Pun not intended but this game has some fucking awesome level design. 
I just got it through gamefly and I'm enjoying it more than the game it ripped off. It might just be because of how let down I was by God of War III but I feel bad I missed it when it was originally released. 

How is it compared to the other God of War games? I fucking hated III, but I liked II and Chains of Olympus, so if it's less like the former and more like the latter, I might pick it up.

I was always interested in the game, but after hearing how much it deviates from the real story kinda turned me off.

Just wait until you get to some of the later levels. That game was so fucking frustrating. I felt like I was punishing myself for actually going to the end and beating it.

" How is it compared to the other God of War games? I fucking hated III, but I liked II and Chains of Olympus, so if it's less like the former and more like the latter, I might pick it up. "

" Just wait until you get to some of the later levels. That game was so fucking frustrating. I felt like I was punishing myself for actually going to the end and beating it. "

I liked Dante's Inferno more than GOW3, i remember playing it and some of the images in that game are messed up.

I don't have a PSP so I can't comment on Chains of Olympus but I would compare it to GoW2 more so than 3.  
 
After reading some of the reviews for the game I'm left wondering what game they played. I haven't run into anything I would consider heavy repetition. The game is paced well enough so that when things start to stagnate, they throw you a beast riding scene, a cut scene, or a puzzle at you. 
 
Each circle has it's own style that echos the name and the reason the occupants are there. My favorites so far would be Gluttony that was designed like the inside of a stomach with fleshy fat deposits and stomach acid around, lust which is filled to the fucking brim with decorations of sexual innuendo, and  anger which feels like the inside of a raging volcano. 

It was a nice change from bald angsty Kratos and it did some interesting things that GoW didn't, like the whole Holy abilitiy system. Yes it borrowed heavily from GoW but I played the first playthrough without ever using a melee weapon so it never felt like a rip off. Between a £45 GoW3 and a £15 Dante's Inferno, I prefer the later.
 
Sadly the gaming community seems to think GoW rules the genre, anything that tries that style is automatically labeled a "clone". Dreading the amount of times "GoW clone" is going to be used in Castlevania Lords of Shadow reviews.

" I was always interested in the game, but after hearing how much it deviates from the real story kinda turned me off. "

The level design and general tone of the game...were the only good things about the game.  Dante's Inferno, at least for me, was best enjoyed on the lowest difficulty setting just to see all the amazing art assets in the game...and then forget it exists. 
 
Oh, and because I got a sweet action figure of Dante with my "pre-order" (meaning I bought it the day of and my friends worked at Game Crazy).