PS3 Review – Dante’s Inferno
When Dante’s Inferno was announced, many viewed it as a ripoff of our beloved PlayStation franchise, God of War. Now that the game has finally been released, it is time to see if it is worthy of a purchase with the God of War III release right around the corner. The game is being published by Electronic Arts and developed by Visceral Games. As the player, you take on the role of Dante, a protagonist who has lost everything. He begins his descent into Hell armed with Death’s scythe and a cross. The game has many connections to “Inferno,” written by poet Dante Alighieri, and is a part of “The Divine Comedy.”
The game begins with this quote, and it caught my attention from the get-go.
In the year 1191, European knights of the Third Crusade captured the city of Acre, about 30 miles from Jerusalem.
Under orders from King Richard, 3000 civilian prisoners were detained. They were held as ransom for a holy relic once taken by Saladin, the Kurdish protector of the Holy Land.
As the hot summer wore on, Saladin dug in and refused to negotiate. Richard grew frustrated, unsure of an attack on Jerusalem.
And the fate of the innocent prisoners was left undecided…
What do the terms Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery mean to you? In Dante’s Inferno, they represent the nine circles of hell that the player must traverse throughout the game. Each circle has its own look and feel to it. Along the way, you will encounter various monsters in their respective circles. Depending on the circle, both the environment and the monsters will change. For example, in Lust, there are many sexual elements present, including constant moaning and women which attack Dante with horrific sexual appendages. Within the Gluttony circle, on the other hand Dante will encounter extremely obese creatures with mouths for hands. These creatures not only attempt to eat Dante, but vomit and defecate on him as well.
The storyline is simple, yet keeps you interested as you make your way deeper into the depths of Hell. Dante is a Crusader who did many things during the Crusades that would be considered sins. Though he was promised absolution of these sins by the Bishop, it turns out this is not true at all. During the attack on Acre, he is killed and is taken by Death. He then realizes that he has been deceived and wants to repent for the sins that he has committed. Dante fights Death itself and upon victory inherits his scythe. Afterwards, he begins his journey home to find his love, Beatrice, slain, and her spirit dragged to hell. He grabs the cross and begins his journey to save Beatrice’s soul which will take him through the nine circles of Hell.
The environment itself is amazing, overall. You may actually feel as if you are in Hell as you make your journey through the game, and you will often find yourself aghast at the atrocities being visited upon Hell’s many ”occupants.” It is a dark and gritty environment with over the top gore. The game is definitely for mature gamers.
Graphically, the game has a unique feel to it as well. Given the mature nature of the game, the look of the game is much darker than most. It has to represent Hell itself, so it is a given that it would have a dark feel to it. The cutscenes look phenomenal as well, but there are two different type of cutscenes within the game: some have phenomenal, lifelike graphics, but most of the cutscenes have more of an animated look to them. Both look great, but are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
10 Responses to “PS3 Review – Dante’s Inferno”
Nice score. Good job on the review.
Bought it from Amazon yesterday with my $20 preorder credit from MW2 that was going to expire, so I got it for $35. And I got another $10 off a future game… either Heavy Rain or GoW.
Great review. Cant wait to play it.
Definitely a cool game. I’m sure Inferno fans will love it.
This game is underrated. The review scores it has been given are very unfair. Seems most reviewers now feel the need for a long solid story than gameplay to give a high score. Which the gameplay is kick ass in this game! Give me a Huge Scythe to cut demons with and a simple story that doesn’t get in the way of fun!
Im in!
I’m just about to finish the game, I rented it from Gamefly, and I have to say it is pretty good and I enjoy the story. However, when it comes down to it this is still another game that is just like God of War, and no one can do GoW better than the real thing. I understand that everything is supposed to look darker because you’re in hell, but I feel like this results in graphics that aren’t just darker but are less sharp. The reds could be brighter especially since a lot of the use of red is supposed to depict blood or guts in some manner. The contrast just isn’t there to make this game really pop. The gameplay is almost identical to GoW too. I just couldn’t see spending money on a game when the pinnacle of its genre will be released in just over a month.
@soildercell
i agree, the game hasnt been getting good scores and its a shame the developers aren’t getting recognition on such a awesome game. I think it did a good job of telling the story. Its rated mature, so they probably figured there wasn’t a need to drag out the story since most buying it would be out of high school and know about or heard of the dive comedy a.k.a Dantes inferno.
Got the platinum last night, it took 3 days of grinding at it. Going the good path may get you more souls but upgrading the holy path the game becomes harder. Mostly because your left with powerful cross attacks and a weak scythe .. splitting the development on holy and vengeance leaves you on the bottom of the attack and holy moves.
Anyways,
good review. People should check out this game… dont dismiss it as a GOW3 rip off.
the level designer of GOW made the levels (its in there diaries video on the PSN)
@giese095
the games super sharp and bright red on my TV using default settings.
might just be your TV…Graphically the game delivers. All games share the same concepts, its rather dumb to use that comparison. Alot of game use QTE, mana, magic etc
@Joseph Peterson
nice score btw.. it really does deserve it!
fullly fullly agree with geise… i 2 rented this from gamefly and am coming to an end…after playing this much the only thing it makes me want to do is get gow!! the environments are surreal and cutscenes and story are also well-done.. the attention to the detail is very nice…4/5 is deserved… i enjoyed playing it
I played the demo and I found it really cool but come on guys, its a shameless GOW rip off! That being said the game was still super fun and the world they created was really interesting. I’ll play through it eventually, maybe pick it up when it becomes cheap later in the year.
@CDUW
True its a rip-off of God of War in terms of gameplay even story but its pretty good in terms of graphics and the voice acting is well. I beaten it three times just to upgrade all of the weapons and get the trophies and still have fun with it. I got it for $50 on Craigslist a few months ago and worth every dime and this was before GOW3 came out.