I would dearly love to get into the full aspects of Dante’s The Divine Comedy with you in this review but I think you would much prefer to read about the game itself. Dante’s inferno is based on the first act of the poem which concerns Dante’s decent into hell in order to better understand humanity. Now the game is very loosely based on this aspect but does not suffer for it, in fact if you have ever read the poem you will notice that it does not leave a lot of basis for a combat based game such as this so a little artistic rejigging can be forgiven.
On to the game. You are cast as Dante, a crusader who has slaughtered thousands in the name of God and in doing so has committed almost every sin possible. He believes he has been absolved for his sins but of course it is not that easy, and due to an assassin’s blade he meets with his untimely fate. He faces off with Death and as his battle for redemption begins he defeats the Grim Reaper and takes his Scythe as a trophy. The Scythe then becomes your main form of attack within the game and can be used to punish the wicked. He then travels home to find his father and home in ruin and his beloved Beatrice outside dead. As he touches the lips of her corpse her soul emerges and Lucifer appears to claim her. This is where the game really begins as you descend into hell in order to rescue her soul and redeem yourself in the eyes of God.
Now personally I’m not religious but I can see how this game will upset a lot of religious type people. This is a point that I will leave to the local rags and discussion groups however as I really like this game. Its fun, thought provoking, and has a great deal of replay value. The majority of the game is not too taxing but there are a few puzzle sections which almost had me tearing my hair out until I took the time to properly look around to discover the method in which to solve them. This game demands patience for a lot of it but after the first play through you can just let go and enjoy the game fully.
The 18 Certificate is there for a reason folks so don’t go buying this game for your kids as a lot of the violence and imagery is very graphic and deals with situations that kids should really not see. For example, very early on you have to face against a gigantic topless version of Cleopatra who is the guardian of the circle of hell which deals with lust. Now the thought of a giant topless woman is usually one I can heartily get behind but she is truly horrific. Her attacks involve invoking lust demons that produce sharp tentacles from certain parts of their anatomy whilst moaning in a lustful way and she also produces unbaptised babies from her nipples with which to restrict your progress. As I said, it’s not for the kids.
One problem I found is that after the first half of the game it starts to lose its momentum a little, the enemies become repetitive and the levels become shorter and easier to complete as though the designers ran out of steam a little. But if you stick with it you are rewarded for you efforts with an amazing ending and the promise of a sequel. You also get a new mode which allows you to just fight demons in a small arena in increasing waves and you can play through the main game again with all the abilities you have earned previously.
This game has a lot of potential if it is given a chance and with downloadable content mentioned on the games special features section it is looking even better with new levels and multiplayer sections becoming available very soon.
Talking of downloadable content, the game offers souls (the currency of the game) for Microsoft Points. I feel this is a little cheeky as you can collect all the souls you could possibly need. I get the feeling that a few people will end up buying the souls through impatience but to be honest I can think of better things to spend my money on, but each to their own I suppose.
On to the control system. It’s very rare to find a game that is so easy to get to grips with, but this game feels like a dream to play, the button layout is such that you barely have to think about it. The designers have really outdone themselves in this department, games are hard enough without having to remember 101 button combinations just to scale a wall. Every move is explained in the purchase screen and there are a lot of context sensitive sections which add to the game rather than detracting from it.
All in all I think this is a wonderful title that only falls short due to a couple of tiny little annoyances that could easily be ironed out in time for the sequel, and with the downloadable content as mentioned earlier there is a lot of potential for expansion within the game itself and I am personally looking forward to the multiplayer options providing it is as fun as the initial game itself.
If you want a fun distraction that can take you to the depths of hell in a thought provoking way then get out there and get this game. It’s got so much going for it and will give you many hours of happy gaming with a few moments of wrath at the puzzles. Let’s just hope the DLC doesn’t take too long to appear.
VideogameUK verdict: 8/10
