Game Review: Dante's Inferno

Good, but Somewhat Lacking

Rating: 5 out of 7 Decapitated Unbaptized Babies

When I first put it in, my initial impression of this game was how awesome and cinematic it is. But as I continued, and now that I have finished it, my opinion of it has gone down. Familiarity breeds contempt, I suppose.

This is an example of a game that is trying to be shocking just for the sake of being shocking. This effect is novel at first, but wears off quickly. And what does it leave? A "rescue the girl" story is thrown in, but serves as little more than the McGuffin needed to get our hero from point A to point B. If the game's combat scheme were truly inspired, then other shortcomings could be forgiven. But as it stands, it is pretty weak. Just a button masher really, with little or no strategy other than spamming the B button.

I'll avoid any God of War comparisons here, as I really don't give a crap how similar they are. So the only important question that remains is: "Is Dante's Inferno a good game?" Well, that depends...

It has a very unique setting: Hell. For this depiction, the game VERY loosely borrows from "The Divine Comedy", Christian mythology, and European church history. Using these, it attempts to be as blasphemous as humanly possible. Is it offensive toward Christians? Of course. If you are okay with that, then you've just crossed the biggest barrier toward liking the game. But that doesn't automatically mean you will like it.

I liked the game, but some of the over-the-topness of it (or toplessness, if you prefer) made me start rolling my eyes after a while. The ultra-violence in it reaches the point that it becomes cartoonish and impossible to take seriously. And for some reason, the main girl is shown topless in every cut scene she's in. If you like that, more power to you. I just thought it was kind of dumb.

Enemies are repetitive, for the most part. Meant to be disturbing, and some of them are. Speaking of repetitiveness, that's another reason this game fails to be great. After a while, a pattern emerges: 1. Crawl down some walls. 2. Fight some guys. 3. Do a puzzle. 4. Repeat until you get to a boss.

And the Bosses... Just like in every other game these days it seems, each of them are about the size of a small skyscraper, filling your screen. None of them are very hard to beat. It all comes down to finding the right combination of attacks, dodges, and (sigh) Quick Time Events. Good grief. Did we really need another game with QTE finishers? Those are so annoying. Miss the button, start over. Oh, well.

One of the most original things about the game is its setting. The environment of Hell is done nicely here. There is always something interesting – if bizarre – to look at. Even beautiful in its own way, if the grotesque can qualify as such. Unfortunately, there is no camera control. So when you want to take a look around, just enjoying the detail the programmers put into the environments, you are shit out of luck.

Another disappointing thing was the overly-simplistic RPG / Leveling factor used here. It worked okay for what it was, but in building your character, you inevitably choose the Holy or Unholy path. But in the end, it makes no difference. None of it has any effect on the story line, or the ending. Just feels kind of empty.

Despite what seems like such a negative review, I still really liked the game. The mindlessness of the fighting is good in small doses. In the wholesale slaughter department, this game ranks up with – but is not nearly as good as – Spartan: Total Warrior and Ninja Gaiden II. That's not a bad thing.

And the game is short, which I also like. I'm tired of games that take 40 hours of my life away. This one clocks in at around 8 to 10, which feels just right to me.

Once complete, the game offers a decent challenge with its "Gates of Hell" arena mode. I really enjoyed this. It was fun, yet challenging.

And although the story was somewhat weak, I still liked it. It could have been more, but it's not bad. The in-game cinematics are probably the best. At times it uses narrated animated storyboards instead. These were okay, but always left me looking forward to the cinematics. The story as a whole felt suitably epic.

DLC Review – "Dark Forest"

This add-on provides a prequel level. While the rest of the game is decently fun, this is not. Honestly, I can't recommend it. Unless you are an Achievement Hunter or a Downloadable Content Completist, there is absolutely no reason for you to buy this. It consists of a few fights using an already-maxxed out Dante, mixed with some sub-par cinematics and a couple of boring puzzles. One hour of value, maybe. But you're not missing anything here.

DLC Review – "Trials of St. Lucia"

This add-on is actually worth it and is recommended. It consists of a series of arenas, each one earning you player score or building up your stockpile of trophies. It lets you compare stats with other players, and even play two-player arenas over Xbox Live. It features a new character, St. Lucia, who plays similar enough to Dante to not feel weird, but still has cool differences. The best part of it is the editor, which lets you create your own Challenges and upload them for others to play. You can download any public challenge, try it out to increase your score, and then rate it. There's a lot of junk out there but there are some fun ones too. If you liked the main game at all, then you will probably like this.

I'm going to talk about the ending now, so those of you who haven't played this, stop reading. You've been warned!

***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***STOP READING NOW!!***

The twist ending was very interesting. I didn't see it coming. The whole time, I didn't suspect that about Dante at all.

I'm thinking the sequel will probably be set in Purgatory, with the final game set in Heaven.

Beatrice wasn't to be found at the end of part 1. Nor will she be found at the end of part 2, I predict. I think the first two games will end with the 21st century equivalent of "Thank you Mario but our princess is in another castle!" Only the third game will bring a true conclusion.

In keeping with the whole theme of being as offensive and blasphemous as humanly possible, I predict that the last game will have Dante facing off against God himself, and killing Him. Somewhere in the middle of the second game, Dante is going to come to believe that God has betrayed him, still denying him Beatrice. And then he's going to go to Heaven to kick some serious ass. But who knows? We'll see what happens!