Developed by Visceral Games and published by EA, Dante's Inferno is a hack 'n slash action game released on February 9th, 2010.
You play as the crusader Dante. Upon arriving home, you find your house trashed and your lover Beatrice dead. When you discover that her soul has been taken to hell by a sinister entity, you take a flying leap in to Hell in hot pursuit. Arriving in Limbo, you meet the Roman poet Virgil who tells you about the 9 circles of the Inferno and agrees to lend what help he can as you make your descent.
The first thing most people will tell you about Dante's Inferno is that it is a God of War clone. This is true for the most part, as Dante borrows many maneuvers from Kratos, from the combat tactics to QTE's (quick time events) and sliding big blocks around as part of light puzzles. What Dante's Inferno does bring to the table is an original setting, a dual-branched upgrade tree, and decidedly next-gen production values.
Your primary weapon in the game is Death's Scythe, and you utilize two attack buttons and upgradeable attacks to weave together combos. You later gain a cross that grants you a very powerful ranged attack. These are the only weapons you have through the entire game, but you get a nice assortment of new moves and upgrades across 2 upgrade paths. One is Holy, which focuses on defense, increasing the power of your cross, and crowd-control. The other path, Unholy, specializes in increased Scythe damage, overall offense, and devastating magic attacks. Both paths offer upgrades to health and mana, and you choose which you want to develop by way of how you finish off enemies, either through Punishment or Absolution.
Each path also has an option for an extra Relic slot and a longer Redemption bar. Relics are found as you progress through the game and they offer many enhancements to Holy and/or Unholy abilities, as well as some utilitarian aspects like mana regeneration, increased damage resistance, or gaining more experience when you destroy an enemy. The Redemption bar is filled up via scythe attacks, with fancier, varied combos filling the bar more quickly. Once full, Dante can activate Redemption Mode which makes him faster, more powerful and decreases damage taken.
Progression through the game is linear. There are small out-of-the-way spots where you can find extra relics and health/mana fountains, as well as collectibles like silver Judas coins, but most of the time it's point A to point B. Levels are all designed very well--each has a distinct style and atmosphere, and you never have to wonder where to go. Virgil shows up frequently to help describe what you're seeing, and different events in the game will trigger flashback cinematics that fill you in on Dante's story. Talk to Virgil every time you can, as many times as you can. Not only will this fill in his commentaries, but he will also sometimes give you a new relic.
There isn't a huge number of different enemies, but each of them has a specific behavior which makes it fun to fight large, diverse groups. Boss fights are big, explosive affairs that require just the right amount of skill and strategy without being too basic or repetitive. Aside from combat, there is also a little bit of platforming involved in navigating the Inferno, and it offers a small challenge and a good bit of fun without becoming tedious. There is only one section of the game that manages to bog down what is otherwise terrific pacing throughout, but it is an isolated series of challenges towards the end that actually sticks closer to the source material than the rest of the game, so it's forgivable.
Visually, Dante's Inferno is very good but not quite great. The environments are very well done but some of the character models are a little clunky. Animations are universally good, and the game's frame rate is rock solid. Colors are used to great effect, going from bright and saturated in most areas to gritty & under-saturated during QTE's and other cinematic moments. Some of the cutscenes are pre-rendered clips done with the game's engine, which is an odd choice since doing them this way shows compression artifacts and noise. I have to wonder why they didn't just render them in real-time via scripting. The lighting in the game is also good and achieves moodiness without overdoing fancy HDR or bloom.
Sound-wise, the game is merely adequate. Weapons, explosions and blood-splorch's sound like they should but without any real impact. The game's score suits the atmosphere fine but once you've heard a couple minutes of it, you've heard it all. I would like to have seen them custom-tailor the soundtrack to each of Hell's Circles in the same way they did the architecture. Some of the wails and moans sound anguished while others just sound goofy, so it's hit-or-miss there too.
Technically, Dante's Inferno goes out of its way to be playable. Save points are frequent, as are checkpoints between saves, and health- and mana-refilling fountains are all over the place. Most collectibles are "hidden" logically, and while some puzzles and boss fights will require experimentation, none of them are absurd or irrational. Similarly, the controls are very responsive and combat is tight so that when you die, you can tell what you did wrong instead of it blaming poor game design. There are initially 3 difficulties to select from, and a 4th that unlocks. After completing the story, you gain access to "Resurrection Mode" which is essentially New Game+, letting you restart with your relics and upgraded abilities. You also unlock the "Gates of Hell" Arena which lets you slaughter wave after wave of enemies in a sort-of Time Attack mode.
My one and only real complaint with Dante's Inferno is that, at 6 hours for an average play through, it is brutally short. It will require 2 playthroughs to get everything possible, but that's still $60 for about 10 hours (your second time will likely be a bit shorter). The Gates of Hell mode adds a little bit of replay value but once you've completed it, it would only be for competing with friends or the leaderboard.
Overall, I give Dante's Inferno an 8/10. The action is good, the combat is great, and making your way through Hell for the first time is exactly the reason people buy a gaming console in the first place. It is the type of game that would make an excellent rental, but I wouldn't buy it until the price goes down $15 or $20. There is already some DLC confirmed that will add a new mode and cooperative play, so that may increase the value.
. I may start this tonight. But I haven't finished bioshock
