Inferno brings light RPG mechanics to an Adventure-Shooter, and the result is nothing less than extraordinary!
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9.3
Clearly Best Radiangames Release To Date: far superior to JoyJoy and Crossfire
Genre Defying: Core shooter gameplay with leveling and "dungeon crawling"
Great replay value: 1-4 player co-op, NewGame+, multiple difficulty settings, over 30 levels
Aesthetically refined: clean and polished visuals, with great overall low-fi presentation
Perfect Control Handling: Controls are tight, drones and power-ups are spot-on, enemies are varied
Only 2 Boss Fights: and they're basically recycled
Great soundtrack needs more variation for a lengthy game
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If I were Luke Schneider, 12 year veteran of the gaming industry (e.g. Red Faction) and Radiangames personified, I'd be rolling on the floor giggling right now. I'd also have 3 of the 20 highest fan-rated indie games on XBIG, which is a distinction only Radiangames can enjoy at the moment. Though contrary to many players and reviews, I've found their past games (JoyJoy and Crossfire) to be merely decent though enjoyable, I've had a "come to Jesus" with Inferno, Radiangames very best entry so far and one of the better XBIG games I've played in a few months. That's saying a lot for an atheist!
There's so much that's fantastic in Inferno, it's hard to know where to begin: Genre-wise, it's part shooter, part "Dungeon Crawler"; the controls are tight as can be; leveling and "loot" is spot on; it's visually low-key but quite clean and surprisingly beautiful; the music is catchy despite repetition; there's 30 levels plus bonus "Secret" levels; enemies are varied, difficulty curves well... it's really the whole package.
But let's begin again. In Inferno, you move your "ship" though well-designed but simple maps in search of the exit. Along the way, you'll shoot down a variety of enemies to gather points (which can be spent in stores for upgrades), snag "loot" like bombs, health boosters, points, and keys which allow you to pass barriers. If you've every played Mega Monster Mania (which you probably haven't), whereas that game was presented as an RPG with shooter gameplay, Inferno does the opposite and presents itself as a shooter with RPG elements. The result is exceptional, largely because the components which makes for great shooter gameplay are just really solid.
The levels themselves are well-designed. Again, almost in parallel to your favorite dungeon crawler, each is arrayed with "rooms" with floating enemies (sometimes conceived as ships, other times as bubbles etc) and "loot" is scattered around each map. While each level has hard borders surrounding the rooms, at times you can pass through walls to reach out-of-the-way areas, including bonus levels in which you're goal is to grab as much "loot" as you can before a timer runs down. While you will face 2 boss fights as you battle your way to the end, I must say, unfortunately, that they were by far the weakest point in the game. Sure they were moderately tough, but being generally recycled didn't help, and they just didn't have the personality that one would hope for. More boss fights with greater variation would've really elevated this game into the ether.
Leveling also works like a charm. With the points you've earned, you can unlock up to 2 levels in a variety of areas, including extra health, spread and target-seeking ammo, shield boosts, improved quickness and more. These perks are unlockable every few maps, and increase your strength just enough to match the difficulty curve of the game. When you complete the game, you'll unlock a newgame+ mode, in which you are allotted all of your upgrade points, and have the opportunity to do it all over on "volcanic" difficulty if you like too.
Aesthetically, Inferno shines too. Despite a relatively low-fi presentation, enemies are well-represented and visually varied, groups of levels have basic colored backgrounds that change every-so-often to give you a sense of your progress, and the entire presentation is really clean. Even the little things, like having the start-up screen match the color of the level you're continuing to, are done. The soundtrack has a great electronica feel and is perfect for the game, though some variety would've been welcome to go along with the visual changes.
All told, Inferno is by and large a masterful game. It revives the twin-stick shooter into a form that's incredibly palatable and fresh, and receives high marks for polish. It's been a while since I felt this way about an indie game from XBIG, but games like Inferno make it all worth while.
9.3/10