By Fernando Alcantara
Western Sun sports editor
It is every creative mind’s worst nightmare: running out of great ideas. For that reason, the idea of recycling or at the very least, the expert use of reinvention is the trick up every magician’s sleeve.
The always dependable: plan B. When Visceral Games, the developers of “Dante’s
Inferno” came across the idea to develop a game using Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” as inspiration for a new video game, they must have believed they had their hands on gaming gold. This reviewer agrees.
“Dante’s Inferno” (available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Sony PSP) takes inspiration from the first poem of “The Divine Comedy,” “Inferno.”
The “Divine Comedy” itself is a complex, allegorical epic that will require a copy of Cliff’s Notes by the side of the casual reader.
While the basis for a great video game was there in terms of back story and inspiration, whoever made the decision to make it an exact replica of Playstation’s “God of War,” and “God of War II” is where this reviewer must protest and emphatically disagree.
“Dante’s Inferno” is reminiscent of the “God of War” franchise from the controls, to the mini-games, to the way the main character runs from one side of the screen to the other and an exact clone in total game-play.
In “Dante’s Inferno” you play as Dante, a knight who returns home from battle to find his wife Beatrice slain and whose soul has been reaped by the devil. Dante falls to the depths of hell, hell-bent on rescuing his love from Lucifer.
Slaying demons by the hundreds with a scythe that Dante wins in a battle with Death in the opening level is quite fun and the combo counter on the left of the screen keeps track of the hits delivered in succession.
Blisters are a sure thing if you desire a large number on the combo counter.
“Dante’s Inferno” is excellent visually and the game controls, although great are not without flaws. You will find that in your button mashing, Dante will need to finish an attack combo, which may leave him open to attacks.
When he is knocked down, enemies can attack him. This is a huge annoyance.
The fun begins to run out, as the game gets longer; too many enemies that require uninspiring battles are one reason. Bad level-design and boring objectives are the other.
For fans of the “God of War” series, you’ll just wonder why you’re not playing that game instead.
“Dante’s Inferno” is not necessarily a complete letdown, but it is a complete rip-off in design and style of play and unfortunately just reminds us that “God of War” which is a much better game and gives the gamer a more complete experience.
The recommendation is to skip the game and read the poem instead.
