Dante’s Inferno (Game Review)

Release Date: 6th – 12th February 2010
Platform(s): PS3 / X-box360 / PSP
Developer(s): Visceral Games / Electronic Arts
Rating: 18+
Price: £25 (PSP) £40 (PS3 / Xbox) £50 (“Game” Exclusive “Death Edition” PS3 & Xbox Only)

Another action adventure game being released on the next gen consoles is Dante’s Inferno. Loosely based on inferno, the first book of Dante Alighieri's epic poem, The Devine Comedy.

You play as Dante Aligheri, a Knight of the Third Crusade who has a red leather tapestry detailing his life thus far sewn into his chest (You get to see him doing this in the opening sequence). The main storyline of the game seems to be that Dante’s wife (Beatrice) has been slain and has exchanged her soul to the devil. But, of course, Dante isn’t having a bar of that & will go through the pits and all 9 circles of Hell to rescue the soul of his beloved.

The nine circles of Hell are as follows:
1.) Limbo
2.) Lust
3.) Gluttony
4.) Greed
5.) Anger
6.) Heresy
7.) Violence
8.) Fraud
9.) Treachery

You start the game with a halberd to do some melee fighting with, but quickly upgrade this to a scythe obtained, no less, from Death himself!! You also have a Holy Cross, given to you by Beatrice, which serves as a projectile firing weapon.

The points & level up system seems familiar. You can choose to earn Holy points or Unholy points. These are earned depending on how you dispatch your enemies, condemn (Unholy) or Absolve (Holy). Each set of points allows you to upgrade in different ways. These seem to be fixed around upgrading either your Scythe (Melee action: Unholy) or your Cross (Projectile Action: Holy). You also have magic at your disposal with different things you can learn along the way by interacting with the right people. As if all this wasn’t enough, sometimes you will come across large demons which you have the ability to control

From what I have seen & played of the game already, it is a must have for “Hack n Slash Action Adventure” gamers. If you’ve enjoyed either Devil May Cry, God of War or Bayonetta, then I’m pretty certain you will get maximum enjoyment out of this game!

Downsides: Only allows “third person” view which I have always found damn annoying! And is only a Single player!!! With no online action!!

Upsides: Loads of enemies, and all the upsides you would expect of 3rd Gen gaming. Not too difficult to get the hang of, but not too easy to play either

All in all it seems a damn fine game & I’ve already got it on pre order!!

Provisional Nightryder Rating = (7 / 10) I'm confident that this can only go up!

Can’t wait to get my hands on the full game!

Right, Sorry, I seemed to have neglected to come back to this

After playing & clocking this game I can only say that it's a sterling effort! The only downside to this game is the static camera angle which means you can miss a few hidden items.Unfortunately it's not adjustable which brings the feel of the game down a little, but the hoardes of Hells minions which you are up against means you soon couldn't care less about the angle of the camera.

Facing the sins of Dante in Hell, you must battle your way through wave after wave of varying levels of Hells demons to rescue the lovely Beatrice. I won't go into the storyline because it'll just spoil it for you, however, the storyline is very good from begining to end, although you may not like the kind of person Dante has been............

Could've been a little longer, but, there is downloadable content & some online gaming planned for release shortly which will give a multiplayer option and also allow you to design your very own challenge for others to take part in.

I enjoyed this game Way Much & intend to play it again...... on the hardest difficulty level this time

Nightryder Rating: = (8 / 10)

Very good game, worth a punt if you can get it at a good price, as in under £35. Will make you feel better about your deeds after playing Bayonetta as well The universe is in harmony once again