Dante’s Inferno: Reviewed (360, PS3)

There has been quite a lot going on in the Hell department over the last month or so and the game sandwiched in the middle is EA’s Dante’s Inferno, developed by Visceral Games.Based loosely on the 14th century script from Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Dante’s Inferno is a hack and slash adventure leading you through the 9 circles of hell and seriously resembles a certain other franchise that is exclusive to Sony.  The story itself is best described this way.  Man goes off to war, his virginal missus has bet the devil that he will not get up to mischief whilst away, during war, man gets the blessing of the Bishop (no pun intended) to go on a frenzy as all his sins will be absolved, man gets fed up with war and comes back early to find the virginal bird dead as she lost the bet and her soul taken by the man in red.  Phew.  The rest of the game tasks Dante to kick some serious demon ass through Hell to get her soul back.

It all sounds a bit grim but that is how the game has been designed and nothing shows this better than Visceral’s depiction of hell as described in the famous story.  Every element of each circle of hell’s visual style has been given a mature depiction of the sins derived from the book.  From Limbo to Lust to Guttony, the look for each sin gives a creepy, edgy and dirty feel.  From gratuitous sexual imagery to blood lust and severe violence, it is all here in droves and the game is definitely worthy of the 18 certification afforded to it.

Remember this is not meant to be a game for children, it is not even a game that has been created to provoke a reaction from the media.  To do that would be to damn the very classic poem that has spawned this game in the first place and it lays out its stall almost immediately to brutal effect.

All good hack and slash adventures need to have a solid foundation to build from in terms of control and Dante’s Inferno delivers it pretty well.  Based on the standard moves of most games in this genre you have your power attacks, your normal attacks which you can attach combo moves to.  The face buttons feel responsive when pressed and the battles appear fluid.  There are also certain points when a pre determined button combination appears for special moves and actions which when pressed at the correct time will unleash a slow motion action scene.  You can also upgrade your attacks and magic via a nice little character enhancer where the souls you have collected will go towards more abilities.  Pretty standard fare but it does work quite well.  When in the middle of a fight there are chances to grab your foe to absolve them or to punish them for your sins by pressing the R trigger.  If you are in a fiendish mood the punishment option will open up a horrific death move where absolution for all you saintly people will allow you to collect their souls.  This element works well but does have a flaw in that the other demons and monsters will back away while you decide what to do.  In a world so chaotic I feel it would have been wiser to let them attack whilst this is going on.

As you are aware, any game in this genre bases itself around running through areas, killing enemies in the most brutal way possible, solving a few puzzles and playing a few mini games.  Dante’s Inferno is no difference at all and breaks these components down in nice bite size chunks that differentiate enough that you won’t get bored with the dynamics of the game immediately.  Move crates around to get to other areas, time your moves and jumps at certain points to stop yourself falling off of crashing floor and kill as many enemies as you can as brutally as you can.  There are also certain famous people from history where you get to decide their fate.  People like Pontius Pilot and Orpheaus make their back stories heard and you decide their fate.  Punish them will enter into your standard death moves but to absolve them enters you into a mini game.  It feels like a rhythm game without the music to collect bonus souls, tap the right face buttons as the souls come in over a given period of time and you will gain extra souls for use to power up.  Although fun for the first few occasions you do tire from this quickly so I personally opted for death moves after a while for the fun factor.

Overall, Dante’s Inferno is a solid game, built on the foundations of a classic poem that depicts its environment in the brutal and hellish way that you would imagine.  The howling, crying of babies and lost souls adds an eerie atmosphere to the game but where perhaps the game shines in visual style and mechanic it slightly falls short on originality.  It is standard hack and slash fare that has been seen before and although there is replay value there, I think after completion the game will really shine again when the first scheduled piece of DLC arrives in April.

Don’t get me wrong, I have had a lot of fun with the game and will continue to do so.  It has done nothing wrong where Dante’s Inferno is concerned but feel that PS3 owners will wait to see what the next big game in this genre delivers.  If you are 360 though and want something that will deliver a similar experience to its Sony counterpart and love this genre then I would recommend it to you.