Dante's Inferno Review for Xbox 360.

Dante Alighieri was born in the mid-1200's and is, without doubt, responsible for one of the finest pieces of literature ever written. The Divine Comedy was Dante's personal interpretation of hell. Or to be more precise, the differing levels of hell where the souls of the damned suffer. Anyone who hasn't read The Divine Comedy, I urge you to find a copy of this haunting masterpiece either before or after you've played Dante's Inferno.

Dante's Inferno is based upon Alighieri's masterpiece. Dante's Inferno (or DI for the sake of this review) is an action-adventure game with some platform and puzzle elements. You play as Dante (shocker), a crusader-knight (and not a very nice person to be honest) who has rushed home from the Holy War to protect his beloved wife: Beatrice. He returns home to find his wife and father dead. To make matters worse, after discovering Beatrice's body he then finds out that her soul now belongs to Lucifer. I won't say how or why here as it will spoil the game later on for you. Certain liberties have been taken in creating this game. In the book, Dante was a simple traveller, not a warrior. However, this is forgiveable given the context of the game.

PRESENTATION

+ We're not in Kansas anymore!! Wow! Just......wow! The scenery and presentation of this game are superb. The art team from Visceral Games have some really screwed up imaginations and I'm all the more thankful for it. Every circle of Hell you traverse through is stunningly grotesque. From rivers of molten gold, in the Circle of Greed, where the dead wade in constant agony to the River Styx where statues of the damned pose in intolerable suffering. This game drags you kicking and screaming through it all. Even the most basic of walls is a disturbing sight, with the souls of countless people trapped within, writhing to break free from their eternal suffering.

= This is on the 360 right? Although the presentation is spot-on, the in-game graphics are a slight let down. They look like high-end PS2 in the same vein as the God of War series. It's not game-breaking but it is a missed opportunity to really push the graphical power of the 360 and bring Hell to life even more.

+ Saturday night at the movies. CGI cut-scenes are pretty at the best of times, DI's CGI is nothing short of bloody breath-taking!! Never have I seen character emotions portrayed so well in Full Motion Video! Do you hear that Final Fantasy? This is how it should be done!!! Although the CGI scenes are few and far between, they are done so well it would be a crime not to give them the credit they deserve.

= Not one for the kiddies! DI is graphic in the extreme and is definitely not one for parents to buy their children. Nudity, language and violence.....oh, and more nudity. Parents, you have been advised! :-)

- You again?! Ah yes, DI falls into the same trap as many other games. There are only a handful of demonic designs to contend with. Considering you're travelling thorugh 9 circles of hell, you would've thought that their would be more variation. Apparently Satan doesn't like change!

- Where are we now? Although the 9 circles of Hell look fantastic, the transition between each one feels forced and un-necessary. There's no gentle flow between each circle and you'll know when you're descending to a different area.

SOUND

+ Rinse and repeat. Anyone who's read one of my reviews should know that I detest repeated voice and sound samples in games. It's just a bit lazy in my eyes. I'm now going to eat my own words and say that DI uses repeated sound loops to absolutely magnificent effect! The groans, tortured howls and pleading voices are both haunting, disturbing and upsetting in equal measure. It really is a perverse pleasure to listen to the agony of the damned until you release that if you fail in your mission within Hell, you'll be one more voice to the choir! ;-)

= You said what?! I'm really not sure what to feel about the voice acting in DI. Dante and Beatrice are okay while the Bosses in the game are defintely the strongest aspect. I can't put my finger on what's missing but it just feels like some of the scripting doesn't quite "click".

= Where's Beethoven when you need him? Same problem as the voices. There's nothing wrong with the music but it doesn't grab you like you would've hoped. Maybe it's just me! :-)

GAMEPLAY

- Are you sure that's right? Okay, minor spoiler here!! At the beginning of the game, you beat up and (kinda) kill Death. Yep, that's right.....DEATH!! You know, the man with a big scythe. One of the most powerful mythical entities EVER!! Just doesn't seem right. Visceral Games should've chosen another way for Dante to enter Hell.

- You're not the boss of me! Perhaps I've been spoilt by games such as Shadow of the Collosus but I really was expecting same amazing boss battles in this game (c'mon! I'm in Hell dammit). Alas, it was not to be. :-( Some of the bosses certainly look the part ie: Minos and Cleopatra but everyone else is a let-down. Attack patterns that even a blind monkey can see coming do not help matters either.

= Kratos is that you? I promised myself I wouldn't join the masses and compare this to God of War. Sadly there ARE a lot of similarities between DI's combat system and GOW's. It's not a bad thing as it works fairly well but at times it feels quite clunky compared to GOW. You have a standard light and heavy attack plus a grab button which will allow you to absolve or punish certain enemies. What does that mean? Read below!

+ I DECIDE YOUR FATE! One of the guilty pleasures of combat is grabbing an enemy and deciding whether to absolve them of their sins or punish them for trying to stick 3 metres of steel into your head! Initially it is very tempting to just punish but there is an upside to doing both. DI gives you 2 skill-trees. One Holy, one un-Holy. Each tree will give you different advantages and upgrades. The Holy tree is generally useful if you want to upgrade your Cross attacks whilst the un-Holy side is useful for making your scythe attacks more powerful.

- But I want them all! Sadly it takes 2 playthroughs to max out both sides of the skill tree. You will definitely want to max out Holy first as it makes achievement hunting easier. ;-) It's just a shame that the player cannot have the best of both worlds and is essentially made to choose.

+ A present? For me?! Throughout your adventure you will come across, and collect, Relics. These items can be equipped and levelled up to give you more of a chance of surviving the denizens of Hell. Abilities such as: more powerful attacks, unable to be interrupted during combos and even absorbing damage are here to make things that little bit more interesting for you. They work well without upsetting the balance of the game too much and are a welcome addition.

+ Abracadabra! It's GOW comparison time again but this time DI comes out on top with it's use of magic. I actually used the spells in this game!! I barely touched the magic in GOW so again Dante does something right. From magical shields to a smart-bomb style spell, there's something for everyone here but it is worth mentioning that there are only half-a-dozen or so spells in the game.

= Do you know War, perchance? What is it with this type of game and puzzles? They're almost insultingly simple and not necessary in this game type.

- Hop, skip and......bugger!!!!! The jump mechanics in this game are bloody awful. It's hard to gauge distancing which means you're gonna die a few times trying to do the most trivial of tasks. Sounds like a small gripe but when you've traipsed through a level only to make the tiniest of errors and re-start from the last save point........well, you can imagine how frustrating it becomes.

- Speaking of which. The save system in this game is horrible (as hinted at above). There is no checkpoint system as such. If you die, then it's back to a save point with you. This wouldn't be so much of a problem but any items you collected before dying will have to be re-collected! Saving is more of a relief than a necessary feature of any game!!

= Wait. That's it? DI is a short game. Plain and simple. It took me 10 hours to do everything this game had to offer although there is DLC coming in the future. That's little comfort for those who paid full-price for this though. I think Dante's Inferno is best summed up as: short but sweet.

Should I buy this?

No. Don't get me wrong, despite all its little faults, Dante's Inferno is a really good game and I thoroughly enjoyed playing it to the end. But when a game is 10 hours long with 2 playthroughs it is advisable to rent first.

Dante's Inferno was developed by Visceral Games and Published by EA Games. Hours played: 10+. Review is based upon the Xbox 360 version

If you're interested in reading another opinion, check out Ashton's review here