[intro]
Welcome to hell! This is not your everyday trip. You play as the crusader Dante who has been a very naughty boy in his life. For that he must travel through the levels of hell to save his beloved Beatrice from Lucifer himself. Do you dare to venture past the gates of hell? Or will you succumb with all the other condemned spirits.
[/intro]
Console: Xbox360
Genre: Action third person hack and slash
Developer: Visceral Games
Publisher: EA
This game is rated 18+ and it’s for a reason! So, unless you don’t mind what games your child plays, I would not advice this game for children! The story is grim there is a lot of violence and it offers sexual content. This game and this review is NOT advised for the younger audience.
Story
The story starts with the crusader Dante fighting a horde of mobs in the city of Acre. Suddenly an assassin backstabs him and he is confronted by death and that his sins were never forgiven. Dante refuses to accept his death and slays death taking his weapon. Afterwards Dante decides to return home. First he embedded a red cross in his chest, symbolizing each sin he has committed but once he returns home, he finds his father and his beloved killed. Her spirit appears but before she gets a chance to go to heaven Lucifer captures her and drags her back to hell.
After making your vows and empowering the cross that Beatrice gave you, the cracks of hell open up to you. And here starts the journey to hell. Why would Lucifer steal your beloved Beatrice? Is there more that meets the eye? The more you learn from Dante and his sins the more you dislike him!
Gameplay
You have to progress through the nine circles of hell. Each circle gives Dante flashbacks of the sins he has committed. You start of at Limbo. The game itself is filled with compelling enemies and bosses, combined with a taste of twisty platforming and puzzle solving.
Dante is equipped with two weapons, The unholy scythe that was taken from Death, a close combat weapon that will offer deadly attacks. Killing your foes with this weapon is a real joy! The second weapon is Beatrice’s Cross, a holy weapon that offers powerful range skills to slay enemies. Try jumping and attacking with it, you will be pleased with the outcome. By combining skills and slaying as many enemies as possible in a short period of time, you will execute combo moves and the combo multiplayer grows. As you slay enemies you will obtain souls. Souls are important as you will need them to upgrade your combo moves with the help of the skill tree.
The upgrade tree consists of holy and unholy, holy focusing on your cross while unholy focusing on combat with your scythe. Throughout the game you will obtain tortured souls. Dante has the ability to condemn or absolve them. You can even do the same with greater enemies. Each condemnation or absolution will result in the gaining of Holy or Unholy points. Depending how many souls you punish or absolve your ranking either in the holy or unholy tree will grow unlocking new abilities. Use the souls you gather to purchase the skills.
During the game, Dante will be able to use magic. These spells will come in handy to handle the punishing demons from hell.
Ever wanted to ride a giant beast? This game will let you! You can tame beasts in the game with your scythe; this will grant you new powerful abilities as long as you control the beast. There are relics you can pick up in the game to help your progress, they will give you helpful bonuses, upgrade your stats or provide you other useful stuff. Keep also an eye out for Judas coins and Beatrice stones, they are normally hidden in the level and are worth collecting. Gameplay wise this game will keep you busy!
Graphics
The graphics in this game are very well done. The monsters are extremely creatively detailed and the environments really do give you the feeling you are exploring hell. Every ring is totally different designed. The bosses in this game look very well designed, there has been put a lot of detail in them. This is true eye candy.
The story telling is presented in beautifully hand drawn animations. You like blood and gore? It’s your lucky day this game has it all!
Sound
Incredible sound effects. It really does make you feel you are in hell. All from the music to the grim screams of suffering souls. The bosses offer fantastic voice acting. The screams and moans from the circle of lust. Well what can I say? It sounds like lust. The sounds contribute nicely making you feel part of the game. Sadly Dante’s voice is a letdown, he sounds more like a coward than a hero.
Good points
– fantastic combat
– combination of skills and magic are well designed
– Incredible sound
– the bosses are awfully fun
– enough content to keep you going
Bad points
– Dante’s voice is horrible done
– the difficulty curve can suddenly change from moderate to outright punishing
– irritating glitches
Conclusion
Dante’s inferno is a fun game to explore. The combat is well done. Enough blood and gore to keep anyone entertained. Yes, the story isn’t for the light hearted. And this game isn’t recommended for children! The visuals and game play are amazing and the platforming is really fun. The voices can be a letdown, but that is forgiven as the game has so much to offer.
So, whenever you want to take a holiday trip to hell, this is the game for you!
Morale of the day
Do not be a smartarse like Dante and commit all these sins, or Lucifer will teach you a lesson.