Dante’s Inferno: Divine Edition

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Visceral Games
Genre: Action
Release Date: February 9, 2010
Platforms: Playstation 3, Playstation Portable, Xbox 360
ESRB: M - Mature

Reviewer: Eric

How many of you got the chance to read The Divine Comedy back in high school? If you got the chance then you understand how good it was. Most likely it was the best part of your entire English class; I know it was for me. So when I heard about Dante’s Inferno, a game based on The Divine Comedy, I was willing to jump in and see what this God of War clone was all about.

It seems strange, even while I am writing this, that Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy is a video game. Who would have thought this could happen? The epic poem described enough in it to either make it into a movie or a video game. I mean The Divine Comedy was so descriptive with Dante’s adventures that you will shit your pants when those parts come to live in this game.

Visceral Games took an old poem and made it into a God of War clone. We have all heard this already and some people will bash the game because of the God of War comparisons. Dante’s Inferno does play a lot like God of War but that is no reason to not give this game a chance. Isn’t the God of War series fun and entertaining? See there you go, a reason not to judge a game with stupid reasons.

Before I get into the main aspects of the game let me explain to you what is going on, just in case you have no idea. Dante is a man who did terrible things during the Crusades. To show what he has done Dante has sewn a cross on his chest, which acts as a story guide throughout the game. His wife, Beatrice, is taken to hell after a attack on his home. Dante is now journeying through the nine circles of hell to get Beatrice back.

Dante’s Inferno might let some down with your weapon of choice, Death’s scythe. The scythe is a cool weapon and all but that is all you get. Combat will have you using different moves, but for the most part you are going to press those same two buttons the entire time. Having less than a handful of magic spells doesn’t help either since it makes Dante’s Inferno feel more like an original God of War rip-off and not a rip off of God of War 2 of a “we beat you” rip-off of God of War 3. The attack mechanics will slowly start to lose its touch and all you can show is a 666 hit combo that you may never hit.

You can upgrade your attacks and magic. There are two paths you can pick for Dante, holy and unholy. I found it more rewarding to fill up the unholy side and to me it makes more sense since you are in hell. These two paths though sort of give you a reason to play the game twice since it is nearly impossible to do both.

Going through hell is sort of a drag. The circles you go through, Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery don’t look a whole lot different from each other. Certain challenging puzzles will try to remind you where you are in hell but the lack of big boss battles will make you question where you’re really at. Hell looks really good in Dante’s Inferno, but I think boss battles everywhere and unique scenery in the nine circles would have been much better.

Towards the end of the game you can see how the developers almost gave up with the level designs. Really going through 10 stages for Fraud is sad. Doing these tasks will have you swinging to a platform, jumping fire, and jumping from platform to platform. Sounds like fun…

There are a few boss battles that will test the games rating on the box. Cleopatra has babies with knives come out of her nipples, which leads to a cutscene that shocked me. The final battle with Lucifer leads into a cutscene with Dante and his other weapon. These cutscenes are really well done and it brings the poem to life in ways I could have never imagined.

The game will take you around 4 to 8 hours to beat; it really depends on what difficulty you are playing on and how much time you’re going to put into finding the secrets. That is a pretty good time frame when you consider some of today’s biggest games only lasting around 3 to 4 hours. You can go through the game again and beat it with all your same abilities or fight through Hell in a 50 round battle (it is easy).

Throughout the game will you come across one of the more annoying features of the game, button mashing and button sequences. Dante’s Inferno has you smashing buttons to open doors and killing enemies. If the smashing buttons doesn’t happen then you have some button sequences to follow. It is really annoying and the best part is these sequences are always the same. How come they couldn’t have shorten it or do without them when you’ve done the sequences so many times?

Playstation 3 owners get a little some more with their copy of Dante’s Inferno. Inside of the case is a code for some downloadable content available in March and then some tiny small things like the poem and the soundtrack both can only be seen and heard when the game is running. It is nice to see that Sony is getting love from developers again because I’m sure the extra content will cost everyone else over ten dollars.

Final Verdict
For a God of War clone I think Dante’s Inferno isn’t half bad. It doesn’t live up to the God of War name but it does kick a lot of ass. I was disappointed to see how the developers almost gave up towards the end because everything just doesn’t have that polished feel as the rest of the game had. Still if you need something to tie you over for God of War 3 then this is your game. Fans of the epic poem should also give this a shot too.

Rating Breakdown
Gameplay: 8 out of 10
    + Easy to pick up and a lot of fun killing everything in sight in hell.
    - Feels like a downgrade when you compare it to the God of War series.
Graphics: 8 out of 10
    + Cutscenes are amazing and the strange enemy designs are neat.
    - Some of the details on enemies are bland and the game, graphically, gives up at one point.
Audio: 9 out of 10
    + Strong soundtrack when you adventure through hell.
    - Lip movement in cutscenes is off a little and the boss music will make you sad.
Replay Value: 7 out of 10
    + Downloadable content in March and a few difficulties to pick from.
    - Will there be more after March? After two play-thru’s there is no reason to continue.

Overall
8 out of 10