rooms from God of War. Come dine with me in Hell :P
Developer: Visceral Games
Genre: Action Adventure
Length: 6 to 8 hours, With Arena mode and NG+
Flaws: Length, Repetitive Combat down the line, nothing original Core gameplay wise.
Get it For: The Combat, Best placeholder till God of War 3 and for the epic journey through hell
