Combat isn't as good as rivals, but Dante's Inferno is still worth playing to see the adaptation of hell Visceral made.
So it's more than a little disappointing that Dante's Inferno biggest flaw is that it feels so much like God of War. Instead of taking the hack and slash idea and expanding on it (like Dead Space did with third person shooters) it feels like similar games only wearing another coat of paint. Granted, the coat of paint it is wearing is a good one and the team at Visceral is talented enough to make a hack and slash that's plenty memorable, but it's a shame that Dante's Inferno will forever be, and rightfully so, compared to the God of War franchise.
Dante, the character players control, controls almost exactly like Kratos from the God of War series and even a little of his moves and abilities are brought right out of Kratos' playbook. If you have played the God of War series before this is a bit discomforting throughout earlier levels in the game until you get used to it, mainly because Dante's Inferno just isn't as solid of a game.
That isn't to say Dante's Inferno is a bad game because it isn't. The few things that set Dante's Inferno apart are memorable enough and interesting enough to keep players going, and certain segments of Dante's journey are incredibly memorable and interesting.
The story is loosely (very loosely) based on the epic poem The Divine Comedy and alters various parts of that story to fit a more action suit. Dante, instead of a poet, is a crusader who takes great pain in the sins he has committed both literally and figuratively. For every sin Dante commits, he sews a piece of fabric onto his flesh. So much of it that his chest is now a giant cross for all the sins he has committed. Upon returning home from his crusades, Dante finds both his father and beloved wife-to-be, Beatrice, dead from a seemingly random attack. From there, Dante witnesses the spirit of his beloved taken to the bowels of Hell and Dante decides to jump in and rescue her.
From there, Dante descends into hell and learns various twists and fights enemies from his past that have also descended into hell. The story itself isn't entirely fleshed out or deep but is surprisingly interesting. The team at Visceral holds nothing back, as already showcased with the violence in Dead Space. Here, however, Visceral doesn't mind introducing plot elements that might be less than comfortable for players to simply deliver an engaging fight. It feels refreshing, as the elements aren't completely absent from games but they are, however, rather mulled in mainstream, heavily advertised releases such as this. Visceral had no quarrels with nudity, violence, or family feuds that feel intense or vulgar because, quite simply, not everything is always pretty. Instead of hell being a fire realm with large monsters about, as games tend to display it, Visceral Games molded all the nine circles as described in the Divine Comedy and the art design is as fantastic.
Dante has to travel through all the circles, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Violence, etc, just to find out what happened and how to save Beatrice. It offers a good change of pace due to the completely different styles of each circle. And, as an added bonus, each circle offers new enemies that seem fitting for their realm. Gluttony, for example, has large, utterly grotesque monsters that look like they've been eating a bit too much and belong there. Each circle moves on and introduces new threats, and while enemies do repeat every so often there's usually a fresh feel to the combat since you're not just fighting the same thing over and over and over.
The subject material, including the story, the art work, the enemy variety, and violence of the combat itself might be a bit hard for some players to digest but for anyone with an open mind it is well done and delivers the proper mood. Hell hasn't been done better than it has in Dante's Inferno.
The presentation ranges from mediocre to fantastic. Some of the music is very mediocre, uninspired but passable. The rest of the sound design, however, is top notch work that deserves some recognition. Voices, and the many different sounds coming from the demons sounds amazing. As players traverse through hell you hear various people in the background: tortured souls, screams, loud bangs and moving objects, large creatures' footsteps moving through the realms. Its pretty great with the sound turned up and works in Dante's disturbing quests favor.
The graphics are fine but certain character models particularly that of Dante and some other important characters seem unfinished. At first, it might seem this way due to large environments and lack of power in the engine running the game, but some enemies and bosses look amazing. It feels as though Visceral wasn't able to put the final coat of paint on the product and it's a bit disappointing.
This gripe isn't only in the graphical department but also the game play one as well. As stated earlier, Dante's Inferno plays a lot like God of War but there are ideas present throughout the game that seem like they didn't have the chance to be fleshed out. Dante has two weapons through the duration of the game: Death's Scythe and a Holy Cross that belonged to Beatrice. One is unholy, and the other is holy, and as players meet various enemies and have the opportunity to kill they also gain an option how to do so. You can both punish them and garner unholy points to level up your scythe, or absolve them (forgiving them of their sins) and gain holy points for your cross. This combat mechanic is interesting but never feels completely fleshed out. It also would have been nice for these points to change the outcome of the game, depending on if Dante redeemed himself or became as evil as the demons he was slaying, but unfortunately the path remains linear with one ending. That would have been nice for an action title to offer choice and it feels like that was supposed to be there, but again, never lives up to the potential it presented.
The rest of the game mechanics are a mixture. Enemies are usually fun to fight but some of them have moves and abilities that are stupidly powerful. It wouldn't have been a problem if these enemies were encountered a few times but when the game wants you to fight several at time and then throws environmental obstacles your way as well? It isn't difficult or challenging as it is broken and frustrating. These enemies often feel rushed, and the game doesn't rely on them to create a fair challenge but it does feel unfinished in a sense. The difficulty is unbalanced, offering for certain segments that require a bit of luck over skill to succeed.
Dante's Inferno certainly has its problems, but the world Visceral created is worth going through at least once. Given the game's ending, a sequel is likely on the way and one can only hope the problems that hurt this outing will be fixed so players can enjoy Visceral's second to none artistic style while enjoying a fun, brutal action game that this franchise deserves.