Dante’s Inferno is the latest creation from Visceral Games based on The Divine Comedy, an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri.  Seen as one of the greatest works of literature in the history of humanity the story is broken into three pieces. Inferno, the portion which this  game is loosely based off of, is the story of Dante and his epic quest to save the soul of his beloved Beatrice from the clutches of Lucifer.

With plenty of content to develop around from the original works of literature, an intriguing plot and setting, does Dante’s Inferno have what it takes to compete with likes of God of War III and Bayonetta?

The Good

The Story – Dante’s Inferno is dark. It deals with Dante’s traversing the depths of Hell, encompassing the nine circles of the underworld.  Will Rokos the writer of the games story, does an excellent job in deviating just enough from the poems to keep the game moving, and engaging.  In the end it all makes sense although I would have liked more of a plot development behind Lucifer’s plan to escape Hell, but I guess that it’s implied.  From the narratives that you access throughout the campaign, the short anime cinematics, and the cut-scenes, Dante’s does a great job at keeping you interested.

Presentation – Dante’s story is sped along through a series of flashbacks to his time with the Crusader Army.  These brief yet informative scenes weave an intricate web of wrongs that Dante must pay his penance for.

Graphics - Dante’s Inferno is somewhat of a masterpiece in the graphics department.  Though not for the fact that its the best looking game I have ever seen, but for the world that was created.  The nine Circles of Hell are brought to life with an amazing array of enemies, obstacles, and hellish vistas that when brought together can give any game a run for it’s money.

Sounds - To pull off the immersion of your decent into Hell, Visceral loads up on the sound effects.  The screams of terror as the residents of the underworld beg for forgiveness and delve into madness seem to never end.  The voice acting of Lucifer is eerily timely as it always feels he has his eye on you.  Many of the games set pieces are trumpeted  up a notch as the heart pounding musical score, eerie ambiance, and environmental sounds combine to rival even the best movie scores.

Cinematics

The Bad

Why So Short? – Under five and a half hours is what I clocked in on my first play through of the game.  Five and a half hours is short enough to piss people off on a full price title.  Dante’s Inferno is no Halo, and I think only Halo can pull this short of a campaign out of their a$$ and get away with it.  If not for the sheer quality of the game in nearly every other aspect, that’s enough to ruin it.  Especially when the game lacks of multiplayer.  But, there is an unlockable trials mode called The Gates of Hell Arena.  Here you can take on wave after wave of enemy and load in your items and abilities from the campaign.

Combat – Very, Very, Very Similar to Darksiders.  Which I also did not enjoy, the combat just seemed too basic, and wasn’t really the highpoint of the game for me.  It felt tedious for the most part and up until the end there was rarely need to use any special items.  Dante’s Inferno felt like a button masher that required little thought, timing, or skill.  I think it’s Bayonetta that ruined this genre for me, because of the fluidity of controls, Dante’s just feels sluggish and laborious.

Mini-Games in Hell..Umm No Thanks – A major part of Dante’s Inferno was to either damn or absolve souls.  Being the kind hearted person that I am I chose to absolve most of the persons I encountered in Hell.  So, I had to play what was one of the most annoying mini games ever.  After the 20th time it got old and tired and I just started damning people because it only required a button press. Why they would make saving people hard and killing people so much easier is beyond me.  It almost makes the ADD age group much more likely to just damn everyone they encounter on their journey.

Control Issues / Camera Angles – There plenty of Lava in Hell, and you will be falling in it.  Especially since the controls can feel a bit off at times.  The culprit is usually a nonresponse or overcontrol which just sends you off a cliff, missing a double jump, there were countless times in my journey that I jumped into a pit.  In fact I would wager it was my number one means of death in my time with the game.  I don’t think it’s entirely the controls I think it has to be partially attributable to the camera angles that you are forced to use.

Certain Death Events - A number of times throught the game, there come these points where you are gonna die.  No matter if you have the fastest reflexes in the world, it is impossible to get through some parts of the game without a little trial and error.  It wasn’t overly exploited, but it was a nuisance, and I would prefer less trial and error type challenges.  Most of the puzzles come in the form of a timed event.  And unless your brain is a calculator it takes one or two tries to get the precise timing needed to get through some areas.  Certainly not bad were the addition of the puzzles,  just the trial and error associated with them and the deaths/ loading screens that result.

Overall,

Dantes Inferno was awesome!  I rarely say that about games. I enjoyed the story,  graphics, level design, and variation of the game in general.  It kept me extremely engrossed in my time with the game.  However, that time was very short.  Under five and a half hours and little reason to go back and play it again leaves me pondering whether a game that was as fun as Dantes should even be judged on the criteria of length.  It was a perfect amount of time spent with the title and can be knocked out in an evening, the only objection I have is justifying the price at that length.

Dante’s Inferno: Available on Playstation 3 , Xbox 360 (Reviewed)
Developer : Visceral Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Available Feburary 9,2010 for $59.99