Players will be familiar with the infamous Scythe wielded by the Angel of Death, which has been re-imagined as Dante's primary weapon and he ironically steals from Death's clutches at the game's outset. You'll use the Scythe to destroy the demons of Hell (through a number of creative kill-sequences), and use their "souls" as currency for power-ups and combos. A magical element is added with Beatrice's cross, which Dante utilizes to cast spells of a sort, and to Absolve or Punish those souls being tormented in Hell. These captured souls are used to upgrade Dante, his weapons, and his main attributes (there is also a RPG-like relic system for even more customization). Dante himself will also acquire magical abilities he can use on his own, after defeating certain bosses at specified locations in the game. Obviously, EA Redwood Shores, the crew assembling this game -- the same team behind the recent Dead Space -- is taking some poetic license with this ancient epic, altering the main character’s look/feel and his means of interacting with his surroundings, while keeping the story's core aspects intact. Dante's Inferno will require some minor puzzle-solving skills, but action fans will get plenty of the carnage they crave as well.
The game features a combat system that is intricate and deep allowing the hardcore crowd to become immersed in the Hellish universe. The main focus of Dante’s Inferno is the action-heavy combat, because of the intense amount of in-game fighting that you will take part in there are bound to be a few negatives. One of these comes about in a couple sections, which must be repeated a number of times for one reason or another, and can become quite irritating. Even so I was able to complete the game in less than fifteen hours without breaking any controllers. As you pass through each circle of Hell you will come across new enemy types, which then continue to show their disgusting faces as you move forward. These range from unbaptized babies to the undead whores to vomiting fatties – the source material was there and the development team ran with it. The rich visuals required to bring to life Hell itself -- which in this instance, requires a level of detail and production design never before seen in a game -- calls for some ambitious work to say the least. Inferno looks fantastic in high-definition, creating a virtual Hell that Lucifer himself would be proud to showcase in front of the most cynical graphic-junkies.
Being an avid God of War fan for a good part of my gaming career I had high-expectations for Dante’s Inferno, especially considering the studio’s last Xbox 360 outing Dead Space. The obvious comparisons between the two franchises were evident from the moment I booted up – the presentation was amazing and as I said before the game has a certain amount of polish to it that is always evident in titles from Visceral. Each one of the nine circles of hell was a unique gaming experience, adding something different to the overall feel of the title up to the very last boss battle. I would have liked to see a few more major, large-scale fights in Dante’s Inferno but there is always the hopeful sequel (and possible DLC). The last line in the game was “to be continued…” - only time will tell if Dante’s Inferno becomes a flagship franchise for EA but if my enjoyment of the first game is a sign of things to come I am very excited for the future. Sony Playstation owners have always had one franchise that I was super-jealous of, that being God of War, and thanks to Dante’s Inferno there is finally something of comparison available to us Xbox 360 adopters. If you are looking for a mature title that features some of the best action-adventure gameplay on Microsoft’s system look no further than Dante’s Inferno – in stores next week.
