Dante’s Inferno

A polished and rather cheeky God of War clone

If real life (HIT X) was anything like Dante’s (HIT RIGHT BUMPER) Inferno (HIT Y) you might get a little (MASH B REPEATEDLY) tired of all the (MOVE RIGHT STICK LEFT) annoying (HIT Y, THEN B, THEN X) quick time events.

It’s the 21st century. Videogaming is mentioned in hushed tones as the saviour of new entertainment media, yet there are still lessons to be learned. The number one lesson that should be carried forward into the next decade is “stop putting immersion-breaking and frankly rather irritating gameplay dynamics into games that would be superb without them”.

It seems to be an unwritten rule for third person action games, particularly those with a melee combat focus. Heavenly Sword could’ve been a fantastic title had the developers not insisted on breaking up superb scene-setting cut scenes with garish on-screen button prompts.

God of War forced you to behave like a demented Daley Thompson’s Decathlon player, pumping buttons just to perform a simple task like opening a chest or a door.  Even the super-sexy Bayonetta threw annoying button-pushing sequences at you in the very thick of battles where you really required all your digits to be fighting off impossible enemies.

So it’s only natural that Dante’s Inferno, stealing more than a few ideas from God of War, would follow suit – only this time the quick time stuff isn’t fun in any shape or form, and ruins all the effort Visceral Studios went to, polishing the game up to a fine sheen.

Based on Dante Alighieri’s epic prose “The Divine Comedy”, the crusading hero with the rather nasty habit of sewing bits of cloth into his chest must work his way through the seven (no hang on, nine) layers of hell to rescue his beloved Beatrice.

The game’s ancient setting lends itself well to weaving together acts of blind ugly violence, sexual titillation and supernatural stuff.  Cut scenes are stunningly produced in places, but there are moments where EA’s recent trademark cheap-looking animated scene-setting stuff leeches into the mix, making you wish that the developers had just done those scenes in the perfectly gorgeous game engine instead.

The game boils down to a classic good vs evil battle, though you’re never really sure if Dante’s quest isn’t a supreme act of villainy and selfishness, which he’s brought on himself.   Thus, it’s very difficult to be sympathetic to his cause, and really for the character you control and play as, you need to be able to at least form some sort of bond with the fellah as he chops his way through wave after wave of hell’s evil minions.

Dante’s Inferno could be described as formulaic and linear, but top quality artistic design ensures that it’s extremely sumptuous to look at, with some utterly stunning backdrops and scenery as you slowly work your way through the thematic levels based on the seven deadly sins (plus a couple of others thrown in for good measure).

Boss battles rely rather too heavily on those irksome quick time events, but the bosses are colossal and spectacular – and it goes without saying that everyone will be skipping through the game just to see what “Lust” has to offer.  Don’t get too excited though.  Being shoved up a hell-demon’s back passage before being unceremoniously fired at a stone wall is probably only funny once.

In a year absolutely stacked with similar titles, Dante’s Inferno misses more targets than it hits, relying on its production values and visuals too heavily to mask the rather stilted and irritating gameplay. Though the combat has the same rich extensibility seen in titles like Vigil Games’ Darksiders and Platinum Games’ Bayonetta, some of the control combinations feel awkward and you’ll swiftly become mired in a series of tedious minion battles that feel like game filler rather than enhancing the experience.

Visceral Studios has outlined plans to take on Shakespeare’s works with future titles. If they can successfully throw the quick-time and button mashing stuff in the bin, they could have a hit on their hands, but Dante’s Inferno feels quaintly old fashioned and void of the fun factor, and after all what’s the point in playing games that aren’t fun?