I never once imagined Hell as a huge, labrynth of a place inhabited by huge monsters, naked chicks, and other foul creatures all jumping at the chance to rip me a new one; but after playing Dante's Inferno I'm pretty sure it's the only way I'll be able to think of Hell from now on.
Dante's Inferno is a the Epic game that is based loosely on The Divine Comedy; a literary work written in the 14th century. In the game you play as Dante, a troubled, violent man that begins the game fighting in the crusades. The only thing keeping him going is the thought of his love Beatrice, so you can probably imagine his grief and rage when he returns home only to find her murdered. Things only escalate when he witnesses Lucifer steal her soul away to Hell, leaving you to give chase after her into the depths of Hell itself.
The chase into Hell is fantastic and terrifying. The ground gives way under your feet and demons and fire leap up from the Earth to heed your progress. Once you finally dive into Hell's depths after your beloved you will know that this game means business.
In Hell you will have to venture through the 9 circles that reside in Hell: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery. Each Circle has a distinctly different look than the rest and has a more or less unique set of demons that reside in each. In Gluttony you will have to fight off fat, vile, demons that are eager to eat you whole. Gluttony itself is laid out like you're inside a digestive tract with disgusting noises and such pervading the air. In Contrast, in Lust you will find yourself in the eye of a tornado made of Lust where those who have committed said sin must spend eternity spun around by the violent winds. The demons in lust are fully nude girls whose genetilia come alive and attack you.
The game becomes even more intriguing when you learn that you are the sole reason for Beatrice's present predicament and the 9 circles act as a way for you to face your sins... a task that would appear to take a huge toll on Dante as you venture on through the game.
The design of Hell is breathtaking and horrifying at the same time. Quite simply it is the stuff nightmares are made of. Once these horrific Images are viewed it is quite likely that they will remain locked in the viewers mind for a while afterwards.
Dante's Inferno is by far the bloodiest, most graphic and disturbing game that I have ever had the pleasure of playing. Cleopatra's enormous bare breasts spit out evil demonic unbaptised babies that have blades for arms; there are rivers of boiling blood in Violence ,and Gold in Greed; and there are several enemies thats faces and bodies are ripped in half by Dante. Adding to the intrigue is the players ability to chose to follow the holy path or the unholy psth, unholy giving you unlimited upgrades for your scyth (That you stole from Death) and holy giving you upgrades for your cross. Players will find themselves hacking and slashing whoever and whatever stands in their way via an ever expanding choice of combos for both cross and Scyth. It all makes for a fairly compelling game for adults...not so much for young teens .
Unfortunately, the game runs out of fuel as the last act nears. Before the final battle with Lucifer you are forced to complete 10 challanges that you must complete in able to advance to the final boss fight. The challanges range from such hair-ripping difficulties like a 100 hit combo to having to defeat all enemies without once touching the ground. These parts feel like they do not belong in the finished product and end up seriously hurting the game. It's ok to add them in as bonus material to be played after the game is finished, but to make them a required step to completing the game makes no sense and juat flat out infuriated me to no end.
When you finally do reach the 3 part Boss Battle with Lucifer, while it is really cool, it feels like the game was building up to something else entirely, and the ending is somewhat of a letdown.
Dante's Inferno is a great game that falls short of reaching the heroic heights of God Of War, the game that it consitantly "borrows" elemnts from. While there are a few flaws to the game, the first 2 acts should grab your attention and thrust players so deeply into the game, that by the time the last act and it's unsatisfactory final levels come around players should be able to find enough reason to fight on despite the games increased difficulty.
Dante's Inferno, while no God Of war, is a worthy successor and definently worth a playthrough if you've ever wanted to go to Hell and beat it into submission.
8.7/10 Stars
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