Dante’s Inferno

By now, you probably heard all of the gamers say that Dante’s Inferno is a clone of God of War III. Well that is true, to an extent. Sure you use the right stick to evade, the right top back button is an action button, and the camera style is similar. With all these things, Visceral Games still found a way to make a somewhat unique game. While you are reading this review, try to get Kratos out of your head, thanks.

So here you are a brave warrior who goes by the name of Dante. You are in the middle of war and then all of a sudden your wife just dies. Now it is up to you to try to figure out why and who did it. Beginning your journey, you will have to battle through a wave of peasants and meet a black figure, better known as Death. Once you are able to defeat Death, then the real fun begins. (Sounds like a Final Destination reference, eh?)  You will go directly to Hell, starting with the first of nine circles. This adventure is very detailed, and has some unique natives along its path; which varies from a female with babies coming from her breast to controlling a monster troll-like figure. Playing through each circle has very different play styles. There may be some parts where you have drop-your-jaw moments. Other times there will be those “Is it almost over?” moments. Awkwardly, these moments are equal. Now, don’t think that it is a bad thing. Sure you want to have nothing but jaw-dropping moments, but no game is that perfect.

Levels and enemies are very detailed.

With that being said, no level is repetitive. The detail in each level is truly amazing. There will be times where you will have to just pause the game and say “Damn.” The use of the environment is very important to gameplay. The developers made sure to use it wisely and not over do it at the same time. For instance, climbing and swinging is a huge part in the game. Throughout your expedition you will have to time most of your moves or else die. Another significant factor to the levels is your tour guide, Virgil. As a ghost, he will explain to you what you are doing and what you need to do to prepare for the road ahead. Most of the time, he will drop hints on how to complete a certain task. Don’t rely too much on him though, as he only gives you enough information to still make you think.

Now it will be boring to go through each level, just hacking and slashing enemies, don’t you think? Well, it’s a good thing the makers of the game were able to add RPG-like elements. There are two paths you can take on your quest: holy and un-holy. If you feel like you want to be a good guy, then you will most likely absolve all your enemies. In other words, instead of killing them all the way, you will put your cross in their face and capture their sins, thus increasing your holy experience. For those who want to be Mr. Bad Ass, you can punish every enemy and add value to your un-holy path. Going forward in your journey, you will come across some famous people who committed some evil sins. There are two ways you can take care of them. The reasonable, and longer, way is to absolve them, thus bringing up a dance dance revolution-like game. Basically, buttons come across your screen with forty seconds, and once it hits a certain spot, you hit the corresponding button. If you successfully timed it you will capture a sin, otherwise you will lose a sin. It gets much harder and trickier once the time goes down. Doing this will send them to heaven and increase your holy path. Just as you figured, if you decide to punish them then you kill them and increase your un-holy path.

Holy path is a great path

Now in each path, there are seven levels you can earn with experience points by absolving or punishing. Once you reach a certain level, you will be able to buy upgrades with the souls you have collected. Some of these upgrades may be from extending attacks to getting health by killing. Along with the path you take, there will be instances in the game where you will receive the option to use relics. These relic collections go hand-in-hand with your path you take. With the souls you collected you will also be able to purchase magic and use it in the game. Be careful not to use it all the time, because you can use up all your magic and have to refill somewhere.

As mentioned earlier, bosses and enemies vary. Probably the most memorable boss is Cleopatra. The way Visceral made her so detailed and believable, is truly amazing. There has not been a game to feature such graphic fine points in a battle. When you get to the middle of certain circles, and you have to fight your way through bosses; there are times where you have to think what to do. Now this may seem frustrating, but in reality, the strategy to each boss is simple. Most of the clues are in the camera movements. If you are an on-the-fly thinker, you should have no problem. Now if you are aggravated, the game will sometimes give hints on what to do. Where thinking is really needed is with the puzzles. There will be times where you just want to throw your controller through the screen. Be assured, though, most of the puzzles are simple, even if they seem complex.

Yep, there is nothing like her.

The combat mechanic is quite interesting. As hard as developers try to make a game perfect, there will always be flaws in the combat. For one, you have to use the right stick to evade. Well, the reaction can be sometimes late, since Dante can be stuck in animation. Another problem is where you have a small puzzle to complete while enemies are attacking you. There is nothing with this, except the fact where you have to hold down one button, but again you are stuck in an animation. As with most games, flaws can be overlooked by great gameplay. The combos you can pull off in this game are just endless. For example, if you were to have a tough enemy, and surrounded by others, you can throw your current target in the air and attack it mid-air, while avoiding the others. This tactic is very useful when completely outnumbered. If you are just a lazy gamer, magic is always your best bet.

Dante’s Inferno isn’t such a bad game. The story is well told, once you understand the concept. Similar to Bayonetta, the makers decided to use different types of cut scenes. You have your animated, real-time, and CGI cut scenes. Through these scenes, you will get inside of Dante and figure out his history and the reason of what he is doing. Near the end of the game, without spoiling the story, there is a part where the story went out of bounds. Something this small shouldn’t discourage you from getting the game. If anything, you should enjoy your ten to twelve hours playing the game, even when it has irritating moments. It will inform you a lot about some true history. The best part is, you should already be familiar with the game…