Dante's Inferno is out.  I know, I know...I was a strong supporter of this game, and in some ways, I still am.  However, well...it's a rental at best.  If you care to read on as to why, please do.  If not, then just take that first sentence with you and move on. 
 
Let's get something out of the way:  yes, Dante's Inferno doesn't step-by-step follow the epic poem, and it is also a God of War clone through and through.  You'll be going through a lot of context-sensitive battle sequences, exploring a relatively linear pathway through the entire game, collectibles are to be had, boobs are everywhere, and people whose names you are familiar with from ancient history are present.  However, it goes beyond that...but we'll get to that in a second. 
 
Visceral's interpretation of Dante's interpretation of the nine circles of Hell is the big stunner here, as it is very well-realized.  In all honesty, Visceral has put a lot of work into creating one of the best game worlds in existence.  Each circle is instantly distinguishable from any other circle, and many of them do follow at least a few descriptions from the poem.  Fraud is made up of the ten rings of Malebolge, Violence is made up of the three rings of violent acts, Anger is a giant marsh that leads to the River Styx, and Treachery (or Treason as it's known in the poem) is a frozen tundra of solitude.  Yes, I'm aware I just named off the lower circles outside of the City of Dis...which is little more than an afterthought in the game (and a slightly annoying sequence to be honest).  Heresy was pretty forgettable, but the upper circles were anything but!  Limbo and the role of Acheron were incredibly unique.  Gluttony is easily the most memorable of them all, only rivaled personally by Lust (mainly because of all the phallic objects and boobs that make you think "I can't believe they got away with this").  Even Greed was an interesting place.  In short, the environments are incredible to see and feel like...in some ways...like Dante's vision of Hell was realized in a competent and well-organized manner. 
 
Unfortunately, that's about where it stops.  From the small demo that had been released, we knew there was God of War-styled combat as well as some form of talent tree.  That combat...feels exactly like God of War...the game released in 2005.  It's stale, it's rigid, and it causes the game to feel archaic.  This could easily be attributed to the recent playthroughs I had of Darksiders and Bayonetta, which was a great one-two hit of combat for the new decade.  For being a company whose last game was able to rip off someone else's gameplay and make it BETTER (Dead Space in comparison to Resident Evil 4), Dante's Inferno is a step backwards.  At higher difficulty levels, the combat isn't nearly as responsive and sensitive as it should be, leading to many frustrating deaths and moments where you feel like...well...you're in video game Hell.  Even when the responsiveness and sensitivity feel right, there's little else to do other than either spam light attacks, spam cross attacks, or spam heavy attacks.  The talent tree of Unholy focuses on your physical scythe attacks, but none of those moves are in any way logical to beating the game on higher difficulties.  Meanwhile, the Holy tree focuses on magic and your cross...and none of THOSE even feel logical in the higher difficulties.  Basically, Visceral made the combat...a primary focus of the game...thoroughly uninteresting.  Yeah, the combat in God of War was a bit grinding as well...but there was also that sweet and brutal context-sensitive death sequence that you were building up to.  You know, the one where Kratos was sticking his sword down someone's throat and then ripping out their eyeballs and skull-fucking them while cackling like a lunatic and then decapitating a dead baby.  Dante's Inferno just doesn't have that kind of brutality to it, AND IT TAKES PLACE IN HELL!  I guess sacrificing the blood and violence, the lamenting and pain of it all...was alright as long as there are tons of virtual tits?  No me gusta, folks.  No me gusta.
 
As for story, Dante's Inferno takes a poem wrought with detail and emotion and turns it into little more than a "bigger dick" contest between Dante and Lucifer...until the final moments of the game, where you realize the real intentions that come off like some sad version of Timothy Olyphant in Live Free or Die Hard saying "hahaha I'm a mad genius hellbent on world domination".  Okay, sure...that wasn't Tim's intentions, but it's the general feeling I got when Lucifer uttered the words, "let us take over Purgatory and Paradise", thereby degenerating this game into a very generic category of storytelling.  Up until that point, however, they had done a really good job of showing the emotion that Dante feels over Beatrice's soul being lost in Hell and his lament for it.  There is also some interesting backstory given to him thanks to his escapades in the Crusades (talking about the game here, so don't start in about the book), as the cross in his chest is adorned with images of Dante having committed all sins that can put him in each one of the circles of Hell without a thought.  Acheron delivers a great line at the beginning of the game upon meeting Dante.  Dante says "My life, my soul for Beatrice", to which Acheron replies "You fool.  Those already belong to us".  The journey afterwards is a walkthrough of Dante's mistakes and shortcomings, and it really made me empathize with him.  I'm far from perfect and have committed my own sins, as have many of you, so for a company to make me empathize with a sinner such as Dante was an amazing accomplishment.  Then I was quickly thrown back into this "bigger dick" contest...and it just made me angry. 
 
One of the things that Visceral received a million pounds of praise for in Dead Space was their sound design.  Due to this critical praise, it was a heart-sinking feeling for me when the sound started glitching out upon restarts after dying.  There were also some issues with mixing that just bugged me, such as the levels of fart noises in Gluttony and moans in Lust in comparison to the action that was occurring.  These didn't impact me in any way other than "wow, that's loud and kind of unnecessary".  The voice acting was well-done, although breaking up Virgil's commentaries into pieces that make you constantly have to push a button again to hear him talk more...was a stupid design choice.  One of the best parts of the game itself is hearing Virgil's commentaries on the circle of Hell, who resides there, who guards it, how it's playing into this story being told, etc...and you want me to push a button up to three times to hear everything...rather than just playing it all out in one fluid piece?  It just makes NO sense for anything other than an achievement in the game. 
 
Much like Dead Space before it, beating Dante's Inferno unlocks a ton of stuff depending on the difficulty that you play on, including costumes, a New Game Plus feature called Redemption Mode, and a side thing called The Gates of Hell Arena.  This puts you through 50 waves of varying enemies, and once you complete it, you'll get an achievement.  Unfortunately, this doesn't work like the Challenges of the Gods in the first God of War.  You can change the difficulty on-the-fly both in the Arena as well as any time in the main game, meaning that you can play through it on the lowest difficulty and BREEZE through it.  There is a bit of a competitive side to it all, as you are given a timestamp of completion and other little features...but none of it matters. 
 
That's my biggest issue with Dante's Inferno - it's just not rewarding.  Going through Hell unlocks a couple of costumes?  Bleck.  Gates of Hell Arena?  It's a throw-away Horde mode in an action game.  The combat?  It's unflattering and unvaried.  Really, the only way I can enjoy this game is merely looking at it as I look at the poem:  a tour through Hell.  When you look at it in this light, it's actually pretty fucking awesome.  Like I said before, there are few environments that have been as well-realized as Hell is in Dante's Inferno.  That's just not enough to keep it in your library of games, though. 
 
Take the trip to Hell, folks...but don't do it for more than a rental. 
 
Hopefully, I'll finish these achievements out tonight...and then get Bioshock 2 sometime this week instead. 
 
Until next time...a saddened PIECE to all... 
 
P.S. -- Fuck the way they handled Treachery.  I'm sorry, but Lucifer was a three-headed fucking demon that was gnawing on Judas, Brutus, and Cassius.  I was okay with the liberties taken all the way up to that point...but the way that Lucifer was handled...and moreover, the general disregard of Lucifer being a pussy frozen in his own tears...THAT really pissed me off.

Dante's Inferno is out.  I know, I know...I was a strong supporter of this game, and in some ways, I still am.  However, well...it's a rental at best.  If you care to read on as to why, please do.  If not, then just take that first sentence with you and move on. 
 
Let's get something out of the way:  yes, Dante's Inferno doesn't step-by-step follow the epic poem, and it is also a God of War clone through and through.  You'll be going through a lot of context-sensitive battle sequences, exploring a relatively linear pathway through the entire game, collectibles are to be had, boobs are everywhere, and people whose names you are familiar with from ancient history are present.  However, it goes beyond that...but we'll get to that in a second. 
 
Visceral's interpretation of Dante's interpretation of the nine circles of Hell is the big stunner here, as it is very well-realized.  In all honesty, Visceral has put a lot of work into creating one of the best game worlds in existence.  Each circle is instantly distinguishable from any other circle, and many of them do follow at least a few descriptions from the poem.  Fraud is made up of the ten rings of Malebolge, Violence is made up of the three rings of violent acts, Anger is a giant marsh that leads to the River Styx, and Treachery (or Treason as it's known in the poem) is a frozen tundra of solitude.  Yes, I'm aware I just named off the lower circles outside of the City of Dis...which is little more than an afterthought in the game (and a slightly annoying sequence to be honest).  Heresy was pretty forgettable, but the upper circles were anything but!  Limbo and the role of Acheron were incredibly unique.  Gluttony is easily the most memorable of them all, only rivaled personally by Lust (mainly because of all the phallic objects and boobs that make you think "I can't believe they got away with this").  Even Greed was an interesting place.  In short, the environments are incredible to see and feel like...in some ways...like Dante's vision of Hell was realized in a competent and well-organized manner. 
 
Unfortunately, that's about where it stops.  From the small demo that had been released, we knew there was God of War-styled combat as well as some form of talent tree.  That combat...feels exactly like God of War...the game released in 2005.  It's stale, it's rigid, and it causes the game to feel archaic.  This could easily be attributed to the recent playthroughs I had of Darksiders and Bayonetta, which was a great one-two hit of combat for the new decade.  For being a company whose last game was able to rip off someone else's gameplay and make it BETTER (Dead Space in comparison to Resident Evil 4), Dante's Inferno is a step backwards.  At higher difficulty levels, the combat isn't nearly as responsive and sensitive as it should be, leading to many frustrating deaths and moments where you feel like...well...you're in video game Hell.  Even when the responsiveness and sensitivity feel right, there's little else to do other than either spam light attacks, spam cross attacks, or spam heavy attacks.  The talent tree of Unholy focuses on your physical scythe attacks, but none of those moves are in any way logical to beating the game on higher difficulties.  Meanwhile, the Holy tree focuses on magic and your cross...and none of THOSE even feel logical in the higher difficulties.  Basically, Visceral made the combat...a primary focus of the game...thoroughly uninteresting.  Yeah, the combat in God of War was a bit grinding as well...but there was also that sweet and brutal context-sensitive death sequence that you were building up to.  You know, the one where Kratos was sticking his sword down someone's throat and then ripping out their eyeballs and skull-fucking them while cackling like a lunatic and then decapitating a dead baby.  Dante's Inferno just doesn't have that kind of brutality to it, AND IT TAKES PLACE IN HELL!  I guess sacrificing the blood and violence, the lamenting and pain of it all...was alright as long as there are tons of virtual tits?  No me gusta, folks.  No me gusta.
 
As for story, Dante's Inferno takes a poem wrought with detail and emotion and turns it into little more than a "bigger dick" contest between Dante and Lucifer...until the final moments of the game, where you realize the real intentions that come off like some sad version of Timothy Olyphant in Live Free or Die Hard saying "hahaha I'm a mad genius hellbent on world domination".  Okay, sure...that wasn't Tim's intentions, but it's the general feeling I got when Lucifer uttered the words, "let us take over Purgatory and Paradise", thereby degenerating this game into a very generic category of storytelling.  Up until that point, however, they had done a really good job of showing the emotion that Dante feels over Beatrice's soul being lost in Hell and his lament for it.  There is also some interesting backstory given to him thanks to his escapades in the Crusades (talking about the game here, so don't start in about the book), as the cross in his chest is adorned with images of Dante having committed all sins that can put him in each one of the circles of Hell without a thought.  Acheron delivers a great line at the beginning of the game upon meeting Dante.  Dante says "My life, my soul for Beatrice", to which Acheron replies "You fool.  Those already belong to us".  The journey afterwards is a walkthrough of Dante's mistakes and shortcomings, and it really made me empathize with him.  I'm far from perfect and have committed my own sins, as have many of you, so for a company to make me empathize with a sinner such as Dante was an amazing accomplishment.  Then I was quickly thrown back into this "bigger dick" contest...and it just made me angry. 
 
One of the things that Visceral received a million pounds of praise for in Dead Space was their sound design.  Due to this critical praise, it was a heart-sinking feeling for me when the sound started glitching out upon restarts after dying.  There were also some issues with mixing that just bugged me, such as the levels of fart noises in Gluttony and moans in Lust in comparison to the action that was occurring.  These didn't impact me in any way other than "wow, that's loud and kind of unnecessary".  The voice acting was well-done, although breaking up Virgil's commentaries into pieces that make you constantly have to push a button again to hear him talk more...was a stupid design choice.  One of the best parts of the game itself is hearing Virgil's commentaries on the circle of Hell, who resides there, who guards it, how it's playing into this story being told, etc...and you want me to push a button up to three times to hear everything...rather than just playing it all out in one fluid piece?  It just makes NO sense for anything other than an achievement in the game. 
 
Much like Dead Space before it, beating Dante's Inferno unlocks a ton of stuff depending on the difficulty that you play on, including costumes, a New Game Plus feature called Redemption Mode, and a side thing called The Gates of Hell Arena.  This puts you through 50 waves of varying enemies, and once you complete it, you'll get an achievement.  Unfortunately, this doesn't work like the Challenges of the Gods in the first God of War.  You can change the difficulty on-the-fly both in the Arena as well as any time in the main game, meaning that you can play through it on the lowest difficulty and BREEZE through it.  There is a bit of a competitive side to it all, as you are given a timestamp of completion and other little features...but none of it matters. 
 
That's my biggest issue with Dante's Inferno - it's just not rewarding.  Going through Hell unlocks a couple of costumes?  Bleck.  Gates of Hell Arena?  It's a throw-away Horde mode in an action game.  The combat?  It's unflattering and unvaried.  Really, the only way I can enjoy this game is merely looking at it as I look at the poem:  a tour through Hell.  When you look at it in this light, it's actually pretty fucking awesome.  Like I said before, there are few environments that have been as well-realized as Hell is in Dante's Inferno.  That's just not enough to keep it in your library of games, though. 
 
Take the trip to Hell, folks...but don't do it for more than a rental. 
 
Hopefully, I'll finish these achievements out tonight...and then get Bioshock 2 sometime this week instead. 
 
Until next time...a saddened PIECE to all... 
 
P.S. -- Fuck the way they handled Treachery.  I'm sorry, but Lucifer was a three-headed fucking demon that was gnawing on Judas, Brutus, and Cassius.  I was okay with the liberties taken all the way up to that point...but the way that Lucifer was handled...and moreover, the general disregard of Lucifer being a pussy frozen in his own tears...THAT really pissed me off.

Thought it cloned God Of War way to much when I played the demo. I'll pick it up when it comes down in price just because I like this type of game but in all truth I wasn't impressed at all.

What's that you say? Phallic and Boobic imagery in Lust? Sold! 
 
Not really. What you say about the game kind of confirms my assumptions that Dante's Inferno is a less-than-awesome God of War clone. From what I saw of the quick look though... really enjoyed the visual design.

Mediocre, huh? Well, that's a shame. I mean... the template is right there. Just go home, play God of War I & II over the weekend, come back on Monday and tell your co-workers what you saw.

The only thing that has me mildly interested in Dante's Inferno is the art direction, the visual look of Hell. I wanna see Visceral's version of Hell. That's all. I wanna take a virtual tour of Hell rather than playing the game. Kinda like what Dante actually did in the poem.

I just can't fathom dropping sixty bones on this only about one month removed from God of War 3.  Hell, won't even rent it, i can just replay Bayonetta for my action game fix.

Well it got a Superbowl commercial which probably means it'll sell pretty well, so I'm sure the "people only hate this game cus its popular"bad game apologist types will come out of the woodwork soon enough and give you a headache for being honest.

Lucifer is a Goat demon with a dick between his legs,

The Devil, Master of evil, yeah, that guy, and all he is reduced to is a Goat demon with a Dick between his legs.

Should have been better.

"

 

Lucifer is a Goat demon with a dick between his legs,

The Devil, Master of evil, yeah, that guy, and all he is reduced to is a Goat demon with a Dick between his legs.

 

Should have been better.

"

"

 

Lucifer is a Goat demon with a dick between his legs,

The Devil, Master of evil, yeah, that guy, and all he is reduced to is a Goat demon with a Dick between his legs.

 

Should have been better.

"

Just because I think this is the best Lucifer that has appeared on screen, I am going to include this,

Al Pacino, Legend.

Let me give you a little inside information about God. God likes to watch. He's a prankster. Think about it. He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do, I swear for His own amusement, his own private, cosmic gag reel, He sets the rules in opposition. It's the goof of all time. Look but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, don't swallow. Ahaha. And while you're jumpin' from one foot to the next, what is he doing? He's laughin' His sick, fuckin' ass off! He's a tight-ass! He's a SADIST! He's an absentee landlord! Worship that? NEVER!    

I never really had high hopes for this game, it has always been on my PS3 rental list and always been on low priority within the list. Would it be fair to say all the boob imagery is there to distract the player, or attempt to anyway, from the otherwise poor quality found in the rest of the game?

" I never really had high hopes for this game, it has always been on my PS3 rental list and always been on low priority within the list. Would it be fair to say all the boob imagery is there to distract the player, or attempt to anyway, from the otherwise poor quality found in the rest of the game? "

Interesting, I had many of these concerns prior to release. How would you say the game compares alongside Bayonetta?.  
 
The Bayonetta V Dante V GoW3 battle seems to be of interest to many on this forum, on the evidence of the numerous members posting on my threads in troll like fashion, saying Bayonetta will suck in comparison to Dante.
 
@jakob187 said:

" @ArbitraryWater: It's definitely a game I can recommend for playing on the lowest difficulty setting and breezing through the combat just to see the level designs themselves, as they are captivating to see.  Unfortunately, as the Giant Bomb cast would say, "there's that whole part about having to play the game". "

" I never really had high hopes for this game, it has always been on my PS3 rental list and always been on low priority within the list. Would it be fair to say all the boob imagery is there to distract the player, or attempt to anyway, from the otherwise poor quality found in the rest of the game? "

Just wanted to comment on the most clever title I've seen at GB yet.

" Well it got a Superbowl commercial which probably means it'll sell pretty well, so I'm sure the "people only hate this game cus its popular"bad game apologist types will come out of the woodwork soon enough and give you a headache for being honest. "

ahem  
*clears throat.....breaths in deep* 
I told ya so

Was it only me that had a real blast with this game? I don't really agree with what you've written about the combat regarding only having to spam light/heavy/cross, and I found that spending talent points in the holy tree helped alot.
 I feel that  this was a really enjoyable game, even though it had it's faults, but as it doesn't feature any multiplayer action (apart from the DLC that looks really booring) I would also recommend this as a rental. but I do recommend you to get.

good review. i guess i can just looka t screens of the circles and that'll do.

" @Hamz said:

" I never really had high hopes for this game, it has always been on my PS3 rental list and always been on low priority within the list. Would it be fair to say all the boob imagery is there to distract the player, or attempt to anyway, from the otherwise poor quality found in the rest of the game? "

There are hell-spawn female enemies in the Lust realm that projectile Menstrual blood at you, and then extend some sort of umbilical chord that wraps around you and a prompt comes up to button mash (Square) and you twirl her around at other enemies, "

I heard that the last 3 circles were combat arena's with objectives is that true?

Now here is a game that should have never been developed.

" Now here is a game that should have never been developed. "

" Just wanted to comment on the most clever title I've seen at GB yet. "

" @Bellum said:

" Now here is a game that should have never been developed. "

/facepalm  The debate that will never end...  Look, it's public domain, and so it's open to interpretation by anyone.  So whatever.  Let's keep that debate over in the other million threads that focus on solely that. "

" @agentboolen: I have no problem with a game cloning someone else, so long as they take those mechanics and make them their own.  Dead Space did that, so it would seem logical that Dante's Inferno would do the same.  I was sorely disappointed to see that the combat itself is LESSER than a five-year-old game from a franchise it is ripping off. "

" @Bellum: Have you played it? "

" @trophyhunter: Link it, as I don't remember that happening that way.  Then again, I've got a shitty memory as well, as can be noted by my OP saying "Acheron" rather than "Charon".  =  /  Nonetheless, the game isn't great, but it's not bad.  It's just average.  So wouldn't YOUR statement of "no, no it won't" mean that you thought it would be bad?  Average =/= bad. "

thats why i prefer the book

It's not like its trying to pay homage to God of War, its like its trying to BE god of war. Even Dantes running and jump animations are remarkably similar to Kratos. And the story is god awful. 

" thats why i prefer the book "

" @Bellum: ...then you are merely basing everything you know on assumptions...and your assumptions are obviously unaware of just how much they DID cram into the game from the poem.  I was surprised by it quite a bit.  Unfortunately, Treachery (or Treason, as it would be) felt VERY last-minute-thrown-together. 
 
However, I would still suggest you rent it, throw it on the lowest difficulty, and give it a playthrough.  Even with the liberties taken, it holds very well to Dante's vision of Hell for the majority of the time. "

hmm, I agree with you that somehow, someway, the fraud part could have been better.
 
but the treachery part, well the part before the final boss, was kinda awesome.
I mean: