Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    Dante's Inferno

    Game » consists of 13 releases. Released Feb 09, 2010

    Traverse the nine circles of hell in Visceral's action game named after the first cycle of Dante Alighieri's epic poem The Divine Comedy.

    imperiousrix's Dante's Inferno (Xbox 360) review

    Avatar image for imperiousrix
    • Score:
    • imperiousrix wrote this review on .
    • 1 out of 1 Giant Bomb users found it helpful.
    • imperiousrix has written a total of 44 reviews. The last one was for Catherine
    • This review received 1 comments

    With Great Vengeance and Furious Anger...

    Many cinema-goers may recall a little-known film called “Pulp Fiction”.   In it, Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Jules, often repeats a made-up bible verse; a real showstopper, talking about “the weak” being shepherded through “the valley of darkness”, and striking down those who attempt to “destroy his brothers.   It’s at the end of the film that we realize that Jules really doesn’t know what the verse means, that he says it merely for the theatrics, but his trials and tribulations have caused him to find deeper meaning in the words he uses, actually beginning to apply them to his life and hoping to use them as a way to redeem himself.  

    This relates to Dante’s Inferno not only because, in this story, it’s a tale of redemption for our sinful protagonist, but also can serve as an abstract for the game as a whole.   Here’s a game that’s bawdy advertising campaign and exterior project a certain almost off-putting theatricality and apparent disregard for the meaning of that which it takes its name and influence.   Looking closer, it seems that the game also shamelessly repackages an already successful game series to an almost offensive point.   Though both these observations aren’t exactly false, there are just a huge number of redeeming qualities to this game.   It might not ever reach a point where it towers above its brethren on high, but you can feel the heart and effort that went into this game, and the mechanics within are solid enough that this game is well-worth all the hell it can give you.  
     

    If you’re familiar with Dante Alighieri and his poem Inferno… then you’re a better person than me, because I’ve never read it.   I HAVE however done research and, from what I can gather, it’s the first part of a greater work known as Dante’s Divine Comedy.   Within it, Dante travels through the 9 circles of hell guided by the poet Virgil in a quest to find the soul of the woman he loves, Beatrice.   More than anything, the story lays out the landscape and inhabitants of hell in an incredibly vivid manner.   The game takes this basic story and adds the impetus of an action title into the mix.    

      

    In the GAME, Dante is actually a veteran of the 3rd Crusades.   Spurred on by the false promises of bishops, he proceeds to commit every damn sin in the book (that book being The Bible).   Dante however is not heartless and, feeling such remorse for his actions after a near-death (?) experience, mutilates himself by actually wearing his sins as a tapestry on his chest.   He wants nothing more than to return home to his wife, Beatrice, but instead, finds her killed and, by his own sins, condemned to hell and dragged away by Lucifer himself.   Dante gives chase, and throughout the 6 or so hours that it’ll take you to beat the game, he traverses all 9 circles and has a somewhat shallow rivalry with the devil himself.   The story is at its best when it’s being more abstract and cerebral, when Dante is dealing with the beast within rather than any hellish foe.   Even some of these foes that have no relation with him provide some decent incite into the character, it’s whenever the game tries to portray the personification of his sins or trying to create a shallow motivation for some of the villains that it enters the silly realm.   However, after finishing it and knowing that the game is going to continue into a franchise, I was still left with a bitter-sweet feeling from a story that is never exciting or unpredictable, but is reflective, thought-provoking, and infinitely dark.  

    Outside of its story mode, there isn’t much to Dante’s Inferno.   There are some bonus galleries, a compendium, and a brief history on the life of Dante Alighieri, but only one other real game mode.   Unlocked after completing the campaign, you unlock the Gates of Hell endurance mode, which is 50 timed waves of enemies to wade through.   If you weren’t into the combat (and if you aren’t, this is probably not the game for you), than this doesn’t sound like much and, in many ways, it isn’t.   However, the game does come with a bonus movie advertising a DLC add-on coming this April called Trials of St. Lucia which promises to bring online co-op and user-created content to the game.   If you like the game enough, this certainly feels like a great addition, but as of the current date, the package does feel a bit slim at 60 dollars. 
     

    The real make or break elements of Dante’s Inferno, however, come in its gameplay.   It’s been thrown around every time this game has come up in discussion, but let’s just clear the air.   Dante’s Inferno plays, for better or worse, almost identically to Sony’s popular God of War franchise.   You will hack and slash using a telescoping weapon, you will use magic skills fueled by mana, you will use brutal finishing moves, and you will swing, climb walls, and solve rudimentary puzzles by pushing blocks and/or turning levers.   If you liked all these things in God of War, you’re going to like them in Dante’s Inferno.   If you were hoping that Dante’s Inferno put its own unique spin on these familiar elements, well Dante’s Inferno DOES have a few tricks up its sleeve, but some of these end up being derivative or simply not that interesting. 

    Hellish beasts are not all that stand in Dante's way.
    Hellish beasts are not all that stand in Dante's way.

     For one thing, if you care at all to look at a wiki or the poem itself, the game can become wholly predictable in its progression, as it does not deviate once from the structure of hell itself.  It’s the way these stages are portrayed from an aesthetic and gameplay standpoint that actually affects the enjoyment of many of these circles.   For example, the circle of Anger is very combat focused, following a more linear chase style of gameplay that focuses around a hostile centerpiece. Then there is the circle of Fraud, which is actually a series of 10 combat arenas with widely varying objectives.   Although the variety of the different realms of hell may make for a richer gameplay experience, it also makes the game feel very uneven at points. 

    Duality is one of those things that infect all aspects of the gameplay.   Besides the soul-reaping Death’s Scythe, Dante also wields his beloved Beatrice’s Holy Cross.   This cross is essentially a ranged and stunning tool that contrasts the straight-forward stabbing and slashing of the scythe, and as you defeat enemies with these tools, you gain souls that let you purchase upgrades to everything from your health bar, to your combos, to new magical spells.   Instead of leveling up to unlock the various branches of the tech tree, it is split into two sections; The Holy and The Unholy.   These branches are unlocked by either absolving or punishing the various shades found around the circles of hell.   Essentially, one could resolve these souls based upon your feelings toward their sins, but you’ll get far more out of the game’s tech tree if you focus on one side or the other.   Most execution moves are actually tied to this mechanic, allowing for the quick stacking up of these points if the player concentrates of finishing off their enemies.   These, like many other parts of the game, are mini quick-time-events and often context sensitive.   They help draw you into the combat sections, but when you’re doing them from everything to breaking open health fountains to opening doors, you’re gonna end up with some sore thumbs.   Despite that, and a few serious issues during some platforming sections, Dante’s Inferno is one of the most solid action titles on the market today.   It’s always visceral, often creative, and welcomingly challenging.  

    The presentation side of Dante’s Inferno is really where the game stands apart.   Hell, at the risk of sounding ironic, looks beautiful.   There’s just such detail and disturbing imagery used in every inch of each of hell’s circles that they’re easily the of the game’s presentation.   The denizens of hell are also admirably designed, but the downside is that there are really no new enemy designs about half-way through the game.   Dante looks appropriate parts tortured and spoiling for a fight, he just pales in comparison to some of the colossal enemies he faces (many of which are designed by Guillermo Del Toro film stalwart, Wayne Barlowe).   On the sound side, the design here is top notch, with a solid soundtrack and great sound effects.   The only weak aspect is the voice acting which, although possesses some decent performances, suffers from a script that patches together quotes from the poem in many of its scenes and, when delivered as the basis of dialogue, can come off a bit stiff.

     
     

    Dante’s Inferno is a dichotomy.   It’s just as unique as it is completely derivative.   It doesn’t always feel like the game is “The Righteous Man”, but it’s trying, it’s trying real hard to be worth your time.   If you enjoy hack n’ slash games, and want something dark to brighten (?) the early months of this year, Dante’s Inferno is a hell of a good time.

    Other reviews for Dante's Inferno (Xbox 360)

      Dante's Inferno Video Review 0

      A much bigger shadow looms over what could have been a great game if it wasn’t for some frustrating moments and an anticlimactic ending. It is hard to take Dante's Inferno as a new IP as right from the beginning Visceral Games have spoken about the inspiration that they took from the God of War series, and man does it show. The main protagonist, Dante, has the same red that when he swings his Scythe blend into his figure making him look like another Greek god that has red paint on his body. How...

      69 out of 71 found this review helpful.

      Trapped in purgatory 0

       First and foremost, if you are an avid fan of The Divine Comedy, you are going to hate what EA has done to their Dante’s Inferno game. It is as blistered and altered and transformed from the original poem as you feared. I’ve joked before about video gamizing in the past, but Dante’s Inferno really raises the bar to downright sacrilegious levels. But if you avoid taking personal offense to how Dante’s Inferno butchers the legendary work that is The Divine Comedy (and for that matter, the legenda...

      35 out of 35 found this review helpful.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.