Thoughts On: Dante’s Inferno – The Demo

Let’s get this out of the way now, when you play this you can’t not think of God of War. As I told Starbuck at work (and tweeted after) “You feel like you’re playing God of War but you ask yourself: Who the hell is that guy?” I’m sorry for all you people out there defending this game to death that it isn’t God of War reskinned, but deep down you know this is as close a clone gets.

And that’s what’s good about this game. I was able to pick-up the controller and get playing right away, without having to follow some lame tutorial level. Visceral Games has “cloned” many game types but they always get it right. Look at Dead Space (clone of Resident Evil) and The Godfather (clone of GTA III), both were great games that took a successful game’s mechanic and made a similar games that sold well.

It’s always for a girl, isn’t it?

So now on to the demo. Gameplay is exactly what you expected. Enemies appear in large numbers and you slaughter them with your long stem axe (in the beginning) and then with your bone scythe (that you take after beating death, not the event but the guy). Like GoW (sorry but gotta make the comparison) when you face larger foes you widdle down their life until an interactive sequence appears (press X) to defeat the enemy.

Something that’s cool about this game is the abilities you obtain. As you build your experience you can unlock either good or evil abilities, but you aren’t locked in one path. Another cool thing is the character himself, Dante. It takes a badass guy to stitch cloth to your chest (you’ll see in the intro of the game).

Speaking of intro, the clips at the beginning of the game and between missions range from great to crap. The CG videos looks amazing! The animated videos suck. Why mix the two? We go from some stunning high quality graphics (like when the horse steps into the puddle) and then we go to some cheesily drawn pictures that eventually animate. Pick one (I recommend the CG) and stick with it.

Now back to being a God of War clone. Not only is it a great adaptation of GoW, it also allows XBox 360 owners a chance to play a great gory action game. (GoW is exclusive to the PlayStation) Another reason not to whine about it being a successful clone.

In the end it’s a great demo. It provides on the action and has a good story. Obviously this isn’t a game for someone under 18 (Rated M) and I’m sure the boobs in the game add to it’s mature rating. And for fun, here’s a couple of video that compares both Dante’s & GoW III:

BTW, while this game claims it’s inspired by the first book Inferno of Dante Alighieri’s poem The Divine Comedy, it’s really just borrowing from the title and some plot elements. Instead of pointing out the large differences, how about reading a book (oh my God, what?) and play the game and discover it for yourself.

Also a fun little fact; Wildstorm (DC Comics property) will be making an adaptation of Dante’s Inferno. Funny, eh? A comic adaptation of a video game inspired by a poem? All we need is a movie to be made from the comic. Does your head hurt yet?