Dante's Inferno
Review
Abandon All Hope, Ye That Enter
by Chris Scott
reviewed on X360
Dante's epic poem
“Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here” These are the last words Dante Alighieri reads on a sign above the gates of Hell and those words are hauntingly fitting for Visceral Games adaptation of the first part of Dante's epic poem The Divine Comedy. In the poem, Dante takes a guided tour through the nine circles of Hell. In the game he doesn't, but honestly how could he? After all Dante's Inferno is not exactly an adventure story. Yet that is what type of game Visceral has decided to create so obviously some creative adjustments had to be made. These adjustments are not exactly subtle so literary aficionados may get their panties in a bunch.
Warrior
Visceral has decided to make Dante into a veteran of the Crusades. A grizzled warrior with a sinful past, Visceral's version of Dante defeats Death himself and upon returning home finds his wife Beatrice murdered. He discovers her soul is in jeopardy of eternal damnation and thus embarks on an epic quest to save her, guided by the poet Virgil. If, and it is a mighty big if, you can get by the alteration of the historical figure Dante, then this game adaptation of Dante's Inferno could possibly be the action-adventure game you have been waiting for.
Dante's Inferno is a character action title and players will control the poet turned warrior on his journey through Hell. Dante, armed with Death's scythe and a magical cross, is able to perform a variety of different attacks and as the game progresses acquires the ability to perform different magical attacks. If any of this sounds familiar then you have most likely played a God of War game at some point in the past. It is quite obvious that Dante's Inferno took quite a bit of inspiration from the Greek mythology based button masher on the Sony consoles. This obvious inspiration is certainly not a bad thing though; in fact it helps make the game quite accessible.
Combat
Combat in Dante's Inferno will feel extremely familiar to anyone who has previously played either of the God of War games. There is a normal attack, a heavy attack and a ranged attack. Effectively combining these attacks can create some insane combos that can at times reach into the hundreds. However creating giant combos will not be quite so easy if players cannot figure out the weaknesses of each enemy type, of which Dante's Inferno has quite a few. Learning how to attack enemies' weaknesses and create large combo attacks can leave players with quite a sense of accomplishment.
Unfortunately Dante's Inferno suffers from a few of the same problems that the God of War series, as well as a lot of fixed perspective action games, do. Sometimes while battling a large quantity of enemies, or while fighting on a platform or ledge, enemies are sometimes attacking from off screen. While Dante controls in 365 degrees, battling enemies that are not on screen is difficult and frustrating no matter if you are a beefed up Italian poet, a god of war, or a lowly schmuck. If you didn't find enemies attacking from off screen cheap enough, then this game has something for you as well. The puzzles are mostly derivative, trial and error based experiences where oftentimes making an error results in the player's death.
7.8
fun score
Pros
Presents a solid charcter action title that offers up plenty of fun button mashing.
Cons
It copies quite heavily from other charcter action titles inheriting those games issues in the process, while presenting its own unique issues with derrivative, trial and error based puzzles.
