Review: Dante's Inferno

Written by Jim Thomas Thursday, 11 February 2010 17:38

Remember Jimmy Vetner from 2nd grade?  You know, the kid that copied everything you did.  You would wear your favorite shirt to school, only to find Jimmy wearing the same shirt the next day.  That god damn copy cat did everything you did, and then pretended like he didn't know what you were talking about when you confronted him.  Oh come on, you remember Jimmy.  He's the kid that would pull his pants and underwear down to his ankles as he pissed, so when you walked into the bathroom his freckled bare ass would be starting back at you from the urinal.  Ok, so maybe you don't remember Jimmy, but I'm willing to bet that somewhere in your childhood you've met someone just like him.  If you haven't, you probably were Jimmy.  In which case, I hope you have that pissing at the urinal thing sorted.

As a 8 year old who had all the coolest shit, Jimmy's imitation was infuriating.  I didn't understand why he insisted on buying the same stuff as me.  As an adult, I realize rather than being angry at Jimmy I should have been flattered.  There is an old saying that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.  To a certain extent this holds true.  The reality of it was, Jimmy admired me.  By copying the things I did, and the clothes I wore, he was trying to be like me.  Hell, had he learned to piss like a normal person, we might have even become friends.  But where I am going with all this?  Oh yea, Dante's Inferno is a big fucking copy-cat.

That's right, Visceral games took everything from the God of War franchise, re-skinned it, placed it in Hell, and called it Dante's Inferno.  But I'm not complaining.  Why you may ask?  Because I love God of War, and Dante's Inferno plays exactly like it.  There were times I forgot I wasn't playing God of War.  From the control scheme, down to the puzzle solving, Dante's Inferno shamelessly imitates God of War.  It may be a rip-off of Sony's smash hit, but this doppelganger's ride through the inferno sure is fun. 

To say Visceral drew their gameplay inspiration  from Sony's monster IP would be a understatement.  Every gameplay element, right down to the QTE finishing moves was ripped form GOW.  But it made the learning curve that much faster.  After two minutes with Dante, I was a fucking pro.  No need to learn new button combos, I already knew them.  After countless hours of playing every God of War title available I was fully trained from the get go, to grab hell by the short and curlies.

Gameplay mechanics aside, Dante's Inferno does have an intriguing story.  Where revenge and anger drive Kratos, regret and redemption are the driving force for Dante.  Unique comic book inspired cutscenes tell the story of Dante, a crusader who fought in the Holy war against the Turks.  Before embarking on the crusade, Dante promised his darling Beatrice that he would be faithful to her while he was away.  However, war has a way of bringing out the worst in people.  Add a reprehensible bishop promising absolution of your sins for your efforts in the crusade, and you can see where things start to go wrong.  Unbeknownst to Dante, Beatrice wagered her soul that Dante would be faithful to her, in return for his safe passage home.  Needless to say, Dante falls victim to a few sins of the flesh while on crusade.  Returning home, he finds Beatrice dead with Lucifer himself dragging her soul to hell.  In an effort to save the love of his life, Dante follows, triggering his descent into the fathoms of hell.

Viseral's representation of Hell was inspired by "The Divine Comedy", a classic 14th century poem (which you likely read the cliff notes of in high school).  Written by Italian poet Dante Alighieri (hence the title) "The Divine Comedy" details Dante's experience through the 3 realms of the dead, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.  The game focuses on the first realm, in which there are nine circles representing greater degrees of sin.  Staying true to the poem, each sin's punishment in Hell is a contrapasso, a symbolic instance of poetic justice; for example gluttons are huge beasts with insatiable appetites unable to stop gorging themselves.  Enemies found in each circle represent the sins which they stand convicted, which adds a unique visual element to the distinctive realms.

At each circle in the Inferno Dante is confronted with his sins during the crusade.  Dante's sins are showcased as a brief animated cut-scene featuring comic like visuals that give you a unique glimpse into the many temptations Dante gave in to.  These cut-scenes push the story along showing you the many ways in which Dante betrayed Beatrice's trust.  Aside from an NPC poet that guides you through Hell, these cut-scenes serve as the main narritive of the story. 

Comic book inspired cut scenes serve as the main narritive of the story