Review | Dante’s Inferno
Format: Xbox360/PS3 | Genre: Action adventure | Publisher: EA | Developer: Visceral Games | Release date: 05/02/10 | RRP: £49.99
I may as well get this bit out of the way first: Dante’s Inferno is a lot like God of War. They both have angry protagonists trying to right wrongs, they both have a brawling combat mechanic with satisfying gore levels and they both have an abundance of tits in them. There are times when these similarities can be an issue with games, but let’s be honest: any brawler like this will inevitably be compared to Kratos’ outings. The beauty of Dante’s Inferno is that while there are similarities there, it doesn’t really matter. It has its own identity too.
Based on the poem of the same name, the game takes us through the nine levels of Hell as Dante attempts to redeem the soul of the woman he loves, Beatrice. Venturing through Hell is likely one of the better experiences in a game of this genre for some time, and as you strive to find Beatrice and deliver her to paradise you’ll see many bizarre and wonderful things along the way.
The art design is fantastic, with imagery designed to make you feel troubled, queasy and generally on edge. It’s at its strongest in the Lust level, where phallic statues line your way, embracing figures stick out from the walls and the boss is a giant blue woman with equally large breasts. That may be seen as puerile, but it’s meant to be this way. This is Hell after all, and if you didn’t feel disturbed, it wouldn’t be that bad a place to end up.
It’s all very carnal, and this can even be seen with the enemies you’ll face. Practically everyone is naked, as this is the afterlife, and they’re usually armed to the teeth. The standard foes are reasonably tame compared to the bosses, which are huge hulking monsters with the appropriate spikey bits, slimey bits and, of course, plenty of fire. The inspiring design continues throughout and continues to impress, so it’s a shame that there isn’t more variety.
A SNOWBALL’S CHANCE IN HELL
Dante’s Inferno seems to have sold its soul to the devil in order to acquire such beautiful visuals, as there’s often a downside to any up. So while the cut-scenes are of a high quality, the voice acting is unbearable. The platforming is well thought-out, but the controls can be clunky and unresponsive. The combat sequences are impressive, but the camera is awkward. In fact, the camera isn’t even controllable, and while it usually behaves, it’s always at the worst moment when it decides to acts up.
This highlights a few other issues. The save system is based on specific save locations, and while that isn’t a problem in itself, they do vary in their spacing, meaning you can stumble across a few in little time then struggle to find one for ages. This is a similar problem with the checkpoint system, as well: dying and having to replay five minutes of the level is tedious 
and frustrating, highlighted by many unfair deaths that leave you shouting at the TV because nothing even hit you in the first place.
If you can avoid dying randomly while jumping for a rope, the platforming elements are good fun – slightly let down by overly simple puzzles, but fun nonetheless. There are points at which you’ll find yourself killing enemies in waves while trying to move on through a puzzle’s progress, which comes across as a cynical design choice only used to extend the game’s running time – another falling point at only six hours.
NOT IF HELL FREEZES OVER
Luckily, these downsides are balanced with wonderful and fluid combat. Taking the lead from God of War and Devil May Cry, the fighting is heavily combo-based, but even the greenest of thumbs can button mash their way to 100-hit combos. People who take time to learn the moves can strive for over 666 hits. There are plenty of moves to be unlocked too, and unlocked in a refreshingly original way. Dante’s Inferno uses the morality mechanic that proves so popular these days: spare the lonely souls that you find and take the holy path, or punish them for the unholy route. These routes then allow you to use the souls you’ve collected to unlock moves and bonuses.
Take the unholy route and build up you offensive moves and spells. Go for holy and defensive barriers or spiritual spells are under your control. When you add this to the relics that boost your stats or help collect souls, you’re left with quite a deep combat system.
The whole game flows fabulously from start to finish, with poetry extracts and 2D animated cutscenes to build the story and add resting points between the many fights, all culminating in an anticlimactic but still satisfying finale. Dante’s Inferno has its downsides, but they rarely distract for too long. Who cares if the camera gets in the way, if you’re climbing a wall made of bones as souls behind them wail in agony? Who cares if the checkpoints are spaced awkwardly, if you’re venture over rivers of boiling blood?
Hell is disgusting, full of sordid images of unbaptised babies, enormous tits that pulse and ooze, lava that will strip your health away, a long struggle through demons and magic. Hell is beautiful and ugly, fluid and unwieldy. Hell is not for the timid. Hell is unfair and unjust but ultimately rewarding. Hell is everything you can imagine and everything you wouldn’t want to see. Dante’s Inferno has its problems, but Hell itself is never anything short of wonderful. By Daniel Lipscombe
7/10
